Fear the Walking Dead

Starring: Colman Domingo (109 episodes), Alycia Debnam-Carey (102 episodes), Danay Garcia (98 episodes), Ruben Blades (87 episodes), Jenna Elfman (75 episodes), Lennie James (70 episodes), Alexa Nisenson (61 episodes), Kim Dickens (58 episodes), Austin Amelio (58 episodes), Karen David (52 episodes), Maggie Grace (50 episodes), Mo Collins (47 episodes), Frank Dillane (44 episodes), Christine Evangelista (42 episodes), Garret Dillahunt (41 episodes), Mercedes Mason (35 episodes), Colby Hollman (35 episodes), Cliff Curtis (24 episodes), Daniel Sharman (22 episodes), Lorenzo James Henrie (20 episodes), Daryl Mitchell (18 episodes), Zoe Colletti (16 episodes), Keith Carradine (16 episodes), Sam Underwood (14 episodes), Lisandra Tena (13 episodes), Michael William Freeman (11 episodes), Peter Jacobson (11 episodes), Colby Minifie (11 episodes), Michael Greyeyes (10 episodes), Justin Rain (10 episodes), Bailey Gavulic (10 episodes), Ethan Suess (10 episodes), Dayton Callie (10 episodes), Cooper Dodson (9 episodes), Craig Nigh (9 episodes), Matt Lasky (9 episodes), Jayla Walton (8 episodes), Omid Abtahi (8 episodes), Cory Hart (8 episodes), Elizabeth Rodriguez (8 episodes), Karen Bethzabe (7 episodes), Ramses Jimenez (7 episodes), Brigitte Kali Canales (7 episodes), Paul Calderon (6 episodes), Aaron Stanford (6 episodes), Maya Eshet (6 episodes), Evan Gamble (5 episodes), Rhoda Griffis (5 episodes), Triston Dye (5 episodes), Nick Stahl (5 episodes), John Glover (4 episodes), Nathan Sutton (4 episodes), Frank Hildebrand (3 episodes), Jake B. Miller (3 episodes), Dougray Scott (2 episodes), Scott Lawrence (2 episodes), Ray McKinnon (2 episodes), Andrew Lincoln (1 episode), Melissa McBride (1 episode), Schuyler Fisk (1 episode), Michael Papajohn (1 episode)
Directed by: Michael E. Satrazemis (23 episodes), Stefan Schwartz (6 episodes), Andrew Bernstein (6 episodes), Heather Cappiello (6 episodes), Adam Davidson (6 episodes), Ron Underwood (5 episodes), Sharat Raju (4 episode), Colman Domingo (3 episodes), Lennie James (3 episodes), Kari Skogland (2 episodes), Deborah Chow (2 episodes), Daniel Sackheim (1 episode), Lou Diamond Phillips (1 episode), Alycia Debnam-Carey (1 episode), Danai Garcia (1 episode)
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
2015-2023

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8

Summary: The Clark family fights to survive at the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse and their journey brings many others into their orbit.

Review:
Tim: It feels insurmountably difficult to review Fear the Walking Dead. To summarize a show that began as a prequel series, ran 8 seasons with 113 episodes, saw so many cast members, show reconceptualizations, time jumps... I find the task daunting. This is made harder by the fact that the series started out lukewarm- I remember thinking, "It's fine, but it's no The Walking Dead." Then, the show found its footing, increased in quality, and I remember a season or two where it felt like this show was on equal footing with its progenitor. There were episodes where I thought, "Is this show actually more entertaining?" And then, the series completely falls apart. The last two seasons were some of the worst television I've ever seen- the series became nearly unwatchable. I couldn't stomach sitting through each miserable episode. How do you review a show that was all these things?

The series started out with big fanfare- the first Walking Dead spinoff, a series that promised to take us back to the origins of the apocalypse. I don't think any of us expected to follow the journey of the Clark family- but Travis, Madison, Alicia, and Nick grew on us. Their dysfunction, their stumbling through unknown situations. I didn't like them at first, but they definitely became more important as time went on. The deaths started to pile up, and surprisingly, Alicia emerged as the star of the show. Alycia Debnam-Carey emerged as a force, the highlight of the early seasons. Her character grew in importance as well. Many twists and turns later, the series jumped ahead to become not a prequel series any longer, but a companion series. The big event was bringing Lennie James (and others, fair) from the original series to this one. I loved that, loved the ways it opened up possibilities to further connect both series. This show delivered some truly great episodes there. And then, eventually, we get to seasons 7 and 8, unwatchable garbage that made zero sense. The series ran out of ideas- characters spout the same stupid garbage, themes circle, recycle, come back again and again. We get a seemingly infinite number of Mexican standoffs. Characters make repeatedly stupid decisions, letting people live against all logic, saying the most inane, absurd things that no human would ever really say. A character who suffered from severe memory and mental issues is cured by smoothies. I mean, I am unwilling to venture too deeply into the many, many issues that ruined this series. So, how do I review a series that was average, good, great, and one of the worst series I've ever seen? The journey this series takes us on is unlike any other, and that's not always a good thing.

This also makes it impossibly hard to talk about the cast, at least the ones who stuck around. As I've said, Alycia Debnam-Carey was perhaps the highlight for me. I hated what they did with her character (I read one review that called her character "Zombie Jesus", which is what the show tried to make her). Debnam-Carey stepped away from the day-to-day a bit too late, but she avoided the absolute worst of the series. She's my series MVP. I loved the work Kim Dickens did in the early seasons (SPOILER), but she eventually returns in an idiotic way and she was forced to deliver some of the worst lines of the series. I like Dickens, but she looked like a moron in the last few seasons. Colman Domingo is a good actor and at times, had great material to work with. As the series went on, though, Strand became so many things, most of them I hated. He was a bad guy, a good guy, a kinda bad guy, the series big bad, and then a good guy again. None of it made sense, none of it felt earned. I'm sorry Domingo had to deal with this garbage and look so bad in the process. Danay Garcia was a mainstay of the series and never contributed all that much. Her character was dull and I couldn't believe how long she was on the show. Ruben Blades was another close call for MVP. Daniel Salazar did some stupid things throughout this series, but Blades constantly elevated the character in great ways. The series should have given him more to do, he was excellent. I loved Jenna Elfman on this show, but her character fell apart towards the end. Elfman consistently delivered strong performances and deserved better from the writers. I loved Lennie James when he came over and he briefly made the series great. Morgan Jones eventually became insufferable and annoying, which is a shame. I got sick of James on screen here, which is something I never expected to say. Austin Amelio was another carry over from TWD and he mostly did good work. If I heard that girl call him "D" one more time, I might have had an aneurysm. It's the worst nickname in the world and sickening how often she said it. So, so stupid. Maggie Grace was a delight on the series and for a while, she was one of the most interesting characters. I give her tons of credit for elevating her character continually. It's amazing to compare this one to her role on Lost- she has far greater range than I ever expected. Grace was excellent here. Frank Dillane definitely made us feel a range of emotions for Nick. His performance is unforgettable. Garret Dillahunt is another MVP candidate. John Dorie was one of the best characters of the series and Dillahunt's performance always made me pay attention. No surprise, the episodes where Dillahunt featured prominently were among the series' best. I really loved his performance and I'll always be excited when I see him in any future project. Cliff Curtis was critical to getting this series off the ground- his early episode performances made the series feel legitimate. Keith Carradine added a surprisingly good, memorable performance as well. He was really effective. I liked seeing Peter Jacobson, but he just never got enough to do. Daryl Mitchell, not a fan of his work here. Omid Abtahi was effective during one of the stupidest, moronic parts of the whole show (god, that stupid tower fight...) Okay, I could discuss others, but I think I'm done.

It's hard to write about this series now because there were long stretches where I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were shocking events, powerful moments, unforgettable characters. This long-form zombie storytelling method worked really well for The Walking Dead and while this series didn't last as long nor with as many episodes, it's still incredible how long it lasted. It did broaden the scope of this mega-story about the zombie apocalypse. With this series complete, there's 19 total seasons and 290 episodes of television in this franchise. That's remarkable. Sadly, some of that achievement is lost if you forced yourself to suffer through the last two seasons of this show. This series features a stunning decline of viewers (7-10 million for season 1, fewer than 1 million for the final season). It absolutely went on too long and became terrible. The writing was beyond atrocious. I don't even want to look up who the showrunners were the final two seasons, but they should never work again. Besides that, though, I'm trying to remember the good, earlier seasons. And, I'm trying to marvel at what this television franchise conglomerate has accomplished.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, The Passage, Falling Skies, The Stand