S01.E04: Not Fade Away

[esperanza]

So the military must know that once you die you become a walker regardless of having the "disease". So they are taking anyone who would die of something else (drug addicts o.d. all the time). Makes sense to me.

[JackONeill]

It was already renewed a while back.

http://io9.com/fear-the-walking-dead-preemptively-renewed-for-second-s-1721494979

 

Yippee.  With the same cast, well, then, double yippee. Will we get to see how grass grows in So California? That might be more interesting. (And I'm not talking Nick's kind of grass.)

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Shangri-L.A. / The military safety zone for survivors has quite a few problems, Maddy and her family soon learn.

[RustbeltWriter]

I think the biggest mistake of this episode is Chris starts out with "Nine days have passed since the lights went out". What happened during those nine days was probably some pretty compelling stuff, especially since the army says they cleared a safe zone six miles around their camp. I assume that's when things really went to hell and that's what I thought this show was about. I think Kirkman has this insane compulsion that the viewers only know what the characters know and these knuckleheads can't even be bothered to turn on CNN. It's been four epsiodes of the world ending and we know nothing more than if we hadn't watched the show at all.

[Irishmaple]

I was appalled by Nick diverting the terminally ill man's morphine for his own high and I thought Madison was wrong to beat him (it only relieved her stress and probably increased his desire to find something to block out his emotional response) I also thought the Army was wrong to take him because Nick is young and able-bodied. Then I thought some more and decided Army guy isn't all wrong here either. The guy is trying to establish some sort of managed collective; junkies are prone to selfish and high-risk behaviour which can destabilize and endanger the group. If he's planning to kill Nick, I'll be upset (the actor is really bringing it) but maybe the doc can work some rehab magic where all others have failed. Nick has to know he's finally hit a point of no return now. The panicked neighbour was likely culled for the same reason, endangering the community. Panic can be contagious and deadly in a contained environment. Doug could also suicide, thereby putting a zombie inside the fence. And if he suicided, would he take his family with him? Four lives lost and four zombies inside the fence.

I think Moyer is making the classic, top-down management error of not telling the whole story to everyone. The civilians are bitching about phones and other "luxuries" because they do not fully understand how truly and spectacularly fucked they are. He needs to tell them and, if necessary, take them out and show them. And put them to work. Bored people wandering around speculating can only lead to more panic, disarray and rebellion.

[GreyBunny]

RustbeltWriter agreed.  What have I learned from this show?  There are bunch of assholes in LA that deserve to get eaten.  That's all.

 

It was in another thread that someone pointed out that this group of executives/showrunners have really dropped the ball and it makes (reference to mothership show)

Frank Darabont look like even more of a genius.  Days Gone Bye was a brilliant introduction to this world and nothing on Fear has gotten anywhere near the character or story quality of the first TWD episode.

[Save Yourself]

This episode was so boring! I kept pausing to see how much longer it would drag on for, if this show wasn't related to TWD I would have been out after the first episode. My biggest annoyance is skipping over the 9 days so we missed the military take over (and the city overrun). That would be terrifying, having tanks and heavily armed soldiers fencing up the place and telling everybody they can't leave. Yes, it's to protect them but it would still be scary as hell, Jericho pulled off military occupation very well and I think FTWD cheated us out of some potentially good scenes here. They seem to be fast forwarding to TWD 2.0.

 

Travis: less said the better. Just ugh, jogging during a catastrophic event? WE know Rule no 1 is cardio but he hasn't seen Zombieland.

Liza: I like that she is being proactive and helping (and we will defo need her skills further down the track) but she was wayyyy too trusting of the doctor who was all but twirling her mustache.

Chris: The opening scene with his awful narration was so embarrassing. It reminds me of when I found my teenage poems. How do TV maker-types not see how much the audience is going to dislike a character who we should feel empathetic towards?

Madison: I like that she wants to know what the hell is going on but such a terribly idea to leave a secure area without letting anyone know, especially after what she had previously seen with the infected. Re beating Nick up, I can totally understand why she did, it's so distressing seeing someone you love continue to abuse themselves and lie to you. However, I hate in TV/movies that women are 'allowed' to hit men. If she did the same thing to Alicia (assuming that A did something to 'earn' it as N did) I can't imagine anyone supporting that. Hollywood, stop acting like it's ok for women to beat men up.

Nick: I'm on my own here but I still find N the most compelling character. I like that there is a character who has a totally different objective to the others and I feel that it's realistic. There are so many more addicts than people realise so there would be quite a few searching for their hit (Bob got Zac killed in TWD). I am empathetic having known a lot of addicts AND I have bipolar, asthma and poor eyesight so when the ZA happens, I'll go manic, want to be friends with the walkers and while I'm running after them I'll have an asthma attack and won't be able to find my ventolin because I couldn't scrounge up any contact lenses. So I'll die in a really lame way. Hence my worry about health issues in the ZA! I give props to N for being the most resourceful, if he really, really manages to kick he will be an asset. (Although an addict would have stashed the oxy. Always have a Plan B Nick!). Absolutely it was a dreadful thing to steal a dying man's morphine but it was also a great scene, I didn't see it coming and it was very sad and pitiful.

Alicia: risking blood poisoning ATM is not a great idea but I was pleased someone remembered a loved one they had lost (yes Maggie, I'm talking to you).

 

Wish they weren't foreshadowing the chief army dude with The Gov gimmicks. Would be much more interesting if all the military came with good intentions and then some of them gradually turned as the situation became more desperate.

 

BTW, did anyone else think of the pink teddy floating in the pool in Breaking Bad when the camera was panning up through the water?

Edited September 22, 2015 by Save Yourself

[Anela]

I was thinking at least Nick got some sort of bath. Then he stole the old man's morphine, and I loathed him. Also: since they're in their own house, shouldn't he have clothes there??

 

I recognized the doctor from Hostages, and House of Cards. 

 

Those were gun shots at the end? I thought so, but I wasn't sure. 

 

I still like Liza. It's convenient that they took her, but I would have thought she'd be of more help keeping an eye on the people there, as she had been.

[Save Yourself]

I don't know why my paragraph breaks didn't work, can anyone help?

[lorikauai]

I cheered when the military took Nick away. I hope they shoot him. Too bad they didn't take Madison with them too. 

 

 

Also annoyed that we missed 9 days and now everything is stable and contained. Wasn't that supposed to be the selling point of this show? That we got to see the ZA from the beginning? Where are the zombies? Where is the fear? Where is the chaos? Where are the people, dead or alive? Why aren't we hearing anything about the rest of the world or even the rest of LA?

 

I wasn't sure what to make of the lights from the house across the valley. Was it a morse code signal (How do people on TV shows magically know how to communicate in morse code? There's no power. It's not like they can google it.) and then whoever was in the house was killed at the end of the show. Or was it always an execution spot and is that what the lights always were? I wasn't paying close enough attention. Did they ever decode a message from the house?

[thuganomics85]

I was actually kind of liking Madison for a good part of the episode, due to actually seeing that the military is clearly covering things up and even trying to do something about it (even though it was sloppy as all get-out.)  I didn't even mind her slapping the shit out of Nick, because she is clearly had her wits end with him, and he deserves it.  But I've about had it with her anti-Liza status.  Even if I excused her final moment towards her just being angry and lashing out, her insulting Liza for spending her time helping the sick is just stupid.  Yeah, fuck Liza for trying to help people instead of.... painting the walls.  Again.  Yeah, that's clearly more important, Madison.  My reaction to that reveal was the same as Alicia's, which has to be a first.

 

Nick though, is just an asshole.  Stealing drugs is one thing, but using a sick man's morphine is the lowest of the low.  Maybe the military are being jerks about it, but it actually is probably a good thing there getting him the hell out of there.

 

Christ, I really hope Travis got that wake-up call, because he is coming off like a doofus.  He's probably had his wallet stolen several times throughout the years, because he was trusting of strangers.  He'd totally fall for a Nigerian prince scam too.

 

Alicia didn't bug, but all her scenes were kind of dull.

 

Totally recognized Sandrine Holt as Doctor Lady.  She really is someone who everyone has probably seen at least once (for me: The Returned remake and she was briefly in the recent Terminator film.)  Always recognized Jamie McShane as the Lieutenant.  Also, the solider Ofelia is with is played by Shawn Hatosy.  I don't want to automatically assume the worst, but since characters played by him tend to end up being bad on some levels, I'm already keeping my eye on him.

 

Daniel is still the only one I really like, but I'm warming up to Chris and Liza too, so at least I'm starting to enjoy more of the characters.  Even Alicia isn't as annoying. Don't really have enough on Ofelia to have any impression.  Really, it's only Travis, Madison, and Nick that are currently on my shit-list.  But I'm still finding this show harder to get into compared to the mothership.  I'm just going to power through these last two episodes, and hope there will be a decent overhaul process for the next season.

[JenMcSnark]

Regarding the gunfire at the end, I had to rewind when it happened but then it was clear.

When Travis was first watching at the end, the light is small and round and confined to one window. Suddenly every window in the house lights up at the same time for a longer burst. Automatic weapon fire.

Travis jumps back and looks very disturbed. I thought that was the best scene of the whole series so far.

[Beast Saver]

Fear the Walking Dead story sync provides extra information. Here is where you can see the locations of the Safe Zones. Our little group is in the "India SZ" which appears to have approximately 4,000 residents. http://images.sync.amctv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/FTWD-104-SS-06-0vjdk-0f-39g4.pdf

 

Here is the link where you can go to all the story syncs. http://www.amc.com/shows/fear-the-walking-dead/story-sync

 

It is moving a bit slowly, but is in a relative safe "for now" area. I think that we'll see that, unless confronted by herds of walkers, other humans are the biggest threat. I'll keep watching.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Another thing that made it obvious that it was gunshots at the very end was not only the gunfire flashing, but also the audible sound of gunshots in the distance.  I'm surprised I picked up the sounds because I usually miss that kind of stuff.

[bookrat]

Why didn't any of the characters mention MORSE CODE! Why didn't any try to code back to the Morse code person instead of just flashing lights? You know, like "what is happening there." But then I am guessing these characters are too stupid to know morse code or know what morse code is. Was there gunfire at the morse code house? Didn't the episode end with Madison randomly flashing her flashlight in the direction of the house?

[cynic]

Two things I was SO hoping would happen in the episode, but didn't

The Morse code signal in the hills would be coming from Tobias

Nick's dip in the pool would get some of the grease out of his hair

 

I was totally hoping that Nick would take a shower and change his clothes after being in that gross pool. Can you imagine would he must smell like now after nine days of being in that old guy's clothes, detox sweats, and now being in dirty, chlorinated pool water? At the very least, I was hoping he would comb his hair. However, after seeing a few pictures of Frank Dillane, it seems like the actor actually likes his hair to look like that. I doubt we'll be seeing that do change anytime soon. It reminds me of the situation with Darryl's hair. Even when it makes no sense for his hair to look so dirty (and unnaturally dark), it still does because Norman Reedus likes it that way.

[LadyArcadia]

Why didn't any of the characters mention MORSE CODE! Why didn't any try to code back to the Morse code person instead of just flashing lights? You know, like "what is happening there." But then I am guessing these characters are too stupid to know morse code or know what morse code is. Was there gunfire at the morse code house? Didn't the episode end with Madison randomly flashing her flashlight in the direction of the house?

Do a lot of people really know morse code nowadays?  I mean, the average, ordinary human?  I know of it, but I'd just see flashy lights in some sort of pattern.  I'd understand someone needed help, but there's no way I'd be able decode a message.

[maystone]

I liked it. In all of my imaginings about the ZA, I never pictured these kind of fenced-in "safe" zones under the rule of military law. Mothership talk:

I know TWD has the Alexandria Safe Zone, but it seems vastly different from this set up. It was smaller, devoid of military, and they had to supply their own fence.

I really just figured that all of the urban areas would be in immediate collapse with all military personnel active in those centers only, and all of the 'burbs would be emptied as people took to the hills. Or the desert. So I found this fascinating. Adams (the soldier who likes Ofelia) said it was being used as a staging area, but why not use an area they've already cleared instead? Why take on the burden of keeping all of those civilians in check, not to mention being responsible for their daily needs? They're much more prisoners than they are a protected population.

 

I shook my head when Madison cut the fence to go exploring, but I understood why she wasn't concerned. None of these guys get it yet. Get the scope of this outbreak. They've seen two or three walkers up close and personal - and each time it was an individual walker; they've seen some incidents as they were driving by of the authorities (cops and/or military) taking out a few walkers at once. But that's it. These guys have never seen a group of zombies coming towards them. They couldn't even imagine a herd. This outbreak is still distant from them both geographically and psychologically.  Their only source of information is the commander in charge of their area (there is no CNN, there are no more news stations), and he says everything around them is clear. And from the vantage point inside the safe zone everything looks clear. So yeah, cut a hole in the fence because from everything that you know, there's no one going to be coming back through it but you.

 

I think Madison would have taken the hand gun, but then that pesky armored squad came ambling through. I still wonder what happened there. I saw four bodies, although there may have been  more in the scene that I didn't notice. (I have crappy vision.) Only one looked to have been in an offensive position when killed (the guy with the gun in the middle of the road); one was half in the car, one was under a car, and the other was on the sidewalk. It looks like they were simply murdered with a shot to the head. Madison assumed that they were all infected, but I don't think so - or at least not in the same sense that she means it.

 

Mostly I'm trying to figure out why the military is keeping this group hostage. I thought for sure that they'd be taking Daniel along with Griselda and just kill them both. But then Dr. Exner shows up, and now it seems that there really is a military hospital area, and the sick are being helped? Oh, or most probably contained! Yup, that's what it is. So that when they turn, they can be immediately dealt with. No family is allowed to accompany because apparently they don't want what's left of the general population to fully understand just how FUBAR everything is now. OK, that makes more sense to me now. But then why take Nick? Although as someone said upstream, he's a junkie and they're known to OD.

 

I get Liza going with Dr. Exner, although it was a difficult choice. Chris is almost an adult in a secure location, and he has his dad and Madison there to look after him. Exner was hinting as broadly as she could that Griselda and Nick were heading into worse circumstances, and Liza could do more to help them than she could to help Chris. I like Exner from what little we've seen of her. I think it's going to be a case of her being true to her oath as a physician while hating what's going on around her. We'll see.

 

Hopefully this is the episode where Travis stops implicitly trusting authority figures. He was starting to question the quarantine rules, so I'll give him that, but turning in the people in that house outside of their zone was just wrong. And from the look on his face as the episode ended, I can see that he gets it now. Maybe it would be a good time to start listening to Daniel, what do you say, Travis?

Edited September 21, 2015 by maystone

[tessa]

The more I watch and read the more disenchanted I am. Like the poster above - I thought this was going to show us ground zero and what happened. Sorry but there is no way you can evacuate all those people and to where? This is happening ll over. You have 12 contained neighborhoods in a city of 9 million people - none of which it looks like took in any of those who were evacuated from the surrounding areas. Had the story begun in a small town - then the conditions of the area after 9 days could be plausible. But centering it in LA - the city would have been lost after a few days to walkers - the military wouldn't have any holdouts.

 

A couple of other things that caught my attention. This supposed contained community is occupied by the military who I would think would have guard rotations around the perimeter - you mean to tell me - no military saw the Morse code?

 

Also when Travis goes in to talk to Robert - both the wife and the kids are in containment outfits, supposedly because Robert hadn't been checked and yet none of the guards are. Nor do they make Travis gown up. Robert finally comes out and gets checked - why then are the wife and the kids still in containment outfits hours later after he takes off in his car?

[maystone]

Also when Travis goes in to talk to Robert - both the wife and the kids are in containment outfits, supposedly because Robert hadn't been checked and yet none of the guards are. Nor do they make Travis gown up. Robert finally comes out and gets checked - why then are the wife and the kids still in containment outfits hours later after he takes off in his car?

 

I didn't think they were wearing regulation containment outfits. It looked to me like the kids were in rain coats. My impression was that the mom was being (a bit hysterically) proactive and decking her and the kids out with whatever they had on hand.

[riverheightsnancy]

 

I was totally hoping that Nick would take a shower and change his clothes after being in that gross pool. Can you imagine would he must smell like now after nine days of being in that old guy's clothes, detox sweats, and now being in dirty, chlorinated pool water? At the very least, I was hoping he would comb his hair. However, after seeing a few pictures of Frank Dillane, it seems like the actor actually likes his hair to look like that. I doubt we'll be seeing that do change anytime soon. It reminds me of the situation with Darryl's hair. Even when it makes no sense for his hair to look so dirty (and unnaturally dark), it still does because Norman Reedus likes it that way.

As a pool owner, that would likely be an unchlorinated pool at that point and should have been showing signs of algae (yellow, green or black). The chlorine burns off as bacteria and other debris or sunlight works on the water. The water was so clear and blue, totally unrealistic of a pool left stagnating for a length of time in hot weather. 

I saw a picture of the actress who plays Madison at the Emmys, and low and behold she had the same expression on her face as she does during the show: RBF! 

[ghoulina]

I notice a lot of people complaining that we missed it all - the collapse. Is it possible that hasn't even happened yet? I may be totally out in left field with this, but I'm wondering if collapse didn't happen all at once, but was more of a start-stop type of thing. We don't know how this started, probably never will....but maybe there were quite a few cases, but the military/hospitals/etc. reacted quickly and thought they got on top of it. They fenced of safe zones, quarantined people, "dealt with" those who might be a danger. Things were looking good. But then something happened. Maybe they made too many mistakes. Got too cocksure. Didn't full understand what they were dealing with. And THEN it really explodes. The military is taken down. All hell breaks loose? 

 

I don't know. Again, I could be reaching. Giving the show too much credit. But I don't know what the timeline is supposed to me. I tend to think that 9 days is still early for the entire place to have collapsed. Maybe it doesn't happen like that. Or maybe you guys are right and we just missed it all. 

[maystone]

I notice a lot of people complaining that we missed it all - the collapse. Is it possible that hasn't even happened yet? I may be totally out in left field with this, but I'm wondering if collapse didn't happen all at once, but was more of a start-stop type of thing. We don't know how this started, probably never will....but maybe there were quite a few cases, but the military/hospitals/etc. reacted quickly and thought they got on top of it. They fenced of safe zones, quarantined people, "dealt with" those who might be a danger. Things were looking good. But then something happened. Maybe they made too many mistakes. Got too cocksure. Didn't full understand what they were dealing with. And THEN it really explodes. The military is taken down. All hell breaks loose? 

 

I don't know. Again, I could be reaching. Giving the show too much credit. But I don't know what the timeline is supposed to me. I tend to think that 9 days is still early for the entire place to have collapsed. Maybe it doesn't happen like that. Or maybe you guys are right and we just missed it all. 

 

Yes! I never thought of it that way, but wow that makes a lot of sense. Now I'm all excited and jangly thinking about the implications. Thanks!

[Irishmaple]

Moyer said there were 12 safe zones south of the San Gabriel's which implies they are necessary. Why would people need safe zones if the rest of the city is functioning relatively normally? The hospital is fortified, as per the doctor, a reasonable precaution post-riot? Or a reclamation project post-Fall? It sounded to me like the latter. People outside the safe zones are dead and walking, dead and dead, or on their own. Society as LA knew it is likely gone. The only things left to fall are the safe zones, I think.

[diebartdie]

So they only have electricity for a few hours each day...why does Travis look in the refrigerator? Anything actually needing refrigeration wouldnt stand up to the lack of constant refrigeration. OK moving on...they only have a few hours electricity per day so Madison washes ONE towel and instead of putting out on the clothesline, she puts that ONE towel in the dryer? I hate this show.

[LVmom]

I just thought of a bit of hope-maybe someone left an outfit that actually fits and is age appropriate at the hospital for Nick so someone can burn the darn old man clothes! 

[TobinAlbers]

Yeah, I don't think that the army leader is so much evil than he's seen some shit and is already broken and running on overkill autopilot extreme as he internally goes completely nuts. He knows they've built a false haven and is going nuts waiting for the shit to hit the fan. He knows it's coming (the unpending of safety, a herd, the end) and that they can't do anything to stop it. His bitterness and mocking tone when talking about how all the people there were at least living in their homes and not dead or relocated and were the lucky ones came from a truth that he's seen the opposite. Outwardly he's doing his duty to contain the area, but he's going through the motions and the way he's going about rings bells that beyond that perimeter it's all gone to hell. Although Mr. Salazar's talk with Madison may also apply to him that his fear is making him do actions that will ultimately be closer to evil.

 

Madison's guzzling alcohol in her mug and crying in the garage after her field trip is her in the throes of what military guy has already been through. She's trying to absorb the reality of the situation but using the alcohol as a crutch. Will she come out of it determined to survive or broken like the military guy who has given up and it just going through the motions until the battle really begins.

 

Get used to that stench, Madison. You'll be smelling it from now on.

 

I had no problem with the Salazar's leaving Ofelia (she is an adult) and no way in HELL was Mr. Salazar going to leave his wife to go into that hospital alone, nor was he going to take Ofelia inside a military hospital with the good chance she'd never get out. Having said that, he knows his daughter can't make it alone so he asks Madison to take care of her because between Madison and Travis, Madison has a better chance of surviving.

 

Travis I can get why he abdicated power to the military because who WOULD want to have to make decisions in that situation? Killing neighbors, burial or burning the bodies, deciding who to take or leave, where to go?  Being saved from that burden is seductive. I don't think he'll necessarily man up but more concede to Madison -although honestly she sometimes dithers about as well.

 

If/When the group has to go on the road, I kind of want military guy and military doctor to go with them.

[bosawks]

It was good to see that angsty, self-important teenage film making survives the Zombie Apocalypse.

[Save Yourself]

@ghoulina - I think you're spot on, without a doubt the collapse would happen at different times across the globe. I do think though that LA has gone down or they wouldn't have set up the safe zones. At the very least I would have liked to see the military occupation of this little area the show is focused on, we saw the army guys come in at the end of the ep 3, it would have been interesting if they had picked up from there.

[Save Yourself]

@lorikaui - they do have power at certain times so I don't know why they aren't going online as you said. It would be good if we had a scene where they tried to access online news, surely you'd be trying to find out as much as you could.

[rab01]

@lorikaui - they do have power at certain times so I don't know why they aren't going online as you said. It would be good if we had a scene where they tried to access online news, surely you'd be trying to find out as much as you could.

what portion of the net, if any, would still be working with at best intermittent power around the country and at worst many of the servers and other hardware destroyed?  In any event, the show said there aren't even landlines working into their community (and presumably no cable providers) so ... no internet for them.

[peach]

. His bitterness and mocking tone when talking about how all the people there were at least living in their homes and not dead or relocated and were the lucky ones came from a truth that he's seen the opposite. Outwardly he's doing his duty to contain the area, but he's going through the motions and the way he's going about rings bells that beyond that perimeter it's all gone to hell.

 

Maybe they will get out, find the six mile mark and see....Armageddon.  They could make up for this lousy skipping over "the fall" if there's some kind of reveal like that.  Maybe in the finale?  Which thankfully is only two episodes from now.

 

This show seems to be sending the message this is THE Apocalypse, or at least people think so.  Susan's suicide note, and the REV 21:4 verse stuck on the safety fence, plus Maddie walked past a cardboard sign with the same verse written on it when she went outside.  About every tear being wiped from their eye, after the end times.  "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  Not sure how they want it to fit, and I still don't really get the title of episode.  Last week was much more succint.  lol 

[guilfoyleatpp]

Why would Maddie think that Liza should be cleaning her house and making food?  She is clearly doing much more important stuff in her medical care.

 

I wonder if the writers inserted this tension on purpose or if it was unintentional? I am compelled to point out that in Los Angeles many of the domestic workers are Hispanic. Is this a story line being set up by FTWD? Is Maddie one of those ladies?  

 

At least they went to the effort to include a good representation of Hispanic and Latino people in the cast, since it is LA. But I'm not sure the writers are clever or far thinking enough to have purposely made this effort.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I don't know why my paragraph breaks didn't work, can anyone help?

You don't need br tags. One return suffices to end a paragraph, and blank lines should also be preserved. 

 

This site allows BBCode tags: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode

 

Which correspond to a subset of html. But honestly, it's easier to just use the full editor and its format buttons. It also provides a preview feature.

 

A couple of courtesy suggestions:

1)There is a test zone here: http://forums.previously.tv/forum/690-test-zone/ if you want to play with formatting.

2) Don't abuse white space. We all have to scroll through a lot of posts, and the usual paragraph formatting looks great.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Latverian Diplomat

[Muffyn]

Maybe they're taking Nick away because he smells so bad it makes it harder to tell when zombies are around?  Okay, more realistically when medical and scene control training for extreme emergency situations, they did emphasize that you need to deal with mentally unstable people first.  They can keep you from being able to help others.  So away with Nick and depressed neighbor.  They don't want altered decision making on their parts harming others. Then again, once I learned Nick was stealing the morphine, I hoped dying guy would die, turn and take out Nick.  Then  we would learn if junkie zombies still crave drugs.

 

 

Why would Maddie think that Liza should be cleaning her house and making food?  She is clearly doing much more important stuff in her medical care.

 

I wonder if the writers inserted this tension on purpose or if it was unintentional? I am compelled to point out that in Los Angeles many of the domestic workers are Hispanic. Is this a story line being set up by FTWD? Is Maddie one of those ladies?  

 

At least they went to the effort to include a good representation of Hispanic and Latino people in the cast, since it is LA. But I'm not sure the writers are clever or far thinking enough to have purposely made this effort.

I get the feeling it was unintentional, but I too had the thoughts about the white woman being angry that a Latina was not doing housekeeping duties.  Her and her silly trying to take care of sick people focus.  Doesn't she know Maddie has a towel to dry and some dishes to wash? 

[Daryleena]

Now that you mention it, there is a facial similarity.  Not a lot, but enough to see a slight resemblance.

Yes ! She looks like her when she makes that slight over bite face. OMG, too funny.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

I'd like to see a flashback, showing Travis and Liza's marriage.

Did he praise and worship her, like what is constantly showered on Madison?

[Bongo Fury]

Fear the Walking Dead story sync provides extra information. Here is where you can see the locations of the Safe Zones. Our little group is in the "India SZ" which appears to have approximately 4,000 residents. http://images.sync.amctv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/FTWD-104-SS-06-0vjdk-0f-39g4.pdf

 

So in the 12 safe zones there are fewer than 50k people, in a city of like 10 million?  Yeah, right, OK. 

[The Mighty Peanut]

I liked that Nick stole the morphine, even though it was horrible. I like that the apocalypse has not deterred his addiction. I like that he's trying to survive a personal demon and actual demons, and is resorting to actions he didn't think he was capable of both pre-heroin and pre-ZA. I like the idea of a separate, personal battle for survival/fight for the soul. It's the one aspect of the show I don't feel is being dropped on the audience like an anvil.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm starting to like Madison. I misunderstood her -- it's not that she doesn't care, she just internalizes everything. Although, as much as Nick's morphine jacking was a dick move, Madison should have beat the crap out of herself for leaving the glass door open and not stealing a gun when she had the chance. And ignoring Tobias. And standing two inches from Susan, and not telling Alicia to try harder not to look like walker steak, or telling Alicia anything at all.

Ok, I am reconsidering my reconsideration.

Edited September 22, 2015 by The Mighty Peanut

[fliptopbox]

I defended this show and had patience with it, but now I'm annoyed. I wanted to see the fall of society. Not "let's fast-forward 9 days to watch family drama inside a locked in neighborhood. Oh and.. the army killed all the zombies in LA while we fast-forwarded. hurray!"  I wanted to SEE all that happen, dammit!  I wanted to see the population of zombies increase. I wanted to see the mass chaos. I don't want to see someone going for a fucking morning jog in the middle of an apocalypse. Gah!

 

Ditto. I tried, I reeeeally tried to like this show and I just can't. I (like most of us it seems) was expecting to actually get to see the fall of civilization and the hordes of walkers...and survivors. I wanted to see how a family dealt with trying to escape and find a safe area, the traffic jams for miles, walkers at every turn, running out of supplies and having to go out foraging....not this Alexandria-lite full of dickish soldiers and naive-as-hell Travis taking a run around the fence. LA and SoCal is huge and has millions of people, and yet these are the idiots they focus on? Beyond Salazar and (maybe) Chris nobody seems to be questioning anything, and when they do it's not the right questions. Anyone who seems to have the slightest hint about what is really going on is told they are wrong (Chris and what he filmed, for example and Nick saying the walkers are dead) by people who just don't want to believe what is happening. There was such a huge opportunity with this show and I feel like they're completely missing the mark. And honestly, we already have Coral in TWD, do we really need more angsty teens?

[peach]

I'd like to see a flashback, showing Travis and Liza's marriage.

Did he praise and worship her, like what is constantly showered on Madison?

 

I think it's interesting that both Travis and Liza seem immediately drawn to helping others or being involved somehow, and despite the criticism Chris seems to get here, he is a kid engaged in what's going on around him, and I thought his video diary was a good idea.  He understands this is a historical moment.  It's hard to guess what could have wrecked their marriage, unless of course, it was Madison in the first place.  Which could explain her edginess and competitiveness over it.  Maybe sentimental Travis reached out to poor, suffering Maddie when her husband died, and she accepted.

 

Meanwhile, Maddie, Nick, and Alicia are all self-centered.  Although, I feel I'm being harsh about Alicia.  Her boyfriend DIED and/or is a monster, and her parents are so focused on saying "it's all okay," they won't even help her through it.  And her poor babysitter got her brains blown out in their back yard.  I just hate her mother and brother so much.

 

Also, in Easily Solved Problems, Liza and Chris, and the Salazars could all be bunking up in Susan and Patrick's house.  Or Peter's.  Or the bouncy house home.  Or...

 

[Kristen]

"A+" on the "Who's going to watch my film?" graphic. I snorted so loud it scared my cat.

This episode wasn't awful, but it wasn't great...up until Madison smacked the taste out of Nick's mouth. That was probably a long time coming. We don't know much, but just from certain hints in the pilot, she's been trying for a long time to help him, and didn't want to give up on him, and now this. Ya kinda can't blame him, with the stress of the ZA and all, something like this might tempt someone many years clean and sober to use, but he's a definite liability at this stage when his only motivations are to get stoned. Also, his hair is awful.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Kristen

[ghoulina]

@ghoulina - I think you're spot on, without a doubt the collapse would happen at different times across the globe. I do think though that LA has gone down or they wouldn't have set up the safe zones. At the very least I would have liked to see the military occupation of this little area the show is focused on, we saw the army guys come in at the end of the ep 3, it would have been interesting if they had picked up from there.

 

I guess I feel like if the military is functioning, there's a hospital up and running, we haven't seen total collapse yet. They're still getting electricity, even if not much. They're having food delivered. There are at least 12 "safe zones". So I feel like society is still functioning on some level. Things are somewhat contained. There's still plenty of room for it to get a lot worse.

[Helena Dax]

Not even one tiny zombie? C'mon, show!

 

I don't know, it's like the writers are trying to tell an interesting story in the most uninteresting way. The main reason I'm still watching this show is because I want to know who dies first.

 

God, I forgot, Madison smacking her son down was epic, the  best part of the episode!!

Edited September 22, 2015 by Helena Dax

[maystone]

Adams did say that the military was going to try to take back the city. Ghoulina and Save Yourself, I think you both are onto something. LA did fall, but the military is holding the line farther back.

 

Yeah, I don't think that the army leader is so much evil than he's seen some shit and is already broken and running on overkill autopilot extreme as he internally goes completely nuts. He knows they've built a false haven and is going nuts waiting for the shit to hit the fan. He knows it's coming (the unpending of safety, a herd, the end) and that they can't do anything to stop it. His bitterness and mocking tone when talking about how all the people there were at least living in their homes and not dead or relocated and were the lucky ones came from a truth that he's seen the opposite. Outwardly he's doing his duty to contain the area, but he's going through the motions and the way he's going about rings bells that beyond that perimeter it's all gone to hell. Although Mr. Salazar's talk with Madison may also apply to him that his fear is making him do actions that will ultimately be closer to evil.

 

Madison's guzzling alcohol in her mug and crying in the garage after her field trip is her in the throes of what military guy has already been through. She's trying to absorb the reality of the situation but using the alcohol as a crutch. Will she come out of it determined to survive or broken like the military guy who has given up and it just going through the motions until the battle really begins.

 

[snip]

If/When the group has to go on the road, I kind of want military guy and military doctor to go with them.

 

Yeah, I could see the commander in that light. And I thought the same thing about Maddy when she was drinking. I don't know that I agree about taking the commander along, though. I'd be worried that he'd be a little too dedicated to the rule book and less willing to bond with the group.

[cynic]

So in the 12 safe zones there are fewer than 50k people, in a city of like 10 million?  Yeah, right, OK. 

I want to know how these safe zones were chosen. Is the neighborhood this is set in particularly defensible? It doesn't really look that way. Those temporary chainlink fences don't seem that secure and there's apparently a size/visibility problem if Maddie can get out so easily and compromise the perimeter. Seems like you'd want to get people to an area that could handle a denser population that already had geographic or manmade obstacles and was more easily patrolled, like a gated community or a hotel/apartment complex. Why is it that these people get to stay inside their homes when others were moved out?

 

Also, is this an area that has ready access to resources? We saw their electricity being rationed*. How is their water supply? This is Southern California. If they water supply is interrupted, they're screwed. 

 

*Speaking of the electricity, why are the hours of electricity during the morning when the sun is shining? And how hot does it get in their area? I live in the inland empire and if the air conditioning stopped working, things would get difficult quick. 

[Statman]

Can any Angelenos help a Midwesterner out? The signalling house seemed far to me, like over on another hill and there'd be a lot of streets, houses, etc. between them. Yes or No?

 

Been living in Los Angeles for over ten years.

 

There are lots of neighborhoods in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas that are built into the hillside so streets, houses, etc. between the signaling house and the Clark house would not obscure the attempted signaling. 

 

I want to know how these safe zones were chosen. Is the neighborhood this is set in particularly defensible?

 

IIRC, the Story Sync feature from FTW shows that the Clark House and their neighborhood is located in East L.A.  That area is only a few miles away from Downtown L.A. and would serve as a great staging area for the military to try and attempt to take back Downtown L.A., where presumably there are a ton of infected. 

 

As for being defensible, I would say that East L.A. is probably more defensible than some other areas such Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, etc. because certain portions of East L.A. such as City Terrance have very steep, winding streets whereas those other areas tend to have flatter terrain. 

Edited September 22, 2015 by Statman

[Giselle]

I'm only rooting for  Tobias and Mr. Salazar the rest of them can rot!

 

I hope Nick gets gangrene.

[Raven1707]

I'm sure the military are taking the sick and infirm to the hospital, but they don't really care if they get healed. It just gives them more test subjects. Otherwise, why isolate them from their families?

 

Anyone in danger of dying -- from heart disease (Hector, was it?), gangrene (Griselda), or drug overdose (Nick) -- is a potential threat to their families and the community at large.

 

 

I think the military have "sterilized" some of the surrounding neighborhoods. It was some minor accident of terrain and a fairly low incidence of walkers that afforded them the relative protection of the military occupation, as opposed to being evacuated elsewhere or shot on sight.

 

This, exactly! The neighborhood appears to be a fair distance from the more heavily populated areas of Los Angeles proper, so they're not in the thick of it. No doubt herds are forming elsewhere.

 

I kind of applaud the writers for making Nick so despicable.  A lesser show would have already sobered him up and turned him into a hero.  It also really amps up the family drama part; as awful as he is, Madison and Alicia still have to love him and try to protect him.

 

It's going to take a lot to redeem Nick, but stranger things have happened, and if they can manage it, more power to them.

 

Yea, I don't think it's unreasonable that there aren't that many zombies yet. It's still fairly early. It's possible they thought they had this thing contained and the real "outbreak" is yet to come. Something big will happen that will turn a bunch of people at once and it will get out of control. 

 

Agreed. I think it would take a while for the zombies to reach critical mass, and there's a huge population of low-hanging fruit to run through before they start venturing out of the population centers.

 

The poster was referring to the fact that Alicia and Nick act more like boyfriend/girlfriend than brother and sister.  In the pilot, they were in a creepy scene where she jumped on his bed at the hospital and fed him jello.  It was icky and way out of place, since she had been so annoyed and wanting to write him off in their previous scene. 

 

I didn't find the scene creepy at all. At that point, There was a food tray in the room, Nick was wearing soft restraints and could NOT feed himself, so Alicia sat on the bed to feed him Jello. Alicia leaned in a bit to reach the controls for the hospital bed to raise the head of the bed so that Nick would be in a semi-sitting position, and -- a hospital bed NOT being a catapult -- it took as long as it took for that to happen.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Raven1707

[Tracy]

The doctor was also on House of Cards. I was liking Nick until I saw him stealing the dying mans morphine. The only character I'm remotely invested in is Daniel. He may not have all the details but he is someone I would want around during the ZA.