MAKE ME LIKE: Fear The Walking Dead

I was midway through the third episode of the second season of Fear The Walking Dead when I realised something. I don’t enjoy the show. I rarely have. In fact, I’m sure the only reason why I continue to watch it is because of the other show it’s associated with and nothing else.

Marketed as a look at the start of the zombie apocalypse in the same shared universe as The Walking Dead, FTWD started out with a lot of promise. It managed to make zombies seem like a danger again, which is quite the feat considering how everyone on the main show seems to treat them like mild nuisances now. It promised an interesting side to the zombie apocalypse that I have always been morbidly fascinated by: the disintegration of society and all the chaos that comes with it. I am wicked fun at parties, if you’re wondering.

We got that. For a few episodes.

Anything that set it apart from similar undead fare was quickly forgotten as it employed a lazy flashforward past the earliest stages of the outbreak. Opportunities for unique set-pieces and storylines were completely missed with the show instead complacent enough to lean on the “the military are dicks” trope that is utterly worn out and tired.

Fear The Walking Dead settled into a well-versed routine from there that you will see in countless other similar shows and movies. It became sadly predictable and rough around the edges, culminating in a melodramatic, uneffective finale for its first season. The second season hasn’t offered much improvement so far, spending a lot of time in a single location as bottle episodes but somehow failing to add any interesting traits to its cast of survivors.

If you have any suggestions for TV show leads that are somehow even less endearing than the bland Madison and Travis, I would love to hear them. Their constant bumblings and lack of chemistry makes for painful viewing with Travis in particular being hard to relate to. Cliff Curtis is probably a capable actor in other roles, but his portrayal as the clueless patriarch isn’t helped by his inability to convey emotion without just looking confused and a little like he needs to sleep. I mean, look at this. Look at it.

The second season so far has been aimless, almost like a budget horror movie. Sending the survivors off to sea was a huge mistake, taking even further emphasis away from the fact that it’s supposed to be a show about the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. Whether it’s had to deal with budget cuts that stop Fear The Walking Dead from expanding into more original, daring territory is anyone’s guess, but the longer they’re away from civilisation, the more I have to wonder what the purpose of the show is. When measured against the world of The Walking Dead, with its almost constantly engaging narrative, well-developed heroes to root for and Big Bads to hate, Fear just comes across as a little hollow and pointless.

There are some aspects to Fear that I do like, though. Nick’s transition from selfish addict to slightly less selfish ex-addict with a conscience has been the highlight so far; he has certainly developed more than most of the other characters. The zombie action is also effective, showing that regular people can’t just become superhuman when given a piece of wood and several walking cadavers to contend with.

I feel like Fear The Walking Dead is missing key ingredients. I could get over the fact that it isn’t actually quite like how it was initially marketed if there was more cohesion to the show, the characters were worth caring about or that it tried to do something different instead of settling for the safe options. As much as I will bitch and whinge about it, I am probably always going to watch to see what happens from one week to the next. If it wants to keep my attention on the screen and away from me Googling memes of Bill Murray, though, it’s going to have to change and try harder.

Am I being too harsh on a young show? Should I be in love with Travis? Try to convince me to see the light by dropping a comment below.