Fear The Walking Dead Episode 1 Review: Slow Descent Into Chaos (Series Premiere)

Thus begins the zombie apocalypse. Flu like symptoms have been reported in five states and numbers of people are missing. In Los Angeles, a student named Tobias brings a knife to school. When guidance counselor Madison asks him about it, Tobias says Nobody's going to college. Nobody's doing anything they think they are anymore." Madison believes the authorities will tell them if something is wrong. Uh...maybe not. 

Across town heroin addict Nick Clark seems to know the score. He wakes up in an abandoned church/drug den to find girlfriend Gloria chomping down on some guy. He escapes by running down the middle of the street and is hit by a car. Obviously junkies dont make the best decisions. 

Nick's mother Madison and her boyfriend Travis visit Nick in the hospital. But no one believes him...cause he's a junkie. Travis is curious enough to head over to the drug house where he finds lot of blood on the floor. He later brings Madison to the same spot. Maybe Nick isnt so crazy after all.

Meanwhile Nick's sister Alicia is busy being a high school student. She is supposed to meet boyfriend Matt in the park so they can run away together but he's MIA. Either he's in the doghouse or he's already a zombie. Odds are he's a zombie since he's black and we all know black guys dont fare well in horror movies. On a side note, can someone please make a show where the black guys survive and everyone else bites it?

Nick escapes the hospital and goes looking for Calvin. Was the heroin laced with something? Maybe PCB? What would cause these hallucinations? We also see Madison and Travis visit Calvin in the hopes of finding Nick. They apparently dont know he's a dealer. Calvin takes Nick to the reservoir and pulls out a gun. Nick kills the guy in self dense. Later he brings Madison and Travis to where the body was. But Calvin is gone. Well actually he's now a zombie who comes really close to chomping Madison's arm. The parents dont know what to think. At least Nick has half a brain. He runs over Calvin several times. And yep he's still moving but definitely dead. Better get in the truck and drive away quickly...

Favorite Quotes:

• "Nobody's going to college. Nobody's doing anything they think they are anymore."- student Tobia to Madison when she confiscates a knife from him. So far, Tobias is the smartest person on this show. 
• "You need to spend less time online. If there's a problem we're going to know about it. The authorities will tell us."- Madison to Tobias. Keep thinking that lady and see how that works out. 
• Madison (after seeing Calvin, shot, run over and still kicking): "What is happening?" Travis: "I have no idea."

Grade: 3 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). "Fear The Walking Dead" set a record for the biggest cable viewership in history so it definitely has the audience's attention. There are only six episodes in season 1 (so not a lot of time to get us rooting for the characters and their survival). Having said that, the 90 minute premiere was a little slow at times. It would have benefited from being an hour long instead. I know we have to set up the characters but we really needed a few stellar zombie moments to keep us coming back. As you recall the first episode of "The Walking Dead" had Rick awakening from a coma and wandering outside to find walkers everywhere. Now that's how to start a show. But regardless, I'll be sticking around to see what becomes of the Clark clan cause I just cant resist a zombie apocalypse. 

Photo Credits:
http://www.dadido.science/fear-the-walking-dead-pilot-spoilers

The World According To GMonster
TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Adventure; Light On Reality

August 29, 2015

8:39 AM