Fear the Walking Dead - Season 5 discussion and spoilers.

That's pretty much the image I had in my head: The helicopter coming down for Rick and Jadis to the lilting strains of "Suicide Is Painless."

 

Fear the Walking Dead
Season 5 / Episode 4 "Skidmark"

Morgan / Alicia: The need to rescue Althea is understandable, but Morgan and Alicia--barely armed--are in no position to waltz into enemy territory and expect to complete their mission without a scratch. If the children were less forgiving, they would have met their end.

Dylan/Max/Annie: So, the kids are not affiliated with the people in the black uniforms, so I guess this opens the door to the kids to trust the heroes. At least in the short term. As I suspected, they are part of a group of children/teens surviving on their own, and responsible for the walker barriers. Seeing the world through their eyes could be an interesting wrinkle in the story...as long as they are not "redshirted" by the mid-season or season finale.

Strand / Daniel: Daniel collecting vehicles makes sense (different cars for different tasks / options in case one breaks down, and he cannot fix it), but all of the weapons? Its like he's trying to build for a fight, or maybe he's working for someone else.
His neverending hatred of Strand is misplaced, since most of it centers on what happened to his daughter, a situation Strand did not cause. Ofelia was an adult who made her own decisions, including the one that ended her life. That would have happened even if Strand was able to lead Daniel to her.

Okay, using the propellers to kill the walker herd was sort of inventive, and now creates a greater gap in the heroes ever finding each other, but... See notes.

Luciana: I'm not sure how far away she is from Strand's party, but she has a working vehicle, so anyone acting as if they are a state apart on foot (when they're not) is false drama.

NOTES: Alright, the theme of this episode is trust and working to erase old perceptions, whether its the relationship between Strand and Victor, or Charlie (still working off guilt about Nick, I presume) and the group of children. The kids say they "cant" leave the area, but if they're referring to their reanimated parents, one would think seeing such a horrible sight day after day--like some bizarre shrine they must attend to--would drive them insane--if that's not happening already.

Daniel is off on his own to help "people." Something tells me those people might be the big shocker of the season, as I do not think he's talking about any new characters we have seen so far.

GRADE: B.

 

I’d have been more worried about the plane props than the engines myself but honestly I don’t know how durable they actually are. I get the dramatics but it seems like it would’ve been more sensible to have just picked Daniel up and drive off even if those guns were functioning.

Though the guys in black are something I always thought there should be more of. You’d figure more people would at least armor up a sleeve or two.

 

One of the better episodes this season. They seem to be moving the plot along a bit. Turns out the kids are indeed part of a larger group, though the trio we've been following since the premiere seem to be the group's leaders rather than noobs proving their worth as I suspected. I like the sort of surrogate father/daughter dynamic they seem to be setting up between Daniel and Charlie

I find it kind of amusing that Strand basically proved Daniel right. Strand takes Daniel's plane with noble intent to help his friends, but in the end he only ended up getting the plane damaged, thus screwing his friends over.

The scene where the kids hide and watch the Black Armour Soldiers efficiently take down their Walker Barricades with bayonets on their rifles was a really well done scene at showing these guys are well-suited to the zombie apocalypse. They really are efficient and well-organized. They definitely are building up an intriguing mystery both here and on Walking Dead about these guys. While I worry that when we do get answers they may not live up to this build up, for now it's certainly interesting to see things develop.

 

I found that odd; Charlie does not know Daniel at all, and by episode's end, she's willing to join him on whatever his mission is? I did not see the motive for Charlie's instant connection to Daniel.

Ah, but Daniel accused Strand of being self-serving, and he was not regarding the plane. Moreover, this group is so all over the place with this "help" crusade when they--more than ever--need to stick together, so if some of the group is screwed, they placed themselves in that situation.

Some fans are saying their helicopter bore the same logo as those who picked up Jadis and Rick. If true, and knowing the way Jadis's group kidnapped/selected people (for who knows what real reason), this could lead to some dark times for the heroes. Yes, Rick was saved by this group, but we still do not know how he's being treated--at least not until the Rick Grimes movies.

 

Salazar and Strand have finally reached an accommodation-- Salazar is not going to shoot Strand in the face, which is about as warm and fuzzy as he gets. And he seems to have some mysterious purpose now. He says that there's a reason he's been hanging out collecting vehicles and equipment, and he's going to go take care of it-- by leaving his collection of vehicles and equipment behind.

And Strand got his airplane, but had to ruin it to wipe out the Zombie horde. Holy cow, he just exploded those suckers.

No sign of Dwight this week, but Morgan and Alicia have discovered the Children's Crusade-- but they seem less like The Lord of the Flies and more like Boys Town. The kids don't want to leave behind the staggering corpses of their dead parents.

And those Men in Black are back again, and the kids have been hiding from them. And right at the end, we see that black helicopter with that symbol on it again-- maybe even the same one that will take away Rick and Jadis in about six months.

 

I guess that's a good point. I don't know, I just thought the two of them worked well together.

True. I just couldn't help laughing when the plane crapped out after chopping up the Walker herd at the fact that Strand's latest attempt at helping screwed them over. I almost expected Daniel to point it out.

Yep, same symbol was also on the documents Al found with the Black Armour Walker in the premiere. I wonder if they're trying to set up some sort of cross-franchise presence with them. With them already on Walking Dead, now on Fear and most certainly going to be in the Rick movies, all we need now is for them to have some sort of presence in the new spin-off.

 

They did, but in-universe, she would not just abandon her group tag along with someone she met in the same afternoon. In a way, its like the showrunners wish to find something for her to do (aside from what remains of the guilt she still has for killing Nick).

If FTWD is serving as a "bridge from the past" to eventually link up with the parent series' timeline and events, that would be wise. The FTWD tone this season is okay, but they need a greater purpose--perhaps one that challenges their firm belief in helping anyone. Moreover, with Michonne being written out of TWD in season 10 (presumably to reunite with Rick in his movies), TWD and FTWD would benefit from bringing all partied together (at last) to either start a real next chapter of civilization, or face off against nation-wide threat (not walkers) that changes the nature of the WD's TV shows going forward--whatever that may be.

 

Second lowest rated Fear The Walking Dead episode in series history this Sunday with 1.66 million. Still doing better than Preacher and the Terror, so it's doing alright by AMC/cable standards, but getting somewhat close to danger territory. If they're planning to bridge the shows, lets hope it's not some kind of 3 year arc.

 

That's too bad, because I think Fear is better than it's ever been these days.

 

It will continue, but I do think ultimately, they will re-route the series to finally join the parent show. It would streamline everything (and I suppose that means some of FTWD's current character roster will be killed off), just in case the proposed spin-offs water down the brand to the point where one remaining series is all audiences will be willing to support.

 

Should't the lack of gas impact the show like the parent show? The characters are still driving vehicles. Jason

 

Could be. With Morgan and Dwight there, there's reason for them to join up with the original group-- and the black helicopter people may provide additional motivation.

This is still six and a half years ago in the Walking Dead timeline.

 

I feel confident Fear is definitely getting a sixth season, what with all this talk from Gimple about 2020 being the biggest year yet for the Walking Dead franchise. Hell, with sixteen episodes each of TWD and FTWD and ten episodes of the new spin-off, plus one Rick movie that's forty-three weeks of new Walking Dead television content in 2020, leaving only nine weeks, or a little over two months of no Walking Dead.

If all three shows stay on the air in 2021, and the third show gets a full sixteen episode season, plus a Rick movie, that'll be forty-nine weeks of new content, with only a three week break.

 

I think I am burned out on the franchise because that amount of WD stuff sounds more tiring than exciting. Jason

 

As long as it evolves, I will remain interested. I'm very curious about the black helicopter guys and the Rick movies.

 

Despite Gimple's claims, I'm still not convinced all of the proposed series will ever see production. The Rick movies are a guarantee, but the rest.? Hard to buy it at this point, other than the idea reduced to standalone movies, which might push FTWD to merge with TWD, to avoid getting lost in a sea of zombie series.

Pick and choose. Take the DC TV series--I'm aware of a number of viewers who do not watch every series, even those that share some continuity. If its not to their liking, they disregard it, but still have their "must see" shows.

 

The third show about young people coming of age in the zombie apocalypse is probably going to happen, though I guess we'll have a better idea regarding that next month at Comic Con. I agree the other stuff that is supposedly in development likely won't be happening. Indeed, I don't really expect any further telemovies besides the Rick Trilogy.

 

Fear the Walking Dead
Season 5 / Episode 5 "The End of Everything"

Althea: Adrenaline can overcome some pain, but one would have thought Althea would have cut her bare foot to shreds not long after she made her first escape. The woods--needless to say--are unkind to human skin. Well, at least she did address the injury.

Pretty inventive to use the walker's barbed wire to free herself.

As mentioned last season, the big problem with Althea is that her demanding to know the "stories" of anyone--including those in survival mode--should have ended with her death a dozen times over. Its difficult to believe she could get away with that for so long in the ZA before someone would simply kill her. ...and she does not drape that S.W.A.T. van around her when encountering new people, so she ran just s high a risk of being killed as everyone else.

Now we know how her ZA experience began: trying to find her brother, but getting caught between the army and National Guard inexplicably shooting each other. This is a flashback that deserves a bit more screen time.

Isabel aka"Happy": "Why does any of this matter?" Obvious question. With the fall of society, there won't be any system for anyone to record, watch or archive any of Althea's work--meaning there will be nothing to keep the memory of the dead...alive.

Isabel has certainly set up the unnamed group (or Jadis' group) as a sinister force. With the child survivors fearing this group, hopefully we will not have to wait long for their true purpose/threat to make itself known.

NOTES: Suspending the tent above the ground--smart. Add that to the endless fan theories about surviving a zombie apocalypse.

What--Isabel's group never thought about using military-level folding ladders and mounting it to the side of that mountain? With fuel being so important, they should rely on something a bit more reliable than climbing gear.

The shooting star. Eh. So overused in a billion Spielberg films, that its no longer quaint or serving the story.

Overall, a somewhat interesting two-character study, but what did not sell was the instant connection between the two, when Isabel was very all about the job, and constantly threatening Althea's life. The kiss seemed to come out of nowhere (or forced), the same as Althea's longing looks toward the sky at the end of the episode, as if she's missing a long lost friend. The exchange of personal stories does not take the place of a true bond. If she (Althea) runs cover for the mystery group by trying to steer her friends in any other direction, such untrustworthy behavior has to come up at some point in the future--possibly when Isabel's group (almost predictably) runs into the heroes...

GRADE: C+

 

Sydney Lemmon turned in a royal good performance to which I say “Dilly Dilly”.

Actually she reminded me a lot of Courtney Ford.