SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched tonight's series premiere episode of Fear The Walking Dead, don't read any further!
Spinoffs can be either hit or miss but in most cases they're colossal failures and there are several reasons for this. For starters, the cast ensemble is almost always never as good as the original even if some characters from the parent show crossover to the spinoff. It's hard for an audience to commit to a new core set of characters when they are so heavily invested in the fates of those in which they have an already established connection to. Now of course, this isn't always the case. If a spinoff's premise is as good as it's parent show, then maybe, just maybe, the show can stand alone and be successful in it's own right. Fear The Walking Dead is a spinoff of the hugely popular The Walking Dead, with an entirely new set of characters and a premise strikingly similar to its parent show. On the surface, Fear The Walking Dead, has the makings of becoming an epic failure BUT, I am not ready to make a judgment on it just yet. I will say that this spinoff has potential and here's why:
Overall, I am personally going to stick it out, at least for season one. It's only six episodes and then the original returns for season six.
What's your verdict on Fear The Walking Dead? Talk the walk. Walker 2
Spinoffs can be either hit or miss but in most cases they're colossal failures and there are several reasons for this. For starters, the cast ensemble is almost always never as good as the original even if some characters from the parent show crossover to the spinoff. It's hard for an audience to commit to a new core set of characters when they are so heavily invested in the fates of those in which they have an already established connection to. Now of course, this isn't always the case. If a spinoff's premise is as good as it's parent show, then maybe, just maybe, the show can stand alone and be successful in it's own right. Fear The Walking Dead is a spinoff of the hugely popular The Walking Dead, with an entirely new set of characters and a premise strikingly similar to its parent show. On the surface, Fear The Walking Dead, has the makings of becoming an epic failure BUT, I am not ready to make a judgment on it just yet. I will say that this spinoff has potential and here's why:
The show is set in Los Angeles at the start of the outbreak that has devastated the world on The Walking Dead. For the first time, viewers will get a chance to see how the world initially reacted to walkers and conversely to the parent show it won't be in small scale environments. I for one cannot wait for to see how the walkers lay siege to city like L.A. and the government's response to this outbreak. What struck me the most about the setting of Fear The Walking Dead was the visual contrast between the darkness that pervades the parent show on a daily basis versus the darkness that is masked within a city that is so bright and vibrant like L.A.
The writing of Fear The Walking Dead, in my opinion, has also not lost a beat. I really enjoyed how the writers used a drug addict's perspective to unveil the impending apocalypse. It works within the context of the show because no one would believe that walkers were real so it is quite ingenious to have a drug addict be the one to uncover the first known walker and in essence become the show's voice of reason.
I also liked how the show immediately begins to question humanity and what it means to be human. The first scene and initial walker attack takes place in a church which echoes much of the parent show's views on religion and whether morality and ethics plays a role within a post-apocalyptic world. There's also a scene that takes place within a classroom where the protagonist of the show questions his students about the role of man within nature and the message he delivers is that "nature always wins." Little does he know, how right he is.
What I didn't like about the series premiere of Fear The Walking Dead is that the characters are hard to relate to. I don't know about you but I really can't find it in me to care about a drug addict. I also find it super cliche that the parent of said drug addict is a guidance counselor who's main job is to prevent teens from drug and alcohol abuse. The other aspect of the show that is driving me crazy is how damn slow paced it is. I knew from interviews that it would be and often times than not so is The Walking Dead but if AMC wants the show to succeed then it needs to move just a tad bit quicker.
The writing of Fear The Walking Dead, in my opinion, has also not lost a beat. I really enjoyed how the writers used a drug addict's perspective to unveil the impending apocalypse. It works within the context of the show because no one would believe that walkers were real so it is quite ingenious to have a drug addict be the one to uncover the first known walker and in essence become the show's voice of reason.
I also liked how the show immediately begins to question humanity and what it means to be human. The first scene and initial walker attack takes place in a church which echoes much of the parent show's views on religion and whether morality and ethics plays a role within a post-apocalyptic world. There's also a scene that takes place within a classroom where the protagonist of the show questions his students about the role of man within nature and the message he delivers is that "nature always wins." Little does he know, how right he is.
What I didn't like about the series premiere of Fear The Walking Dead is that the characters are hard to relate to. I don't know about you but I really can't find it in me to care about a drug addict. I also find it super cliche that the parent of said drug addict is a guidance counselor who's main job is to prevent teens from drug and alcohol abuse. The other aspect of the show that is driving me crazy is how damn slow paced it is. I knew from interviews that it would be and often times than not so is The Walking Dead but if AMC wants the show to succeed then it needs to move just a tad bit quicker.
Overall, I am personally going to stick it out, at least for season one. It's only six episodes and then the original returns for season six.
What's your verdict on Fear The Walking Dead? Talk the walk. Walker 2
