The Walking Dead.

[Super Bee]

Too many stinkin commercials.

 

[9mmfan]

Wow, now have to wait a whole week! Bahhhhh

 

[printcraft]

I guess the gun means nothing to them?

At that point they are still in the call police mode.... **** has not hit the fan that much yet.

 

[jbombelli]

Yeah, Nick definitely has a Johnny Depp thing going on.

 

[actaeon277]

At that point they are still in the call police mode.... **** has not hit the fan that much yet.

Yup. It takes a while to switch mentalities.


Not too bad.

 

[smittygj]

I found it hard to pay attention to. It just didn't have the same hold as the original did as far as the story line went.
Maybe it is just me, but I was ho hum about the whole first episode...

 

[Libertarian01]

From what I could tell from somewhere else, Talking Dead maybe, Fear the Walking Dead is going to follow more of the family unit. What was meant by that I am not entirely sure as The Walking Dead certainly followed Rick, Carl and Lori until Lori died. Even today Rick is center stage.

I am very interested in how plots and backstories are created. They want to show the breakdown of society so they certainly can't start with a town like Jericho. It has to be a major city then spread outward, because if you start in a small town the initial impact will be minimal. At the same time they can't start in the ghetto of Baltimore where the Wire was based. The breakdown there would be minimal and a broad audience couldn't empathize with extremely poor and/or uneducated ghetto folks even though they may adapt faster to the decay than their middle classed counterparts.

So the producers want a "normal" family, but what is normal today? It's their ideal of normal, not a true normal. According to the US Census Bureau Educational Attainment in the United States: 2013 - Detailed Tables - People and Households - U.S. Census Bureau only 32% of us have a Bachelors degree, which would be required for both a teacher and more than likely school councilor. In other words, the producers ideal is already not a "normal" situation. As of 2012 according to the CDC NVSS - National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends there are 6.8 marriages per 100,000 people and 3.4 divorces per 100,000 people. So, the divorce rate is half of the marriage rate. (Ironically, Indiana is one of six (6) states excluded from the divorce rate.) So this seems "normal." I could go on and on but I find it interesting that these shows seldom show folks who have any sense of preparedness being center stage. I guess it just wouldn't be as dramatic. Although Burt and Heather Gummer showed that a well prepared family could give the protagonists a fighting chance.

The beginning of the show seemed to go slow but it is picking up. I like their own personal little conflict with the drug dealer. This should help be a reality check and wake them up faster than others. I hope they have a gun or two. According to the Pew Research Foundation A minority of Americans own guns, but just how many is unclear | Pew Research Center about 37% of households have a gun, so there should be a fair chance for them. Of course, with the number of boating accidents this percentage might be slightly off.

I don't know if I will like this one as much as TWD. From the very beginning I liked Rick, Carl, Morgan and most of the characters in TWD. In FTWD I don't automatically like anybody. I like the father figure, Travis, but for some reason I don't like the mother character, Madison. The druggie son, Nick, I feel sorry for but I don't automatically like him. Same goes for the daughter. I feel nothing for Travis's original wife or son, other than the son is a bit obnoxious. So this bothers me a bit. I love most post apocalypse stories so I am hoping someone grows on me.

My last comment is on how most of it appeared to have spread on TWD. If we follow Morgans tale, there were massive "flu" outbreaks then - WHAM! Get up and eat people. It was very fast and hit everyone equally. In this I am seeing the flu bug keeping people home but not the get up and eat the cat. Maybe that is next episode.

Regards,

Doug

 

[Grease]

I found it hard to pay attention to. It just didn't have the same hold as the original did as far as the story line went.
Maybe it is just me, but I was ho hum about the whole first episode...

I agree, I was not over impressed at all. Wait for the girl (Alicia) to go find the boy because they can't get in touch with each other, same with the Dad (Travis) going to find his son Chris. I think there will be a ton of plot holes and just general stupidity in this one, really hope I am wrong but, that's the sense I've gotten so far.

i am getting this feeling based on the Mom going into the heroin den and just reaching blindly under the mattress to grab a book, then in the traffic jam, shots are fired and the guy has to tell her several times to get back in the truck. The whole scene at the LA river was just blah.

 

[dsol]

It is California/LA, so most people are probably of the mentality that the gov will take care of things, don't have guns, are not prepared, ect...

 

[VERT]

I would say "normal" people are not well prepared for any type of crisis. Even with many households owning guns relatively few really know how to use them. I don't think most people would consider INGO to be "normal".

 

[dsol]

I would say "normal" people are not well prepared for any type of crisis. Even with many households owning guns relatively few really know how to use them. I don't think most people would consider INGO to be "normal".

Now that is the truth. I don't think I could constantly make head shots all the time like everyone on TWD seems to do now, but I could hold my own for a few months until things thinned out.

 

[VERT]

Now that is the truth. I don't think I could constantly make head shots all the time like everyone on TWD seems to do now, but I could hold my own for a few months until things thinned out.

Early on even head shots would not be good enough. Bullets bounce off of skulls. Look at drug dealer Cal in FTWD. They ran him over twice with a truck. In TWD his head would have come off. Mushy zombies are slower, softer, easier to kill.

The virus is airborne, again look at Cal. Zombies would be everywhere. Drug addicts sharing needles = dead from pathogen, breakdown in emergency services = dead from flu or infection, old people in nursing homes, accidents, murder during the riots. The list just keeps going on. Problem is every person that dies means another non-mushy zombie.

 

[Super Bee]

I will be interested to see the ratings.

 

[eldirector]

Well, my wife is hooked. Since it felt like a hopped-up Lifetime movie to me, I'm not surprised.

I mean, who REALLY goes to a known drug den at night and wonders around, falls in a pool of blood, and never calls the cops? And then goes BACK with your book-smart but emotionally a mess girlfriend?

I'll stick it out, and see if it picks up. Gotta kill some time until October!

 

[Grease]

I will be interested to see the ratings.

I will probably keep watching it, at least for a few more episodes. If it gets too bad, I dump it. I am holding out hope that it will get better as it goes on because of how much I like TWD although I am treating this as a wholly new and different show and story only related by the premis of the show, more like a bad prequel e.g. All the Star Wars after they introduced the Ewoks...

 

[Hop]

FTWD was meh. I don't think I can make it through all this "character development". Show me some chompers & get on with the apocalypse!

Last Ship lost a few characters that had a fair amount of face time. The IDF gal was a bad ass. I'll miss her. The new girl found on the oil rig is HOT though.

 

[Baditude]

Well, my wife is hooked. Since it felt like a hopped-up Lifetime movie to me, I'm not surprised.

I mean, who REALLY goes to a known drug den at night and wonders around, falls in a pool of blood, and never calls the cops? And then goes BACK with your book-smart but emotionally a mess girlfriend?

I'll stick it out, and see if it picks up. Gotta kill some time until October!

My thoughts as well. However it is California so there is that...
Most zombie show I have ever seen skip the part where society breaks down and the chaos. I hope this does more a play by play.

 

[littletommy]

It is California/LA, so most people are probably of the mentality that the gov will take care of things, don't have guns, are not prepared, ect...

I LOL'd when the school teacher lady told the kid the authorities would tell them if there was an impending disaster! I even made the comment to my wife "typical modern mentality" and she answered with "and, it's California".

 

[Alpo]

My thoughts as well. However it is California so there is that...
Most zombie show I have ever seen skip the part where society breaks down and the chaos. I hope this does more a play by play.

Agree. I think it will be a public service to literally show the geometric progression of a disease in some meaningful manner. Plus, It makes my lime green Zombie gear relevant again.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

FTWD was meh. I don't think I can make it through all this "character development". Show me some chompers & get on with the apocalypse! Last Ship lost a few characters that had a fair amount of face time. The IDF gal was a bad ass. I'll miss her. The new girl found on the oil rig is HOT though.

Same here , this show better get interesting quick . The last what ? That show is already dead , it just doesn't know it .