The highly anticipated rip-off of the popular TV series The Walking Dead premiered on August 23, 2015. Fans of the original series have mixed emotions about the new show, some revel in the presence of a new setup and characters while others do not believe that the new series would be different enough to draw interest.
Here’s what we think of the first three episodes and how we feel that Fear the Walking Dead is different from its sister show.
- LOCATION: The creators have set the Walking Dead rip-off in the city of Los Angeles
and this proves to be a bold and refreshing choice. Unlike its predecessor, this
series will deal with the lives of people in one of the largest city in the States
and instead of vast sprawling rural wastelands, we will get to witness crowds of
people on cramped streets dealing with even more walkers.
- TEENAGERS: Another point of difference is the presence of a lot more teenagers than
we got to see in the original. Bratty teenagers would undoubtedly prove to be
interesting zombie bait and we honestly can’t wait to see how the adolescents that
wore trendy clothes until recently, go around killing the undead in dirty rags.
Also, no phones or internet!
- ONE FAMILY: Fear the Walking Dead revolves around the lives of a single family up
until now and this is starkly dissimilar from its sister show, which follows the
struggle for survival of various characters – Rick and Daryl may be the ones
stealing the spotlight but TWD attempts to give attention to all its cast. The
question remains – is one family enough to keep the viewers interested? We are
waiting to find out.
- THE BEGINNING: Unlike TWD, Fear the Walking Dead gives us an insight to the missing month of Rick’s memory. We get to witness the breakout of the apocalypse – the confusion, the riots, the deaths and the growing courage of characters, which we had missed due to Rick’s coma. This beginning gives a new angle to the story but how long before we are as far into the apocalypse as Rick’s group? Will it be any different then?
- SOCIAL DESTRUCTION: We are experiencing this show in stages – the stages of social devastation. When an apocalypse hits, people lose their humanity bit by bit and while we saw that in TWD as well, we didn’t get to witness it in the beginning. We may have seen Rick’s character changing but all the others were already brutal walker-killers when Rick found them. Fear the Walking Dead gives us a chance to observe it ever more slowly.
- AMATEURS: The one thing that assures us that Fear the Walking Dead will give us more chills is that all the characters in this show are amateurs. In TWD, Rick was a police officer and he, along with Shane, had trained their group. Daryl was a pro with the crossbow, Dale and Hershel were good with the guns and even Glenn had his special pizza delivery boy skills. But characters in Fear TWD still have to undergo Walker Killing 101.
- STUPIDITY: Yes, another thing that Fear TWD has and TWD doesn’t is a whole lot of stupidity. Characters in TWD are already well aware of the dangers of a walker but the ones in Fear are still thinking of walkers as sick people that can be treated. Yes, it’s a Hershel Greene all over again. In episode 3 of Fear, we witness Exhibit A, Travis exemplifying the same brand of stupid. Oh Travis, do you really think cannibalism can be fixed? We sincerely hope your brain can be.
- WALKERS: The last thing we found extremely different from TWD are the walkers themselves. The walkers in this show are fresh and not as rotten or gooey as the ones in TWD, who have been walkers for a longer period of time. Could these less decayed walkers be faster or be more efficient killers?
Fear the Walking Dead does bring a lot of new elements to our favorite universe of the walkers and we have enjoyed the first three episodes for now but how long before we get to the same timeline as the Walking Dead and this spin-off loses its fresh quality? Whatever may happen, we can tell you for sure that all us TWD fans will be tuning in to find out and we do wish that this show is every bit as addicting as its predecessor.
Let us know what you think about Fear the Walking Dead in the comments below.
