John Connor [Cathode Ray Mission 09.01.15] post apocalyptic zombies apocalyptic horror



[Craig DiLouie is the author of many post-apocalyptic and horror novels including Suffer the Children, Tooth and Nail and The Infection series]

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD offered a lot of promise. Most zombie movies show what it’s like after the end of the world. I’m always curious about what happens during the apocalypse–how the normal suddenly shifts into a nightmarish new normal. It’s why I liked WWZ even though it was bankrupt of character development and had the emotional impact of a block of wood. The zombie set pieces in that film were incredible. FEAR THE WALKING DEAD takes on that territory–what happens when everything goes to shit.

In the pilot episode, we’re introduced to a somewhat dysfunctional family consisting of two teachers living together, each with their own families. Most of the episode revolves around establishing the characters and their lives, letting us see the normal. A good deal of the plot in the pilot episode centers on a son (played by an actor who is likable but seems to be channeling Johnny Depp sometimes) who’s an addict and witnesses a fellow addict turn into a zombie. By the end of the episode, it’s clear something horrible is going on, but nobody really understands it.

So far, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD isn’t living up to its promise, but rather doubling down on it. The apocalypse is coming.


I enjoyed the episode but had a hard time connecting with it the way I did with its cousin show THE WALKING DEAD. I appreciated the slow burn with the show spending time developing the characters, which was a necessary step to establish stakes. I’m happy to wait for action. But it felt more TV than THE WALKING DEAD does, if that makes sense. It had the right things in the right places, but aside from a few scenes that popped, it lacked heart. A lot of the dialog and situations felt contrived or wooden to me.

Not saying the show sucks, but so far, I give is a B or B-. I am very curious about where it’s going to go next once the world starts to crash down around everybody’s ears.


Review originally appeared on CraigDilouie.com




Recommended Release: Fear the Walking Dead (Pilot)

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Marina (7 years ago) Reply

I too love to see how things start to fall apart and there are high expectations for the show and so far, I've really liked what we've seen. I particularly love the drugged out son. Agreed that he's channeling Depp from circa 1989 but the dynamic of the family now having to deal with the breakout is proving to be interesting so far. I hope they manage to keep this up.

Speedy (7 years ago) Reply

Watched the first two eps so far.
1: Are there NO married couples in the US that stay married anymore????
2: Why is everyone so "edgy" and FREAKING STUPID??????"
3: Why does no one learn from previous experience???
I suspect I will give it a few more eps, just to see which idiots die first.

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