*Spoilers Ahead*
After a pilot that felt like it never actually took off, the second installment of Fear The Walking Dead‘s short first season moves into the actual plot much quicker and is better for it.
I will say, for last week’s episode, that it ended strong and the immediate impact of the ending is felt in the first half of this week’s installment as Nick, Madison and Travis all scramble to try and protect the family while things slowly begin to unravel. The panic that they experience while everyone else around them is living life as if nothing is wrong is a nice touch in an episode that, I’m hoping, shows us what the show is planning to explore going forward. The idea of seeing society slowly collapse and become what we see in the opening of The Walking Dead is what interested me in the show so I was happy to see the episode follow that idea a bit.
The show is also slowly starting to have the characters show hints of personality, specifically Travis, who gets trapped in a barber shop while trying to get his ex-wife and son out of the city along with Madison and her family. Travis has become the most likable character on the show simply by seeming like a decent guy who isn’t doing anything stupid like just leaving perfectly good food around. (I’m looking at you, Madison!)
In addition, the little bits in Travis’ part of the story this week that hint at the police knowing much more about the situation poke at current events and the ensuing riot when the police shoot a seemingly innocent person, who just happens to be undead, feels real in a way I honestly wasn’t expecting.
Meanwhile, Madison heads back to the school to get drugs for Travis. If that sounds dreadfully boring fret not readers Tobias AKA Knife Kid from last episode is also there. Despite having a short amount of screentime Tobias wormed his way into my heart by virtue of being the one dude who apparently knows what’s going on. Tobias gives Madison a crash course in how zombies work and it ends up being useful as the principal has been turned. Madison’s struggle with having to kill someone she knows was interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing where they go with these types of situations in the future. Who had the ability to kill people they once knew and who simply won’t be able to handle it.
Elsewhere, in the most boring of the three stories, Alicia is forced to watch Nick as he struggles with withdrawal. There’s not much to this story and Alicia remains the least established out of the main cast. It does however show a selfish side of Nick tha, I imagine, will come into play in bigger ways as the series goes on.
The episode ends with Travis still separated from Madison and the kids, something that I imagine will continue for a good part of this little season. But the final scene, where Madison prevents Alicia and Nick from helping the family across the street, as it is terrorized by one of the zombies, is powerful and a good sign of where I want this show to go, it’s a theme the parent show is well versed in. How much of yourself do you need to sacrifice to survive? I have a feeling we’ll be finding out the answer shortly.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- Maybe it just wasn’t as noticeable to me last week but there was a lot of really distracting slo-mo shots this week for some reason.
- I’ll be super disappointed if we don’t see Tobias again.
- Speaking of super disappointed, only one black character left and the show has already fated him for death. Usually it takes The Walking Dead a whole season to kill off it’s black cast members, this show is doing it in less than half the time!
Jesse Swanson is a would-be writer, podcaster and funny guy who covers TV shows of all shapes and sizes. You can find him on Twitter @JesseSwanson