Maggie Grace as Althea, Austin Amelio as Dwight – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Fear The Walking Dead’s current season has been excellent so far. The structure of an anthology season really works three episodes in. We have seen a reintroduced Morgan, and Strand, Alicia, Charlie, and Daniel in a sticky situation. What made those episodes great, is how they made the previous episode matter and connected to the next episode.
This week, Fear focused on Dwight and Althea. They both have an adventure and a motive. For Dwight, he is still looking for Sherry. For Althea, she hopes to see Isabelle again. When they both entered the building, they were in for something that has yet to be seen in the universe of The Walking Dead. And that is, a plague. Just the thought of a plague during a zombie apoclapse is interesting.
When Dwight and Al went through a weak wall to go to the other side, there were many rats and mice. I had to turn away for a split second because I do not like them with a passion. But the sequence demostrated the fear and urgency that these two had to get through to go to the roof. Austin Amelio and Maggie Grace’s chemistry on this particular episode is something that I did not know that I wanted. And I like their chemistry as friends as it felt organic and natural.
Maggie Grace as Althea – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
What I found sad when I watched “Alaska”, is everything that had to do with Nora. Nora explained that the walkers that were in that building were all co-workers that she worked with. The gut punch happens towards the end of the episode when we see that the state ID Al found on a walker resided from Alaska. And that person was one of Nora’s friends as well (named Mark Jackson). Nora brought out an emotion out of me to appreciate life because it can be taken at anytime.
CRM killed Mark Anderson from the top of that roof. And I believe that this happened based on what happened involving them on World Beyond. Even though Isabelle of CRM given Al the supplies and medicine to take care of the sick patients, they are not to be trusted. Also, did anyone make a connection to Andrea’s walker bite reveal in the comics to Dwight’s infection reveal?
The best moment of “Alaska” is the reunion between Dwight and Sherry. This was a long time coming ever since she disappeared back on season 7 of The Walking Dead. I can say that I was extremely happy when they reunited and I am looking forward to see what happens next with the two. Al believed that Dwight would reunite with her. And that moment is a memorable one. Now we can hope for Isabelle to reunite with Althea.
It has been a while since Fear The Walking Dead has had three straight episodes that are great. And each episode brought something different to the table. Of the three episodes, “Alaska” is my favorite so far! I also have to say that Fear The Walking Dead has filled the empty void on Sunday nights. “Alaska” is a contender for one of the best episodes of Fear and it is totally worth it.
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Colman Domingo as Victor Strand, Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark, Craig Nigh as Hill – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
This week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead titled “Welcome to the Club”, is a much different episode than last week’s premiere. This is because Alicia, Strand, Charlie, and Daniel are in one of Virginia’s communities. The episode is focused on these four characters as they learn to adapt to The Pioneers’ way of living. Here is my review of “Welcome to the Club.”
It is career day for the four characters. But before that happens with them, a group of prisoners are tasked with killing walkers in a storage unit. What sounds easy on paper, is difficult in practice. That is because inside the storage unit, the walkers and the floor is covered with molasses. What I like here, is how the molasses is used during this deadly situation. I also thought it was clever on how the walkers grabbed and devoured the prisoners and that guard too. Sanjay was the only survivor there that survived.
What made me sad, is to see Daniel with memory loss and his mental state. Even though by the end of “Welcome to the Club” Daniel seemed to be in his normal state when he seen Morgan, How we see him before that moment is heartbreaking. He did not remember anything at all. Virginia had him under her complete control and I really felt for Alicia and Strand when they tried to speak with him.
Charlie was the one to finally trigger something in Daniel. When she played the same song that he taught her, I was thinking to myself that he has to come through now. Whether if he was acting or not the entire time, is up for debate.
Colby Minifie as Virginia- Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Dakota is Virginia’s sister. I just also realized that their names are based on the states in this country. So far, I like what we see of Dakota and she proves to Alicia and Strand that she is a valuable asset. But she also slightly gets them both into trouble while they were doing their task. The task for Alicia and Strand, is to clear the walkers that the prisoners could not do. The difference here, is that Virginia told them both if they complete the task, there would be something inside for them. We also got to see what happened if they tried to escape as it happened right infront of them when a prisoner tried to escape. And that is, death.
So not only did Alicia, Strand, Sanjay, Dakota, and Charlie cleared the walkers, they came up with a smart strategy. The action really picked up here and I love those gruesome walker kills. The strongest dialouge on this episode is between Alicia and Strand. They both went back and forth about why they should not take orders from Virginia and lead their own way. Alicia is the voice of reason in this scenario and even her plan about escaping is far better than Strand’s plan. But the truth comes out as Strand secretly made a deal with Virginia.
That deal is for him to give her the map in order for them two to be kept together. This also escalated later on when Strand was given a key from Virginia. Virginia sees a leader in Strand and the first thing Strand did, is reassigned Alicia. This means that the two are splitting up. Strand wanted Alicia to forget who he is from this point on.
I can say that Morgan was not the only one that is in for a change this season. Strand also changed too. Especially when he got Sonjay devoured by walkers later which was part of his plan. Alicia tried to knock some sense into Strand and it did not work at all. Also, bonus points for the scene between Virginia and Dakota. I can tell that sisters around the world will also feel that because you would not want anything to happen to your younger sibbling.
Overall, I like the episode. It reminded me of “The Cell” on The Walking Dead back in season 7. I said this because everyone that is in that sugar factory had to adapt to the working life under The Pioneers including the prisoners. And on “The Cell”, Daryl seen first hand what is life under The Saviors like. Just like that episode on The Walking Dead, there are rules everyone has to follow and there are consiquences if they do not follow them. So far, the anthology structure is working. Morgan appearing at the end of the episode makes it connected to the ending of the last episode and I hope to see that in later episodes of this season.
Next week’s episode titled “Alaska” is focused on Dwight and Al. You do not want to miss that one!
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Fear The Walking Dead returned tonight to kick off the sixth season. If you recall, the fifth season ended in a cliffhanger that was panned by critics. We got our question right away on the status of Morgan Jones. And that is, he is alive!
“The End is the Beginning” is the title of this episode and it matches how we view Morgan during this episode. With that out of the way, Here are the best moments from today’s episode.
The Callback to “Days Gone Bye”
Lennie James as Morgan Jones – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
I noticed this good easter egg as soon as it happened. Morgan walking into the abandoned town mirrors when Rick Grimes first entered Atlanta on The Walking Dead. The atmonsphere and mood from both scenes are exactly the same, except that Morgan was badly injured in this sense. Bonus points for Morgan getting that gun from the police car because that had to be a slight nod to Rick Grimes. I will add more to this on the final moment.
Everything with Emile
Demetrius Grosse as Emile- Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Emile was great on this episode. Actor Demetrius Grosse played a very convincing villain. Although he was killed at the end of this episode, he will remain as one of my favorite characters on Fear regardless that he only lasted one episode. He is the bounty hunter for Virginia and he did not hesitate to take the heads off of people with his big boardaxe. I just wish that he lasted much longer. I also liked the fact that he took down that water tower that Morgan slept in. Must have been a bad wakeup call for him.
The Scenery
I love the cinematography throuought the episode. It really brought out the mood that this was going to be like a western film from the last century. Mix that in with the apoclapse, you are in for a treat on the way most of those outdoor scenes are filmed.
Sending a Message to Virginia
I found this funny that Virginia wanted Morgan’s head in a box. But what she wanted, did not turn out excactly what she hoped. She did get a nice box with Morgan’s name on it. But the head in there was Emile and Morgan sent her a clear message that they will see eachother again.
“Morgan Jones is Dead”
This is one of the best lines I have heard Morgan say and Lennie James really delievered this line very well. It signifies that the old Morgan is done and the new Morgan is here. No more “Clear” or “All Life is Precious” Morgan as those days are far behind him. To me, it is the reinvention of the character and he did that in a life or death situation.
Which is why I brought up the police car as Rick Grimes life as a sherif was long behind him the second he entered Atlanta as to Morgan when he entered the small town. When this line is heard, you think back to this episode to see the changes of the character. Issac tried to bring out that old Morgan, but he is “dead” now forever. This is a memorable line that will be remembered and Virginia now has to watch out for him.
This is a really good episode to kick off the sixth season. I know that it will take some time to gain back the interest that was lost due to the season five finale. But this episode is worth the wait. Fear The Walking Dead is back on AMC Network and it is a spectacular ride!
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Ross Marquand as Aaron, ,Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, Dan Fogler as Luke – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 11 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC
For ten years, The Walking Dead has graced our screens with our favorite characters, moments, stories, and even the walkers itself. Within those ten years, we got two spinoff shows (Fear The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond), video games, conventions, and more content of The Walking Dead franchise for the fans. But today, is the day that we all did not want to imagine happen.
AMC announced that the upcoming 11th season of The Walking Dead will be the final season. For this season, it will be 24 episodes instead of the normal 16 episodes. That is with the exception of the 10th season in which it will have six additional episodes after the season finale airs on October 4th. The 11th season will end sometime in 2022.
The other news that came with that announcement, is that fan favorite characters Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) will have their own spinoff series focusing on the characters which will premiere in 2023.
The Walking Dead:World Beyond is stated to last for two seasons and it is also supposed to lead up to the upcoming Rick Grimes films. Fear The Walking Dead’s first half of the sixth season will begin airing on October 11th and as of right now, there is no word if we will have a seventh season.
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This year’s edition of San Diego Comic Con had to be canceled due to the current pandemic. Not only that was canceled, The Walking Dead had to delay the airdate of the season finale, delay the premiere of World Beyond, and halt the filming of Fear The Walking Dead. What was supposed to be 42 straight weeks of content of The Walking Dead universe, turned upside down due to the pandemic. But luckily, fans got a chance to see the panels of all three shows in the comfort of their own homes as San Diego Comic Con went virtual for the first time in it’s 50 year history. Today, I will give my recap and thoughts of the two panels as I will also make a seperate article of The Walking Dead: World Beyond panel.
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD
Showrunners and executive producers Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, and cast members Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, all were on the panel today to talk about the first half of the sixth season. The panel was broken into two groups as Chris Hardwhick said that at the start of the panel. Also, the premiere of the sixth season will be on Sunday October 11th, 2020. They then begin to talk about the season 5 finale as Chris brought up the memories of the last ten minutes of the episode. We were then given a new trailer of the sixth season. as well. Andrew talked about Morgan’s fate. Ian also clarified that something is going on with Morgan since he is seen with red eyes in the trailer. Lennie then talked about shooting those scenes with Colby Minifie (Virginia) and praised her work as a villian since he believes that she is very unerving. Lennie also teased that Virginia runs more than one group and that we will see that during the sixth season.
Scott Gimple also teased that we will see more dimensions to Virginia this season. Colman talked about the current state of Strand and what can we expect from him. Then, the conversation shifted to Alycia as she feels that Alicia does not trust anyone but Strand at the moment since she has known him the longest. Colman also believes that Strand should be trusted as he made a promise to Madison to keep her safe. Andrew talked about how the shutdown affected the filming process and he stated that they were halfway finished with the first half and that the entire season has been written already. He did also say that when it is safe, they will begin filming the back half of the sixth season.
The conversation then lead to Morgan’s bond with Grace as a fan asked if Lennie would see Morgan in love with Grace. Lennie feels that Morgan is still locked down to his wife, but he could open up to Grace. But Lennie is interested to see how their bond will develop. Isabelle, who is part of CRM was brought up and Scott Gimple said that there will be more story with her and that there is a chance that we will see more of her on the show. Ian was then asked about his mindset going into season six and Ian said that Virginia is in control of everyone and how it will affect all of the characters. He also said that they all will be tested in ways that they have not before and how they will fit in Virginia’s world, and how will they react under these circumstances. The episodes will be an anthology structure and this season will be darker than the previous seasons.
Colman talked about the episode he directed as he stated that it featured a number of actors on the show as he sounded very excited about the episode he directed. Lennie James also directed an episode for the first time and Lennie loved the experience. Lennie also said that he meet the crew, riggers, and costume designers and was also given a fantastic episode to direct. The morning of the first episode he directed, Lennie said that he had a fun text exchange between himself and Colman. He also praised the crew that supported him and is not sure if he will ever direct again, but would be open to doing it again. The last important bit is the conversation is Scott Gimple was asked if there was a time jump during season 6 and he said that not only that there will be one, there will be multiple time jumps during the season. Also, Ian could not comment if that musical episode would happen on this season.
The second half of the group was Ruben Blades, Karen David, Danay Garcia, Jenna Elfman while Scott Gimple, Ian, and Andrew stayed. Danay talked about what can we expect from Luciana during this season. She also talked about the process of putting on the oil makeup when they were filming at the oilfield. Funny line from Karen David as she said that if you get a zit on the show, they celebrate. The Living Dead would also be the name if there was a band. Karen also talked about her reaction to Grace being pregnant as she feels that she has done a lot for Morgan before she found out. She wonders of Grace will be alive to see her child’s first birthday due to the nature of the apoclapse.
Jenna brought up an interesting point as June and John are seperated again. Jenna believes that they will have faith to see eachother again and that June is strong enough to not let Virginia break her at all. Chris brings up the status of Dwight and Sherry and Ian told him that he cannot say much about these two. He also said that he and Andrew were fans of Dwight and that he is a much different person now than he was when he was with The Saviors. Scott Gimple stated that there will be new characters coming in season six and one of them, will be Virginia’s sister named Dakota. Gimple also said that we will see a whole other side of Virginia too because of Dakota. Ruban said that he really misses being on the set because of the daily contact, and talking with everyone. He also misses Skidmark. The last few minutes were dedicated to a few fan questions and the funniest one, is if Lucianna would replace her wounded arm like Merle did and Danay said that she would replace it with a gun.
THE WALKING DEAD
Just like Fear The Walking Dead, this panel was split in two groups. The announcement of the airdate of the season finale has been revealed as it will air on October 4th, 2020. We were also shown a sneak peak of the Finale. The panel opens as Angela Kang, Scott Gimple, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Khary Payton, Greg Nicotero and Ross Marquand are the first group. Angela talked about beta being driven by the mass amount of walkers and Nicotero talked about how excited he was directing the episode along with the fact that the horde is closing in on the group. Norman Reedus talked about Daryl’s arc of the season and how Michonne’s departure, Alpha, Judith, and Carol has affected him. Norman was asked if Daryl would want a rematch with Beta and he said that Beta is way too tall for a rematch. Even Khary said that people do not realize how tall he is. Melissa talked about Carol’s state of mind as Carol has had a journey during this season that also negativity affected her friendship with everyone during this season. She also said that Carol’s conversation with Kelly also really helped too and that her relationship with Daryl has not been good towards the end of this season.
Khary Payton talked about Ezekiel’s current health as he feels that Ezekiel thinks that his time is coming up due to the cancer that is in him. Khary also said that the cancer may give him hope since it has not stopped him from moving forward. Then, we get to Ross Marquand as he talked about Aaron and Alden meeting the masked character too and how it reminded him of when the group first meet Michonne. Ross also wants Aaron to find a new love interest in the future. Melissa McBride said that she was excited working with Jeffrey Dean Morgan for the first time. Greg Nicotero talked about the process of creating that cancer lump for Ezekiel and I thought that it was interesting to see and hear how he did it. This part of the panel ends as it was announced that six additional episodes after the finale will air (that is part of season 10) sometime in 2021.
The panel then switched to the second group as Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Josh McDermitt, Seth Gilliam, and Paola Lourazo as Lauren first talked about Maggie returning to The Walking Dead. Lauren also said that it felt like she has never really left at all. Angela Kang then talked about the dynamic of Negan and Maggie since Maggie thought that Negan was still in the jail. It was funny to hear that Jeffrey Dean Morgan say that Negan saved a lot of her friends. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was asked how would he feel if he seen Hershel Jr. and Morgan said that Maggie might see a different side of Negan since Negan also has a bond with Judith.
The unfortunate news also came as it was announced that season 11 will be delayed to 2021. Then Seth Gilliam talked about Gabriel and how different he is now compared to then since he is the leader of the counsel. He also reacted to Carol letting Negan out of the jail. Josh was asked what Eugene sees different with Stephanie that he has not seen with Rosita. Josh joked that he has not actually seen her yet, but then Seth asked Josh about their connection and Josh ran down their connection and their bond. He also thinks that Rosita and Eugene are good as friends, and that Eugene and Stephanie are building a foundation. Paola was aked about her reaction to the community’s highly praised reception of The Princess. Paola also said that she would love to see Princess interract with Negan since both of the characters are very similar. She also said that her favorite character is Carol.
Angela then talked about the way some scenes were filmed and how challenging it was. It was funny to hear Jeffrey Dean Morgan to respond to the question about getting a new weapon and calling it “Rick” as Morgan believes that Negan has moved passed on from it. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also stated that the scene from the comics of Lucille being broken will not happen on the show.
Scott Gimple said that he would create a pre-apoclapse spinoff with Glenn as he misses working with Steven Yuen and that it would be very funny. Angela then talked about the huge diverse cast of The Walking Dead which also includes the people that work behind the scenes. She also praised Greg Nicotero for his work on this episode and teased The Commonwealth group as well as she hypes up the season finale. The panel ends as Chris gives the dates of The Walking Dead season 10 finale, World Beyond’s airdate, and Talking Dead right after both episodes.
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Fear The Walking Dead is currently producing the sixth Season and the season will feature the long awaited return of Sherry. Christine Evangelista will reprise her role for the first time since Season 7 of The Walking Dead.
Sherry was last seen on the eleventh episode of Season 7 as she escaped The Sanctuary. Sherry then left Dwight (Austin Amelio) a note explaining why she left and has also left him notes to find her. Dwight did exactly that after he was exiled by Daryl at the end of Season 8. His journey of finding Sherry begun from there and it led to him all the way to Texas (Which also lead to Dwight crossing over to Fear The Walking Dead) and he has been getting closer to finding her throughout Season 5 of Fear.
Christine has been spotted in the Austin, TX area not too long ago and AMC wanted to get ahead of the speculation and straight up shared the image on Twitter with the line “Is this a dream, or a reunion? #FearTWD” earlier today and compared to her last appearance, her look has entirely changed. Scott Gimple was also interviewed by EW as well this week and he mentioned that the sixth season of Fear will have a time jump as he said “We’re going to see a lot of time pass” which could also factor on when she would appear in the season. I also interviewed Colby Minifie (Virginia) last year and asked about Sherry and Colby teased that it could happen at the time.
What do you think about Sherry crossing over to Fear The Walking Dead?
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Garret Dillahunt as John Dorie, Jenna Elfman as June – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
This recap will be slightly different as I will put more of my input of my own opinion rather than recap the episode with my own eyes. Be warned, spoilers are ahead for the fifth season finale of Fear The Walking Dead titled “End of the Line”.
Now, on to the positives. I liked Dwight’s development on this episode. He is still convinced that Sherry wants nothing to do with him and even the radio call at the beginning of the episode got myself very excited to see Sherry. Although Dwight thinks that he is hearing things, I believe that it was her calling for him. The moment you know that he lost all hope on finding her is when he given John and June their wedding rings that originally belonged to Dwight and Sherry. I believe that they will reuinite in season 6 and at this point, it needs to happen. Sherry has not been seen in The Walking Dead universe since season 7 of the main show so her possible return is long overdue.
Another thing I liked about the episode is when members of Morgan’s group tried to direct the herd away from Gultch. There were cool walker kill sequences from Morgan while the walkers were on the field. Dwight almost got eaten by walkers and even while the walkers was devouring one of the horses (Also to note, Dwight found those horses at the beginning of the episode). That whole scene was worth watching and Dwight even tried to run away, but Morgan saved him from walkers approaching him since he was also injured. Alicia and Wes was painting the church that the wedding was going to take place and I wonder how much more things will she paint. At least she is no longer scared to kill walkers anymore. John and June’s wedding was beautiful and touching and I said it from the start of the season that their chemistry also kept this season going good for what it was. Jacob even officiated the wedding per John’s request on the last episode. Those are the great scenes about this episode.
Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark, Colby Hollman as Wes – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
With that out of the way, Morgan calling Virginia back was a mistake. His plan backfired as they all argued AGAIN while they were clearing walkers that they did not need for her to come and a few of the group was willing to accept her deal. They already did not trust her, and yet, Morgan makes the call to bring her back. This got ridicilous towards the last twelve minutes of the episode as Virginia plans to seperate the group as she did exactly that. Even Daniel and Skidmark was seperated too and went to different vehicles and seasons 1-3 Daniel would not let that **** fly. He has grown too soft this season and it hurts me to even admit that (also to note, the kids did not get any lines in this episode). Virginia even told Althea that she better tell her about the CRM group. Morgan and Grace were seperated and Grace did not want Morgan to express his feelings for her DESPITE that she feels the same way about her. After Virginia seperated everyone from eachother, it was only her and Morgan standing infront of the church. Virginia told Morgan that he is staying there alone. She pointed the gun infornt of him, they had a small scuffle, and boom, she shoots Morgan in the chest. Morgan then bleeds out and here is the moment that made my head spin in disappointment like when Vince Russo was writing WCW storylines in 2000. Over the radio, we find out that Grace does not have radaition poisoning at all. Grace is 3-4 months pregnant (are you seriously kidding me is what I said when I watched the episode). Morgan is left there alone and makes a speech all by himself while he is still bleeding from the gunshot wound. Then, walkers approach him and is inches away and the we cut to black for ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!
Was this seriously needed? I would not be surprised if that damn helicopter group arrive in and save Morgan on the season 6 premiere. I seriously would not. It was a bad decision to pull a cliffhanger like this. If that happens, the difference between this and when CRM saved Rick is that Rick was saved on the fifth episode and this happened on the finale. You would think that they would learn their lesson for pulling the cliffhanger on The Walking Dead with Negan (Also, I still love that episode to this day for many reasons, but at least that cliffhanger was not as jarring as this one). Why do this when Morgan is shot?! If he was shown to die right there, I would have accepted it. I really would. Now that the group has been separated, how will they know about what happened with Morgan? I can understand the frustrations with the fans of the show and I can sympathize with them for this nonsense. I hope that on the next season, this does not happen ever again.
As far as Season 5 goes, I thought that this season is miles better than season 4 and John and June were the bright points of the entire season. Logan had potential, but his motive was not fully explored yet other than the oil field. Dwight also had a better transition to the show than Morgan did and he fits right with the cast. Alicia’s PTSD about not killing walkers was also a good development. The CRM group needs to be seen again in season 6 because we barely got anything with them after the first few episodes.
I also know that a large portion of the fans did not like the found footage, documentary style episodes, but I loved them since I like the found footage genre and the camera techniques. The season finale’s final half completely ruined the entire episode and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
When it is all said and done, season 5 is good despite the hiccups and I hope that the next season will improve. With the second spinoff coning next year along with The Walking Dead’s 11th season in 2020 (which will also have its 150th episode next fall), I do not know when next year that Fear will return. When it does, I will recap it again since I am a fan. If I had to describe this season in a few words despite my thoughts of the last episode, it is awesome, suspenseful, and absolutely great!
I will be livetweeting from The Walking Dead panel at New York Comic Con next week. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.
Colby Minifie is known for her roles on Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Amazon’s The Boys, Glee, and The Blacklist and now she is the leader of her group of horseback riders named Virginia on Fear The Walking Dead. She has so far wanted to help Morgan’s group and at the same time, had former members of her group go against her. With the season finale coming up for Fear, I got the chance to interview Colby Minifie as we talked about her role on the show and what can we expect from her in the future.
You are now on Fear The Walking Dead as Virginia. How did you react when you got the role?
Colby: I screamed of course. I officially booked it on the last day of an indie movie I was shooting and about 12 hours later I was on a plane to Austin for FEAR. So, yeah, it was a whirlwind, but the best kind of whirlwind. There’s a certain energy that kicks in at moments like that because everything you love is happening at the same time.
Colby Minifie as Virginia – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 13 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
Have you done horseback riding before you got your role, or did you already knew how to ride horses?
Colby: I rode horses as a kid with my cousins. I remember flying off a loping horse once. But I hadn’t been on a horse in over a decade when I had to ride in as Virginia. Boom, my trusty steed, is a total pro so it was a breeze.
Virginia told Dwight that she knows that his wife is still alive. Will we find out if that is true within the next few episodes? Colby: That’s super duper secret.
Will we find out more of how Virginia formed her group? Colby: That’s also super secret but I’m gonna say yes!
What was it like to work with Lennie James and Karen David on the episode? and why should Morgan and everyone else give Virginia their full trust knowing that she has killed Logan and had some of her members run away from her?
Colby: Lennie was so wonderful. Acting with him made me a better actor in many ways. Some of the scenes we have together were very emotional for me and when I looked in his eyes I always felt safe. I didn’t get to work with Karen very much on this episode but she’s a total sweetheart! And Virginia wants to help as many people as she can. But she’s also a utilitarian, so if a few people have to die for everyone else to survive and thrive, she is willing to make that sacrifice.
Colby Minifie as Virginia, Beau Smith as Dom – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 15 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
Were there any other costume ideas that were discussed before you got the cowgirl costume?
Colby: Not that I know of. Luckily, when Ian and Andrew described the character to me, I pictured something not too far from the final look that Jo Katsaras (Costume Designer) came up with. The pioneer/colonial style has a lot of history to it, which meant I could rely on the look to tell a lot of Virginia’s story. I felt so cool in that outfit.
Any funny stories working with the cast on this episode (5×14). Colby: I hadn’t had sugar in 2 months before I did this episode and all of a sudden I was eating jam. It was so delicious and I kept sneaking more finger-fulls throughout the scene so I could have more. And then the sugar high hit and I got giddy.
We are close to the season finale. Without giving too much away, what can we expect from you on that episode coming up? Colby: All I can say is it’s gonna be BIG. Virginia is a strong woman and will do anything to get her way.
Fear The Walking Dead airs every Sunday at 9:00 PM EST on AMC.
I will be livetweeting from The Walking Dead panel at New York Comic Con next week. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.
Garret Dillahunt as John Dorie, Peter Jaocbson as Rabii Jacob Kissner, Ethan Suess as Max, Cooper Dodson as Dylan – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 15 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
Last week’s episode had a key element of looking forward to the future. But before we go to the future, we often look at the past. The truth or lies will always haunt one person and you will not know if you can trust that individual ever again when the truth comes out. Here is my recap and review of “Channel 5”.
The episode starts with a video being played of Virginia and her group. They are all interviewed talking about what Virginia did for them. It is done similar to the “Chanel 4” episode where Morgan and his group sent out a PSA to help people. In fact, we also see the person that repaired Morgan’s staff too. The video ends when Virginia lets the viewer know if they see someone with similar clothing as she does, let them help you. We are then shown Althea, Morgan and Tom as they all watched her video. They all made a comment about her lying in those videos. Althea tossed the TV to the ground for it to be smashed.
Most of this episode is also shown in camera view as we. June mentioned that they have been driving for five days and the reason why they are continuing to make videos is to show the viewers that they are not lying and want to show the truth. There is also only one more tank of gas as well. Morgan and Grace are talking as she made another comment about the jellybeans and Grace is dehydrated. Tom also reunited with Janice too. Al thinks that it could be from the radaition as she said that while she was interviewing June. Alicia was shown painting on a tree agaqin and she wants to keep doing it when they find a home and she says that it is the only thing left in the world that makes sense to her. Daniel radioed June and told her that the school is burned down. Wes thought that the videos of Morgan’s group were nonsense, but now he is part of it since he now believes that it is not nonsense. Grace, who is getting weaker, teaches Charlie how to play the guitar as she promised her and later in the night, they are all deciding on where to go. Victor tells tom to turn off the camera while they are discussing possible locations. A walker breaches through and Dwight takes down the walker. He found a key and a badge that belonged at Humbug’s Glutch. The same place where Dwight was found as John also stated to the group. Victor does not think that it is a good idea to go there, but Morgan wants to take the chance.
Colby Minifie as Virginia, Beau Smith as Dom – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 15 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
One by one, everyone is interviewed about going to the place. While Morgan is being interviewed, Charlie calls for June because Grace passed out. Morgan is worried if she can survive. June uses the ultrasound to check her neck and it she cannot tell if there is something wrong in that area. Daniel said that they should have taken everything from that mall regardless of what Grace said. Tom is then interviewed and he said that everything that Morgan did since they met, is not what Virginia did since day one. Morgan and John were looking for supplies for Grace’s care and they found nothing. John also thinks that Morgan and Grace are together and he wants to marry June once they settle in a pernament place. Althea found the things that are needed and a walker was about to take her out, but Alicia saved her. Grace awakened and is starting to feel better, but is not hopeful. Morgan is glad that she is awake too. They all also talk about the detour that they have to take in seperate interviews. A road block happens as they all noticed that the bridge has a hole so they come up with a plan to cross the bridge and fix it since the heavy vans could break the bridge. As they started to do this, the bridge started to break apart. Virginia and a few members of her group then arrive in a jeep. Virginia wants to offer to help fix the bridge, but nobody is buying it. She even mentions Sherry and Dwight wantst to kill her right there. She said that she was last seen a few months ago and knew that she was looking for Dwight. Morgan told his entire group if anyone wanted to go with her, they can. Nobody moved after she said that.
Virginia then ordered her men to shoot in the air to attract walkers since she seen a herd nearby. Walkers start arriving and Morgan, Al, Victor, and Dwight start killing walkers and the rest crossed the bridge and tried to fix it. Moments later, the gas truck fell through the bridge and as Tom was on the ground and still recording, the bridge collapsed and he fell too. Al and Morgan was watching his tape and the power runs out. Morgan had a speech with everyone about not giving up and moving forward since it is not the end of the road. They all travel on foot to Glutch and John wants Jacob to officiate his wedding with June and also wants Morgan to bet he best man. They all arrive to see that it has been overrun by walkers. At this point, everyone feels hopeless since they also have no food or water or supplies. Dwight wants to go on his own, and they all debated to either call Virginia or not. Morgan calls for Virginia on the radio for help as the episode ends.
Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 15 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
This episode is a solid one and I am happy to see the entire cast together as one again. This episode also reminded me of “Them” on The Walking Dead in many ways. We finally see that the group is now on the lowest point of survival and they desperately need help. One thing I also learned, is that bridges are not friendly in the universe of The Walking Dead too. Next week is the final episode of the season so who knows what will happen?
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Karen David as Grace – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 14 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
Who is ready to hear about “looking forward to the future” in this episode because there was a lot of that said during the episode. The future will either look bright or grim for some of the characters and with only two more episodes left for the season, it seems like the future is uncertain for a few of the characters. Here is my recap of “Today and Tomorrow”
Althea continued her interview with Morgan as he talks about his wife and their first date. He also talked about his son as his son loved comics and baseball. He even made him a Father’s Day card at one point as well. After we are shown those clips of his interviews, We see that Morgan was watching his interviews as he and Althea were far from range from everyone else. Morgan still wanted to make those boxes and drop them off on the road. Althea noticed that someone stolen one of their gas tanks. She finds the theif and Morgan convinced him to lower his knife. As the back and forth continued, the sounds of horses are near as Virginia’s group arrive. They all hide in the car and Althea records the horsemen. Althea then reached for the gas tank top outside the car and was almost caught, Althea asks the man about the group and Morgan told him that he can help him, but the man replied by saying that her group said the same thing. Grace was listening to an audiobook while she is adjusting a solar panel. Daniel mentioned to her that they are running out of room in the truck and Daniel wants to look in the record shop and collect records. Grace also gave word to Daniel that they lost the oilfield.
Al then attempted to interview the thief and we now find out that his name is Tom. He is from Paradise Ridge (along with Virginia’s group) and he gave his backstory of how they blamed him for the fall of his community. He also says that his sister is a hostage. The horsemen return to Paradise Ridge and killed a walker and more are coming towards the gate. This place is an apartment complex or a motel. Morgan and Al debate about going inside to save Tom’s sister and they do that later that night. One of Virginia’s men killed a walker and that gave Morgan and Al a chance to sneak inside the community to save her since the gate was open. Al brings up the CRM group briefly as well. As Daniel and Grace was killing walkers by their truck, one was about to devour Daniel, but that did not happen. Some of the walkers even stepped over the records and broken them too. Morgan and Al enters different apartments to look for Tom’s sister and Morgan is drawn into the walkler that is locked in a closet. Al also records the whiteboard at the same time. Morgan knocks down the walker to the concrete floor and moments later, the same walker pushes Al into the pool. Althea struggled to kill the walker undreground and Morgan saved her and killed the walker. As they both rise from the water, the lights turn on and Virginia and her group captures the both of them.
Maggie Grace as Althea, Lennie James as Morgan Jones – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 5, Episode 14 – Photo Credit: Van Redin/AMC
In the morning, Althea and Morgan talk about the current sistuation as she thinks that Virginia will kill them. Virginia meets them and offers them jam. Virginia tells them that she seen their tapes and told Morgan to talk to Ms. Fifer about his mental state. Althea asks Virginia if her group has helicopters and Virginia told them that she does not which seems like that they have zero connection to CRM. As Morgan and Althea leave, Virginia gives them back their belongings and she even had one of her woodsmen fix Morgan’s staff. They both killed two walkers as they left. Grace and Daniel talked about the music records and Daniel wanted to get them for Charlie to listen to. They also talked about what changed them as a person. Grace wants to teach Charlie to play the guitar as she also did a song as well. Tom apologized to Morgan and Al and Morgan assured him that he is not giving up. Althea then continued her interview with Morgan as Al is also convinced that they have no connection to CRM. Daniel then radios Morgan and told him that Grace is feeling worse than before. Grace hopesw that she sees Morgan and does not think that there is any time left as she believes that she is going to die soon. She thanks Daniel as the episode ends.
Grace’s song is the highlight of the episode for me as her voice brightened the mood for me and took me out of the dark, walker killing moments for a short time. That was a great scene and I would like to hear more of Karen David’s music now as she is very talented. With that out of the way, I liked this episode mostly because it reminded me of a Metal Gear mission to sneak in a base and save someone. Morgan’s continued backstory will also keep my attention too as he is a great character. The theme of this episode is to hope for a good future and that was showcased very well with everyone’s curiosity about what is to come with each of them.
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