To say that the third season of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD got off to a great start, is putting it mildly. It is clear the producers have been listening to the critics, for in this first episode picked up right where the last season left off, with our main characters in a tight spot, and then only made things worse for them. By the time we finished the second episode of the premier, it is quite clear that we are not watching the same show. Things got off to a bang with Travis, Madison, Alicia and Nick reunited as captives of a group of survivalists on an army base near the Mexican border, where we are treated to torture, executions, narrows escapes, desperate reunions and a spoon shoved behind an eyeball in a great nasty bit of business. There are two scenes that rank among the series best: Travis's encounter with the Walker pit crew and when a far too curious survivalist makes the mistake of checking out some noise behind a heating vent. Let's just say there are worse things than rats in the walls.
For a moment, everyone is together again, but then a horde of Walkers show up and spoil everything, leading to another forced separation that tragically proves to be permanent for one of our regulars. In the second hour, the action moves to the ranch of the Otto family, whose patriarch is the head of the survivalists where Madison decides to stay put for the time being after yet another tense confrontation when Nick tries to force them to take in his badly injured girlfriend Luciana. These Ottos seem nice enough, but it is obvious there is more to them than meets the eye (even a gouged one). Daniel Sharman, from TEEN WOLF, and Sam Underwood, from THE FOLLOWING, are introduced as the two Otto brothers, Troy and Jake. Dayton Callie is their father, Jeremiah, the genial head of the ranch, but there are hints that he is more than he appears.
As the show progressed, it is clear that Kim Dickens's Madison Clark, is one cold piece of work, she cares very much for her family, but everyone else is usable and disposable, and she is always ready to do whatever it takes to protect her own. There is real darkness in this former guidance counselor, some fans have begun to suspect that she murdered Nick and Alisha's father. I think it is quite possible that her maiden is Dixon. She is from the South originally. Her actions lend credence to the other fan theory that what are following in FEAR is the creation of a group of villains.
Sadly, the second episode was the last for Cliff Curtis's Travis, one of our original cast members who has been a rock on this show so far. He sacrifices his self nobly, fitting for a character that often tried to be a moral center for the other characters, but as we all know, moral centers, don't last long in the Walking Dead universe. Goodbye Travis, you will be missed, but I like to think he is with Chris now.
We do catch up with Colman Domingo's Strand, back at the hotel in Mexico, who is forced to hit the road after doing a good deed for once. Something tells me, he will be all right, though he is sure to be back in a tight spot soon. He does have a beautiful scene with Brenda Strong's Ilene, a woman who has lost everything, where he does her a great mercy.
A lot of THE WALKING DEAD fans have not warmed up to FEAR, but I think if they would watch the first two episodes of season 3, I think they would change their minds. The Clark family and Victor Strand, may not be Rick, Carl, Michonne or Daryl, but after two seasons, they have definitely got a real groove of their own going.
For a moment, everyone is together again, but then a horde of Walkers show up and spoil everything, leading to another forced separation that tragically proves to be permanent for one of our regulars. In the second hour, the action moves to the ranch of the Otto family, whose patriarch is the head of the survivalists where Madison decides to stay put for the time being after yet another tense confrontation when Nick tries to force them to take in his badly injured girlfriend Luciana. These Ottos seem nice enough, but it is obvious there is more to them than meets the eye (even a gouged one). Daniel Sharman, from TEEN WOLF, and Sam Underwood, from THE FOLLOWING, are introduced as the two Otto brothers, Troy and Jake. Dayton Callie is their father, Jeremiah, the genial head of the ranch, but there are hints that he is more than he appears.
As the show progressed, it is clear that Kim Dickens's Madison Clark, is one cold piece of work, she cares very much for her family, but everyone else is usable and disposable, and she is always ready to do whatever it takes to protect her own. There is real darkness in this former guidance counselor, some fans have begun to suspect that she murdered Nick and Alisha's father. I think it is quite possible that her maiden is Dixon. She is from the South originally. Her actions lend credence to the other fan theory that what are following in FEAR is the creation of a group of villains.
Sadly, the second episode was the last for Cliff Curtis's Travis, one of our original cast members who has been a rock on this show so far. He sacrifices his self nobly, fitting for a character that often tried to be a moral center for the other characters, but as we all know, moral centers, don't last long in the Walking Dead universe. Goodbye Travis, you will be missed, but I like to think he is with Chris now.
We do catch up with Colman Domingo's Strand, back at the hotel in Mexico, who is forced to hit the road after doing a good deed for once. Something tells me, he will be all right, though he is sure to be back in a tight spot soon. He does have a beautiful scene with Brenda Strong's Ilene, a woman who has lost everything, where he does her a great mercy.
A lot of THE WALKING DEAD fans have not warmed up to FEAR, but I think if they would watch the first two episodes of season 3, I think they would change their minds. The Clark family and Victor Strand, may not be Rick, Carl, Michonne or Daryl, but after two seasons, they have definitely got a real groove of their own going.
