BWW Recap: Take Me to Church on FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Maybe it's just me, but if a dead body walks toward you and then you run it over with a car and it is still coming toward you so you run it over again and then it looks at you? I don't know, I guess I would LEAVE? AMC's FEAR THE WALKING DEAD has begun and Los Angeles will never be the same.

Right from the start, it was clear that this would be a different show than its predecessor. Where THE WALKING DEAD focuses on surviving in the aftermath of the apocalypse FEAR THE WALKING DEAD is taking us into those final moments right before the apocalypse strikes.There is something happening and even though, we the audience, know what it is, the characters do not.

We are focused, thus far, on one blended family, a new BRADY BUNCH for the millennium, if you will. Madison, high school guidance counselor and Travis, high school English teacher have just moved in together and blended their families. Travis has a son, Chris, who lives with his mother and isn't all too keen about hanging out with dear old Dad. Madison has a daughter, Alicia, who lives with them and a very troubled son, Nick (or as I know him, young Tom Riddle.) Nick, a consistent drug addict, wakes up in an abandoned church, now inhabited by homeless and junkies, only to find a pile of bodies and his girlfriend eating one of them. Nick escapes and is hit by a car leading him to the hospital. He tells his family stories which they chalk up to drugs, but as Madison and Travis investigate further, Nick may not be so crazy after all. More and more kids are calling in sick to school much to the principal's dismay and odd Patient X, Tobias, warns counselor, Madison, that something bad is coming. I think at some point, we really do need to listen to the "weird people." Maybe they have more insight than we are giving them credit for.

Alicia, clearly often overshadowed by her troubled brother, has found solace in her artist boyfriend, Matt. (AMC, please keep using actors from THE WIRE.) When Matt doesn't show up for their planned romantic evening, Alicia is worried. Especially when a viral video shows a dead body coming alive and attacking a paramedic. After Nick escapes the hospital, he gets in touch with his dealer/friend, Calvin. As Calvin takes Nick to the LA Riverbed (#drought), a scuffle ensues and Nick kills Calvin. He gives in and calls Travis and Madison to come get him and they witness repeatedly, a very dead Calvin coming after them to attack.

There is some fantastic imagery throughout the entire episode. Nick, drugged out and injured, has a walk that resembles a zombie and his awakening taking place in a rundown church is all very meta, but what I really did like is that it is a very different take on this story. Sure, it may be the same world as TWD, but it is not the same show. It doesn't seem action-packed, it does aim to thrive on character development and the ability to try and keep a family together in the worst of possible circumstances. Even the beginning of the episode where they are focused on mundane problems such as not locked bathroom doors and plumbing issues. We, the audience, (and Tobias) know that these problems will be irrelevant in the not so distant future, which make the impending doom all the more frightening. To see planes in the air and trees and buses and cars and sports, knowing full well that all these things will be gone in a short amount of time rounds out the foresight of what's to come. And I do have to say, being a Los Angeles resident, I had to appreciate that when traffic was stopped, helicopters flew up above, that Travis' only reaction was to call their daughter and tell her to eat. Yup, just a regular Thursday night around here. (#localprobs)

If people are tuning in for TWD, they may come away disappointed as this really is a different show. But even though the pilot wasn't mind-blowing, I do see potential in watching the virus (or whatever it is) unfold and it may just provide us with some insight on how it went from a problem to an epidemic. I have faith in Robert Kirkman and AMC as they have never disappointed. It's a good cast and a good premise and I wholeheartedly believe as with most things on AMC, it will only get better with age.

Here's a preview for next week's episode:

Photo Credit: AMC

Follow me on Twitter @eponineq and follow @BWWTVWorld for all the latest updates, scoops and recaps.

To post a comment, you must register and login.