From AMC and showrunner Dave Erickson comes The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirman’s companion series Fear The Walking Dead. Starring Cliff Curtis, Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Lorenzo James Henrie, Mercedes Mason, and Colman Domingo, season 3 resumes summer 2017. Season 2 hits Blu-ray/DVD on December 13, 2016.
There’s a sign of the apocalypse in Los Angeles, where reports of a strange flu and the disappearance of people underscore this gritty drama, a prequel to AMC’s uber-popular “Walking Dead.” The story of the mysterious outbreak and its ramifications are told through the lens of high school guidance counselor Madison Clark and English teacher Travis Manawa. Widowed mother Madison is raising two children single-handedly but has recently found love with Travis, who maintains a relationship with his ex-wife and resentful son while trying to become a father to Madison’s children. The challenge of blending their families is exacerbated by unforeseen chaos, and a necessary survival of the fittest takes hold. The Clarks and Manawas must reinvent themselves, or embrace their darker histories.
Review
I was legit stunned at how violent and uncomfortable Fear TWD got. There’s a moment where Nick shoves his fingers into the eyes of a walker in order to penetrate the brain and kill the thing, and they show everything in awful horrifying detail. The ooze, the zombie screams, the thumbs being pressed deeper and deeper into the eye sockets as chunky red gore emerges around Nick’s hands. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something that violent on television before – I dare to proclaim that walker kill the most disturbing of the franchise (including TWD). I mean… Holy shit guys… You really went for it didn’t ya?
I’m a big Cliff Curtis fan (have been since Training Day) and I’ve been waiting for him to really impress me on Fear TWD. I feel like his character hasn’t been put through the ringer yet but during the latter half of season 2, they finally brought out the best in him as a performer by giving him the juiciest and most captivating storyline of the season as he deals with his borderline psychopathic son who is losing his shit during the apocalypse. They just needed to make us feel for the man, to finally see his side of the spectrum – that life still matters in this world and that you don’t have to be a senseless killing machine with no remorse… His character does something so spectacularly violent and astounding near the end of the season that I was literally jaw to the floor shocked. Episode 14 of this season is hands down the best of the series and even rivals some of The Walking Dead’s finest hours. (Full Review HERE)
Special Features
- Audio Commentaries
- Deleted Scenes
- Flight 462 Webisodes
- Q&A with Cast and Creative Team from PaleyFest LA 2016
- Inside “Fear the Walking Dead”
- The Making of “Fear the Walking Dead”
The Blu-ray release for Fear The Walking Dead season 2 not only looks wonderful with some of the best packaging of the franchise so far (love that dead sunset over the sea), but it packs quite a punch with featurettes as well. You will get an “inside look” and “making of” feature for all 15 episodes. These were previously available online after the episodes aired, but having them all included here is wonderful.
For example I loved seeing the amount of detail going into how they took a boat propeller to a zombie’s face and we see just how much work was done on the facial prosthetic. Plus you’ll get fantastic insight into the stuntwork, effects and fight choreography (like how they made the brutal battle in episode 14 look like it was a natural brawl to the death — messy on purpose).
Getting all Flight 462 episodes together is a great bonus, as this truly was a riveting short that needs to be seen all at once and not in 30 second increments week to week… The Q&A with the cast and crew is also eye-opening because it shows you just how much thought was put into this second season, which truly did save the series for me with it’s epic scope and nasty as hell string of conclusion episodes.
Rating: [star rating=”4″]