Fear the Walking Dead was always going to be fighting an uphill battle.  For one thing, there’s the title, which just doesn’t roll off the tongue.  And then there’s the whole problematic recognition that the original comic and TV series made a conscious choice to skip the beginning of the zombie apocalypse and rush right into the survival plot elements.  Why?  Because we’ve seen it all before.  Even those of us who like the character-centric aspect of the franchise know that characters are most interesting under extremities of crisis. 

On the one hand, there is a certain appeal to knowing that the characters are on the verge of apocalypse and don’t realize it.  There are some who would say that this theme is intentional, as many fear that society as a whole is slipping dangerously close to that edge.  No matter how fast it actually happens (and within the continuity, it clearly takes very little time for society to crumble), it will only be worth the wait to the audience if the characters are interesting enough to make us care that they are living through it.




Right now, the only character with a spark of life to him is Nick, and considering he’s largely interesting because of the sheer amount of therapy and rehab he requires, that’s not necessarily a good thing.  I understand the point of making the central characters a couple of relatively “normal” families, more absorbed in their own drama than the world around them; it sets the stage to ask the question of what these “normal” people will be willing to do to survive.  I just don’t want to sit through an extended introduction to their problems, when I have no pre-existing reason to be invested in them in the first place.  

I don’t blame the cast; they are doing everything they can with this material, with the knowledge that their acting skills are really going to be put through the paces later.  Which might be why Nick (played by Frank Dillane) is the most interesting character right now; he’s struggling to remain sane from the get-go.  Everything else is paint-by-numbers and could have been lifted right out of a bland 80s family drama.  Are we supposed to want to see these “everyday people” forced to do horrible things, as a reflection of “ourselves”, or want them to die in horrible ways?  I could go for either right now, and I’m not sure that’s the point.



I also have to mention the score.  Bear McCreary has been a favorite of mine since Battlestar Galactica, and he rarely disappoints.  The theme for The Walking Dead is perfect.  In contrast, Paul Haslinger had better start bringing something more to the table than his favorite excerpts from Inception.  It might seem like an unreasonable nitpick, but this wouldn’t be the first spinoff to suffer from discordant scoring choices.





At the same time, it’s worth noting that this is a pilot episode, and delving into the family of characters was a necessary evil.  Less necessary, perhaps, was making the premiere a 90-minute ordeal.  The premiere of this series may have garnered the highest cable series premiere ratings in television history, but that won’t matter at all if a huge percentage of those viewers choose not to tune in for the second episode.  Even the knowledge that the series has already been renewed for a second season won’t matter if the audience has no reason to look forward to more.