This "Walking Dead" spin-off takes us to the early days of the zombie outbreak, before Rick, Michonne, the Governor and the fall of society as we know it. It's an interesting premise. Usually, zombie movies start when the world has been already overrun by the undead and not many of them focus on the systematic collapse of civilization. Not only Fear takes us to a different timeline, but it also introduces new characters and a new location. It takes place in the busy suburbs of L.A. and it takes us away from the wilderness settings of the original series. And although this show has an interesting premise, it has to be hard to fill out the shoes of the juggernaut The Walking dead has become. But one might think that having the people behind the TWD involved in this new zombie venture could secure a great TV pilot. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Fear the Walking Dead.
Fear fails in everything TWD succeeded in. TWD excels in its intensity, characters, terrifying atmosphere, special effects and raw action. Fear does not (so far). People argue that it's because the show has a different pacing, or that is just a pilot and eventually it will pick up the pace, and that might be true but when you are making a TV pilot, you need to grab your audience from the very get go or you will lose them. This pilot doesn't grabs you. It tries at the first 5 minutes but decides to let you go and it quickly becomes dull and generic.
It introduces characters that are hard to fall in love with. Their development is uninteresting and it takes too long to go anywhere. The relationships between the characters are not organic, there's no chemistry between the main married couple. The foreshadowing is laughable and full of clichés. There are several sense where they use cheap suspense buildups that lead to nothing. For example, the principal is sitting absolutely still and ominous music begins to plays just to show him listening to a radio. Also we have kids watching a zombie incident through their cellphones acting indifferent to what they are seeing. But my biggest complaint is that the show is way, way too slow. Although it pickups a bit at the last 30 minutes, is not enough to captivate you to wait for the next episode. In all, nothing truly significant happens in this episode.
Fortunately, not everything is lost. There are two characters that I found interesting. One is Nick (Played by Frank Dillane) he is a heroin addict who is the first one to witness a walker and is the only one who is trying to make sense of what he has seen. Although this character has issues with drugs and the horror he saw at the beginning of the show, he plays it very well and it is easy to identify with him. Also, Dillane is perhaps the best actor in the show so far. The other is Tobias (Played by Lincoln Castellanos). He is a high school student that, while everyone else seems to be oblivious of what is happening, he is pretty much aware of the imminent apocalypse due to his online research on the phenomenon. I really hope that we get to see more of these characters and that the upcoming episodes pick up the pace. Otherwise, it's to the back burner with Fear of the Walking Dead.
Fear fails in everything TWD succeeded in. TWD excels in its intensity, characters, terrifying atmosphere, special effects and raw action. Fear does not (so far). People argue that it's because the show has a different pacing, or that is just a pilot and eventually it will pick up the pace, and that might be true but when you are making a TV pilot, you need to grab your audience from the very get go or you will lose them. This pilot doesn't grabs you. It tries at the first 5 minutes but decides to let you go and it quickly becomes dull and generic.
It introduces characters that are hard to fall in love with. Their development is uninteresting and it takes too long to go anywhere. The relationships between the characters are not organic, there's no chemistry between the main married couple. The foreshadowing is laughable and full of clichés. There are several sense where they use cheap suspense buildups that lead to nothing. For example, the principal is sitting absolutely still and ominous music begins to plays just to show him listening to a radio. Also we have kids watching a zombie incident through their cellphones acting indifferent to what they are seeing. But my biggest complaint is that the show is way, way too slow. Although it pickups a bit at the last 30 minutes, is not enough to captivate you to wait for the next episode. In all, nothing truly significant happens in this episode.
Fortunately, not everything is lost. There are two characters that I found interesting. One is Nick (Played by Frank Dillane) he is a heroin addict who is the first one to witness a walker and is the only one who is trying to make sense of what he has seen. Although this character has issues with drugs and the horror he saw at the beginning of the show, he plays it very well and it is easy to identify with him. Also, Dillane is perhaps the best actor in the show so far. The other is Tobias (Played by Lincoln Castellanos). He is a high school student that, while everyone else seems to be oblivious of what is happening, he is pretty much aware of the imminent apocalypse due to his online research on the phenomenon. I really hope that we get to see more of these characters and that the upcoming episodes pick up the pace. Otherwise, it's to the back burner with Fear of the Walking Dead.