*This is my original content review for

Fear the Walking Dead (Season 1) Review

Sharing the same universe with AMC’s post-apocalyptic smash hit The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, is a prequel set in Los Angeles, California, which takes place a day before the zombie outbreak and focuses on the events leading up to it. Told through the eyes of a dysfunctional suburban family, Fear the Walking Dead follows their struggle to survive the impending collapse of civilization while at the same time dealing with an array of their own internal issues. The first season premièred on 23 August, 2015 and contains six episodes, the first episode of the second season has already aired, and it’s scheduled for fifteen episodes in total. I haven’t started the second season yet, and I might wait until it’s all out to dive into it, so this review is for the first season only, I know that’s evident by the title, but there are idiots everywhere, and also, if you've read any of my other reviews, you’ll notice I like to start with an introduction paragraph, which is this in this one, keep up! And honestly I was pretty much done at internal issues, but it just felt a little short, it doesn't now, it feels like a nice chunk now, so let’s begin my review of Fear the Walking Dead.

Kim Dickens as Madison, Cliff Curtis as Travis,
Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia and Frank Dillane as Nick

First of all, let’s get the comparison to The Walking Dead (TWD) out of the way, is it as good? Of course not, but it’s an impossible expectation to put on Fear the Walking Dead (FtWD), we’re six seasons deep into TWD, that’s a lot of emotional investment, we've spent so much time with Rick and the crew, you can’t realistically expect FtWD to carry the weight TWD has built up over six seasons in just six episodes, a better comparison would be the first season of both, and if we do that, I really think FtWD holds its own. I had criticisms of that first season, and I have a few for this one, but overall, I trust these guys, and I think FtWD is headed in an exciting direction. As far as comparisons, FtWD seems tamer on the gore front and a little more focused on the story of the outbreak itself, it’s still a mystery and I get the sense that if an explanation to what this virus actually is and where it originated from is ever to surface, it will happen here and not in TWD, although I'm sure there will be a few crossover points. TWD is more about survival and character development in a world already lost, FtWD is about losing that world, and how it becomes lost. There’s also the difference in setting, FtWD being set in a city, and TWD being set in the country. Both share a very familiar tone with just enough of a difference to justify FtWD’s existence, they complement each other perfectly!

Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark
and Frank Dillane as Nick Clark

I loved Fear the Walking Dead, it’s thrilling, exciting and intriguing, they’re building a lot of interesting themes and I'm excited to see where they take the series, and with season one securing such a solid foundation already, it’s looking very promising! FtWD is a very well written show, the dialogue isn't quite as sharp as The Walking Dead yet, but as I mentioned above, it’s still in its early stages of development, and it’s still a very well written show, the story telling is excellent! I was invested and engaged all the way through, the characters are interesting and it’s perfectly paced with wonderful direction and great performances. I love the atmosphere they create, it’s got a bleak tone with a constant feeling of impending doom which keeps the tension very high, the scope feels as wide as TWD and it’s a thrilling experience from start to finish, I can’t wait to start the second season! I'm being very positive about the show, so I should probably point out that I've just recently finished season 6 of The Walking Dead and I'm still buzzing from the hype of that, and I will write a review for that sixth season, but my point is that I've been invested in this world recently, so I may be over excited, but as it stands now, my opinion on Fear the Walking Dead is that it’s building into something great and it firmly stands on its own as well as being a fantastic companion series for The Walking Dead, I really enjoyed it, but I recognize that this isn’t a ground breaking series or anything, not based on this first season any way, but I did find it thoroughly engaging, it’s a great start to what will hopefully be a brilliant series!

Ruben Blades as Daniel Salazar
and Mercedes Mason as Griselda Salazar

Fear the Walking Dead has a great cast, with the story mainly being told from the perspective of one family, consisting of Madison Clark (played by Kim Dickens), a high school guidance councillor and mother of two, her son, Nick Clark (played by Frank Dillane), a college dropout and heroin addict, and her daughter, Alicia Clark (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey), the more well-rounded successful sibling. Then there’s Travis Manawa (played by Cliff Curtis), Madison’s boyfriend, recently divorced father and high school English teacher, his ex-wife Liza Ortiz (played by Elizabeth Rodriguez), and their son Christopher Manawa (played by Lorenzo James Henrie), a rebellious teenager who resents his father for the divorce. Outside the main cast, some fantastic side (for now) characters include, Daniel Salazar (played by Ruben Blades), a Salvadorian refugee with a dark past and ruthless tendencies, his wife Griselda Salazar (played by Mercedes Mason), and his daughter Ofelia Salazar. The most intriguing character by far is Victor Strand (played by Colman Domingo), a sophisticated smooth talker with an extremely mysterious role in the story, I can’t wait to find out more about him! And of course my favourite character so far, Tobias (played by Lincoln A. Castellanos), a high school senior wise beyond his years, I loved this kid, he only had a small part but I’m sure we’ll see more of him, there’s a lot of potential there.

Lincoln A. Castellanos as Tobias

I've noticed a few criticisms in the way of, people think there are moments when the characters don’t react entirely appropriately to certain situations, and I agree to a degree, but I do think it’s probably more realistic this way. As the audience, especially if you’re coming over from The Walking Dead, the whole idea of zombies is much clearer to us, but if something like this did happen, I don’t think people would just snap into the ultimate survival mind state, it wouldn't be easy killing people who just yesterday were your next door neighbours, even if they were zombified! This is a fairly well off sub urban family, and the apocalypse only just kicked off, cut them some slack! Madison annoys me though, it would be nice to watch her die, I'm not gonna lie. Anyway, the only main character (so far), who seems to be built for a zombie apocalypse is Nick, he’s used to chaos and his drug addiction perfectly parallels the zombie apocalypse, there’s a great moment where he’s talking to Madison and he says, ‘’I never knew where I was going, it’s like I've been living this for a long time, and now everyone is catching up with me’’, I love that moment, and I love the sentiment, it’s a beautiful idea and I'm sure a lot of people could relate to it. Also, following in the footsteps of TWD, FtWD has a fantastic soundtrack, Kettering – The Antlers, beautiful! The songs are all used well, this is an all-round great season, I can’t find many flaws in it, this is a very strong introduction to the series, and if you’re one of those people who complained that it was too slow, there weren't enough zombies or that there were no awesome characters like Rick or Daryl, you’re a cunt.

In conclusion, I loved Fear the Walking Dead and I can’t wait to start the second season, I didn't go into it expecting much, and I came out really impressed, FtWD is more cliché in its approach to the zombie genre than TWD, but it’s done very well and maintains its edge throughout, I recommend it not only to existing fans of The Walking Dead, but to any fans of the zombie genre at all, this is a great show, well, season, but all the signs point to a great series, fingers crossed it doesn't lose its way for some unseen reason, I don’t think it will, but who knows what the future holds. For now, I recommend the first season, and I'm optimistic about the second, I’ll have a review for the second season when it’s all out, and I’ll have a spoiler review for season six of The Walking Dead soon as well! I’ll see you on the other side.

Follow TheBloodyCritique on Twitter for the latest rants and reviews.