Fear the Walking Dead left many fans disappointed in its debut season. Part of The Walking Dead universe, it is set at the onset of the zombie plague and introduces us to a cast that was hard to connect with like you did with the original. While not explaining how the plague started, it gave us a glimpse into a family as Los Angeles slowly and then quickly deteriorates into complete anarchy. Fortunately, they meet Strand who leads them to his boat ‘Abigail’ and season 2 picks up a few hours after Travis is forced to shoot his ex-wife Liza after she had been bitten.
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Out on the Sea
The season kicks off with the group racing to get on the boat before the dead and the living find them. Los Angeles is on fire with the military still making strikes, and it is with the dead on the beach that the group escaped into the night. The rules have changed with the group on Strand’s boat. Forced to think of themselves, they ignore the cries of a passing group stuffed to capacity while Alicia listens on the CB radio, only hear the coast guard tell all those listening that no help is coming before finding herself chatting with a stranger. A string theme early on is coping. Travis tries to deal with the guilt of agreeing not to bring people on the boat, while Madison is upset with him but just trying to cope with the situation. Chris is struggling with the death of his mother, and finds a companion in Daniel Salazar. Fishing and shared losses help them try to heal the wounds, though it leaves Travis feeling left out not being able to connect with his son.
Madison finds herself on top of the yacht talking to Strand, but it isn’t really clear why until you find Madison talking to Daniel about what’s next. He admits too that despite everything Strand has done to help him, there isn’t something quite right with his character. The group finally gives a farewell to Liza and in spite of Travis’s speech, Chris seems unable to really cope with the situation and angrily dumps his mother into the sea. Travis follows him back to his room where Chris is freaking out and ends up punching his dad.
Realities of the New World
Alicia is talking with her new “friend” Jack who says that his boat is taking on water and nearly gets Alicia to reveal their exact whereabouts. Strand finds outs and lays down the law of what is acceptable in his boat. The only one who Strand seems to get along with is Nick, and even then you get the feeling it is only cause Strand has a use for him. Madison pays Chris a visit and seems to make a dent in his anger though he avoids the family dinner to take a random swim. Back on the boat Alicia lets Jack know they can’t help, only for him to tell her that he’ll see her soon. Back in the ocean, Nick swims into a zombie. The fog or smoke hid from view a capsized boat and with it, a bunch of seaworthy zombies. Nick, trying to be a hero, goes to rescue someone only for it to be a trapped zombie. Travis, Nick and Chris finally make their way back to the ship when Strand is alerted to an approaching boat.
Not a lot of action to start this week, but Fear the Walking Dead put together one of its best episodes yet. The episode ‘Monster’ does a good job at shaping and alerting the viewers to the dangers the group will face this season. Zombies are always the main threat, but Fear the Walking Dead will introduce opponents for the group in a way we have yet to sea. The troubles at sea should make for interesting scenes and action. The cast of characters are still being fleshed out and while we have seen glimpses of most, it will be interesting to see how the apocalypse will change good people to bad and bad people to good. All in all, Fear the Walking Dead can be best summed up with, Keep Calm and Trust no one.