Fear the Walking Dead - Official discussion thread

[Imp]

Ratings were 10.1 million for the premiere. Don't think DVR and on demand were counted yet.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/fea...ets-all-time-cable-ratings-record-1201575876/

 

[ImpulsE69]

Watched it..not sure what to think yet, was kind of boring. Looked pretty much exactly like TWD only different people, (and of course a bit earlier in the timeline).

My wife mentioned it always bugged her how they act like they've never heard of zombies before and I had to explain to her that in 'that' world, no one has. (it is stated as such by the creators for both TWD and this).

 

[torpid]

I thought it was very good. The family stuff and surface of the plot was meh, but what I enjoyed about it was how much they played with dramatic irony and expectations from having watched The Walking Dead and knowing what is happening when no one else does. Junkie house and Hospital... uh, yeah, two of the worst possible places to be given what we know about the virus. I also enjoyed that we don't know if the mom was bitten (he appeared to bite down, but she had clothing on protecting her) and even if she did, do we know that it is deadly at this point? I don't feel like they ever fully established why bites are fatal (hygiene plus festering, or is the virus once activated much more deadly if transmitted).

I'm not sure it's going to happen, but I'm hoping that the boyfriend will tap into his Māori Warrior background and become a deadly warrior soon.

 

[iroast]

Watched it..not sure what to think yet, was kind of boring. Looked pretty much exactly like TWD only different people, (and of course a bit earlier in the timeline).

My wife mentioned it always bugged her how they act like they've never heard of zombies before and I had to explain to her that in 'that' world, no one has. (it is stated as such by the creators for both TWD and this).

If a zombie were to suddenly appear around the corner as I'm going for a stroll, I'd just walk around it, thinking it's some person in makeup.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zombie+prank

 

[destrekor]

Both wife and I liked the premiere. And while I would like to see an explanation of the outbreak, I will likely be disappointed with any explanation they come up with. So I hope they don't try to explain it. We'll see.

I think the only way they should explain it, is to identify it as some type of highly-mutated prion disease (Mad Cow and the human type Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as Kuru). It got into the air all over the globe (or that could be left out... who knows?), and that's it.

Tidy, simple, believable in a science fiction story, yet is neither over-simplified or over-complicated (midichlorians? lulz)
It doesn't reveal whether it was nature, State actors, terrorists, god, aliens, or what have you. It is just the new reality, that's it.


As for the show - I loved the premier. Slow start, sure, but I am definitely excited to see the societal collapse and the nature of the early response to these things who want to eat people.

 

[TheELF]

If a zombie were to suddenly appear around the corner as I'm going for a stroll, I'd just walk around it, thinking it's some person in makeup.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zombie+prank

Yeah but you live in a world where zombies are a thing,not a real thing but everybody knows about them.

Still though religion exists in TWD so seeing the dead come back to life for a christian would be a major terror moment.

(Not that it wouldn't be for anyone,just saying)

 

[TheELF]

Tidy, simple, believable in a science fiction story, yet is neither over-simplified or over-complicated (midichlorians? lulz)

Yet we have all kinds of particles penetrating us daily,try telling that to someone a couple of decades ago.

 

[Cappuccino]

Is this filler or?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Yeah but you live in a world where zombies are a thing,not a real thing but everybody knows about them.

Still though religion exists in TWD so seeing the dead come back to life for a christian would be a major terror moment.

(Not that it wouldn't be for anyone,just saying)

I always found that explanation of the "TWD" universe a bit of a cop out.

 

[UNCjigga]

Looks like the zombification originated from a bad batch of drugs :hmm:

Not sure if that was just a red herring statement (since the dealer character is gone) or if this will be explored further. It would explain how the virus started to spread simultaneously in 5 states (i.e. along a specific supplier's distribution network.)

IRL, intravenous drug users are a high-risk group for a variety of nasty viruses and bacterial infections.

I just hope from a plot perspective this isn't summed up as BAD BATH SALTS = ZOMBIES!

 

[destrekor]

I always found that explanation of the "TWD" universe a bit of a cop out.

A lot of fiction actually strives to not be too self-referencing. In many creative universes, Hollywood is basically invisible.

It's really no different from people in superhero movies not knowing that superheroes exist, except the one(s) they encounter which surprises them.

The typical people of fictional stories don't really know what we about when it comes to lore and cultural media references, unless it is important for the plot.

Most stories that acknowledge the different memes, lore, and references, are usually light-hearted. It's often paramount to breaking the fourth wall. The characters in a Hollywood product are referencing Hollywood productions! GASP. It actually does more to harm the suspension of disbelief than you might realize, thus why it is rarely employed in anything attempting to be serious.

Thus, Zombieland can get away with it, but not The Walking Dead. It just wouldn't work.

Movies like I Am Legend didn't reference zombies either.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Not sure if that was just a red herring statement (since the dealer character is gone) or if this will be explored further. It would explain how the virus started to spread simultaneously in 5 states (i.e. along a specific supplier's distribution network.)

IRL, intravenous drug users are a high-risk group for a variety of nasty viruses and bacterial infections.

I just hope from a plot perspective this isn't summed up as BAD BATH SALTS = ZOMBIES!

Or some social statement like drugs are bad they equal zombies and the end of society.

 

[Strk]

Or some social statement like drugs are bad they equal zombies and the end of society.

That's why, even if they went the drug route, leaving it at 'originally spread by IV drug users' would be enough and just call it some disease. It doesn't get specific and IV drug use is an easy way to get infected.

 

[smackababy]

A lot of fiction actually strives to not be too self-referencing. In many creative universes, Hollywood is basically invisible.

It's really no different from people in superhero movies not knowing that superheroes exist, except the one(s) they encounter which surprises them.

The typical people of fictional stories don't really know what we about when it comes to lore and cultural media references, unless it is important for the plot.

Most stories that acknowledge the different memes, lore, and references, are usually light-hearted. It's often paramount to breaking the fourth wall. The characters in a Hollywood product are referencing Hollywood productions! GASP. It actually does more to harm the suspension of disbelief than you might realize, thus why it is rarely employed in anything attempting to be serious.

Thus, Zombieland can get away with it, but not The Walking Dead. It just wouldn't work.

Movies like I Am Legend didn't reference zombies either.

For what it's worth, while people might know about zombies, who the fuck is going to believe it? If I saw on the news a guy shot like 8 times still attacking police, I wouldn't think zombie. I'd think PCP user. If I saw a guy eating another guy's face, I'd again, think PCP or Bath Salts. If I saw a guy that looks like there were melted and rotting, I'd think I was in Russia and it was Krokodil.

 

[torpid]

For what it's worth, while people might know about zombies, who the fuck is going to believe it? If I saw on the news a guy shot like 8 times still attacking police, I wouldn't think zombie. I'd think PCP user. If I saw a guy eating another guy's face, I'd again, think PCP or Bath Salts. If I saw a guy that looks like there were melted and rotting, I'd think I was in Russia and it was Krokodil.

A fairly large number of people seemed to term the bath salt cannibal(s) as zombie. I don't think it would be a stretch to think that the police standoff scene depicted in this show looked very much like a zombie and that many people would be talking about it as a zombie incident, at a minimum.

In this show, no one has heard of zombies much in the same way they haven't in TWD. It makes for a better story, IMO.

 

[Imp]

A fairly large number of people seemed to term the bath salt cannibal(s) as zombie. I don't think it would be a stretch to think that the police standoff scene depicted in this show looked very much like a zombie and that many people would be talking about it as a zombie incident, at a minimum.

In this show, no one has heard of zombies much in the same way they haven't in TWD. It makes for a better story, IMO.

That's kind of believable: there were rumors going around already, people dismissed the claims, then multiple videos came out showing the incident and people start worrying.

 

[It's Not Lupus]

did the woman get bit?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

did the woman get bit?

I'd doubt they'd kill her off this soon.

 

[UNCjigga]

did the woman get bit?

Freeze frame seems to show her getting bit, but it could have gone either way. Since her character seems (from previews) to be a major character, it could be that his bite didn't penetrate her jacket or he was shoved off before he could penetrate skin. Or maybe his bite wasn't immediately infectious (newly turned, not bitten himself.)

Then again, maybe she turns at the end of episode 2 and we're all "woah didn't see that coming!!"

 

[destrekor]

Freeze frame seems to show her getting bit, but it could have gone either way. Since her character seems (from previews) to be a major character, it could be that his bite didn't penetrate her jacket or he was shoved off before he could penetrate skin. Or maybe his bite wasn't immediately infectious (newly turned, not bitten himself.)

Then again, maybe she turns at the end of episode 2 and we're all "woah didn't see that coming!!"

I also have a working theory that bites are survivable without hacking limbs off, so perhaps they will actually show that in action?

So far, we've only seen people die. But I bet they aren't dying from a zombie bite due to zombie virus overload; rather, I bet they are dying due to sepsis.

If you get sepsis in the wild, without medical intervention, it's basically a guaranteed death sentence.

What's in a zombie's mouth? A whole ton of rotting flesh and all the bacteria and baddies that make a home in there. In the freshly turned, that's still an epic amount of bacteria living in your mouth - you don't want to get bit by just about any animal and not receive medical attention. You may get lucky, but quite likely you won't.

That's why animals lick wounds instinctively - there's a better chance that if you use a rough tongue on the wound you may remove infectious agents before they have a chance to make a large colony and infect the blood. A better chance than doing nothing, at least.

 

[smackababy]

I also have a working theory that bites are survivable without hacking limbs off, so perhaps they will actually show that in action?

So far, we've only seen people die. But I bet they aren't dying from a zombie bite due to zombie virus overload; rather, I bet they are dying due to sepsis.

If you get sepsis in the wild, without medical intervention, it's basically a guaranteed death sentence.

What's in a zombie's mouth? A whole ton of rotting flesh and all the bacteria and baddies that make a home in there. In the freshly turned, that's still an epic amount of bacteria living in your mouth - you don't want to get bit by just about any animal and not receive medical attention. You may get lucky, but quite likely you won't.

That's why animals lick wounds instinctively - there's a better chance that if you use a rough tongue on the wound you may remove infectious agents before they have a chance to make a large colony and infect the blood. A better chance than doing nothing, at least.

That could be part of it. We know getting bit "kills" you, but it could be due to infection from a nasty wound. Perhaps, the mother did get bit, but she won't turn, as there is still infrastructure and good hygiene in place. The walker was recently risen and didn't seem like he had a mouth filled with rotting meat.

 

[SAWYER]

I finally got around to watching it, it was ok. It is supposed to be the same universe as WD yet it looks nothing like the WD, like they used different cameras or something.

 

[Imp]

I finally got around to watching it, it was ok. It is supposed to be the same universe as WD yet it looks nothing like the WD, like they used different cameras or something.

Less green screen, more real sets? They don't need a "we nuked this place" feeling yet.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I finally got around to watching it, it was ok. It is supposed to be the same universe as WD yet it looks nothing like the WD, like they used different cameras or something.

Now that I think of it you are right. Walking Dead feels more like a film and Fear feels more digital.

 

[Triumph]

Episode 2 tonight. Any guesses how bad it is?

On the other hand, I finished up season 5 of TWD, and thought it ended really strong. The second half of the season I thought was really well done.