My first thoughts coming out of the mid-season finale of Fear The Walking Dead is “have they lost their minds?”
Alicia’s first big episode since she returned is a major letdown. Sure, there is a story on how she escaped the bunker after the missile strike. But it leaves little to no substance to the entire story. I have zero idea what the writers were thinking when they crafted this episode. Especially the fact that there was a walker that pointed to Padre at all times. Was I supposed to believe that?
And let’s not forget that they dedicated that walker to follow them. Why would they not take its teeth out? Michonne done that with her pet walkers. It makes me wonder if the writers watched the original show.
Strand and Alicia finally had their reunion. But did it matter? No because by the end of “Padre” we are going to believe that there will be a war between Strand and Alicia’s group. This could have been set in place a few episodes prior to this. No way this needed to happen on the eighth episode.
I am also going to add that just like tonight’s World Beyond, the revelation that Alicia got bit and had her arm amputated just did not want me to care at all. Personally, I am not liking the direction with the character as she is one of my favorites on Fear. Alicia following a walker around for the location of “Padre” was an insult to her character. Absolutely ridiculous. Maybe the walker can magically use his compass mode to find Rick Grimes. I would totally believe that.
I think I have complained enough about this episode. I will praise Lennie James’ acting and stunt work as it is always great. Everything else on “Padre” can go directly in the trash. A dud episode to add in an already awful first half. I may be in the minority, but this post-nuclear bomb drop environment for this season is exposing the flaws and plot-holes of how an environment like that actually works. What worked in the previous season is not working here!
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We may have just witnessed the final appearance of Althea on tonight’s Fear The Walking Dead. And to be honest, I am okay with it.
This is because the character has not been utilized to it’s full potential ever since her first on screen debut back in season 4. Sure, we uncovered a chuck of story with Al in the coming years, but it never seemed to make me sympathize with Al. That was until she meet the CRM soldier Isabelle.
Speaking of CRM, whoever wrote this episode must have not seen World Beyond. The military members are a force to be reckoned with. And all it took was for this episode to make two members look goofy and silly for no apparent reason. Fear The Walking Dead is hit and miss with groups. But that one should have not been made to look like a joke.
I did however like the scene where Morgan used the civil war style cannon to blast the two soldiers to pieces. But his plot armor of finding all of these characters is getting tiresome. Especially since there are points where everyone is taking their masks off or riding horses that seemed to be immune to the radiation. That is my biggest issue with this current season as it is giving me flashbacks to the level of stupidity of season five.
Maggie Grace is a great actress and I believe this episode showcased how great she is. Al letting go of her journalistic past to live the rest of her life with Isabelle is quite telling. What is going to happen to the rest of those video recordings? Who knows! The seventh season has been very underwhelming so far besides the fifth episode. Things need to pick up!
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Fear The Walking Dead’s Sarah caught my interest since her debut a few seasons ago. But the character has not been fleshed out. On today’s episode of Fear, it is my favorite involving the character.
While Sarah was looking for Wendell, she encountered Josiah. I find it a sheer coincidence that they found each other this quick. But the encounter did impact the story told for this episode. It is a good thing that Strand assured Sarah that Wendell is okay. But can we honestly believe him since we have not seen his body?
Speaking of which, I like the fakeout they did in the episode as I was believed that Wendell was devoured. But as I learned with TV tropes, until I see a body, nothing is confirmed. But Rufus getting bitten gives me flashbacks to Shiva being devoured on the main show.
Even though they appeared for a few minutes, it is good to know that the other characters such as Charlie, Lucianna, and AL are doing fine and that they watched over Sarah. Mo Collins did great during this episode! I wondered why it took them this long to showcase her full potential.
I am really curious on why Strand is written this way. It is becoming difficult to believe that Strand will evolve into a different character every episode. He wouldn’t be this ruthless and evil, though it was better than riding hot air balloons. It’s almost cartoon-like. I find it so petty that he can dictate who can enter his building. He now has a ruthless lackey who was originally a shy guy in the season six finale. It’s hard to believe that.
With the criticisms aside, this episode is solid and one of the best this season!
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Tonight’s Fear The Walking Dead is a race against time. In a way I can describe it, I would say to fasten your seatbelts and get your earplugs.
That is because Morgan and Grace are dealing with a major conflict while trying to watch over Morgan Jr. Hearing a baby cry all night as a new parent is one thing, but for 90% of the episode, I found it annoying. There is some good action that I like. Along with the visuals during the day to the night. But it did not make up for the messy plot.
Due to the fact that everything outside of the submarine is contaminated by radiation, I am wondering how did Morgan Jr. survived inside there. In fact, How is it that Morgan and Grace just found a storage hatch full of baby formula out of nowhere? I am pretty sure that they searched the whole place. But it just magically happened.
Speaking of Magic, Emile’s long lost twin brother appeared at the end of the episode and I am thinking why did this happen now instead of before the previous season finished. Now Emile is going to get his revenge on Morgan. It will be interesting to see how this will develop.
Fear The Walking Dead does great when it comes to developing Morgan with extra layers. Today’s episode showed how ruthless he is with the two bandits that tried to steal Morgan Jr. and claim him as theirs. I will give it to them, I would do everything to protect my own child. I also feIt sad for Grace as she is experiencing postpartum depression! hope these next few episodes begin to move the plot forward!
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Fear The Walking Dead kicked off their seventh season this week with an interesting episode. And it is all about Strand!
Continuing the anthology format, “The Beacon” tells the story of what Strand up to a few months after the nuclear bomb dropping in the area. Strand made himself the leader of The Tower that he first entered at the season six finale. He is different and I believe Fear The Walking Dead’s plot is setting him up to be the villain for this season. This has not happened on any of the three shows before. To see how this is being planned out caught my interest.
Strand has always been a character where he tries to make sense out of everything with his motives. Regardless of how good or bad they are, he is a great character.
The setting and the look of the episode is a nice shift. It is Fear The Walking Dead meets the Fallout video game series mixed with the film The Mist. I did thing it was strange that the horses were suddenly not affected by the radiation. But the shootout that happened was really good though!
Will makes his one and only appearance on “The Beacon” as Strand kills him by the end of the episode. Sorry, we hardly knew you Will. But it makes me wonder what will happen when Alicia will reappear this season since she was nowhere to be found when they looked for her.
Overall, I really like this episode. If I can summarize “The Beacon” I would say that this is comparable to the season six premiere except we are following a character that could be a villain.
Let’s hope that we see a good showdown between Strand and Morgan!
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Fear The Walking Dead’s sixth season started with Morgan’s Group separated. The story that followed that was with the conflict with Virginia’s group and the death of John Dorie. The season concluded with the warheads dropping in the area while the group is separated again.
I can tolerate it this time unlike the disaster of the season five finale. This time, I am looking forward to what is coming in season seven. Now that the bomb dropped, everyone will have to figure out a way to adapt to the radiation environment. Unlike how they encountered this on the previous season, the whole area is contaminated.
There are some really great moments that I love. The opening with Rachel was sad and dark for all of the wrong reasons. Nobody could save her after her injury and she had no choice but to kill herself. The dog did manage to use a walker to bring Morgan jr. to Morgan. I would want to question how this logically happened, but I let it pass because my next question is coming up.
I must be the only one happy to finally see Sherry and Dwight together for good. I completely understood why it took time for their bond to go back to the way it was before the apocalypse. It was Negan that caused all of the trauma for her. She can finally move on with Dwight. Also, good thing that they killed those people that stolen the home owner’s basement.
Despite my feelings about Dakota, she received one of the best deaths in the series. Standing face forward of the bomb blast fried her to death and I loved it. I am also curious whether if we will see Daniel, Luciana, Charlie, Sarah, and Wes ever again since they are picked up by CRM. If we do see them again, hopefully it is at one of CRM’s locations.
The bomb drop on the finale also said “f*** them kids” from season five as they were nowhere to be seen during the whole season. And Strand’s speech before and after the bomb dropped is a masterclass of acting from Colman Domingo.
And finally, am I supposed to buy that Morgan and Grace is safe from the bomb blast by hiding under the car? Clearly Morgan Jr. is now dead from the blast. Everyone else was sheltered and they were not. Morgan and Grace must have a ton of radiation in their bodies now.
Overall, a great episode to close out the sixth season. I must say that Fear The Walking Dead bounced back in a good way as they really put the fear back on this show that was needed. In my opinion, this is a can’t miss season!
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Dwight and Sherry’s reunion on Fear The Walking Dead has not been all roses and flowers the entire time. There was past trauma that Sherry shared with Dwight on what she went through with Negan. But by the end of the season, it seems like Sherry and Dwight are back together for good.
Christine Evangelista breaks down everything that happened between Sherry and Dwight on the season six finale of Fear The Walking Dead in this exclusive interview along with what she would like to see on the seventh season.
How did you and Austin Amelio prepare for the warhead landing scene?
CE: “The scene where they’re coming out of the house and the scene right after they shoot the guy and head back into the basement when the bomb going off was really intense. The tunnel that they go into the bunker was built on a soundstage. So they built this bunker that we dove into. And the entire thing is built on these mechanics that vibrate and move and all the shelves are knocking down and dust going everywhere. And it was a really intense scene to shoot. Because of that, you don’t know what is going to fall on top of you. So how do you prepare for an atomic bomb going off? I don’t know. But you just do. And it was legitimately scary because we’re in this device that was moving and vibrating and things were flying all over the place.”
Do you know if everyone shot their explosion scenes the same day as you and Amelio did, or were they all different days?
CE: “They were all set on different days because everyone was in different locations.”
Based on your experience being a featured character on The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead, were there any differences between acting on both shows?
CE: “Fear The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead are so similar in so many ways. And the point of obviously a lot of the cast is the same. We have Lenny, we have Austin and myself. But we also have a lot of our writers and executive producers and directors go back and forth. So I’ve been able to work with the same people on both shows. What’s been exciting about Fear The Walking Dead, especially this season, which is really unique to both shows, is that we’ve been able to shoot it in this anthology style. Which means that each episode is more character driven or you’re not having so many different characters in one episode and they’re just following one story the whole time. So you’ll see a day in the life of Sherry and Dwight. And for an actor, it’s really fulfilling because every episode has like an arc to it, like a real beginning, middle and end. And it’s been really great to go into Fear The Walking Dead while it’s doing this anthology style format and be able to really tell the story of what happened to Sherry. We don’t really know what happened. We don’t know how she’s different or what’s been going on the past few years. I mean, the last time we saw Sherry was years ago. So it’s been really cool to now pick this all up and be able to do the story justice, really tell it in a full way. So that’s been really exciting and like such a unique opportunity.”
As a viewer, are you relieved to see Sherry not go after Negan anymore when she realized that it is not worth doing so?
CE: “I think Sherry’s relieved, but I’m relieved also. I think even just as a viewer, I love that these characters are able to be together again and also that Sherry is able to, in some way move on from it and to get her power back and to not just chase the wrong God, as I say all the time. She’s just able to move on, be with her partner and maybe use all this experience that she had to help other people. And I think that’s really exciting. But it’s definitely a relief for everyone now.”
Now that the warhead has dropped and obliterated the entire area, I would like to see a situation like the video game Fallout where everyone is going to have to think of ways to gather resources in a nuclear environment while also protecting themselves. Is this something you would like to see for the seventh season?
CE: “Yeah, I think it’s so interesting. I remember when they told me that there was going to be a massive bomb that was going to go off and radiation was going to take over life as they know it. And I couldn’t even believe it because it’s going to change the dynamics of everything. You know, if you think about it, resources right now aren’t really available. After radiation and the bomb goes off, it’s going to be even less. And I think you could really bring out the worst in people. It’s a really scary situation. A lot of people died in the finale episode. And I think that mixed with life changing as they know it, is going to be really complicated and it’s going to make people choose a different path in life. And it doesn’t always bring out the best in people. So I think it’s going to be a very intense season because of that, It’s not just even about the walkers anymore and it’s not even just about the people that they know. It’s now you have this added element of this bomb destroying everything in sight. And I mean everything from like food to water, just think about how difficult things are going to be for them.”
Who did you like working with the most during this season?
CE: “Austin’s always amazing, and I was so excited to work with him again. He is just fantastic. We started this whole journey together. So it’s really cool. And it was almost like neither of us ever left. We just got back to working together. And we’re just good friends. I really love Jenna Elfman. I was always such a fan of her from Dharma and Greg. And to see her in this role of June, which is entirely different. That show was really cool. And she’s so committed to the character and she’s such a fantastic actress. And I just really love hanging out with her and like shooting the show. Everyone’s amazing, really. Everyone’s great. Mo Collins is great. She’s so funny. And she brings such a levity to the performance, which is really great to watch in a show that’s really difficult and challenging and dark in a lot of ways. I mean, everyone is so talented, but it’s cool that there’s so many great female characters on the show too.
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Aisha Tyler has done practically everything in Hollywood: acting, voiceover work, hosting, directing, writing, and producing. She has been in the industry for over 25 years with several projects in her name. Aisha Tyler is also a fan of The Walking Dead and she as also appeared on AMC’s Talking Dead.
Last November, it was announced that Aisha Tyler will direct an episode of Fear The Walking Dead. It turned out that she directed the episode “J.D” and Aisha Tyler is here to break down directing this monumental episode in this exclusive interview.
You’ve been a fan of The Walking Dead for some time now, and this is now your first episode in the franchise that you directed. How excited were you when you first got the news?
Aisha: “Incredibly excited. I wish I could come up with some phrase that’s like spectacularly descriptive, but I was thrilled because it had been something I’ve been hoping to do for a long time. And I had had some meetings with AMC where we talked about the fact that I love the franchise. I would love the opportunity to direct, but I don’t know that I thought it was going to happen. So you’re kind of always just doing your work. I was off directing other stuff. And it was just a thrill when it came back around.”
Do you remember exactly where you were or what you were doing when you got the call that AMC wanted you to direct the episode?
Aisha: “That’s a really good question. I don’t. It’s all just blended into a beautiful golden memory. I do remember that I did a zoom call with the show runners Ian and Andrew, and that was great. We just hit it off. And a friend of mine and I were texting and I got the email from my management team and I was like, “I got the job!” I do remember that. I just remember that I was very excited.”
Knowing that Fear The Walking Dead was filmed during the pandemic, what were some challenges you had to endure as a director?
Aisha: “Well, the biggest issue right now for covid productions other than testing is a shorter shoot day. And so that’s just challenging. You just have less time to do the same amount of work. And that remains the challenge across this episode. But luckily, because the episode was essentially set over a single day, we could only shoot from sunup to sundown. And that natural kind of time limit meant that we had to work really effectively and efficiently, which we did. So it was exhilarating. You’re always rushing when you’re directing. Every day is just a sprint. But it was beautiful and enjoyable and we were able to get done.”
This episode is a tribute to John Dorie Jr. I thought that the eulogy scene was beautiful from the way it was shot and with the way Jenna Elfman delivered her lines. What are the conversations like between you and Jenna when it came to crafting that scene?
Aisha: “We had a really good conversation before we started shooting the episode about how she felt about it as an actor and what was her character was going through. And, you know, this was really June’s first real moment where she allowed herself to mourn John. She just been on this kind of mad sprint to redeem herself and really driven by grief and by anger at the world about herself. And this was her opportunity to say goodbye. So we really wanted to make sure that we honored that moment for her because it was a really transformational one for June. And I think also on a larger level with Dwight and Sherry. John and June’s relationship represented something really specific in their world, which is that it’s possible to find beauty and it’s possible to find love in a terrible state of affairs in the world around them. And so I really wanted to make sure that there was a lot of beauty in that scene and a lot of love and that it wasn’t just sad because it was all of our opportunities to both say goodbye to a character that we all really love and also to celebrate the beauty of that relationship.”
Were there any scenes that you directed for this episode that you felt like you wanted to put yourself in any of the character’s shoes, whether it was June, Dwight, Sherry or John Sr?
Aisha: “Not really. When you’re directing, you get to be in everybody’s shoes all the time. That’s really the nature of being a director. You’re kind of inside all of it all the time. And that’s why I love directing because I really get to care for everybody on set and think about every every character and their experience and their journey. And I get to put my feet in the shoes of the fifth character, which is the audience. And I really get to be a part of things and thinking about how the audience will experience this episode and how they’ll connect with the characters. So that’s the coolest thing about being a director, is you get to play all the roles.”
Are there any past episodes of either The Walking Dead or Fear The Walking Dead that you wish you had the chance to direct?
Aisha: “Well, my favorite episode of The Walking Dead and there are a lot of really good ones, is ‘Clear.’ It’s the episode where we find Morgan again. And I love that episode of television as one of my favorite episodes of television period because it’s so incredibly layered and emotional and it really focuses on what grief and loss do to a person. And Lenny James is just such an extraordinary actor. And I just remember crying through the whole episode because it was just so beautiful and so painful and it was so tender. And seeing Rick and Morgan together again was so wonderful. But it wasn’t the reunion we all expected them to have as fans. And just to see the shell around Morgan kind of crack a little bit of him, connect with human beings again after all that time suffering alone was just such a beautiful episode.”
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This week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead titled “J.D” is a tribute to John Dorie. While the mood and tone is sad and depressing, there are plot points that opened my curious eyes. With that out of the way, here is my review.
June is still grieving John Dorie as he was killed a few episodes ago. Sure she got her revenge by killing Virginia, but the suffering of John’s death is on full display on this episode. That also came with a nice and beautiful eulogy by June later in “J.D” when it was her and a few characters standing over John’s Grave. Jenna Elfman certainly made me a believer during this sequence, as I felt her grief at John’s death. I also feel this is her best performance since joining Fear The Walking Dead a few seasons back.
While John Dorie’s grief is on show throughout the show, I believe the introduction of John Dorie Sr. could’ve been better. I realize the franchise has a cliché of long-lost characters reappearing out of nowhere, but his appearance was too soon after John Jr. died. Of all the places for them to meet, it had to be during a shootout. What are the odds of that.
I’m not sure what else we can get out of the John Dorie Sr. character, but at least he has a cause to tell the group about Teddy. It turns out that John Sr. was the one who imprisoned Teddy in the 1970s, and Teddy is the same guy he was then. The apocalypse frequently alters people’s personalities. But his did not, which is a rare occurrence in The Walking Dead’s universe. Plus, John Dorie Sr. sure survived that gunshot wound pretty fast!
Another storyline development in this episode that I was looking forward to seeing was Dwight and Sherry’s. I had been wondering for weeks if these two would be on the same page. It’s now evident that Sherry recognizes that returning to Virginia to kill Negan is a waste of time. Sherry wouldn’t even know whether she’d come back alive if she did that, so why jeopardize her shot of being with Dwight? I am delighted for these two. I, on the other hand, am not thrilled to see another horse die.
Despite the fact that this episode is slower than the other two, I embrace it. A slower-paced plot with a new mood change was greatly needed since the previous two episodes’ tones were similar. This is a fantastic memorial episode to the late John Dorie Jr., and I really enjoyed it!
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There has been numerous episodes of The Walking Dead franchise that tackled hallucinations or dreams. Rick Grimes and Michonne’s final episodes are the first that come to my mind. On the newest episode of Fear The Walking Dead titled “In Dreams”, the experimental episode has done something that all three shows have never done before. Plus, add in a dark plot twist in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the season.
The basic plot of “In Dreams” tells the story of Grace having a dream of what the future looks like. In that future, her daughter Athena is grown up, and everyone that she knows is still alive except her. In the real world, the mysterious cult tracked Morgan and Grace down to get back what they want. That is, the key Morgan had around his neck that is supposed to be for the submarine that was first seen earlier this season.
Then I started to realize the strong point of this episode. Grace is having a dream when most of the conflict is going on. The way the real life conflicts were also carried over to the dream was masterful as it explained how they got into this situation in the first place. Grace’s dream sequence also revealed that the baby is not Morgan’s as it belonged to a man named Matthew. I was caught off guard by this. But at the same time, it was never implied that the baby was Morgan’s.
Grace told Athena the story about Matthew while we get flashbacks to when she had to put him down. But that was not the final deathblow here. The plot twist came at the end when Grace gave birth to her daughter in the current time after the conflict. After she gave birth, Grace asked Morgan why the baby was not crying. Morgan turned around and revealed that it was stillborn.
This was heartbreaking and sad to the point that I felt for the character. It also made me think of what parents or parents to be went through on a day to day basis. It may be a longshot, but I believe Grace’s baby died by absorbing all of the radiation from Gracie. That reminded me of an episode of HBO’s Chernobyl when the same thing happened to a character.
The other plot twist to bring up as well is the fact that the dream sequence is Grace saying goodbye to Athena rather than Grace saying hello to her future daughter. Karen David was amazing in this episode as her acting truly shined on this heartbreaking episode. Also, thumbs up to the visual effects team and the director of “In Dreams” for the beautiful scenery and crafting the look of those dream sequences.
I love this episode. It is my favorite of the current season so far. It was sad to see how this episode’s final minutes went. But the way the story was told easily put this episode on my top five Fear The Walking Dead episodes of all time. If the delay of 6×08 did not happen, this episode would have aired at least two weeks ago. Because it is airing on Mother’s Day, there should also be a trigger warning for parents or couples that lost a baby.
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