I get the feeling that Fear the Walking Dead is still trying to find itself, especially given that the plot has been remarkably thin and the character building has been inconsistent.  As predicted, the first season is all about rescuing Nick (and, presumably, Liza).  The twist in this case is the introduction of a deadline; once the “Cobalt” order is executed, those in detention will be eliminated and the survivors in the quarantine zone will be on their own.  

Not that there weren’t some fun moments along the way.  Travis got to find out exactly what it’s going to take to survive when faced with zombies to kill, and at least for the moment, he’s not ready to pull the literal or proverbial trigger.  I suspect that hesitance will be a thing of the past in short order, but for now, it highlights that the Walkers haven’t been around long enough to be seen by everyone as a clear and present danger.  Travis, especially, still sees them as people, and that’s not going to serve him well.


In the containment area, Nick meets Strand, a character that I would love to see continue into the next season.  He’s far more interesting and clever than most of the regulars, and if he can see the potential survivor buried deep within the annoying exterior that is Nick, then he can probably help the entire gang find ways to adapt to the new paradigm.  Besides, I like the idea that this cast might be more diverse than the parent show has typically been.  

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And then there’s Daniel, who finally gets a little more character background, and it’s some fun stuff.  So Daniel was once an interrogation specialist or something similar for a questionable regime, and he has a particular set of skills.  Oh, and Griselda knew all about it and found a way to live with the paranoia of the past coming back to haunt or kill them all.  Which I guess is one way to bring a family together, but it also explains why Daniel was so sure the “good ones die first”.  He probably had a hand in it.


What makes this interesting is that Travis, who was unable to stomach killing a Walker that still looked too human, is contrasted by Madison, who is willing to let the torture continue in the name of finding out what the military as in store for them.  Torture is a bit of a go-to plot device, but in this case, it was less about the torture and more about the people willing to use those tactics.





The best case scenario for the finale is that a few characters die in the process of getting out of the killzone, thus ending this sense of security and pushing them into the middle of the fall of civilization.  Worst case scenario leaves the entire group intact with no clue where the story is going next.  Either way, though, doesn’t it seem likely that the second season will begin to resemble the parent show a lot more?  And in that case, how is setting this show so much earlier in the timeline worth the trouble?  Hopefully the finale will surprise us all and present a situation that hasn’t already been covered time and again.