Fear the Walking Dead - Season 1

[Datawire]

Solid second episode. I hate Nick's sister. Not sure why. I just do. She seems like the type that will get the whole family killed because she can't appreciate the gravity of dire situations. She's too focused on her selfish needs. poo, she almost let her brother have a seizure unattended because she wanted to go to her boyfriend. But, it's not entirely her fault. First thing you do in this situation is explain to your family the details of the situation at hand. For whatever reason, this is not happening. Just a lot of vague dialogue and fearful expressions. Mother fugers don't talk anymore or what?

I don't think she can appreciate the gravity of the situation because she has absolutely no idea how detrimental the situation is, her mother certainly didn't tell her anything. And her mother really has no idea how detrimental the situation is either and she knows more. We the viewers know it's a zombie apocalypse and the epic scale of poo about to go down. These people have yet to figure out what exactly is going on. I do agree with you though, the teen angst shtick gets old really quick including her "I'm a part of this" brother.

 

Also, I do believe the brother faked the seizure to prevent his sister from leaving. Grabbed a mouth full of soup and put on an acting job. That and later on he made the comment to his mother that he stopped her from leaving.

[TheRed]

It's certainly not perfect, but it's been a pretty solid first two episodes so far.

[Jeremy Igo]

Show introduced 3 black characters. 

 

All 3 dead by end of second episode. 

 

 

Star Trek all over again. 

[Jangler]

Obamazombie, coincidence...

[Jangler]

Aren't mail drop boxes bolted down?

[Proudiddy]

Just watched ep 2 last night...   Still maintain, it's worth watching right now, simply because there isn't anything else on lol.  Still isn't TWD, and I still find a lot of holes in the writing, BUT this episode was MUCH, MUCH better and did a great job of building tension and increasing the suspense for each subsequent scene. 

But, the lack of thought that goes into some of the writing is annoying...   I don't find these slip ups in TWD...  There, everything and every possible scenario is thought out before it ever makes it to the screen.  In this episode, the most glaring issue was first thing with the sister's boyfriend.  How believable is it that you would get a chunk of your fuging skin bit out of your body by a human who no longer looks human or responds to your words or actions, you escape, and then just decide to go home to sleep it off alone?  Lol.   Like, where is the explanation to that?  He didn't call his girlfriend?  If no one in this world has very given thought to zombies, why not call the police?  His parents?   Go to the ER?  That was laughable.  And I've seen several people across articles and social media suggest that in their world, they have no idea what zombies are or what's possibly going on...   I don't buy that.  As I've said elsewhere, to me what makes a good show is making the characters believable for their environment.  To me, it is unrealistic for them to NOT suspect that this is zombies they're dealing with.  And that naivete seems like a shortcut for the writers...   Because again, it easily dismisses but doesn't explain why someone would get bit by another person, escaped, and then didn't report it to anyone.  That's just plain dumb.  And if they were truly oblivious to zombies, how would anyone have the ability to escape a zombie attacking them?  Also, the flashlight out the window scene at the end...   Who the fug does that?  Why do you need a flashlight there to look out the window?  

Also said to my wife, how unbelievable AND convenient was it that Tobias showed up as the only other live person at the school?

And as far as the principal, I have a similar complaint as with the daughter/sister boyfriend...  How did he get bit? How is he alone? And another mistake they left in there...   Supposedly Maddie(?) just smashed the first zombie skull of the zombie apocalypse, and yet, at the end, when it's showing the montage, the principal has a head lol. 

Like I said after last week's episode, it just feels like they're being a little bit lazy here and there in the writing, filming, and even some of the acting...  

That being said, i think this episode was much better and to some degree, I find the eeriness to be possibly even greater than TWD, because you're seeing it unfold versus it having already took place and establishing itself.  The neighbor scene at the end was REALLY chilling.  Thats probably the biggest strength I find going for the show right now.  The more the chaos escalates, the more intense and unpredictable things feel and that feeling keeps building.   You can see that sense of security slowly being stripped away...  To go from that security to in one night, realizing what is happening and trying to figure out what your next move is and whether you can even open the door again...   That is intense. 

One thing I wish they would've explored though is how it actually started...  I'm thinking it didn't start with biting as how it spread...   Some people have to catch it, get sick, and then recover - like a flu bug - but they don't die.  They spread it to others, some of whom did die and immediately turned to walkers.  But I read a quote from Kirkman awhile back that said he had an idea of how it started but didn't ever plan on exploring it, as he didn't find it to be vital to what happens. 

[scpanther22]

It will be interesting to see how long this show can last before the world breaks down to TWD level of chaos. How long they can get the audience to buy into this type of slow burn.

 

[Zaximus]

If you seriously think TWD doesn't have the same issues, or worse, then you are basically a fanboy.  That show has had its characters do the dumbest stuff for years, on top of that, one of the worst group of actors on a show minus a couple.   

 

[Darth Biscuit]

TWD has has a lot of these plot holes as well... but I love both shows.

 

[Datawire]

Like, where is the explanation to that?  He didn't call his girlfriend?  If no one in this world has very given thought to zombies, why not call the police?  His parents?   Go to the ER? 

The girlfriend said she tried to call his parents who were in Vegas I believe she said and wouldn't answer the phone, or no answer, something along those lines. I take that as a possible ongoing outbreak in Vegas already in progress and possibly worse. She also said she did try calling 911 but the system was jammed. Going to the ER? Yeah, that might have been a better idea.

 

The principal still had his head because these infected people are fresh and the bone density is still very strong, in my opinion. In TWD the zombies are basically mush at this point. At one point Tobias tries to stab the principal in the head with his pocket knife and it just seemed to deflect off it.

[Proudiddy]

The girlfriend said she tried to call his parents who were in Vegas I believe she said and wouldn't answer the phone, or no answer, something along those lines. I take that as a possible ongoing outbreak in Vegas already in progress and possibly worse. She also said she did try calling 911 but the system was jammed. Going to the ER? Yeah, that might have been a better idea.

 

The principal still had his head because these infected people are fresh and the bone density is still very strong, in my opinion. In TWD the zombies are basically mush at this point. At one point Tobias tries to stab the principal in the head with his pocket knife and it just seemed to deflect off it.

Yeah, I meant why didn't the boyfriend call one of those people or the police?  Even if they have no idea what zombies are, wouldn't he want to file a report for an assault?  And in order for him to escape, he most likely had to kill the walker, as I've never seen them just stop chasing someone, unless more people were around.  But, he just laid in his house with a chunk of flesh missing and apparently waited to die.

And all good points regarding the level of decomposition of the walkers in FTWD and TWD.  I've also read here that those who follow the comics say that it actually hints that the walkers are steadily decomposing, which may lead to a solution to the problem.  But, back to the point, I get what you were saying about the principal, but the only way to kill walkers is to puncture or smash their brains so they no longer function.  In order for her to kill the principal, she would have to smash his head.  She used a fire extinguisher, yet his head was still intact?

[Proudiddy]

If you seriously think TWD doesn't have the same issues, or worse, then you are basically a fanboy.  That show has had its characters do the dumbest stuff for years, on top of that, one of the worst group of actors on a show minus a couple.   

 

I'm not a fanboy, but I do think it's the best show on TV.  And I'm not saying they don't have plot holes, but the writing is so good that it is easily overlooked or forgotten, and I am as discerning with this show as I am anything I watch.  So far, in FTWD, the holes are too blatant and obvious that they aren't forgotten as easily.

[Datawire]

Also I got to thinking about the time period of when all this is going down. I mentioned earlier in the thread about the radio broadcast switcheroo comment

"This changes everything. This is a catastrophe of biblical proportions. We've just lost the best pocket passer in the NFL".

 

This may very well give us a clue and I simply over looked it before. I am going on the assumption this was a local broadcast. The last time LA had an NFL football team was in 1994 with the LA Rams. The starting QB at the time was Tommy Maddox with a QB career rating of 72.4. A career long pass of 39 yards with the Rams and finished the season 4-12. That was the final year for the LA Rams. That doesn't sound like the measureables of a "best pocket passer in the NFL". Unless, they were speaking of previous seasons which would put this outbreak before long before 1994.

If this is the case then when the hell did Rick Wake up?

[d-dave]

Also I got to thinking about the time period of when all this is going down. I mentioned earlier in the thread about the radio broadcast switcheroo comment

"This changes everything. This is a catastrophe of biblical proportions. We've just lost the best pocket passer in the NFL".

 

This may very well give us a clue and I simply over looked it before. I am going on the assumption this was a local broadcast. The last time LA had an NFL football team was in 1994 with the LA Rams. The starting QB at the time was Tommy Maddox with a QB career rating of 72.4. A career long pass of 39 yards with the Rams and finished the season 4-12. That was the final year for the LA Rams. That doesn't sound like the measureables of a "best pocket passer in the NFL". Unless, they were speaking of previous seasons which would put this outbreak before long before 1994.

If this is the case then when the hell did Rick Wake up?

It's like four years ago.  They have iphone 4/4s =)

Looking at the plot holes, most fiction has some serious plot holes in it by necessity.  Otherwise they would all end up similar to GoT with the strong dominating everyone.  I get that some plot holes do get folks riled up and angry, but that's the nature of TV =)

To Prouddidy, I didn't want to quote your post because it's so long and full of thought. =)  I disagree that it's lazy, but it's not our current TWD.  Again, we have to assume and understand that they people have zero reference to zombies at all.  Maybe in the fringe of science fiction, but it never got big.  Something else replaced the zombies-trope in our desire to harm each other mentality.  Zombies are very alien to them, even Captain Pimple-Face.  No one knows how to deal with them.

On that, I love how the people are reacting to the brutality of headshotting the zombies.  Since they have no context for zombies, they see it as horrific police brutality.  Considering the current state of public opinion on how police handle violence, it's a very compelling set of scenes there.  The protest, the anger, it's placed correctly, but will ultimately lead to a faster downfall.

Regarding the principal, I was thinking about that.  I mean, I am a teacher and stuff...   So the idea of him getting bitten isn't too hard.  Principal's spend a lot of time at school, it can be very depressing.  He go bit, then probably ended up throwing that zombie off.  He went somewhere to hide and check out his wounds, but eventually passed out and died.  That would explain why he wasn't chewed up to a greater degree.  

As for his head, it didn't have to be pulverized.  So going back to Season 1 of TWD at the CDC, I believe (feel free to correct me) that a lot of the animation comes from the brain stem.  Sever the stem from the rest of the spine, the body can't animate anymore.  So totally my opinion, but I don't think she had to break his skull into a million pieces in order for him to "die" again.

As far the as boyfriend, I will give you that.  There was a lot of wierdness, and I can see the logic.  If I'm 17 years old, a "man" in my own eyes, I'm not going to ask for help.  Sure someone bit me, but I've got peroxide at home!  I've got some isopropal alcohol at home!  You can play on the macho boy thing so much, because it's true and easy.  There are no shortage of stories of boys being complete boneheads about all kinds of serious things.  As far as calling anyone else, the emergency services had their hands full and his parents were on the way home.  There's only so much that could be done in that situation.  Was he dumb?  Sure thing, but that's what teenage boys do.  Sadly, I was hoping he would become a main character because I really like his character on Suburgatory.

I think the root cause of zombie apocalypses is something that doesn't really need to be addressed generally.  While nerdy fans like us will love it, the mystery is an important part of things.  As we know from TWD, everyone has it.  Is it simply a bug like the flu that only kicks in once we're dead?  Was it a major environmental change?  Did cell phones mutate our brain DNA?  Ultimately it doesn't matter to the story of how individuals survive the collapsing of the world.  It's interesting, but not really super important to our enjoyment, unless we can get a sweet dose of hubris!  Now if it comes out that the anti-vaxxers caused it, I will laugh so freaking hard!

Man, I do love being caught up with these discussions!