Fear the Walking Dead?



Last night was the premier of Fear the Walking Dead.

I was (and am still a bit) on the fence about this show. The title isn’t really stellar. Norman Reedus isn’t even in the show. I mean do we need another zombie show on AMC?

After last night I say yes. Yes we do!

The general premise is the whole here are two families, with issues, and The Walking Dead zombie outbreak is in it’s infancy. Alright I’m sort of on board. Well once the show starts rolling the seeds of what I refer to as “the fall” are sown. I love me some zombie stuff. However, I have discovered over the last few years, that I really like “the fall” when it comes to zombie stories.

“The fall” is the deterioration of the system the breaking of society, the anarchy that ensues and the fall of human society. That is where I have found I like my zombie stories to take place.

Now I know that the survival side post outbreak is good for gore and morality tales, but it plays out the same a lot of the time. You get; the survivalist nut jobs, the small time crooks turned kingpins, the cannibals, the tragic personal stories, the fallen heroes, the self-sacrifice, the rapey stuff, the kill crazy gangs, the lone wolf survivor, a religious zealot, random acts of crazy stuff, the safe haven that isn’t what it appears to be and on and on and on. We have all seen these, well if you watch or read a lot of zombie culture.

This count as barbacoa?

I have discovered more than anything with the zombie apocalypse scenario I really enjoy “the fall.” When and how society falls apart amidst brain eating corpses is so much more enjoyable to me. Seeing the doubt and nay saying surrounding the early stages of undead scourge I find so much more entertaining. Plus there is always  that moment where the shite meets the proverbial fan. The news stories that show dead people walking and attacking. The doubt that all this could be real. The random disappearance and potential zombie reappearance of people/family/friends. When the zombie stuff is realized and everything falls apart. The police and military are out of control and useless. The government shuts down or goes into hiding. Emergency services are neutered. The glorious hospital terror as full codes arise to chew on nearby nurses. The news agencies go all apey. People and families either band together or shatter completely. Plus any other undoing of human society thanks to the dead waking about and nibbling on people. I love that so much more than the events that follow a few months after.

Fear the Walking Dead looks like it might be just that kind of story. Over the next five to six weeks hopefully this show will run the gambit and give me something The Walking Dead hasn’t for a few seasons, something to really enjoy, besides just random squishy zombie death every episode and Rick’s varying amount of facial hair.

I have no preconceived notions and stories about the characters in the show. I have no attachments at all to these people. I can easily choose to root for or against them. I don’t have to worry that they might ruin my favorite character or story arc. I don’t have to worry about story lines that differ from the comic I loved. I can simply immerse myself and watch not knowing what will happen or if it happened completely wrong from the comic.

That is so refreshing. This is what it must be like to watch The Walking Dead as a normal human (or normie as I refer to them). Plus this show involves the bit of the zombie apocalypse that I have come to embrace as my favorite bit, “the fall.”

Fear the Walking Dead, you have my attention and unless you do something really stupid in the next few weeks (like a placating cameo of Merle and Daryl driving through L.A. for no reason or some crap like that) I’m right there with you.