Despite the recent criticism I had of The Walking Dead I do love the show, not as much as I used to but I never miss an episode. When the spin off was announced I was eager to watch it, hoping to recapture the feelings I had when I started watching The Walking Dead. I'm sad to report that although I stuck through the first season of Fear The Walking Dead I was mostly bored and I find it hard to remember moments I liked. That's a lie, I struggle to remember any moments. Even when a TV show is bad you can remember some bits and pieces about it but I have trouble remembering anything. All I know about it is that there was a woman that died and some teenager with a drug habit. No memorable deaths, no memorable characters.
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach throughout every episode because it just wasn't even half as good as The Walking Dead, I may have my issues with season 6 of the series but the first outing most certainly had me on tenterhooks. One of the main issues is the actual characters, as you'd probably guessed from my opening paragraph there is nothing special about them whatsoever, I'd have trouble naming them if I didn't have IMDB up right now. With The Walking Dead you had the badassery of Rick and Daryl, the lunacy of Shane, the father figure in Dale as well as the ever dependable Glenn. The show also featured minor characters like Jacqui who was probably only in a couple of scenes but I remember her a lot clearer than the characters in Fear which doesn't bode well for the show.
The characters on the show are just there, they don't seem to have any distinct personalities to them to make them stand out so how am I supposed to root for them exactly? I wouldn't be upset or shocked if one of them died as they seem like throwaway characters at this point. They are the type of filler characters that The Walking Dead add with the intention of killing off so how can they sustain a show? The tide maybe changing slightly on this front with the arrival of Victor Strand who is a mystery and currently the only person I actually give a damn about. Only a fraction of a damn. We are also about to meet some antagonists to the group in upcoming episodes so hopefully that'll be of interest but it is a bad sign that I'm already rooting for the antagonists to win.
Another issue is the pacing of the show is too slow, Fear has only covered a few days or weeks, but that's no excuse. The Walking Dead has covered a pretty short span of time but so much has happened and it always keeps you on your toes, even when they were stuck at the farm for a season there were events to keep you coming back for more. With Fear it feels like nothing much has happened other than the starter wife having the husband kill her because she got infected and then the son gets a bit pissy about it. Things actually need to happen in the show, they can't just stay stationary every episode and just talk about right and wrong. They spent the whole of the second season premiere on a boat, I don't think I could handle it if that's the way season two is going to go. The only reason I didn't get annoyed and drop The Walking Dead during the farm slump was because the characters were actually interesting, even the annoying ones. I'm not too fond of the characters on Fear The Walking Dead if you hadn't noticed.
Those two reasons are almost enough to make me give up on the show, but to top it all off it's not even really a spin off of The Walking Dead no matter what the advertising says. The show is set during a zombie apocalypse, as are many other films and television shows. The show isn't even in the same timeline as The Walking Dead and doesn't feature any familiar characters and a spin off is supposed to have similarities with the primary show. Saying Fear The Walking Dead is a spin off to The Walking Dead is basically the same as saying iZombie is a spin off of the show just because there are some similar elements. The show would have worked better if they followed the likes of Morales from season one, that way we can see the way the apocalypse is fairing in other areas in the US as well as have a familiar face and cross-over potential.
The fact that this show is advertised as a spin off of The Walking Dead is probably it's undoing as people expect it to be just as thrilling. There's a chance I may have enjoyed the show if it wasn't for the association and constant comparisons to the sister show, now I struggle to get through the show without falling asleep. The only reason I stuck through the first season was out of loyalty to The Walking Dead but I don't think that'll keep me going for much longer. It just seems so dull, slow and has uninteresting characters so I'll wait until the antagonists arrive and see if they make it any better. If they don't then I'll have to jump ship. Which I wish the characters of Fear The Walking Dead would do. Sigh.
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