Fear the Walking Dead

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Haven't yet bothered to watch it; the buzz is awful. It sounds like they've continued with the fractured storylines (three of them), with time only for two out of three threads per episode, and without any clear goal to reunify the cast (and the characters that seemingly were so committed to each other now seem indifferent to finding each other). The mid-season finale had been pretty weak as well as disappointing. It's unclear what they're trying to accomplish.

Has anyone actually watched the last few episodes?

Madison almost came into contact with Nick. Travis may be on the way to the hotel.

 

[FemMecha]

How does "Fear the Walking Dead" and the "Walking Dead" relate? Are they two completely different shows, or the same? I've been confused about that.

 

[Totenkindly]

How does "Fear the Walking Dead" and the "Walking Dead" relate? Are they two completely different shows, or the same? I've been confused about that.

They are unrelated at this present time.

Fear the Walking Dead starts a month before the outbreaks occurred (which Rick wakes up a few weeks after in TWD), over along the coast in LA, and the series has ventured down into Mexico. So you see people trying to figure out what is happening and the initial reactions, which is stuff that Rick missed because he was asleep.

It's had an interesting divergence in that it deals with zombies and water at times. But there was some hope for something unique to come out of it, and it's not clear what that is right now.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

This show has just never gotten the same hype or love as TWD, which is somewhat understandable. I have enjoyed it though, at least as a void-filler in-between seasons of TWD.

Regarding the timeline (this may be spoiler-y for both shows):

The end of season 3, when they blow the dam and get sucked into the flooding river, occurs on day 64. In the overall universe timeline, that's just a handful of days after Rick has woken up in the hospital. They leave the CDC center in Atlanta on day 64. My mind was pretty blown when I realized all of those 3 seasons of FTWD have occurred so early.

However, there's a huge time-jump to season 4, 2 years forward. We see some flashbacks explaining a bit of what's happened since the dam was blown, but the "present" is occurring well after the saviours war in Virginia and Negan has been imprisoned, albeit before Rick is carried away by helicopter in season 9.

I'm not sure how I feel about the change in direction with season 4 (the one I'm currently watching on Hulu). I like the new characters like John Dorie and Althea quite a bit, but not yet sure how I feel about the addition of Morgan. I'm conflicted on the huge time-jump as well. Granted, flashbacks are filling that in a bit. The overall feel is very different from the first 3 seasons. There's a very grey, bleak aesthetic, whereas the first 3 seasons were bright and very "hot" in tone. It really does feel like a different series at this point. Part of me is disappointed with the time jump, and I'd like to have seen them continuing on in TWD's "past", showing the earlier stages of the apocalypse, when survival, rather than rebuilding is the primary priority. Now it feels like they're just trying to make it son of TWD and attempting to repeat notes and beats that have made the other series popular.

with Nick's and Madison's exits from the series, that leaves Alicia the sole surviving member of the Clark family, and Strand the only other regular original cast member. It's understandable Dillane wanted out, as I'm really not sure where they could go with his character. It's likely he'd have become a sort of apprentice to Morgan and tried to learn the path of pacifism. That could've worked, but it also could've felt redundant for people who already saw Morgan's similar arc on the other series. Madison was really the heart of the series though, and apparently Dickens didn't want to leave the show yet, so it seems like the showrunners wanted her out of the way to make room for Morgan. I'm disappointed with this, as her character had grown on me. She had great chemistry with Strand, and I think there was room enough for her to share the spotlight with Morgan. Perhaps to see how they'd have butted heads would've been cool. It's kind of rotten they had to remove the obvious star to make way for a fan favorite from the more popular sister series (they pulled a Michael Dorn, sorta, or maybe they pulled a Jeri Ryan would be more accurate). I don't think Madison's character was a major problem in the other seasons, yet it feels like she/Dickens was the one who had to be "corrected" with the show's new direction. Unfortunate. Oh well

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

So I just finished Season 4. It was spotty, at best. Will have to wait for season 5, but so far, it appears like the showrunners are aware it's a sinking ship and are moving toward merging with TWD at some point. Not that I'd mind seeing this happen. John, Alicia, and of course Morgan, would be great additions to TWD.