Now that they've "escaped" the city and they know about bolting zombies in the head....how is Fear going to be anything other than TWD 2? I'll still watch but seems like it'll be a little redundant...

that was my thought at first..though I didn't give it much thought since it was such a Three's Company uh-oh not again moment.

lol...nearly any instrument, blunt or otherwise, seems to sheer skull like a surgical strike.

so this season is a slow build towards final battle with "the W's" taking the place of pirate patch from previous season?

Watched both...

my guess is it's a group led by David Coverdale of Whitesnake fame, hence the W...what else could it be?

right. Didn't say those episodes were slow(first one was though...literally, with the slow walkers marching) but this seems like the "A" story that they will take the entire season to resolve..thus the "slow" build. They have a story like this every season, I'm just guessing the "W's" are this seasons eye patch man.

I hated him...it was like a satire on a villain. He went on to play a "General" or something on Extant as well.

so does the history of the show...it's great but sometimes 3 or 4 go by and they have not accomplished much. If they start a big story it's almost certain to drag out until final episode.

If he gets out of that, the show has jumped the shark...again

He can hang out on the roof of the RV until Carol rescues him with a xxxxxxxxx Fill in unbelievable weapon she somehow obtained in the suburbs.

Maybe a sentient walker that works towards peace and a world where the living and dead "live" together. Coexist duuuude. I like the show, poking a bit of fun at it isn't hate....it's just not being a zombie fanboy---pun intended.

Well, they can not claim he will cut it off to save from being infected by his zombie gut covered machete...it's been too long

right...that whole scene was like bad-decision-horror-movie stereotype 101. "Let's hide behind the chainsaws!"

The pirate patch Gov'nr was supposed to chop it off...so the thinking is that they are "reworking" him losing it.

that's the beauty of writing as you go...no set of rules to follow up front. Seems like if they are keeping Rick, they would keep his hand just to avoid the nuisance of it in production.

There is never any discussion of "we have to stop the infection" or "we need medicine" that I recall---my memory sucks though. If an extremity is bitten, a quick hack would be logical. Seems like if you have a bite, you turn a little while later no matter what, like that guy from the wire last season...of course if the show made sense they'd be in hazmat suits so they didn't get zombie guts in their eyes etc. Similar to the worms on The Strain...though that show has now become a slash away and somehow never get a worm in an orifice as well...makes the stories move along not having to deal with the "fine print"

yeah, it seems like their muscles would eventually waste away to nothing, including their jaw muscles. It is fantasy so you have to suspend reality at some point I suppose.

Listened to a science show discussing zombies scientifically. They were wondering about the lack of clouds of flies, vultures, and packs of dogs...all associated with rotting flesh. Zombies should be covered in flies, beetles etc.

Well they could have a show AND have those things, they just choose not to--it's not one or the other. They clearly deteriorate to a great extent....would make it more realistic and "gritty" to have some real science in there.

They do this EVERY season. It's formula. Cliffhanger episode, then some 3rd tier character-centric episode, then back to the main story...this is typical TV. 1.5 hours on it was a bit odd.

Filler.

Yes, BUT we know what happened to Glenn and also Rick's hand ...and we got to hear Maggie's "Southern" accent a bunch. TWD is 50% setup and that episode was a bunch of "character development" and setup...some people call it filler...not me, but some.

Eh...it's better than most TV, but this is the formula. Big cliffhanger at beginning, then 4 or 5 character-centric episodes, then a semi-payoff finale.

Didn't Darryl have his walkie on his shirt though...not on his bike?

While we're at it, why was he pushing his bike if it fired up on 1 kick when it was being stolen?

Before that..

Check

she's dead anyway

zombie virus age acceleration syndrome (ZVAAS), it's all in the comics

dumpster escape...predicted by pinside...

Thank you for getting rid of that kid.

Seems like they are cutting costs though...going to be reusing the eye patch

Only because that kid started whining...which was actually Carol's fault for planting the seeds of horror in his mind....another victim of Carol the Ruthless.

let's just agree that that kid getting eaten alive just as Carol had warned him was the highlight of the season.

I didn't catch the name of the episode but I'm guessing "Three's Company"?

TWD is this...with the exception of intro/outro episodes. This particular episode felt like they let a member of the cast "guest" direct it...sort of goofy, like when shows do an episode "for the actors" filled with inside jokes etc. Phoned it in.

Also, would like to know the specifics of Carl's eyeball injury. Did the bullet just bounce off his eye and avoid the brain?? I don't see that half ass med student doing brain surgery.

Seemed way out of character for them all to buy in to the slow head stab in sleep assassin scenario.

So it will turn out that Rick and crew were actually blood thirsty monsters slaughtering "victims" forcing a crisis again and the group breaks up, end of season

right...I'm thinking this blows up big time and they have some crisis of conscience cliff hanger...plus Maggie gets injured and loses baby, also they encounter a transgender person that joins their group so we have all the bases covered.

thank goodness obese cancer woman bought it...she was more gross than most walkers.

Carl goes rogue and starts his own community

It's like they are reading my mind when they decide which characters to kill!

you are just being lured in by Zombie air disasters

You have to have some boring characters or else everybody will be over-the-top...tough guy sheriff, samurai lady, redneck tracker etc. You need some filler around them or else they are like the Avengers.

Hey, his head has grown into it since he aged abnormally fast!

they stopped making her wear Lara Croft outfits for some reason...

arrow through the eye socket for spoilers

maybe the virus should evolve

or steal a star trek borg plot and have a sentient walker that lives among them..."hey Ralph, how's it going?", "more body parts fell off today", "cool, I'll stop by later for a drink"

Check. Just added 2 seasons to netflix instant.

shot in shoulder so he can't use his arm

he had a brain fart in his uber redneck tracking skills "somehow"...

http://www.eonline.com/news/751968/daryl-dixon-speaks-but-the-walking-dead-fans-may-not-like-what-he-has-to-say

Daryl isn't dead...they wouldn't kill him in such a lame way. Hopefully Michonne gets hit with a ricochet from his shoulder...so we can stop seeing Rick slobber on her shoulder in the morning.

hordes...the hordes prevent long distance group travel...that's the way they presented it in the past at least.

the previews make it look like it doesn't go well either...maybe the writers got tired of the "find an island" solution

you can just hit them with a staff apparently...Morgan does it all the time with zero head "penetration"

I guess...yet sometimes they find just heads chomping away, no body. I thought it was brain stem that had to be stabbed...they need to tighten that up and maybe have some more "close calls" when stabbing walkers

No, but a comparison to a movie that made 700 million dollars doesn't seem really accurate. In other words, you'd have to have lived under a rock not to have heard the end of that movie by now, whereas less than 1% of the population has read the comic--total guess, probably 1/10 of 1%.

I don't watch the "talking" shows, they annoy me. I don't typically seek out news about the show on the interwebs either--unless I just happen across it.

I just watch the show.

It probably isn't but the part about feeding his eye to his dad doesn't prove anything. At all. Zero. That show intentionally misdirects. That said, if you got smashed in the top of head with barbed wire bat you'd be dead and they are not going to kill off the star of the show...from that bit of logic I'll agree it's not Rick, but technically it could've been.

And yes, shut the f%$! up about the comics whether you think it's a spoiler or not...I thought that was all hashed out?

right..someone should've kamikazied Negan. That's what I was thinking. I'm going to assume they patted them down when I wasn't looking.

Right...he could've taken out several of these guys with his Caine-esque abilities.

PS What does it say about the "scouting" abilities of Rick's crew that a unified army of 100's of well armed and well dressed people are within spitting distance.

I'll go with that...they were setting him up with his hopeful dialogue earlier in the episode. Then they leave Sasha alone though and she's already had her breakdown story so maybe she tries to intervene and gets off'd as well. Double bonus kill.

Wasn't he a hilltop guy?

Better Call Saul is great, never watched Billions. If you have Amazon Prime, Mad Dogs is great--just a 1 season show though

He's OK, please kill off the sister..PLEASE!

Thought the episode was good. Think of the early TWD episodes...I stopped watching those entirely for a couple seasons because of Rick's wife and the drama with her new baby Daddy. I waited until I could blaze through them on netflix.

Review of last season:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/09/28/5-big-problems-with-fear-the-walking-dead/#13d1d3d35e41

Says much the same as here...boring, huge drop off from TWD in comparison etc.

It's possible it'll be gone if this year sucks too--speculation of course.

They are all still alive...probably most "action-packed" episode so far...light on teen drama

Finally something is happening...the "setup" episodes are way too slow. Strand as the antagonist-type livens things up a bit. They need some more conflict other than lame teen drama stuff. Some crazy interesting shit better happen in Mexico.

Which was weird because they put almost as much backstory into that woman and burn-face as they have everybody else! Maybe they'll show up again?(!)?

Who knows...it sort of seems like they are shooting from the hip in the writing dept.

Maybe they'll run into the "Governor" before he was the Gov, a Better Call Saul type of thing...start pulling out all the stops. Promote a "crossover" with TWD characters--that's always a good sign for a show(sarcasm).

Strand sure is well dressed

every swim scene I think the same thing. I'm imagining a backstory that they left out where he was a championship swimmer before he became pillhead.

What WAS his plan there?

that's what happened...Salazar took the clip(s)

they are going to turn him in to a stone cold killer...psycho meltdown storyline with Travis all concerned. "Get away from me Dad!! You totally don't know me anymore...I'm full of zombie angst!!"

Right, that episode was a bit garbage...even the most "exciting" scene was lame--the brother bites 2 of the 3 full grown militant guys? Come on. The writing just seems like they scratch it out on a napkin at breakfast and then roll the cameras.

This is all explained away by backstory elements that the writers will think up while at lunch at Taco Johns.

Papa better make it out of the fire...he was by far the best actor on the show--not to mention the deepest character. I think the fire at the end is symbolic of what they are doing to the show...maybe an inside writers joke.

See also: Glenn

It's the magic of television...anything is possible

Same exact story in Z Nation...it was even in Mexico.

I heard that the FTWD writers are writing lots of crossover episodes

The show is basically TWD with new, less interesting characters...I thought it was supposed to give a different take or go in different direction. That seems to be the root of the problems with it. People directly compare it to TWD.

FTWD S2/Ep08, "Nick is a Friggin Idiot"

also, why would that nice, clean lady and her kid hug and kiss him at the beginning? He is covered in guts.

no, no...he was "spooked" because zombie Nick was giving him the stink eye!

right. In TWD they needed actual guts on them.

Still, why did they do this show? It's TWD 2 or TWD West...what is the "different" take we are getting? I'll watch because there's nothing else on..but...

another "OK" episode.

same writing formula as TWD, split up group, crazy stuff ensues, only difference I think is that the characters aren't as likable. ??

The guy killed the chicken, that's stand your ground stuff

Those actors better be looking in to "other projects" this show is gone:

I explored The Walking Dead’s ratings in an earlier By The Numbers post when I compared it to HBO’s Game of Thrones. But here’s a quick recap: The Walking Dead‘s sixth season averaged 13.15 million Live+Same Day viewers while scoring an impressive 6.48 rating in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 demographic. When you take into account Live+7 Day numbers, season six averaged 18.9 million viewers while leading all TV shows in the 18-49 demo rating.

Fear The Walking Dead drew in roughly 10 million Live+Same Day viewers for its season one premiere last year. Since then, however, the show has been losing audience numbers like its characters lose chunks of flesh. By the end of season one, FTWD was averaging around 6.5 million real-time viewers. In the first half of season two, that number shrank to around 4.5 million and the two episodes the series has aired since returning posted just 3.7 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demo. Even when factoring in Live+7 Day ratings, FTWD can’t compete with TWD.

they'll use it all up washing the "blood face" off if they continue to do that every episode.

I watched first 5 minutes until the girl was getting a surfing lesson(!), complete with swimsuit. It hit me then that I don't care what happens to anyone on this show--it's really terrible. I'm out. If it makes a comeback I'll catch up on netflix but I can't see any way this isn't cancelled.

I'm all caught up and have the 2 hour on DVR.

doesn't hold a candle to the FTWD episode where the attractive aussie lady learns to surf in her new swimsuit

+1
I heard Rick's nose-snot bubble has it's own twitter account

Dwight makes a helluva sandwich! That made me hungry.

looks like the guys who get kicked out get stuck on a pole, and the semi-losers in the sweatshirts have the job of sticking them in there...for all the rest to view as a reminder.

maybe--hadn't thought of that. Maybe you have to "level up" in Negan's world. He's probably an old D&D player.

I think he wanted more "mental" torture than physical since he was grooming him to be sidekick..though he did iron Dwight's face but that was a payback for escaping.

It's Dwight's lunch spot

Where's Sasha? She could hit a fly at 100 yards. Easily take out Negan.

cut the head off the snake and every guy that has doubts in his crew would flee.

Also, if they made a move Darryl would open a can of wuppass and that dude Jesus would pop out of the bushes...game over man. Game over.

One way to find out!!!

They've hinted at the weakness of the individual cult members with that sandwich making ironed face Dwight already...foreshadowing...seems obvious that will eventually be the way Negan and his crew fall.

This is same way they always run the seasons....cliff hangar "answer", then split up everyone and have an episode on each micro-group(people hate the episodes on their disliked characters), then the "boss battle", then cliff hangar. Wrap. Only the odd season here or there varies and has more of a whirlwind pace.

Case in point

they are fans of the multiple viewpoint novel I guess(probably Game of Thrones fans)...in a book it keeps you reading because you want to get to the next chapter(4 or 5 chapters ahead) when they get back to that character. In a TV show, this technique doesn't work as well because you have to wait a week(2,3,4,5?!) to get back to the character you like or tie them together. Especially true when you have lopsided talent in a show like TWD...there's a reason people are "supporting" actors or "character" actors vs "lead" actors.

In the comic, Carl becomes Negan's sidekick and turns out even more sadistic than Negan himself! Carl actually feeds Rick to that other dude's Tiger...also, turns out the Zombie virus could be cured with a triple dose of Cold-Eeze.

Seriously, no comic talk...even if it's a this instead of that type thing, put a lid on it.

this is the main reason...or similar situation. Easier/safer just to ban all the comic otherwise it's up to the judgement of the person dropping the info.

plant a zombie on top of 3 or 4 corn seeds....Squanto taught me that