Fear the Walking Dead

[whereismynotecard]

I think Fear The Walking Dead is worth watching, but it's never going to be as good as the original.

At times the characters seem completely daft, and at other times they seem to understand the situation far more than they should. I can totally buy them being stupid as hell about all this, since they don't know what zombies even are, but sometimes they understand things way too fast and it's inconsistent.

Like Liza getting bitten (or scratched - I don't honestly remember) and being like, "There's no cure. I already know. I've been working as a fake nurse for a few days, so I know for sure. Shoot me in the head." And then Travis, who until then seemed to be scared of guns is like, "LOL, okay."

And then before that, at the very beginning, when Nick's Drug dealer was chasing after the truck and Nick just ran him over several times (Nick was ahead of the other characters, so that's fair) and then Madison and Travis were just like, "Alright. Let's go home. We won't call and ambulance for this kid who is still getting back up, so he's not dead, but he is severely injured. And we won't call the police to report that our son just pretty much killed someone in self-defense."

And even after that, Travis and Madison encountered other zombies and seemed confused and tried to reason with them.

They needed to either act normal or not. They can't have it both ways. If I've never heard of a zombie, and one is running around with his face falling off and my son hits him with a truck, I'm going to call an ambulance for the guy...

Anyway, the show is good enough. It's got a few flaws, but it's still kinda fun to watch.

 

[Father Heathen]

So far this new season has been zzzz...

 

[Revoltingest]

So far this new season has been zzzz...

I'm OK with a leisurely start.

Btw, no power pills for me.

 

[Father Heathen]

Looks like the show is going to pick up and get a little interesting.

 

[Revoltingest]

Looks like the show is going to pick up and get a little interesting.

You young kids....no patience....want all the action immediately & non-stop.
To us more slow witted folk, it's been interesting all along.

That last line didn't come out quite right.

 

[Father Heathen]

You young kids....no patience....want all the action immediately & non-stop.
To us more slow witted folk, it's been interesting all along.

That last line didn't come out quite right.

I never implied that a story required action to keep from being dull. Just good characters and story (which 'Fear' has been struggling with).

 

[Revoltingest]

I never implied that a story required action to keep from being dull. Just good characters and story (which 'Fear' has been struggling with).

I'm just tease'n.
I've been happy with it so far.
But I hope it doesn't turn into an endless conquered-captured-rescued repetition.

 

[Father Heathen]

So how about that mid-season finale?

Spoiler

What do y'all think about half of the cast simultaneously going crazy on an abrupt whim? Or about the fact it's a poorly kept secret that what's-her-face poisoned the congregation, but no one really seems to care anyway?

 

[Revoltingest]

So how about that mid-season finale?

Spoiler

What do y'all think about half of the cast simultaneously going crazy on an abrupt whim? Or about the fact it's a poorly kept secret that what's-her-face poisoned the congregation, but no one really seems to care anyway?

I don't find the whole scenario believable.
Yeah, sure, there are Jim Jones type people here & there, but it all seems too arbitrary.

 

[Luciferi Baphomet]

What did you think of the first Episode? I think the idea of showing a perspective of the "outbreak" from the beginning and from a different location is a good one, but I didn't really enjoy the premiere at all. The characters didn't really strike me as interesting, and the pacing, sequencing, and build up just felt off.

Oh, and the previews for the upcoming episodes didn't seem very promising, either.

My husband and I want the first episode and we liked it. We are waiting for the 2nd season to come out.

 

[Father Heathen]

My husband and I want the first episode and we liked it. We are waiting for the 2nd season to come out.

Eh? First half of the second season already ran, returning Aug 21st. Unless you meant comes out on a service like Netflix?

 

[Luciferi Baphomet]

Eh? First half of the second season already ran, returning Aug 21st. Unless you meant comes out on a service like Netflix?

Netflix takes forever to put anything on.

 

[gnomon]

This series is rather bland by attempting a continual focus on family relationships as if they were dealing with a non-apocalyptic scenario. The episodes in which Chris was reluctant to kill a zombie attacking what should be his stepmother and the resulting conflict with his stepsister......in the face of an apocalypse.....appears rather.....stupid honestly.

Okay......here it is. This series needs something like "Pretty Much Dead Already"...when the conflicting personalities between Rick and Shane come to a fore when Shane breaks open the barn and the walkers come out forcing the survivors to shoot them. Then comes Sophia....the survivor they had been looking for and everyone, including Shane, stands by numbed by what they see.......and Rick steps forward and shoots Sophia in the head. That scene in the second season mid-finale was so dramatic and defining of the essential character of the series. Not to mention that the original graphic novels and series are focused on this concept of a singular character not only attempting to survive but attempting that his only child survives both physically and psychologically.

Namely......thus far this series lacks a focus on character development that the The Walking Dead has shown. It had the same first initial half season but the second season completely lacked that dramatic turn of character.

This series needs a "Rick". They don't have it. They are trying to develop it in the character of Madison.........but..........it's just not as compelling because in so many episodes she just comes across as an over-mothering figure with Nick. If the character of Nick was the same age as Carl in the original story it would have something but the character of Nick is an adult that quite frankly doesn't need Madison. The developed character of Nick appears to be far more aware of the situation than Madison throughout much of the season.

But again........I have not seen the mid season finale.

This series needs some better writing because the actors such as Colman, Frank and Kim Dickens are very well capable of carrying the series.

 

[LuisDantas]

Maybe it is because I read all of the comics, but I have become rather quickly fond of FTWD, to a greater level than I ever was of the original (TV) series.

I have observed that, despite a doubtless intentional attempt at straying somewhat from the specifics of the comics, the TV series is always more appealling to me when it is further away from the comics. Not sure if it is because of the surprise factor alone. I suspect that the two media simply have different strengths that rarely translate well into each other.

In any case, the apex of the TV series for me was early Season 4. I really liked the way they handled the long plot, to the point that I felt disappointed by having the villain from the previous season return. Come to think of it, I would say that was when it jumped the shark. The second half was pretty good, but not as good. The later return to Atlanta was interesting as well, but felt oddly rushed somehow. And Season 6 disappointed me greatly by refusing to give the proper spotlight and resolution to Carol's bloodthirst.

By contrast, FTWD is undetained by comics expectations and can therefore be daring with the characters and their relationships. I wish there was not so much drug use in there - it is something of a miracle that I warmed up to Nick of all characters - but the complex family dynamics are very interesting, as is the lack of a permanent obsession with walkers.

Even in the comics, I keep thinking that WD is at its best when the walkers are allowed to fall into their proper role as background noise. The story is all about the impossible personal dynamics of dealing with the end of the world. FTWD realizes that. WD the TV series seems to have forgotten that at some point around the start of Season 5.

Me, I am looking forward to what promises to be very innovative dynamics between the people on land and very difficult challenges for those back on water. It is not only very different from anything else that we ever saw in those continuities, it is also far more appealling to me.

I think much of the disappointment that some people are having with the series is the flip side of my enjoyment. This is not a similar series to the extent that, say, the "Law and Order" and "CSI" series franchises show very slight variations of the same themes. Instead, it is a very different set-up, with considerably greater freedom, that does not want to parallel the parent series at all closely. Madison is not Rick and likely will never be. Nick is no Carl - he is both far too naive and far too competent to fill such a role. And even Strand is no Shane. This is a considerably more human and more tactically flawed bunch than the boring, self-important virtual guerilla that the protagonists of the parent series have become since Season 5.

 

[Revoltingest]

As I'd hoped, the series is interesting....& gory....very gory.
I love the eye gouging scene in last nite's episode.
(Don't worry....I didn't spoil anything.)

 

[Father Heathen]

@dawny0826 and I wanted to like this series and tried to follow it, but it didn't hold our interest (we got about 1 or 2 episodes into the second half of the second season). It had some good ideas and promising moments but the plot and character development, etc. was **** overall.

 

[Revoltingest]

@dawny0826 and I wanted to like this series and tried to follow it, but it didn't hold our interest (we got about 1 or 2 episodes into the second half of the second season). It had some good ideas and promising moments but the plot and character development, etc. was **** overall.

I'll enjoy it on behalf of you both.
After all, you live in NY so that I don't have to.

 

[Callisto]

The series has been uneven and lackluster up to this point, though I did mostly enjoy the season finale.

For me, the most basic problem is that I really do not care about any of the characters. Good or bad, there isn't anything interesting about them. Characters are all over the map. It's like the writers vacillate on what direction they want to go in with a character or it's that they make major leaps in unrealistic time spans (considering it's supposedly only a little more than a month since Z-Day). Chris is a prime example. Alicia went from

Spoiler

a ditz revealing their location and walking around with ear buds in unfamiliar terrain to suddenly being butterfly-knife flipping bad ***.

They seem to be trying to allude to Madison having some kind of intriguing buried past but she just flips from hard nose practical to dangerously absurd. Strand, started off strong and now, IDK what his deal is. Travis.... smh. Chris.... just. no. With the exception of Daniel Salazar, there hasn't been one character I would root for or want in a survival group and none are the "love to hate 'em" type either. Though there does seem to be, finally, some promise of possible character cohesiveness and stability suggested in the finale.

 

[Luciferi Baphomet]

Where can I watch the new episodes?

 

[Callisto]

S2 just finished airing about 2 weeks ago. S1 is available on Hulu (US).