Season two of Fear The Walking Dead, the companion series to comic book inspired hit TV show The Walking Dead, is just around the corner. In the premiere season, we were introduced to a mixed family, the Clarks and Manawas, along with the Salazars. We watched on the edge of our seats as their world went from normal to apocalyptic as the zombie outbreak quickly took over. With season two less than a month away, most of you are probably eagerly waiting, anxious for the show and your favorite characters to appear on your TV again. Here are a few reasons why you should be excited for the new season!
Collapse of Society
We didn’t get to see the collapse of society in The Walking Dead. By the time Rick Grimes woke from his coma, society had already disappeared and was just barely a shell of what it had once been. In season one of Fear The Walking Dead, however, the world that the characters were living in still very much resembled the world that we, as the audience, are currently living in. There was still a society. There were laws. Rules. Government. All of this quickly began to collapse throughout the season, and the world as the characters knew it began to crumble.
With The Walking Dead, the audience was immediately thrown into an unfamiliar world, but with Fear The Walking Dead, the audience is going on a journey with the characters and experiencing the world as it collapses around them, something that will be further explored in season two. This offers the viewers a chance to get to know the characters before the apocalypse, what they were like, how they acted, and then see how they are affected by the world around them. The audience is able to see the change and transformation of the characters from normal people living in a normal world to people who descend into a fight-or-die frame of mind, and that is something valuable and rewarding to watch.
Completely Different Setting Than The Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead is set in Los Angeles, an area with a high population. The Walking Dead, while having a few episodes set in Atlanta, is set in areas of low population. The threat of walkers in the city will be much greater than the threat of walkers in the rural areas of TWD, and the spread of the virus will be much quicker in Los Angeles than it is in Georgia. To add to this, the characters will have to run, but they have nowhere to run to. They are in an urban area, a place that is heavily populated, which means that walkers will be everywhere. In short, the threat of walkers will be much greater than it ever was on The Walking Dead. Their only option, as Strand states, is taking to the water.
They’re on a Boat
They are in a zombie apocalypse and on a boat. This could either be a very good thing or a very bad thing, or both. Either way, it’s going to make for an interesting story. A boat is a very confined space, which means that the characters will constantly be in each other’s presence, having little privacy. Any tension between the characters will only intensify, and they will be forced to address any issues they have with one another.
Furthermore, where in the world do they go now? You can only float around in the ocean for so long. Is there a safe place somewhere? Is anywhere actually safe? And even if there is someplace that is safe, will they be able to find it? How long can they even stay on the boat? They don’t have an endless source of supplies, and with the number of people that they have, any supplies that they do have will quickly diminish.
Character Development
One thing to look forward to in season two is character development because none of the characters will be able to come out of this thing the same. As they move further into the post-apocalyptic world and realize that things will never be the same, the characters will begin to change and transform into people who can survive in this world because it’s either adapt and survive, or stay the same and die. Even putting aside the necessary transformation for survival, each character is already presented with issues that they will have to deal with.
- Daniel and Ofelia Salazar have suffered the loss of wife and mother Griselda Salazar. On top of this, Ofelia’s part-time love interest and military man Andrew almost killed her during the season finale.
- Travis and Chris Manawa will be suffering the loss of Liza. While Liza was Travis’ ex-wife, it was evident during the first season that they still had a close connection, and having been the one to put her down, Travis will have to deal with the aftermath of his actions, even if it was what Liza had wanted. Chris, on the other hand, has just lost his mother, something that won’t be easy to get over.
- Madison Clark will be struggling with her past and keeping her family together. Having to deal with both Nick and Alicia while also looking out for Travis and Chris will surely take a toll on her.
- Drug addict Nick Clark stated in the season finale that for the first time everyone else is experiencing what he has been experiencing for years; lost with no direction. For once in his life, or at least for a very long time, Nick isn’t feeling alone and perhaps has the upper hand. Despite this, though, he will be struggling with his drug addiction and withdrawals.
- Alicia Clark. She had been accepted into UC Berkley. She was counting down the days until she could finally leave. She was ready to escape the troubles of her family and the troubles of Nick’s drug addiction. She was ready to leave. She had a bright future, but now that has been taken from her. She, perhaps, has the most to lose with the apocalypse. On top of this, the realization that her boyfriend Matt is most likely now a walker will be a heavy blow to her.
Family Dynamic
The main characters of Fear The Walking Dead are largely two different families: the merged family unit of the Clarks and Manawas, and also the Salazar family. These families have been forced together under the circumstances that they have been faced with, and they are now surviving with one another, depending on one another for protection and safety. While the issue of family only presented surface issues in season one, such as the tense relationships between the Manawa and Clark children, in season two, family will take on an entirely different kind of importance. The characters will have to determine what exactly family means. Is family blood or bond? Where do they draw the line? When it comes to surviving in this new world, do they try to protect everyone that they had considered family, or do they choose to save those that they are bonded to by blood?
Trapped on a boat in the ocean, these two families who remain largely strangers to one another are going to be forced to live and work together. They will have to rely on one another, but will they trust each other? Will they choose to save their own families when it comes down to it, or will they fight for the safety of the entire group?
Bonus: Water Walkers
I guess that these wouldn’t be called walkers, would they? Swimmers? Floaters? Anyway, we will be seeing walkers in the ocean. So that’s something to look forward to. It also probably isn’t a good thing…the characters can’t escape walkers/floaters even on Strand’s boat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBhQpXRS2FU
What are you most looking forward to in season two?
Fear The Walking Dead returns to AMC on April 10th at 9 pm EST.