Fear the Walking Dead - Season 5 discussion and spoilers.

It's okay for it to be challenged, and it's okay if they have to take up arms and fight an enemy-- it is an adventure show, after all-- but I'd just like to see the good side of humanity represented and prevail for a change.

 

I haven't seen any of them saying anything about not fighting anyone. I'm pretty sure their helping people will include fighting to defend themselves and the people they're helping.

 

Fear the Walking Dead
Season 5 / Episode 9 - "Channel 4"
Mid-season Premiere.

Morgan: Yeah, yeah, he's in "help mode," but he took too many chances once he discovered the yard was mined. ..and no one would put up with Althea's camera business the moment he thought of his family.

Grace: The writers are leaning hard on the suggested inevitability of her succumbing to radiation poisoning, so, flipping her fate would be a pleasant surprise....

Alicia: Alicia trained by Morgan is her best development in some time. The most sensible character decision of anyone this season. The problem with her being so shell-shocked into not killing (loss being the original motivator for being a killing machine) is that its Morgan's story at the point he was reintroduced to TWD all over again.

While Strand picking up her "job" as the chief killer makes sense (considering how long they've known each other), they still need more scenes together, as they are each other's last thread to the lost members of the Clark family.

Sarah: Playing C.W. McCall's 1975 hit, "Convoy"...too on the nose, even for a tongue-in-cheek moment.

Stealing Logan's truck was incredibly reckless. Who would think that's going to end well? Its such a juvenile, thoughtless move--on the part of the show's writers more than the characters, because its so predictable.

Logan & Company: ...aaand yes. Now the new guy will lead the heroes into a trap / conflict againat Logan's "endless bullets" crew.

NOTES: Althea's video diary was sort of interesting. Its a callback to TWD's interview sessions conducted by Deanna Monroe in season five's "Remember". But every available had recording their life is waaayy too much a rip from the terrible Romero film, Diary of the Dead, with its incredibly annoying videographer character. In a true apocalypse, no one would have time for--or put up with that.

Tess and the land mined yard....no one ever thought of that up to this point in the ZA?

GRADE: C.

 

Wow I haven't watched this one yet, but lowest rated episode yet on IMDB.

 

Yeah, didn't really care for this one much at all. The "found footage" aspect just gave everything a disjointed feeling and ultimately felt like padding for a really thin storyline. I suspect they had the idea of trying to help someone stuck in a house with landmines in the yard, and end it with introducing a new character and further establishing the threat posed by Logan and his gang. They beefed up the thin storyline with found footage style storytelling allowing interviews with the characters. While I applaud the desire and attempt at doing something different, the execution left something to be desired.

It's not quite an exact replica. Even when Morgan was at his height of "life is precious, I vow never to kill" mentality he still killed the walkers, while Alicia is now refusing to do even that. My interpretation is that her brush with being exposed to radioactive blood from the nuclear walker she killed is now making her skiddish about killing walkers. Could be an interesting angle for some character development, but we know she's going to eventually have to overcome her anxiety and kill walkers again likely by the end of the season anyway, so there's a limited storytelling opportunity there.

And seeing how it worked out here, it doesn't seem to be as good an idea as it might seem at first glance. A walker stumbles into the yard, steps on a mine. Yes, it's killed, but the sound of the explosion is just going to draw more walkers, who are going to step on more mines, and the explosions are going to draw even more walkers. Eventually, all the mines are going to be used up, and still more walkers are going to be drawn to the yard.

As a means of protection, land mines aren't such a great idea in the zombie apocalypse. Though I could see them being effective if one were attempting to corral a herd to a specific location.

 

Yep, landmines aren't a good plan. You'll be safe for a second, but every time you kill one, it attracts a bunch more, so you need more, which draws more, etc.

Didn't care for this episode at all. too much telling, not enough showing. felt bland, and didn't do much for me. I'd liked the previous group of episodes in that they've been on the move and getting things done. I like that style of story vs. what TWD has been stuck with in the different camps and their fixed locations. Moving around, scavenging, that gives me the better End of the World story vibe.

 

Hummm... I must be in the minority then, because I enjoyed the episode quite a bit. B+ from me.

 

Well, this was a very good episode, done completely in documentary style. Like other shows and films done as a documentary or found-film compilation, it stretches credulity that the events would be caught so thoroughly on film, but it was a nice way to get into everyone's head at this juncture. And it's nice to see that everyone is on board with the Samaritan scenario. "If everybody helps, then we can help everybody." A timely and important message that probably explains why the ratings are so low.

Of course, not everybody outside the group is so altruistic. Max Headroom seems to have gotten back together with his old friends and he's not very kind to strangers. It looks like Motorcycle Guy wasn't sold on the pitch, but now he may have no choice but to hook up with the gang. I wonder how that will work out-- assuming they arrive in time to save his pedestrian butt.

 

Agreed.

The entire Althea/"you must submit to my interviews" has never worked. No one would put up with that in this world, let alone one where you're always in survival mode. The "go-getter reporter" angle has been thoroughly annoying, just as it was with the similar character from Diary of the Dead. By now, someone would have tossed her camera(s) into a river or down a hill.

I think its still a retread, only they have Alicia not wanting to kill anything, but the journey to that mindset reminds me of Morgan's arc once he reached Alexandria.

I imagine if anyone had access to real land mines, they found more than the few which were planted in the yard. Yes, noise attracts walkers, but that's a risk everyone faces in the defense of self and property in the ZA. If random strangers were prowling / trying to break in or steal, one way or another, there's going to be some noise, whether one fights them one-on-one, uses a gun, bear traps, camouflaged pits (where the trapped will be very vocal in trying to escape), or any other means of defense, so eventually, walkers will come. At least with land mines, it has the capacity to kill a good number of invaders you do not have to personally face (or risk getting hurt in a fight).

 

Hell, they even made a veiled criticism of the concept on Talking Dead (worded in reference to found footage movies) that most of the time we're seeing situations in which people are not going to bother to stand around and film this stuff.

Am I misremembering or did they establish Al had a background as a battlefield camera(wo)man prior to the apocalypse? If she were, I don't see how she could have lasted, her desire to choose filming people die rather than stepping in and help save their lives would not be tolerated in any military that allows camera on the battlefield.

When you put it like that, I can see landmines being a practical option for a fortified location that had other anti-walker defenses. Like say, the Sanctuary on Walking Dead with its spiked fences, with walkers chained to it. Throw in land mines in the area surrounding it, and you got a pretty formidable fortress. What we see here of landmines in a yard of a lone house doesn't seem like that good an idea, though to be fair, I wasn't left with the impression Tess or her husband had much smarts to begin with.

 

I caught that; Danay Garcia (Luciana) joked about taking a selfie while Morgan was standing on the mine. It is very ridiculous for people in what is essentially an ongoing war situation to distract themselves by sticking cameras in everyone's face.

I believe she said she once covered the plight of some villagers in a foreign country, but then again, some come from experiences like that learning nothing about priorates. This is a showrunner problem, because they probably see a videographer as a "heroic" occupation, when its the most impractical and annoying "skill" anyone would use in a zombie apocalypse.

About Tess: I se her as being emotionally ratled more than dim-witted.

 

Man, I found that episode really tedious to watch, I hope they don't continue with that "experiment".

They seem to be doing everything they can to avoid doing anything with Matt Frewer's perfunctory bad guy character. I get the feeling that they'd just go around preparing dinner and helping little old ladies cross the street if they could get away with it.

 

MASH did it better--and in black-and-white

 

I wouldn't worry about that. The preview clip for this week's episode seems to be a "traditional" scripted episode, as in NOT found footage type fare.

 

Same here, but I feel the reason Althea was created in the first place is due to hero worship of reporters of any stripe. Video is arguably more practical in a zombie concept than someone just writing down accounts, but the entire "tell me your story" intrusiveness has never worked. The showrunners might see videographers as interesting, but that is not shared by quite a number of FTWD viewers I know,

i suspect they want him to seem to be the Big Bad until we remember the black-clothed group, or he is under their thumb, and carried out their dirty work, which will lead to some horrible fate for one of the regulars in the season finale. That sounds about right for this show at this point, since they continue to tease death with a few characters, either in a direct sense (Alicia's radiation sickness..or not) or in a "don't get too happy" sense (John and June talking up their love for each other).

 

Fear the Walking Dead
Season 5 / Episode 10 - "210 Words Per Minute"

Morgan: Not sure if Morgan is sweet on Grace, but if that's the case, the last thing I want to see is Morgan invest himself in another relationship, only to have it end tragically again. Too predictable--especially in the only realistic emotional stare that would place him.

Notice how he referred to Dwayne as "he's Dwayne." In his non-Clear mind, he's not ready to accept him as completely dead.

So, he is interested in Grace, but he's not willing to take his feelings there. Kind of disappointed with his behavior, as the "long suffering" business is a trait too common to too many WD universe characters. That, and Grace probably believes he's rejecting her because he--contrary to his hopeful statements--believes she's not long for the world.

Grace: Initially, she was a throwaway character, but she's now interesting enough that I want to know more about her past, apart from the others she's connected to. I do hope she overestimated the level of her contamination.

Dwight: I'm starting to appreciate the series taking time with Dwight's guilt over the Negan experience, and giving the Logan stooge a chance (in the way Daryl gave him one); its a callback to the parent show without screaming, "remember Dwight's past and whist happened?!?"

NOTES: The mall--a health food store is THE place to raid. Most protein powder only requires water (instead of the old days where milk or juice was required), lasts for years and provides a superior, concentrated form of nutrition that no amount of canned goods will. That would be the one place to clean out from front to back.

The showrunners may not see this, but smaller cast shows are heads and shoulders above the full cast episodes. Probably a sign that some characters are the "fat" that needs to be cut to make this series more enjoyable, as some characters are just...there.

GRADE: B+.

 

I was impressed that they were able to give Grace a unique and distinctive voice from the other characters. She really came across as a distinct character all her own. I’m not sure how much to credit the writers or the actress but either way or both it worked.

Still not sure where the white knight path there on will go but they are committing to it. Being Walking Dead I imagine tragedy will be ensuing before it’s over.

Logan still seems to exist just to exist, this episode even seems to suggest he has no real reason behind what he does other than well, being an asshole. I wonder if there going somewhere kinda meta with him. Maybe a bit of statement against the build up and exploring of the Negan/Governor types.

 

Mostly a meh episode, but at least it was easier to follow than last week's. I see they're going back to focusing on certain characters for an episode at the expense of everyone else. For example, of the main cast this week it was primarily Morgan, Dwight and Grace with a little bit of Daniel mixed in.. An abandoned mall is a fun concept for an episode of any Walking Dead show, and I do like how they incorporated it into the plot, raiding the toy store for a remote control car to lead the Walkers around, sleeping on the beds in the furniture or mattress store.

As good as Morgan and Grace seem to play off each other, that and Morgan's abrupt decision to avoid getting involved with her seems to be telegraphing she's like to die by season's end.

Dwight and Logan's henchman doesn't seem to contribute much aside from suggesting there's dissention among Logan's ranks. But then, we already knew Logan's group weren't 100% loyal to him anyway.

 

Another episode with very meh reviews. Not a good start for this half-season!

 

Something needs to happen to him, as his kind of character is not doing much for the show, or viewers up to this point. Right now, he's more about the stunt casting than anything else.

It would be a nice surprise if Grace was wrong about her diagnosis. The showrunners seem to be playing this "I do / don't want to know" / Walking Hopelessness angle with her and Alicia, but Grace is the one I hope survives.