Fear The Walking Dead

[crows]

I do agree that the whole crackhead subplot was unnecessary. If you want us to relate to these characters, they need to be relatable, mostly average people with jobs and normal every day lives. Then show us how something such as a virus outbreak that reanimates dead people into mindless rotting cannibals would really start breaking down society as it becomes impossible to contain and go from there. Adding drama in the shape of a drug addicted relative that lives in the streets seems distracting.

they went with the dug addict story line for Evil Dead remake as well

And if you understand why they did it in Evil dead, then you understand why they went with it here as well lol

 

[fosing]

I do agree that the whole crackhead subplot was unnecessary. If you want us to relate to these characters, they need to be relatable, mostly average people with jobs and normal every day lives. Then show us how something such as a virus outbreak that reanimates dead people into mindless rotting cannibals would really start breaking down society as it becomes impossible to contain and go from there. Adding drama in the shape of a drug addicted relative that lives in the streets seems distracting.

bath salt v.2.5, thats how the dead refuses to be dead.
the junkie plot could very much be the reason behind this series. lolz

 

[creature4000]

Great... it's the blue stuff from Breaking Bad!

 

[crows]

Jesse pinkman cameo when?

 

[SnakeDoctor]

I do agree that the whole crackhead subplot was unnecessary. If you want us to relate to these characters, they need to be relatable, mostly average people with jobs and normal every day lives. Then show us how something such as a virus outbreak that reanimates dead people into mindless rotting cannibals would really start breaking down society as it becomes impossible to contain and go from there. Adding drama in the shape of a drug addicted relative that lives in the streets seems distracting.

I disagree. The crackhead angle makes sense for a couple of reasons.

First, since its clear the virus is airborne ... you needed an excuse for somebody to wake-up next to a dead person. Overdose by Pinkman's girlfriend fits well enough. The drug-dealer connection also gives a reasonable explanation for him running into a second dead guy by the end of the episode ... you need an awful lot of dead people in the early parts of this story for your average white-bread teenager to make sense as your foil. He needed to be involved in some heavy stuff.

Second, the itinerant crackhead angle adds a believable reason for everybody to write him off as a nutjob when he says he saw a tiny blonde girl eating somebody's face ... which helps with the 'slow-burn' storytelling concept. If the first witness was credible, your story burns up faster.

Third, if there was going to be an outbreak of some weird disease, you'd probably expect it in the filthy, close-quartered, drug-addled slums of the inner city before the suburbs ... and the runaway suburban crackhead angle gives a reason for a slum-dweller to be connected back to the 'average Californian family' that they're trying to center the story around.

SnakeDoc

 

[Invictus Sol]

^^^ - 100% agree with this but was too lazy to bother arguing and Snake lays it out better than I would've, anyway. Personally I liked how they handled it and I liked his 'clean' buddy being the drug dealer. In my younger years, I met a few guys that appeared to be wholesome as can be but were actually coke dealers all the while. How they've presented it and how things are unfolding seems pretty believable to me.

Another small scene I liked was the mom/teacher seeing the kid she took the knife off on the bus, as the school's evacuating and his resigned look as she tried to give him a reassuring wave/smile. I don't recall WD ever really doing nice, subtle stuff like that. Always feel I'm getting beat down over my head with the interactions on that show. Like what I've seen from FTWD and am looking forward to watching it unfold.

 

[Deckard]

I guess we know where Merle gets his drugs.

 

[a-dev]

Another small scene I liked was the mom/teacher seeing the kid she took the knife off on the bus, as the school's evacuating and his resigned look as she tried to give him a reassuring wave/smile. I don't recall WD ever really doing nice, subtle stuff like that. Always feel I'm getting beat down over my head with the interactions on that show. Like what I've seen from FTWD and am looking forward to watching it unfold.

That guy looks like Eugene jnr.

 

[Mister Ski]

I disagree. The crackhead angle makes sense for a couple of reasons.

First, since its clear the virus is airborne ... you needed an excuse for somebody to wake-up next to a dead person. Overdose by Pinkman's girlfriend fits well enough. The drug-dealer connection also gives a reasonable explanation for him running into a second dead guy by the end of the episode ... you need an awful lot of dead people in the early parts of this story for your average white-bread teenager to make sense as your foil. He needed to be involved in some heavy stuff.

Second, the itinerant crackhead angle adds a believable reason for everybody to write him off as a nutjob when he says he saw a tiny blonde girl eating somebody's face ... which helps with the 'slow-burn' storytelling concept. If the first witness was credible, your story burns up faster.

Third, if there was going to be an outbreak of some weird disease, you'd probably expect it in the filthy, close-quartered, drug-addled slums of the inner city before the suburbs ... and the runaway suburban crackhead angle gives a reason for a slum-dweller to be connected back to the 'average Californian family' that they're trying to center the story around.

SnakeDoc

Great summary Snake. Your insight is like a breath of fresh air.

^^^ - 100% agree with this but was too lazy to bother arguing and Snake lays it out better than I would've, anyway. Personally I liked how they handled it and I liked his 'clean' buddy being the drug dealer. In my younger years, I met a few guys that appeared to be wholesome as can be but were actually coke dealers all the while. How they've presented it and how things are unfolding seems pretty believable to me.

Another small scene I liked was the mom/teacher seeing the kid she took the knife off on the bus, as the school's evacuating and his resigned look as she tried to give him a reassuring wave/smile. I don't recall WD ever really doing nice, subtle stuff like that. Always feel I'm getting beat down over my head with the interactions on that show. Like what I've seen from FTWD and am looking forward to watching it unfold.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

^^^ - 100% agree with this but was too lazy to bother arguing and Snake lays it out better than I would've, anyway. Personally I liked how they handled it and I liked his 'clean' buddy being the drug dealer. In my younger years, I met a few guys that appeared to be wholesome as can be but were actually coke dealers all the while. How they've presented it and how things are unfolding seems pretty believable to me.

I will add ... I don't really give a good goddamn about watching a crackhead go through withdrawal, or rehab himself during the apocalypse -- or about watching his family deal emotionally with his crackheadedness. If they're trying to tug heartstrings with the crackhead, they missed. But, I don't think that's what they were going for. That's not the story they're telling, and they know it.

The crackhead is just a storytelling mechanism -- and it's not a bad one. You need this suburban family to have an excuse to run into several dead people (that weren't bitten), to traverse the worst parts of the city, and to have reason to witness the early stages of the outbreak ... which no normal suburban family will do absent circumstances like this. A runaway suburban crackhead is a fairly simple solution to those storytelling hurdles.

SnakeDoc

 

[Mister Ski]

I will add ... I don't really give a good goddamn about watching a crackhead go through withdrawal, or rehab himself during the apocalypse -- or about watching his family deal emotionally with his crackheadedness. If they're trying to tug heartstrings with the crackhead, they missed. But, I don't think that's what they were going for. That's not the story they're telling, and they know it.

The crackhead is just a storytelling mechanism -- and it's not a bad one. You need this suburban family to have an excuse to run into several dead people (that weren't bitten), to traverse the worst parts of the city, and to have reason to witness the early stages of the outbreak ... which no normal suburban family will do absent circumstances like this. A runaway suburban crackhead is a fairly simple solution to those storytelling hurdles.

SnakeDoc

Agreed. I dont think they will spend too much time on his withdrawl drama. They will have enough drama going on with the approaching zombie apocalypse. I've got to say that despite his drug issue and physical appearance, he has solid street smarts and adapts quickly to a situation. I like his character more than I thought I would prior to seeing the pilot episode.

 

[svander]

I disagree. The crackhead angle makes sense for a couple of reasons.

First, since its clear the virus is airborne ... you needed an excuse for somebody to wake-up next to a dead person. Overdose by Pinkman's girlfriend fits well enough. The drug-dealer connection also gives a reasonable explanation for him running into a second dead guy by the end of the episode ... you need an awful lot of dead people in the early parts of this story for your average white-bread teenager to make sense as your foil. He needed to be involved in some heavy stuff.

Second, the itinerant crackhead angle adds a believable reason for everybody to write him off as a nutjob when he says he saw a tiny blonde girl eating somebody's face ... which helps with the 'slow-burn' storytelling concept. If the first witness was credible, your story burns up faster.

Third, if there was going to be an outbreak of some weird disease, you'd probably expect it in the filthy, close-quartered, drug-addled slums of the inner city before the suburbs ... and the runaway suburban crackhead angle gives a reason for a slum-dweller to be connected back to the 'average Californian family' that they're trying to center the story around.

SnakeDoc

Great points, I hadn't thought about it that way.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

From a character perspective, starting with the son as an addict gives him the foundation of a redemptive arc. He's got nowhere to go but up. From an utter waste and failure and disappointment to his family ... to ... hero maybe? When you're dealing with long-form drama like this, you want to leave your characters room to grow. If they start out as decent, likable people in the beginning, it doesn't leave you a lot of room for them to grow over the course of a season or seasons. Unless they twist over to the dark side. Which is also perfectly fine from a storytelling perspective. But since TWD has done that a lot with Rick ... they might be aiming to cover some different ground here.

 

[crows]

I disagree. The crackhead angle makes sense for a couple of reasons.

First, since its clear the virus is airborne ... you needed an excuse for somebody to wake-up next to a dead person. Overdose by Pinkman's girlfriend fits well enough. The drug-dealer connection also gives a reasonable explanation for him running into a second dead guy by the end of the episode ... you need an awful lot of dead people in the early parts of this story for your average white-bread teenager to make sense as your foil. He needed to be involved in some heavy stuff.

Second, the itinerant crackhead angle adds a believable reason for everybody to write him off as a nutjob when he says he saw a tiny blonde girl eating somebody's face ... which helps with the 'slow-burn' storytelling concept. If the first witness was credible, your story burns up faster.

Third, if there was going to be an outbreak of some weird disease, you'd probably expect it in the filthy, close-quartered, drug-addled slums of the inner city before the suburbs ... and the runaway suburban crackhead angle gives a reason for a slum-dweller to be connected back to the 'average Californian family' that they're trying to center the story around.

SnakeDoc

I think it is kind of a cliche, they did it in Evil Dead remake, exact same thing, no one believes the druggie girl, she is seeing demons and no one takes her seriously.

He wasn't even in the hospital because of the drugs to begin with, he was in the hospital because of the car hitting him. I understand he stayed in the hospital because of the drugs, but they could have had him be too injured to leave.

As for the part about " if there was going to be an outbreak of some weird disease, you'd probably expect it in the filthy, close-quartered, drug-addled slums of the inner city before the suburbs ... and the runaway suburban crackhead angle gives a reason for a slum-dweller to be connected back to the 'average Californian family' that they're trying to center the story around."

They could have done that with a homeless person, the son could JUST be homeless and no one believes him about the girl eating the guy because everyone assumes that since he is homeless he MUST be on drugs.
If anything it would have been much more interesting if he wasn't on drugs and everyone kept assuming he was on something. The son could have run from home and be living in the streets, since a lot of teens do that.

They could have easily leave the homeless part and not do the whole druggie part. Im still watching the show and I will see how it goes but it kind of feels like they might drop the addict part of the story soon. and if they stay with it, it might make the season a little bit annoying

 

[YankeesFanboy]

All of this will be immaterial when more and more of the formerly living start eating more and more of the living. The question is will you be able to root for any of the survivors?

 

[crows]

All of this will be immaterial when more and more of the formerly living start eating more and more of the living. The question is will you be able to root for any of the survivors?

stoya is correct

 

[YankeesFanboy]

stoya is correct

I'll be pulling for Travis and Madison, as well as Rubén Blades's character and his family.

 

[crows]

One thing is for damn sure

None of these people are a Rick or a Daryl or even a glenn
None of them are even close to an Andrea in quality


That's my fear. No good leading characters so far. No iconic anyone
The main cast is so good. Makes me realize

 

[Invictus Sol]

Whut? Have to disagree. I like Lincoln a lot but holy smokes does he overact in WD (not that I blame him, it's all the material, right). Andrea was a POS. The others... Carol is garbage, Glenn hasn't been good since season 1 or 2, tops (wait, I liked him in one scene this last season, when things went to hell and he was trapped in the turnstile), Darryl... *yawns*. Now that I'm involved with the regular show, I'll definitely keep watching but personally I feel there's a lot to be said for this low-key cast.

 

[rushmore223]

One of the things I liked about the pilot, was that there were hints that people, or at least some people were aware "something" unusual was going on around them. The talk between the knife carrying student and the lead actress gave a glimpse, but didn't reveal very much. The Drs in the hospital when the patient went code blue mentioned "there's so much we still don't know about this" and made sure to get the patient "downstairs", which immediately made me think the old man was going to get a bullet in the head. It showed everybody wasn't completely in the dark, but not very many took it seriously. I have to admit, even though I've seen every episode of TWD, this tactic worked on me. I wanted to know just how much were people aware of a problem existing and to what extent, something the show could have, but chose not to expand on.

One question I have is why did AMC choose to only do a short season? Were they trying to stick to the same footprint of the original series?

Edit - I have to admit, part of me would really like to see this from the viewpoint of a ground zero first responder. This season makes me want to know the when's, where's and how's.