If you are an avid Zombie-head like myself, there’s a 99.9%
you already did, or at least made plans to watch the new AMC Series, “Fear TheWalking Dead”, warning there will be many spoiler ahead. For those of you that
don’t know, “Fear The Walking Dead” is both a spin off and prequel to one of
television’s most popular sci-fi series’s, “The Walking Dead” which follows a
pack of misfit survivors as they try to survive and make a life in a newly
zombie-fied world.“Fear the Walking Dead”, plans to educate fans of “The
Walking Dead” on the big question we all have while watching the original
series, how did the outbreak start, and how did we essentially “lose” the war
against the probable virus?
The pilot episode began in an eerily similar way to the
“Walking Dead” pilot episode, the audience is welcomed into the show by a young
man waking up alone in what appears to be a considerably hostile situation.
Soon though, our central character Nick (Frank Dillane) learns that he is
definitely not alone as he is greeted by his once friend nibbling on the
mutilated face of another.
As Nick runs through the streets of a modern-day Los Angeles
it becomes clear that the country has yet to be over run as people walk
casually down the city sidewalks and drive their luxury vehicles on the right
side of the road in a rather non-chaotic fashion (Not very Glenn from TWD, am I
right?)
With our lead Nick in the hospital we are introduced to his,
of course, dysfunctional family, his mother a seemingly level-headed high
school counselor (Kim Dickens, Gone Girl), his stepfather Travis (Cliff
Curtis), his sister Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey).
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| Image Courtesy of www.ew.com |
Brother and sister are tapped to be total opposites in terms
of life success, Nick a drop out and drug addict, and Alicia a prospective
student Berkeley University. Still though the two appear close and it looks as
though quite a bit of attention will be given to their complicated
relationship. The two discuss what Nick believe he saw when he awakened from
his drugged stupor, Alicia has no faith in her brothers story. Zombies? No way.
Alicia carries the same naïve attitude as her mother.
It appears that Madison (Nick and Alicia’s mother) may begin
to question herself though. She is shown the video of a horrific car accident
that Travis and she had passed the previous night while searching the city for
a paranoid Nick. Nick, in a just too perfect turn of events, was able to escape
the hospital. He then sets out on a mission to meet up with his friend and drug
dealer Cal to inquire about the drugs he was given, even Nick himself wants to
believe what he saw was an apparition.
Noticing Nick is still in withdrawal, Cal decides to take
Nick to a secluded location where it seems as though he might give Nick more of
the drug in question.
But for a reason largely unknown to the audience, Cal
opens the door for Nick with a gun badly hidden behind his back. Nick notices
the gun and fearing for his safety tackles Cal.
In a quick turn of events, Nick manages to accidently shoot Cal with his
own gun and watches as his friend takes his last breaths, unable to believe
what he has done. The show moves in a much faster time frame than “The Walking
Dead”, especially in moments like this. It didn’t quite leave the same effect
dramatic effect as it could’ve if our fallen character had been given more
depth. Completely distraught, Nick brings Madison and Travis to the scene of
the crime only to discover that Cal’s body has gone missing.
This is where previous knowledge of “The Walking Dead” will
come in handy for the viewer.
Madison embraces Nick as he crumbles on the asphalt utterly
confused. However, as the three are backing out of the crime scene
they notice a swaying figure in the rear view mirror. The figure is Cal, but as
we now know, it’s not really him, but his lifeless body taken over by the
virus.
Of course, our characters do not have this knowledge and
leave the car to investigate the limping figure, barely escaping with their
lives. They watch as Cal’s mangled body turns his head to them still awake
despite being ran over multiple times in the struggle to escape. Madison then
asks the apropo question that ends the episode, “What the hell is going on?” as
though she is still in question of what she has witnessed after having a
physical struggle with Cal’s zombie body herself.
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| Courtesy of www.moviepilot.com |
“Fear the Walking Dead” appears it will move at a much
faster pace than “The Walking Dead” although this could be deemed necessary
with the quickly evolving circumstances our characters are finding themselves
in. It may be too soon to tell, but I’m
not sure if FTWD will have the same attention shown to character development as
TWD. The acting wasn’t on fire either, the relationships came across as the
typical forced dysfunctional family dynamic you see in most dramas.
Over all,
the episode leaves the audience with much less feeling than the pilot of “The
Walking Dead” did, but I will remain optimistic for the series, perhaps it’s
too soon to judge how the series will further progress.
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