S01.E04: Not Fade Away

[cambridgeguy]

 

Yes,  you are correct that we had zero zombies on this episode.  Day 9, Madison walking around far outside the protective fence she cut open, and no walkers.  Not any on the periphery.  None anywhere.  Good call, show.

We didn't have any moving zombies but we did see the corpses, so there's that. 

 

Also, apparently golf = evil.  And I hope Travis enjoyed that apocalyptic nookie since I don't think they'll be doing that again for a while.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

We didn't have any moving zombies but we did see the corpses, so there's that. 

 

Also, apparently golf = evil.  And I hope Travis enjoyed that apocalyptic nookie since I don't think they'll be doing that again for a while.

 

Dude seriously needs to work on his "pillow talk" though.  Not sure, after literally just having had sex, that "what the hell is wrong with you (lately)?" is quite the right way to go there, but that's just me.

[Bad Example]

 

No wonder he was so laid back swimming in the pool earlier in the show.

 

 

For someone who's supposed to have been through this with Nick multiple times, how dumb do you have to be to think, "Oh, good, he's getting clean!" and not "He doesn't want the happy pill I'm offering because he's got another source."  I mean... DUH, Madison.  

Also, when your kid whines something like, "She outed me as the neighborhood junkie!" how do yo not just fire back at him, "Because you ARE the neighborhood junkie!"

 

Travis briefly mentions something about seeing something signaling his son from outside the perimeter.  And then at the end, said persons are killed by gunfire.  If it was the military, how did they find them?  Travis didn't give any details on which direction they were spotted.  

 

Because reasons.  Important TV reasons.  

I'm sticking with this, but.... but.  There's just so much to get frustrated with and annoyed by.  And while I think Liza made a horrible mistake in leaving her son, I was glad to see her go in hope that we'll get to follow her story and see more of what is going on.  But I suspect that is asking for/expecting/wishing for far too much. 

It's more important to follow the Lady Macbeth saga of the Bloodstains On The Wall That Still Show. 

[erikdepressant]

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.

 

Whenever addicts are discussed, people want the enablers to allow the addicts to hit rock bottom.  That's never easy for family and friends.  And what would hitting rock bottom in this situation actually mean or accomplish?  If the family survives long enough, Nick will sober up, because heroin is about to be in very short supply.

 

------------------

When Madison was hiding under the car, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of that neighborhood.  Even in the middle of a military extermination during a zombie apocalypse, our HOA board members would have been knocking on doors to complain about how rotting bodies in the street violate the covenants.

[JackONeill]

The budget is such that we're down to three basic sets. The inside of the house (that can pass for the inside of someone else's house if you move the furniture), somewhere outside, and the inside of the car that's inside the garage. The car doubles as an all-hours bar where you can drown your sorrows, a place to debate logic or the lack thereof, and a Motel 6 for a quickie.  (And remind me to never have quickie sex with Madison. What a buzz-kill.)

I'm calling it: Nick turns.

[Zahdii]

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.

 

Whenever addicts are discussed, people want the enablers to allow the addicts to hit rock bottom.  That's never easy for family and friends.  And what would hitting rock bottom in this situation actually mean or accomplish?  If the family survives long enough, Nick will sober up, because heroin is about to be in very short supply.

 

------------------

When Madison was hiding under the car, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of that neighborhood.  Even in the middle of a military extermination during a zombie apocalypse, our HOA board members would have been knocking on doors to complain about how rotting bodies in the street violate the covenants.

Tell me about it.  When my in-laws moved to a subdivision way outside town, they ran afowl of the local HOA.  Even though every lot was at least three acres, and the stated purpose was so people could live a 'country lifestyle', they got dinged because their clothes line was visible from the road.  They also got a good talking-to because their front lawn wasn't fenced and landscaped.  Mowing the lawn wasn't good enough, it should look pretty to anyone driving by.

 

To bring this back to FTWD, Nick sucks, Travis sucks, and Maddy sucks.  Here's hoping for major redemption arcs for them, or turning them into walkers.  Just get things going, and get Nick out of the old man clothes. 

 

It's like the writers are trying to p*** the viewers off so we can cheer when the last episode has the whole bunch get eaten.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Zahdii

[ghoulina]

While I still don't really love any of the characters (save Daniel), I'm beginning to really enjoy this show. It's giving us a look at things we never really got to see with the first, things that I find highly fascinating. I love the conflict with Travis and Madison. He wants so badly to believe the military will save them, and she distrusts everything they do. 

 

FTR, I would have insisted my husband get us the fuck out of there night one they put those fences up. Sorry. I'm not living in an internment camp, being bossed around with dudes who golf by day and storm my house with guns by night. Daniel was spot on that fear can make people do evil things. But this is like a combination of fear and power-hungry dudes. 

 

Anyone else get a rapey vibe from the guy who was necking with Ophelia? 

 

Anyhow, they're not just taking all these people to a hospital, right? I mean, that's not all there is too it. Griselda obviously needs medical attention. But bushy beard dad? What did they do with him? And why take Nick? They're rounding up people they think might be a problem, right? I hope Daniel and Madison can find them, and also whoever is in that house. 

 

BTW, I really wonder if one of the writers has a beloved Griselda in the family. Because we heard that name on the mother show as well -Mika's doll was Griselda Gunderson! 

 

Liza is dead to me now. I would never leave my son like that. Sorrynotsorry. 

 

LOVED the opening. I've always "Perfect Day". 

Just get things going, and get Nick out of the old man clothes.

 

I wasn't paying super close attention. Did he actually put those back on after being in the pool? His hair still looks super greasy, but what's really distracting me are his lips. It looks like he has goth lipstick on. 

[ghoulina]

Am I the only one who can't tell the difference between Ophelia and Travis' ex wife? Perhaps I just don't care enough.

 

I made that mistake a few times, but then I realized Ophelia has much longer hair. 

 

I don't quite get the note Susan left for Patrick.  Am I supposed to understand she purposefully ODed on her heart meds 2 days into the apocalypse?  Lightweight.  I just figured she ran out of heart meds because she couldn't get them refilled and had a heart attack.

 

I definitely think we were supposed to infer she intentionally offed herself. Her note made it sound, to me, like she saw a Walker and thought it was the "end times". She mentioned something about it being God's work or something. It was kind of weird. 

 

I'm just glad he was able to relax while his mother bitched and moaned about a nurse not staying home to cook and clean for them.  And the pool was so nice for him even though the pump hadn't been on in 9 days.

 

I actually thought the pool looked kind of nasty. But I was thinking - "Oh how nice, you're floating in a pool while poor Carl is eating Tic Tacs out of his mother's purse on the highway". 

 

I did majorly roll my eyes when Madison said she was watching her son like a hawk. Oh you mean when he sneaked into his neighbor's house to steal his drugs???

 

I hope seeing the gunfire in the window of the people signaling with the mirror woke Travis up.

 

Whoa, what? How did I totally miss that???

 

 

I think it's more that they decided to explore a more down to earth, for lack of a better phrase, collapse of society... and it's meh. I am here for zombies, and these people are freaking quarantined. This had the possibility of being really fast paced and awesome as season one of TWD was, but they've squandered it. So far episode two is the only one that really kept my interest .

 

 

 

I've loved the zombie genre for years, but on shows like these, I have no admit I'm not really here for the zombies. There's only so much you can do with them before they become predictable and cliched. I enjoy the human conundrums a lot more. And we barely saw any military interference on the mother show, so I'm really enjoying seeing how that would play out. I don't think they'll stay in quarantine forever. 

 

 

I think that a lot of people would be hold up in at home and the real crazy will start when they run out of water and food. The first wave would be traffic jam and then the second would be when health-ies hit the streets to become Zombie Chow.

 

 

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. 

[Ailianna]

Anyone else get a rapey vibe from the guy who was necking with Ophelia?

 

I had the exact opposite feeling.  He seemed into her, even if just as someone to get laid with while they had some time, but she was clearly using him for meds/intel.  And when she asked him to slow down and not go under her shirt, he immediately stopped, pulled back and admitted they were going a little too fast.  She is using him, unapologetically.  I don't know why others see "rapey" just because a woman is choosing to be sexual for reasons other than desire.  It was clearly her choice.  She was flirting with him in the line, and if anything is leading him on.  But it's clearly something she has chosen to do, and she is manipulating him. If the genders were reversed, the one using the other person's feelings/needs against them might be the "rapey" or bad guy, but I feel a little bad for soldier boy.  Of course, if the ZA ever actually finishing arriving, he's going to have much bigger problems.

[nodorothyparker]

This show is incredibly frustrating because they're skirting right around the edges of some really interesting ideas but it's like they lack the follow through and keep reverting back to a lot of the same stuff that gets so tiresome at times on the mother show:  whoever's in charge must be EVIL, no one's asking basic questions or conveying basic information that could have saved everyone a whole lot of nonsense, the sense that there's something much more interesting happening OUT THERE but let's not concern ourselves with that when we could be bickering about who's going to do housework.

 

I don't really care that much about zombies either, so I'm fairly okay with not seeing them.  I honestly thought the lack of them was a deliberate choice here and felt quietly menacing on its own.  The military's moved in and strung up fences to keep everybody "safe" so it looks like they're doing their job.  But we know they still have to be out there somewhere.  Where?  What is the military doing about that?  The fact that several miles of neighborhood could be closed in over the course of what? five or six days since the end of the last episode? I think actually says a lot about how conditioned we are as a society to trust the authorities and accept whatever they tell us in the name of safety.  Travis's attitude also reflects that, from his telling the squirrelly neighbor holing up the bathroom to tell his family that it was going to be fine to his thinking that he obviously should tell the military guys that they know someone else is alive up on the hill.

 

Yeah, they're making a lot of really dumb mistakes.  Pick up the damn gun, Maddy.  Don't leave an obvious opening in the fence.  But this isn't the gang at the prison who's had some time to figure these things out yet and learned through painful trial and error that when you guess wrong people end up dead.

Edited September 21, 2015 by nodorothyparker

[seacliffsal]

Last night I just realized how much I really dislike this show. I think it's because I dislike the characters with the exception of Salazar. Madison is just not as special as she thinks she is. It really took a lot of nerve for her to tell Travis to pay attention to his son when she had no idea for most of the episode where her own children were or what they were doing. She also acts like she can't stand Travis. Sneaking off while her junkie son is withdrawing-just dandy. Her blaming Liza for turning in her son? I think the military probably heard from ALL of the neighbors about her son. I'm sure he has broken into many of their homes looking for drugs or something to sell. His breaking into Susan's home and the neighbor's home last night were obviously not the first times he did that.

Out of loyalty to the Walking Dead I'm trying to make it through this show. However, I find myself not rooting for anyone except Salazar so it's a bit hard to care. Especially with the slow pace of the show.

[ghoulina]

I had the exact opposite feeling.  He seemed into her, even if just as someone to get laid with while they had some time, but she was clearly using him for meds/intel.  And when she asked him to slow down and not go under her shirt, he immediately stopped, pulled back and admitted they were going a little too fast.  She is using him, unapologetically.  I don't know why others see "rapey" just because a woman is choosing to be sexual for reasons other than desire.  It was clearly her choice.  She was flirting with him in the line, and if anything is leading him on.  But it's clearly something she has chosen to do, and she is manipulating him. If the genders were reversed, the one using the other person's feelings/needs against them might be the "rapey" or bad guy, but I feel a little bad for soldier boy.  Of course, if the ZA ever actually finishing arriving, he's going to have much bigger problems.

 

The reason I got a rapey vibe is because they were just kissing and then he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her towards him very forcefully. I felt like - damn, he's moving fast. He did slow down when she asked, but then he seemed to want to get right back down to necking and I just got the feeling he didn't totally respect her position. I could be totally wrong, though. I saw her asking questions as more of a way to stop the physical stuff from going too far, not her using him. But again, I could be totally wrong. 

[kdm07]

I'm kinda bummed that there's only 2 episodes left because it seems like the show is hitting something resembling it's stride.

 

I actually almost cheered when Madison beat Nick up. He's had that coming for a long, long time and I guess being quarantined has finally made Madison snap. I echo someone else's sentiments who asked why Travis and Eliza got divorced. They clearly are entirely too trusting and optimistic. Maybe it was too much of the same thing? Anyways, it looks like both of them are finally beginning to understand that this isn't going to go away just because the government says so.

 

Anyone else think that the season finale could be the zombies finding their way through the fence because of the hole Madison made?

[JackONeill]

Whoa, what? How did I totally miss that???

 

 

Well, good ole Hawkeye O'Neill missed the gunfire at the end, too. I wonder if in certain regions the signal was cut off. I mean, I was awake. And I was watching.

Edited September 21, 2015 by JackONeill

[ghoulina]

Well, good ole Hawkeye O'Neill missed the gunfire at the end. I wonder if in certain regions the signal was cut off. I mean, I was awake. And I was watching.

 

I'll have to rewatch. I'll admit I was nodding in and out. Not because of the show, but I got little sleep all weekend and was just tired. But I thought I saw Travis just seeing the same thing his son had seen. 

[peach]

Maybe they took Nick away in case he overdoses and dies = zombie.  Or maybe he's being conscripted, in which case, joke's on them.  Ha.

[Bad Example]

I don't know why others see "rapey" just because a woman is choosing to be sexual for reasons other than desire.  

 

I think you are reading something into others' opinions that may not be there.  There's a lot going on in that scene and there's a lot to interpret.  I respect her for doing everything she could- her choice.  That said....

 

 

The reason I got a rapey vibe is because they were just kissing and then he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her towards him very forcefully. I felt like - damn, he's moving fast. He did slow down when she asked, but then he seemed to want to get right back down to necking and I just got the feeling he didn't totally respect her position. I could be totally wrong, though. I saw her asking questions as more of a way to stop the physical stuff from going too far, not her using him. But again, I could be totally wrong. 

 

That force you're talking about really pointed out to me just how fast this could turn.  There is such an imbalance of power between the two of them. Right now it's under control, but the longer this situation continues?  It never goes well for the women of an occupied zone.  At this point the soldier doesn't seem like a good guy or a bad guy to me.  And I'm not someone who buys into that "all men can be rapists".  But in this world...

But I disagree about the reason for the questions.  I think she's using him, and I think it's smart.... but she's got to be much more careful.  The more this looks like a transaction, the more the whole situation of the world deteriorates, the more the soldier is going to realize that maybe he can just take what she's currently bargaining with.  

[nodorothyparker]

The gunfire at the end was very blink and you'll miss it.  It was totally dependent on us having seen enough movies and TV to know that that's what rapid flashing light like that meant.

[Bad Example]

I'll have to rewatch. I'll admit I was nodding in and out. Not because of the show, but I got little sleep all weekend and was just tired. But I thought I saw Travis just seeing the same thing his son had seen. 

It looked almost exactly the same to me, too, but it was paired with corresponding sounds of gunshot.  My first thought was, "Oh, good, Travis sees it, too.... OH.  No.  Bad.  Not the same."

[tessa]

I haven't read all 3 pages yet because I lose my thoughts.

 

1. Chris said it was now day 9 at the beginning of the show. It surprises me that the military waited until day 9 to round up the sick people - especially those needing medical attention who may die - you don't need a dr to tell you that. Letting them stay in the community for another week after you have cleared the community - is foolish and could lead to an outbreak if even one person dies.

 

2. Day 9 and I paused as Travis was running past the house across the street where the guy attacked his family.  Neither the military nor the neighbors tried to pick the front up a bit. Kinda hard to pretend everything is normal when there lies the evidence in front of your face.

 

3. The fact that the military guy in charge is such an arse and definitely a bad guy is writing lesson 101 - don't out your character - keep the audience guessing - give the impression he's up to no good but drag it out. And Travis - despite the guy being a jerk - is clueless - duh.

 

4. The only one I'm starting to understand is Madison - although why she didn't pick up the gun and bring it back with her. I didn't see her having the b**lls to cut through the fence - but then leaving the gun - bad move - you never have enough weapons no matter what the scenerio. I can understand she now has to live with her husband's ex - don't think I could do it, she sees the relationship between her husband and his ex - she might be jealous or afraid of losing him. Even her being mad at Liza because of Nick - I get that. Liza being so trusting of the dr. though - she's like Travis - you've seen bodies taken away - you saw Daniel leave and not come back.

 

5. Maybe I missed it - but has anyone talked to the army or each other about what happened to the neighbors across the street - or are they all in denial?

 

The only characters I really like are Alicia, Christopher and Ofelia's dad. Travis is clueless and Nick  - the sooner he's gone the better but he'll stick around because there is so much story they can write around him.

[Primetimer]

The military safety zone for survivors has quite a few problems, Maddy and her family soon learn.

Read the story

[editorgrrl]

We had zero zombies on this episode. Day 9, Madison walking around far outside the protective fence she cut open, and no walkers. Not any on the periphery. None anywhere. Good call, show.

Lt. Moyers said it's "infect-free" for six miles outside the perimeter. We know they shot living people outside the fence, and extracted not only the sick & injured (Hector & Griselda), but the depressed & addicted (Doug and Nick).

People tried to ask the right questions (What biohazardous material? When will you get the phones up? Are we being relocated?), but Moyers shut them down—then made a none-too-subtle threat. I liked the way he barely feigned interest in Travis keeping his dad's Ford going for more than 30 years (is that the beater truck?), then asked, "Can you help me or no?" But his dialogue was exposition-y: curfew, mandatory health screenings, weekly rations with iodine tablets, the promised return of garbage pickup. "You are in one of 12 safe zones south of the San Gabriels, okay?"

Edited September 21, 2015 by editorgrrl

[bosawks]

Am I the only one who thinks that the actress who plays Liza resembles Cheri Oteri?

 

That's what this Zombie Apocalypse needs, a little Spartan spirit!!!

 

Leaving a druggie with withdrawals alone in a pool - that's just brilliant.

 

I thought that was the smartest thing she's done yet.....

[DixonVixen2359]

Junkie Nick makes my skin crawl

I think Madison really sucks, the way she bitched about Liza always leaving pissed me off. Liza was out trying to help people and contribute to the community. Madison spent her time painting her living room.

Travis.... Not much to say about him. Now he has next door neighbor Doug's wife and kids to worry about ....

I still like the Salazar family. Watching the lovely Ophelia let that gross army douche touch her made me uncomfortable. Although if faced with the situation I might do the same to try and get my loved one medicine. I am worried about Mrs. Salazar....

Still waiting on Tobias to make another appearance, his character fascinates me.

[Timetoread]

The Good:  I liked this episode better.  It had tension and moved at a faster pace.  I loved Madison's critique of Travis and her beatdown of Nick.  Reuben Blades needs more to do but he does well with what he's got.  The signaling followed by the shooting was a nice beat - shocking and disturbing.  I liked the sex in the car, it didn't seem cheap, it seemed both desperate and comforting.  The only place these two can find to be alone is in the garage of their own house.  I felt how stifling and stressful that is.  The sex was both a tension reliever but so far the ONLY real scene of these two relating to each other as a man and woman - that there is attraction and passion and humanity there.  Something that pulled them together in the first place.  Not just a Mom and Dad who pay the bills and fix plumbing.

The Bad:  I've thought it before and now I am certain - TWD writers just aren't very good.  I don't know if it is because of Kirkman's limitations or because they didn't hire a good writing team but both shows have horrible writing.  I did not sign on to this show to see a bunch of zombies, we have the parent show for that.  What I did want to see is some AMAZING artist's rendition of what it looks like when the world is coming to an end.  Not just from the POV of one family looking confused for 4 out of 6 episodes.  But how everything we knew and recognize gets abruptly pulled away and what that does both to society and to the psyche's of the people. 

Case In Point (CIP) #1 - we saw one riot, over supposed cop brutality. How about the riots that will ensue when the shops run out of supplies and close.  When people are dying at the doors of hospitals that are filled to capacity.  When parents of the children, who no longer go to school, are desperate to feed them.  When the lights go out and each neighborhood becomes a village.  When the reign of terror perpetrated by the already present criminal element begins.  Or when the prisons go dark and the prisoners escape.  When the jam packed highways of folks getting out of Dodge become a car graveyard when those cars run out of gas and there is no means of refueling.  When planes fall out of skies, and explosions pierce the air, and fires go unchecked, and the widespread worry about nuclear plants that have shut down cooling systems, and backed up sewage.  And the dying, en masse, of people who can't get their meds or help from injury OR FROM THE FREAKING VIRUS THAT IS THE IMPETUS OF THIS WHOLE THING.  And, lest we forget, the dead reanimating.  The numbers would increase exponentially - the dead would outnumber the living and no military force could contain it or fight it in only a matter of days.  Members of the military would themselves become ill.  This show should end with zombie herds as far as the eye can see.  There is enough tension, panic, and horror to fill two or three spin-offs. 

Instead they give us a woman worrying about her junkie son and spoiled daughter, a Spanish family that basically sits idle but looks into the distance knowingly because apparently coming from a craphole in South America looks just like a zombie apocalypse (except that it doesn't) and they are thus serene and prepared.  A military gone berzerk cliche that we only see in EVERY movie EVER.  Kirkman and Co. seem to be very good at imagining monsters but not so much about the human condition.

CIP #2: Travis and his families.  See this is a role that I think and actor like Jon Bernthal could knock out of the park.  The amount of tension that should be piled on Travis should be enormous.  He has his current wife and her two children and his need to prove to them that he can take the place as the head of their family.  Then he has his ex wife and his own biological child and how that must pull him in directions he doesn't want to admit to (to not show favoritism but not being able to completely help it because Chris is HIS kid).  To have the push and pull between himself and the ex.  They are divorced but you gotta figure she is the one person who knows him better than ANYBODY.  That is a power that she wields.  The tension between the current (knowing full well the power the ex wields) and the ex (playing the chess game of the best way to handle the situation that works best for her son).  My mother once said that there can only be one "woman of the house".  Here there are naturally two.  Each stepping on each other tyring to fill in the blanks that the other leaves, and each needing something different but similar from the same man for the same reasons claiming the same rank.  Add to that the responsibility Travis feels to the family he carted along because he owes them.  As an alpha male, that would have to grate but it would also be good to have another strong male.  It would be awesome to watch these two circle each other trying to form an uneasy alliance while operating at the heightend "protect my family at all costs" instinct that makes alpha males deadly.  TRAVIS should be the focus of the show, not the junkie son.  I'd rather have a son with some other sort of ailment, than drug addiction.  The constant pull of his junkieness distracts from the tension that is already inherent in the subject matter.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this show.  I think what is driving me is that I WANT it to be what I imagine that it could be.  But with two episodes left, I might have to be resigned that it cannot.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Timetoread

[Duke2801]

Yes, I feel those of you who really wanted to like this show. But it's just not happening. I don't hate it or anything. It's just not compelling TV to me at ALL. Boring and/or unlikeable characters are at the heart of why I feel this way. But with only 2 more episodes, I'll stick it out in the hopes that something will change for the better (not holding my breath tho)

And a big, huge YES to the poster who mentioned that naming this episode the same title as Angel's fantastic finale is just plain wrong.

 

I'm trying to remember where I've seen the actress who plays the doctor.

 

 

Ooh she was also Claire Underwood's colleague (and later, nemesis) on House of Cards.

 

Anyone else have deja vu from that Alicia/Nick bathroom scene?  Only thing missing there was a hospital bed and a bio readings machine.  *experiences shivers of revulsion in remembrance of that e1 scene*
 
And assuming they can break A/N up, if Chris is 'destined' to be with Alicia, then its obvious that Nick & Ofelia will be a "thing" in the future, too.  But to be honest, at this point, I'm rooting for Chris/Ofelia.
 
Didn't really like that "horny teenagers in the backseat of the car" 'makeup sex' scene.  Just seemed skeevy considering everything around them.

I feel like I'm totally lost here! What do you mean by "break A/N up"? To me, that implies that Nick and Alicia are a couple? Aren't they brother and sister? Or maybe you just meant "break up" as in not have further scenes together.

And did they infer that Nick/Ophelia and Chris/Alicia have any romantic feelings towards one another? If so I totally missed that.  
 

This show feels like a cross between a pretentious, no-budget art school film and bad fan fic.

LOL yes. Except I feel quite certain that there has been FAR more compelling TWD fanfiction written than this some of this dreck!

[Boofish]

Nothing to see here. Moving along

Edited September 21, 2015 by Boofish

[nodorothyparker]

What I did want to see is some AMAZING artist's rendition of what it looks like when the world is coming to an end.  Not just from the POV of one family looking confused for 4 out of 6 episodes.  But how everything we knew and recognize gets abruptly pulled away and what that does both to society and to the psyche's of the people.

 

Case In Point (CIP) #1 - we saw one riot, over supposed cop brutality. How about the riots that will ensue when the shops run out of supplies and close.  When people are dying at the doors of hospitals that are filled to capacity.  When parents of the children, who no longer go to school, are desperate to feed them.  When the lights go out and each neighborhood becomes a village.  When the reign of terror perpetrated by the already present criminal element begins.  Or when the prisons go dark and the prisoners escape.  When the jam packed highways of folks getting out of Dodge become a car graveyard when those cars run out of gas and there is no means of refueling.  When planes fall out of skies, and explosions pierce the air, and fires go unchecked, and the widespread worry about nuclear plants that have shut down cooling systems, and backed up sewage.  And the dying, en masse, of people who can't get their meds or help from injury OR FROM THE FREAKING VIRUS THAT IS THE IMPETUS OF THIS WHOLE THING.  And, lest we forget, the dead reanimating.  The numbers would increase exponentially - the dead would outnumber the living and no military force could contain it or fight it in only a matter of days.  Members of the military would themselves become ill.  This show should end with zombie herds as far as the eye can see.  There is enough tension, panic, and horror to fill two or three spin-offs.

 

This is what I was really really hoping for too.  But I suppose that would have cost money to do properly and this is looking more and more like a cheap ratings grab until the mother show comes back.  Just string up some chain link and let some actors emote badly about whatever family crap we can throw together.  That's just as good.

[Timetoread]

This is what I was really really hoping for too.  But I suppose that would have cost money to do properly and this is looking more and more like a cheap ratings grab until the mother show comes back.  Just string up some chain link and let some actors emote badly about whatever family crap we can throw together.  That's just as good.

 

But think of what they could have done if they did this 6 episode only HIGH BUDGET summer blockbuster prequel that was so amazing that it increased viewership for the Mother show.  Make it amazing so that the network would greenlight anything else that they dream up.  Le sigh.

[RustbeltWriter]

This episode may be a perfect example of what is working against this show. This blended family with teens and an addict son is just as boring and internally dramatic as they would be in real life and let's face it, these are the kind of people you avoid in life because their drama is exhausting. Nick isn't compelling because he's an addict, he's just a guy you'd keep away from your stuff and meds. Maddy and Travis may be a couple you'd hope make it because they're nice enough but I don't see any spark between them. It seems like it's just convenient for them to be together. Chris, Alicia and Ofelia are just sort of doing there own thing and I don't really care.

 

It will be interesting to see what the military and government are up to because they have all the information about what is really going on and that's why I'm watching. I want to see who is making what decisions and why. The Clark family are just like neighbors I would wave to when I saw them out on the street.

 

Oh, and I totally missed that those were gun shots at the end that Travis saw. I thought he was just seeing the lights that Chris saw.

Edited September 21, 2015 by RustbeltWriter

[lulee]

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?

[ghoulina]

The gunfire at the end was very blink and you'll miss it.  It was totally dependent on us having seen enough movies and TV to know that that's what rapid flashing light like that meant.

 

Well see, what's funny is, the FIRST time Christ saw the flashing light, that was my initial thought - gunfire. Then at the end I was thinking it was more of the morse code stuff. Not sure how I missed the sounds. Will definitely rewatch. 

[JackONeill]

One character mentioned "nine days." He even explained how he came to nine. For some reason, I wasn't focused. How did he get to nine, and does that seem to be accurate?  I would think there'd have to be a few more days that our characters are unaware of. Yes? No?

 

I just found it odd that Madison didn't come across a single walker on her soiree. Yeah, they showed the soldiers making a pass through the neighborhood she was in, but still . . .

[Boofish]

Dear Liza, Christopher and Mr. Salazar

 

You are excluded from my fictional character rage.

 

To everyone else on this show including people who have the unfortunate task to just be extras and scenery.

 

*in my Elaine Benes watching The English Patient voice* Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert, and just DIE ALREADY! DIE!

[Boofish]

Well see, what's funny is, the FIRST time Christ saw the flashing light, that was my initial thought - gunfire. Then at the end I was thinking it was more of the morse code stuff. Not sure how I missed the sounds. Will definitely rewatch. 

The first few times it was Morse Code (what Chris and Maddie saw). Once Travis told the Sgt Massengill what he saw it was gunfire. I'm hoping this is the final vowel he has to purchase in order to solve the puzzle.

[misstwpherecool]

We didn't have any moving zombies but we did see the corpses, so there's that. 

 

Also, apparently golf = evil.  And I hope Travis enjoyed that apocalyptic nookie since I don't think they'll be doing that again for a while.

Early in the process what ever that is since it's sold as a prequel.

 

'golf=evil'-lol,

 

Cheating using next weeks promo's maybe golf not so evil since those taken to the medical facility are still alive. Perhaps they already have been hit so hard that those not sick or dead will be experimented on or do the dirty work ie clean up. Junky boy and poor foot lady probably test subjects.

 

I did find it hypocritical that Madison realizes her son might have stole from the neighbor and contributed to his decline yet all upset about it's Liz's fault.

 

B movie ploy Madison apparently leaving the gun and being stuck next to a corpse although yes they did not look like a walker. Question is what are 'they' doing. Since it's early I wonder if they want to stop the disease anyway possible although didn't the CDC guy in TWD say everyone's already infected so maybe they don't know that.

 

I was impressed that Madison confronted her son when caught in the neighbor's house.

[LVmom]

I think the best summation for me was further up this thread. I.HATE.THESE.PEOPLE.  I want to love this show-I really do. Jericho:main character Jake was shady, but when shit hit the fan he was heroic. Rick of the mothership: he was a good person trying to stay good,does both nasty and heroic things to keep his family safe.

 

I find none of these people good except Travis and his ex-wife, but neither one of them compel me. The ex-wife is helping people, but she grates. I get she's gone from dawn to dusk helping out people-but if she hasn't even let on to all of the adult people she's living with what she's doing, I can't really get behind her. You have a contentious relationship with the new woman in Travis's life, you're staying with them, use some courtesy even if Madison is a twit. The ex would become more sympathetic to me, and I'd root for Madison to get bitten.  Travis is as close to a Rick as we get, they talk about him being the de facto mayor. I see him jogging in a  runners stupor. I do that all of the time and couldn't begin to tell you who I pay attention when I'm zoned out with the headphones.  There's no way he's out checking on people, etc, if he's finding time to work out. I'm going by the ex being gone all day-if there are that many injured and sick then Travis would be completely preoccupied with his "mayoral" duties.

 

Which is it, show? Is the safe zone full of people or not?  You can't have two characters taking care of the neighborhood in administrative ways and health wise, but have each one occupied different amounts of time. It's either all consuming or not.  It makes me think the ex is out yes, taking care of people, but also avoiding the house and her kid. I get she trusts Travis to take care of his own son, but by all accounts the kid isn't getting much attention.

 

Does that make sense?

Edited September 21, 2015 by LVmom

[nodorothyparker]

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?

 

That's what it looked like, but I'm not from there either.  Because I'm home today with sick kids and bored, I've been trying to figure out the line about the neighborhood being one of 12 safe areas south of the San Gabriels and how big an area we're talking about in relation to the LA area as a whole.  Yes, I'm that bored.

[Slider]

In regards to the wife of the dying man getting to join him at the hospital?  I don't think she did.  She said she was eventually going to join him, but her husband had already left.  I don’t think she went yet. I bet they told her she would eventually get to see him, but that they had to take him first, and never really had any intention of letting her go too.

 

I saw the doctor actress on the L word.

 

 

She played Gillian in House of Cards.  She worked for the Clean Water Group that Claire Underwood started.

 

 

Liza is dead to me now. I would never leave my son like that. Sorrynotsorry.

 

Honestly, I think the only reason she left is because she saw something bad was going on, i.e. them forcibly taking Nick, and not taking Daniel.  I think she’s going with them so she can get to the bottom of it and protect Griselda and Nick.  Liza going is the ONLY thing that’s going to save Nick.  Sorry, but I think Griselda is D.O.A.

 

I feel like I'm totally lost here! What do you mean by "break A/N up"? To me, that implies that Nick and Alicia are a couple? Aren't they brother and sister? Or maybe you just meant "break up" as in not have further scenes together.

And did they infer that Nick/Ophelia and Chris/Alicia have any romantic feelings towards one another? If so I totally missed that.

 

 

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. 

 

Also I don't think they were inferring that Nick/Ophelia and Chris/Alicia had romantic feelings towards one another - they were just saying that if they had to choose that would be the route they wanted. Options are kind of limited since I sincerely doubt they go the incest route, and it's pretty much been confirmed that Alicia (Matt) and Nick (Gloria) are straight.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Slider

[mightysparrow]

The Good:  I liked this episode better.  It had tension and moved at a faster pace.  I loved Madison's critique of Travis and her beatdown of Nick.  Reuben Blades needs more to do but he does well with what he's got.  The signaling followed by the shooting was a nice beat - shocking and disturbing.  I liked the sex in the car, it didn't seem cheap, it seemed both desperate and comforting.  The only place these two can find to be alone is in the garage of their own house.  I felt how stifling and stressful that is.  The sex was both a tension reliever but so far the ONLY real scene of these two relating to each other as a man and woman - that there is attraction and passion and humanity there.  Something that pulled them together in the first place.  Not just a Mom and Dad who pay the bills and fix plumbing.

The Bad:  I've thought it before and now I am certain - TWD writers just aren't very good.  I don't know if it is because of Kirkman's limitations or because they didn't hire a good writing team but both shows have horrible writing.  I did not sign on to this show to see a bunch of zombies, we have the parent show for that.  What I did want to see is some AMAZING artist's rendition of what it looks like when the world is coming to an end.  Not just from the POV of one family looking confused for 4 out of 6 episodes.  But how everything we knew and recognize gets abruptly pulled away and what that does both to society and to the psyche's of the people. 

Case In Point (CIP) #1 - we saw one riot, over supposed cop brutality. How about the riots that will ensue when the shops run out of supplies and close.  When people are dying at the doors of hospitals that are filled to capacity.  When parents of the children, who no longer go to school, are desperate to feed them.  When the lights go out and each neighborhood becomes a village.  When the reign of terror perpetrated by the already present criminal element begins.  Or when the prisons go dark and the prisoners escape.  When the jam packed highways of folks getting out of Dodge become a car graveyard when those cars run out of gas and there is no means of refueling.  When planes fall out of skies, and explosions pierce the air, and fires go unchecked, and the widespread worry about nuclear plants that have shut down cooling systems, and backed up sewage.  And the dying, en masse, of people who can't get their meds or help from injury OR FROM THE FREAKING VIRUS THAT IS THE IMPETUS OF THIS WHOLE THING.  And, lest we forget, the dead reanimating.  The numbers would increase exponentially - the dead would outnumber the living and no military force could contain it or fight it in only a matter of days.  Members of the military would themselves become ill.  This show should end with zombie herds as far as the eye can see.  There is enough tension, panic, and horror to fill two or three spin-offs. 

Instead they give us a woman worrying about her junkie son and spoiled daughter, a Spanish family that basically sits idle but looks into the distance knowingly because apparently coming from a craphole in South America looks just like a zombie apocalypse (except that it doesn't) and they are thus serene and prepared.  A military gone berzerk cliche that we only see in EVERY movie EVER.  Kirkman and Co. seem to be very good at imagining monsters but not so much about the human condition.

CIP #2: Travis and his families.  See this is a role that I think and actor like Jon Bernthal could knock out of the park.  The amount of tension that should be piled on Travis should be enormous.  He has his current wife and her two children and his need to prove to them that he can take the place as the head of their family.  Then he has his ex wife and his own biological child and how that must pull him in directions he doesn't want to admit to (to not show favoritism but not being able to completely help it because Chris is HIS kid).  To have the push and pull between himself and the ex.  They are divorced but you gotta figure she is the one person who knows him better than ANYBODY.  That is a power that she wields.  The tension between the current (knowing full well the power the ex wields) and the ex (playing the chess game of the best way to handle the situation that works best for her son).  My mother once said that there can only be one "woman of the house".  Here there are naturally two.  Each stepping on each other tyring to fill in the blanks that the other leaves, and each needing something different but similar from the same man for the same reasons claiming the same rank.  Add to that the responsibility Travis feels to the family he carted along because he owes them.  As an alpha male, that would have to grate but it would also be good to have another strong male.  It would be awesome to watch these two circle each other trying to form an uneasy alliance while operating at the heightend "protect my family at all costs" instinct that makes alpha males deadly.  TRAVIS should be the focus of the show, not the junkie son.  I'd rather have a son with some other sort of ailment, than drug addiction.  The constant pull of his junkieness distracts from the tension that is already inherent in the subject matter.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this show.  I think what is driving me is that I WANT it to be what I imagine that it could be.  But with two episodes left, I might have to be resigned that it cannot.

 

Great comment!

 

 

You put into words my major frustration with this show.  I signed on to see a show about the beginning of the end of the world told through the eyes of one family.  There's jogging at the end of the world?  These people have no curiosity about what's happening ANYWHERE but in their own kitchen.  Nobody has mentioned what's happening in Europe, in Washington, shit even in fucking Malibu. 

 

In TWD we've seen the result of traffic jams from hell with abandoned cars blocking the roads.  I thought this show would let us see how that happened and what it was like.  And what better place to pick than LA, where traffic is apocalyptic on a regular day. 

 

Tobias should have been the Cassandra of this show, speaking the truth with no one believing him because he's a pimply faced kid.  Instead he disappears after going on a supply run which ends with him leaving the supplies behind. What the absolute fuck?!?!?

 

Season 5 of TWD had some really bad writing but FTWD makes the mother ship look like Masterpiece Theatre (not Downton Abbey though cause it sucks).  If the idea was to make fans so grateful for the return of TWD that they'd put up with any old crap thrown at them, well done.  Mission accomplished. 

[bosawks]

Also, apparently golf = evil.  And I hope Travis enjoyed that apocalyptic nookie since I don't think they'll be doing that again for a while.

 

As the not so proud owner of a hellacious slice, golf is evil.

 

It is truly and unrepentantly evil.

[rab01]

I think the best summation for me was further up this thread. I.HATE.THESE.PEOPLE. ...

 

The ex-wife is helping people, but she grates. I get she's gone from dawn to dusk helping out people-but if she hasn't even let on to all of the adult people she's living with what she's doing, I can't really get behind her. ...

 

Travis is as close to a Rick as we get, they talk about him being the de facto mayor. ...

 

Which is it, show? Is the safe zone full of people or not?  ...

1) God, yes there are some hateable characters here. And the ones that aren't awful are given nothing to do.

 

2) I think the ex-wife did tell everyone in the house what she was doing.  Maddie just wanted her to do dishes or repaint the living room again (which by the way is something the junkie should be doing rather than sleeping in the pool) or some other housework bullshit to confirm that Maddie was in the dominant position over her.

 

3) Travis isn't Rick and he isn't anything like a mayor.  I bet the army guy just finds it useful to talk that way to civilians he needs to work for him. Also, I know the show wants me to think he's evil but I actually liked everything the army guy said and the tone he said it in. The army has created a safe perimeter for them and is bringing in food, water and medical attention. Army guy isn't answering to them; he has to answer to his bosses. His "I don't give a shit" tone is refreshing.

 

4) Oh god yes -- the show's budget is clearly much smaller than the budget for TWD ... and I'm mystified as to why that is.  Jesus, why set your story in LA (the most boring and overused city in America) and then don't film there and don't show crowd scenes reasonable to the density of the population? There is also no chance in freaking hell that the army could have created a safe zone so easily in LA while DC fell to the walkers. There should be millions of walkers sloshing around that city or millions of rioting citizens seeking protection, or millions of people barricading their homes and scurrying out briefly for supplies.  If LA could be turned into an arid ghost town empty of walkers in 9 days, then the Feds would have managed to save the core of the government in DC.  The show had better have a really damn good explanation or a really good CGI'd visual of hordes of walkers ... I'm hoping for at least a concrete wall created by bulldozing a line of buildings ... something, anything to explain why we don't see any herds or tons of survivors.

Edited September 21, 2015 by rab01

[Duke2801]

In regards to the wife of the dying man getting to join him at the hospital?  I don't think she did.  She said she was eventually going to join him, but her husband had already left.  I don’t think she went yet. I bet they told her she would eventually get to see him, but that they had to take him first, and never really had any intention of letting her go too.

 

 

She played Gillian in House of Cards.  She worked for the Clean Water Group that Claire Underwood started.

 

 

Honestly, I think the only reason she left is because she saw something bad was going on, i.e. them forcibly taking Nick, and not taking Daniel.  I think she’s going with them so she can get to the bottom of it and protect Griselda and Nick.  Liza going is the ONLY thing that’s going to save Nick.  Sorry, but I think Griselda is D.O.A.

 

 

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. 

 

Also I don't think they were inferring that Nick/Ophelia and Chris/Alicia had romantic feelings towards one another - they were just saying that if they had to choose that would be the route they wanted. Options are kind of limited since I sincerely doubt they go the incest route, and it's pretty much been confirmed that Alicia (Matt) and Nick (Gloria) are straight.

 

Thank you for clarifying! That makes sense. 

 

I really don't think that A/N have acted "couple-y" since that jello hospital scene, but others may disagree.  

 

[misstwpherecool]

A lot of people seem to hate Madison or junky boy's mom. I think she is literally and figuratively the strongest female character so far. She evolving faster than Carol on the TWD. Her motherly instincts seem to kick in early. She sees the real situation developing faster than others. After having to keep an eye on junky son for a long time prior she learned you don't always take someone's word so it made perfect sense to sneak out the fence and check it out for herself although clumsy not hiding the opening and leaving the gun. She picked up that her son was stealing from her neighbor and took him to task for it and lying to her earlier not taking the pill.

 

Most seem to be in B movie slasher flick mode now with few facing reality.

[Irishmaple]

I'm on the Army guy's side. I think he's doing one hell of a good job under the circumstances. In 9 days since the fall/evacuation of LA, he secured a zone for his people and the civilians. He has put up a fence and, making me weep with joy, he cleared a perimeter so zombies aren't threatening his fence. Apparently and correctly realizing that people skills aren't his strength he has delegated hand-holding to Travis. He continues to send his people out to clear the Infected and bring back civilians. He appears to be executing people unwilling to live in his compound which makes me a bit twitchy but I can forgive a lot from a man who clears his perimeter.

[magemaud]

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

[JackONeill]

Maybe Tobias will be the sole lead in this show if it gets renewed?

 

But, I suppose, if it does get renewed with the same cast and it's set in the same neighborhood, we'll get to see how a pool fairs without proper treatment after a walker or two falls into it. Sounds pretty thrilling.

[Omar G.]

It was already renewed a while back.

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

[Lyra Angelica]

That's what it looked like, but I'm not from there either.  Because I'm home today with sick kids and bored, I've been trying to figure out the line about the neighborhood being one of 12 safe areas south of the San Gabriels and how big an area we're talking about in relation to the LA area as a whole.  Yes, I'm that bored.

 

"South of the San Gabriels" is a huge area--- pretty much the entire LA basin and valley (San Fernando and San Garbriel) regions and some of Orange County as well.  ETA:  The Pomona Valley as well (I spent most of the day in Claremont yesterday too!  Duh!).

 

Add me to the number who don't get why this one little neighborhood wherever it is (did they say North Hollywood?) is one of 12 safe zones.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Lyra Angelica

[LadyArcadia]

I absolutely did not get what the letter at the end was about until coming here.  I assumed Patrick was the dead boyfriend, not the missing husband (or did they show him again?).  

 

You're not the only one. I turned to Mr. Arcadia and said, "I thought her boyfriend's name was Matt?  Patrick was the neighbor.  I had no idea that was Susan's letter. I was very confused.

 

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!

 

And I missed the whole gun thing at the end too. I thought he was seeing the signal and realized his son was telling the truth..and that was it. Clearly, I'm bored and not paying close enough attention.

Edited September 21, 2015 by LadyArcadia