*Spoilers Ahead*
Fear the Walking Dead returns after a week long break and I have to admit, it took me a few moments to remember where exactly we left off. Part of that probably has to do with taking a break from a show that’s just 2 episodes in but it also has a good deal to do with my interest in the show.
Fear is a competent show and it has some very outstanding direction and, on occasion, acting but the story and the characters involved in it have yet to really grab me and that’s what truly draws me into a program. Thankfully, “The Dog” goes a long way towards fixing those things. The characters finally get a chance to feel like real people with personalities and quirks.
The two standouts this episode are Madison (Kim Dickens) and Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades) who both show the most improvement in different ways. Madison’s development technically began last week when she killed her first zombie but this weeks she continues to prove herself as the actual protector of the family, especially since Travis doesn’t seem to be doing a bang-up job at that. She even gets a nice little scene with Travis’ ex-wife making her promise to kill her should she succumb to the virus.
Daniel is a newer character, having just shown up last episode but he immediately wormed his way into my heart by being the only person who seemed to understand what was going on. He also gets to shoot a zombie in the face which only helps make him seem cooler than everyone else. While they’re all busy screaming or, in Travis’ case, trying to help the dead, Daniel is ready to take them out.
That isn’t to say all of the characters have improved, Daniel’s family as well as Travis’ ex-wife and son still feel extremely underdeveloped but I’m sure that will change as we go along or they’re going to become zombie chow.
While a lot of this episode works there are little things that feel just bit too contrived. The biggest example involves Madison and the kids sneaking into their neighbor’s house to grab a gun and fend off the zombie in their yard. While over there they notice they left the back door unlocked and the zombie pops in, getting to chow on the titular dog in the episode’s title. It’s baffling to me that anyone, regardless of how much of a panic they are in, would leave their door unlocked or why it required all three of them to go retrieve a gun in the first place. It recalls some of the stupidity that was blatant in the first two seasons of The Walking Dead. (Well Zombie, anyone?)
The other example involves the ending with the military showing up just in the knick of time to prevent the group from leaving the town. I’m not knocking the idea behind this one as it needed to happen to move the story in the right direction but I just felt that it could have been done in a better way. Perhaps the military actually stops them as they reach the edge of LA? Anything other than slo-mo shooting a zombie right before it bites a person and everyone being shocked.
Fear the Walking Dead has already made big improvements from it’s slow and dour pilot and while this episode is far from perfect it shows us that the show is making the necessary improvements.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- The Monopoly scene felt more than a little forced. I imagine it was the writer’s attempt to not only showcase some of the characters but make the show seem less overly serious
- Nice seeing the plane this week which is a nod to the webisode that will be introducing us to a character who will show up in season two.
- Alicia’s boyfriend gets a mention this week and since he’s already revealed to be bitten I have to assume we’ll find out through him how the government handles the infected.
- “Good people are the first ones to die.”
Jesse Swanson is a would-be writer, podcaster and funny guy who covers TV shows of all shapes and sizes. You can find him on Twitter @JesseSwanson