FEAR the Waking Dead

[ffaoe]

Time to start a new TV show thread.

What did everyone think?

I thought the first hour was boring as hell, but the last half hour was a mere preview of what is to come. It will be pretty cool to see how things go down as $hit hits the fan already knowing how bad things will eventually get.

 

[NervousDad]

First hour was terrible. The last 30 min were pretty good. I look forward to the marshal law aspect of the show.

 

[ffaoe]

Yes, the martial law aspect will be interesting to see in upcoming episodes. It kind of sucks that they are only doing six episodes to test out the series.

It seems the zombie apocalypse started almost over night, I'm guessing a few weeks.
When they carted away the old guy that died in the same hospital room as the kid, it makes me wonder if the doctors at that point knew something was happening and that the old guy that just coded might turn at any moment.

 

[adamranders]

Willing to bet the first season each episode well follow a different person/small group during about the same couple day time frame as the pilot episode. Likely not going to see martial law this season. They'll probably try to stretch out the pre-apocalypse weeks for a couple seasons or so.
And I agree, the first hour or so was dreadfully boring.

 

[firerat]

Yeah that first hour made it hard to stay awake.

It looks entertaining enough.

 

[drainbamage]

Agree that the first hour was pretty blah. I didn't really connect with any of the characters yet either, but I'm willing to give it a fair chance.

 

[CGVT]

I thought the first hour was good. There was quite a bit of suspense even though they were just establishing characters and background. There were a few WTF? moments (going to the church at night, etc), but overall, I thought it was a pretty good pilot and am looking forward to next week.

 

[firerat]

There were a few WTF? moments (going to the church at night, etc),

I kept looking to see if Travis (that was his name right) was wearing a red shirt.

Going into a drug den at night is kinda dumb.

Then grabbing your girlfriend and bringing her there after you found blood and established that bad stuff happened is even dumber.

But meh, it's a show about dead people eating live people. So

 

[Resonator]

I feel like those heroin addict zombies would have been a lot slower to make it out of that church. :/

Also, how the hell did they drive by the zombie at the end of the episode?

 

[iijakii]

Yeah I thought it was a pretty bad opener too. Not just that it wasn't action-packed, but it just didn't capture me yet. The church-scenes could have been a lot more suspenseful etc. Definitely will keep watching though because the downfall will be awesome to watch.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

There was nothing about the characters tha grabbed me.

I would happily see them all die in episode two.

A big meh for me.

 

[drainbamage]

There was nothing about the characters tha grabbed me.

I would happily see them all die in episode two.

A big meh for me.

Exactly. It's been some time since I watched Episode 1 of TWD, but I feel like I cared more about Rick & Co. from the get-go. Well, maybe not Lori...

With this bunch, I don't know. Everyone seems so bland. I can't tell if it's poor acting or just nothing for them do plot-wise yet. Ok...the son's a junkie who apparently takes plenty of time to keep his hair well-groomed. Daughter is an overachiever and clingy girlfriend. Mom scowls a lot and stuff. The step-dad is...there. I'm curious to see how they stretch this out into multiple seasons.

 

[MarkKF]

First hour was terrible. The last 30 min were pretty good. I look forward to the marshal law aspect of the show.

So true. My wife hated the mother character. Covered for her son, did nothing to help him and lashed out at anyone doing his job. The step-dad seemed to go above and beyond.

I am so looking forward to the confusion. The chaos when the biters are spreading but the populous still isn't ready to fight back.

 

[agrazela]

Maybe we're being a bit hard on Mom. Between a drugged-out son, a cranky / skanky daughter, dealing with high school teen angst all day, and living in the cesspool of Los Angeles, I'm surprised she has retained any sanity. Her only ray of light is a guy with his own ex-wife and his own ******-y teen problems at home and at work.

I guess what I'm mostly trying to say is, teenagers are the devil. And LA.

 

[PDevlin75]

Yeah, a pretty slow start... I think this would have been okay if The Walking Dead never existed. We're all a few years in already, so yeah, starting over from the beginning gives a different perspective, sure. But it sets an already cynical audience up to not care about many of the characters.

Do I care about the relationship between the father and the son that didn't want to spend the weekend with him? No! Because in all likelihood, that kid might not be on the show for very long. And if he is, well, we already have one Carl... We don't need another.

Out of all of the characters introduced in that first episode, I think the one that most stood out to me was the kid that brought the knife to school. And he probably didn't even have 5 minutes worth of screen time!

 

[adamranders]

Out of all of the characters introduced in that first episode, I think the one that most stood out to me was the kid that brought the knife to school. And he probably didn't even have 5 minutes worth of screen time!

That kid is the Morgan of this series, mark my word, he'll show up in a season or two as a bad ass psycho killer.

 

[lupulinaddict]

What was wrong with that kids face? Does he scratch himself? I didn't understand why he muttered out, "we are safer in numbers!" Is he supposed to be from an already infected area? Oh, never mind I get it, he already watched the original walking dead too.

 

[JohnSand]

+1 to everyone.

 

[drainbamage]

What was wrong with that kids face? Does he scratch himself?

Shows and movies frequently do not cast teenagers to play teenagers. He was probably a clear-complected twenty-something, so they faked the acne with (overdone) makeup.


...or he has a bad meth habit. Maybe he was hanging out at the same drug den?

 

[rekoob]

Thought it was a slow go opener, I guess I expected it to pick up faster than it did and get to it.

In any case, being from the same peeps from the "other" huge hit, I expect it to roll right along and will be tuning in.

 

[m_c_zero]

It kind of sucks that they are only doing six episodes to test out the series.

I read they already signed it on for a second season.

 

[m_c_zero]

I streamed the first episode on their website as I don't have cable. Best thing was I have AdBlock Plus installed and didn't have to watch a single commercial. Really enjoyed the momentum without being disturbed by 10 minutes of commercials every 5 minutes.

 

[drainbamage]

I streamed the first episode on their website as I don't have cable. Best thing was I have AdBlock Plus installed and didn't have to watch a single commercial. Really enjoyed the momentum without being disturbed by 10 minutes of commercials every 5 minutes.

The pilot actually wasn't terrible as far as commercial breaks go.

This week, on the other hand, seems to be back to business as usual.

 

[ffaoe]

Now that was a much better episode!

 

[NervousDad]

Okay so it appears that the west coast walkers have harder skulls.

 

[ffaoe]

Okay so it appears that the west coast walkers have harder skulls.

Certainly a possibility, but they are all still very fresh and fleshy.

 

[JohnSand]

I thought this episode was better, but not much.
I'm rooting for the zombies.

 

[CGVT]

Why the hell can't people act like real people in these shows. Travis: Where's our son? Exwife: What is going on? Travis: I'll tell you when I get there.

Really?

Daughter: Mr What's his name is attacking the neighbors. They need help. Mom: Locks the door and doesn't explain anything.

WTF? Real people don't act like this. Is everybody in this world an idiot?

I know it's a zombie show and belief has to be suspended, but...

Having said all of that I still enjoyed the show. The fire extinguisher scene was pretty intense.

 

[agrazela]

^Agreed it was stupid mom didn't explain what she's seen to the daughter. It's like they need her not to so that the daughter can plausibly try to go do something stupid?

And mom and pizza-face collected all those canned goods from the school, then freaked and left them behind. Some survivors they'll be!

 

[drainbamage]

I've seen some vague allusions online to the mom harboring some sort of "dark secret" that is supposed to explain why she keeps sheltering the daughter. For now though, I'm leaning towards agrazela's theory.

One thing I think the show has handled well is the atmosphere and little events outside of the main characters' actions: the growing cacophony of sirens and police helicopters in the pilot, the first glimpses of walkers coming via viral video, the brief shot of the cop loading his trunk with bottled water. Even though the viewers already know how this ends up, they're doing a decent job of showing that something big is going down just off-screen.