Review Tuesday: Fear The Walking Dead

I figure that as long as TWD started up last weekend, I might as well reflect upon my thoughts on the the companion show...

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Season One

A family tries to cope with the onset of a zombie pandemic, in Los Angeles, CA.

At first I didn't know how to react to the news of a companion series to go with THE WALKING DEAD. TWD is based on an ongoing comic book series. There's definite source material there that has been thought out and part of a very large story line. A new series taking place in a major city during the earliest day of the plague might actually hurt the mystery of the story. Part of the whole mystique is NOT knowing how civilization fell and having that creeping thought that maybe TWD is just a figment of the imagination of the comatose  mind of Rick Grimes.  

Well, this series scuttles that notion. We are watching one family at the very earliest days of infection in Los Angeles. It is known that there is some brutal virus going around, but no one is paying it much mind...

...Until...

Citizens seem to in a frenzy trying to murder and eat other citizens. This turns into massive unrest as the government is seen as heavy handed in dealing with these unarmed menaces. Couldn't they find a non-violent way of dealing with unarmed people who are clearly ill?

We watch events from the perspective of Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), a single mom, living with her recently divorced boyfriend, Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis). We get to know their, mostly, highly annoying families and the people they meet along the way. 

I am conflicted with the cast and script because I found myself shaking my head a lot while grunting, these people are too stupid to live, yet feeling completely drawn into the suspense.

This show pretty much shows us what's wrong with our society. The extremes. You have the heavy handed government versus the bleeding heart liberal population of LA who thinks it's okay to let the zombies walk around eating people. They're just sick, right? The riots that resulted only made matters much worse.

Then you have Nick Clark the junky son (Frank Dillane) known as Johnny Dope by fans of the show running around stealing meds from people. He's one of the hateful lot but I'm sure they won't let that character die anytime soon. The other son is angry and a douche. The daughter is really good looking and fun to watch. The old man they picked up, Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades) is a tough guy and I liked his no-nonsense manner right away. The ex-wife was very attractive and I was sorry to see her buy her farm in the finale. But the finale opens up a whole new set of circumstances now that we are learning more about Mr. Strand (Colman Domingo) and his palatial estate. I wonder what this guy was before the world fell apart at the seams? He seems entirely too nice given the circumstances.

In the end, I guess this show has pulled me in. The world hasn't completely fallen yet, but it's well underway. Season Two should be very interesting as it follows the ongoing disintegration of society.

Season on FTWD ran 6 episodes on AMC (like the original series) and already has been picked up for a second season. More on IMDB.