S01.E04: Not Fade Away

[wrlord]

She's played be Canadian actress Sandrine Holt.

Ah.... last thing I saw her in was Rapa Nui.  No wonder I didn't recognize her face.

Edited September 26, 2015 by wrlord

[AnnaMayWong]

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.

Excellent post!!!

[NurseGiGi]

Not sure if this has been brought up yet (probably has been, I haven't read each and every post in this thread) - and it probably isn't, since I think it just might be - but did anyone notice the Mother of all 'easter eggs' at about ~2:05ish mark at the start of this episode?

 

I swear to God (or to whoever you swear to) that at first glance, and pausing it/slow-forwarding, that the person that is right-most behind the rolling tank that Chris's camera pans behind is a clone of Chandler Riggs, (ie Carl Grimes); this kid is even dressed like Carl is on TWD, sans the Sheriff's hat.  I'm pretty sure it isn't him , but someone in the casting department went way above and beyond to get someone who is an almost exact doppleganger of him to throw in there for someone to catch with an eagle eye.

 

I know someone will prove it wrong, but next time you watch the episode, look for him and tell me doesn't make you go "HEY! That's Carl! (or Coral, if you prefer)".

Okay, I just rewatched the part you're talking about and you're right, it looks just like him!  Coral!!

[mightysparrow]

Well, the ratings for the show have been excellent, even though they have been dropping with each episode.  But I'm sure TPTB are patting each other on their backs and laughing all the way to the bank.

 

I've certainly doled out my share of criticism and disappointment for the show and yet here I am, waiting to see how the season ends.  So, I guess my point is they don't seem to care about the quality as long as they keep raking in the money.

 

Such a wasted premise so far.

 

FTWD is ALLLLLLL about money.  It's obvious from the amount of effort (or lack thereof) they've put into telling the story.  Writing is lazy, production values are Dollarama quality and acting is indifferent at best for the most part (God bless you Rueben!).  They know they have a built in audience of TWD junkies who are jonesing during the off-season.  And we tune-in hoping against hope that somehow, someway things will get better, even though it's pretty obvious they won't.  Tptb should have more respect for such a loyal audience.

[Raven1707]

Posting these just because I keep track of such things...

 

Fear The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode Ratings

 

08-23-15 “Pilot” 10.130 million [Live + 3 = 13.328 million]
08-30-15 “So Close, Yet So Far” 8.184 million [Live + 3 = 11.701 million]
09-13-15 “The Dog” 7.185 million [Live + 3 = 10.728 million]
09-20-15 “Not Fade Away” 6.62 million [Live +3 = 10.374 million]

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Posting these just because I keep track of such things...

 

Fear The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode Ratings

 

08-23-15 “Pilot” 10.130 million [Live + 3 = 13.328 million]

08-30-15 “So Close, Yet So Far” 8.184 million [Live + 3 = 11.701 million]

09-13-15 “The Dog” 7.185 million [Live + 3 = 10.728 million]

09-20-15 “Not Fade Away” 6.62 million [Live +3 = 10.374 million]

 

(this next comment is not meant as any sort of personal disrespect Raven1707, and thanks for posting these to get an idea of how its being received)

 

Slightly ironical enough for a light chuckle, that an episode named "Not Fade Away" shows the lowest (to date) viewing numbers.

Edited September 27, 2015 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[FierceCritter]

ETA:  Also wanted to say how much I enjoy reading all the different points of view this forum has to offer.  And FierceCritter, so glad you came out of lurk mode!

Thank you! :)

[Raven1707]

(this next comment is not meant as any sort of personal disrespect Raven1707, and thanks for posting these to get an idea of how its being received)

 

Slightly ironical enough for a light chuckle, that an episode named "Not Fade Away" shows the lowest (to date) viewing numbers.

 

No worries.

 

And I'm a fan of irony, heh.