Fear the Walking Dead season 3 episode 2 review: Travis takes the fall
One of the biggest issues with this entire episode was the matter in which Travis left, falling out of a helicopter as a means of sacrifice. He knew that he’d been shot and he was beyond repair, and the last thing he wanted to do was cause Alicia to become a zombie once he died and inevitably turned. It was a hero’s death, but it was abrupt and without the emotional resonance that you would need for a moment like that.
When you think about The Walking Dead and the way that they treated Glenn and Abraham, the producers and AMC acted almost like Steven Yeun and Michael Cudlitz actually died. It was a funeral dirge; hell, they even held Talking Dead at a cemetery. Here, they had Travis die with a minute or two of drama, and then the show went on. Madison remembered him at the end of the episode, but the odd imbalance of the show’s deaths quickly became clear: Travis, his son Chris, and his ex are all dead. Out of the original family members left, they’re on all Madison’s side. She is the one who had the deepest connection to him, and she is the most hardened character on the show.
To end Travis here, right after spending so much time watching him struggle to overtake Troy and his crazy goons at his compound, felt like someone let the air out of the show’s dramatic tension. It didn’t feel right. Maybe that was the intention for the death to be jarring, but it’s okay for this show to have some gravitas than a death lacking in the meaning department.
Moving right along…
There is further potential in where Fear the Walking Dead has the remaining characters now at their new community, which is being run by Jeremiah (Dayton Callie of Deadwood / Sons of Anarchy, a.k.a. further proof that Dave Erickson and Robert Kirkman really LOVE these two shows). Jeremiah is the father of Crazy Troy and Obvious Alicia Love Interest Jake. He also has serious trust issues, but that does make some sense when you consider the fact that he’s gotta run a doomsday prepper community where people are obviously concerned about outsiders. It doesn’t help that Madison already stabbed his son in the eye and her son is constantly on the verge of murdering everyone. Heck, Nick was ready to start firing when it was suggested that an ailing Luciana was not going to be able to go into the town alive.
This community could be interesting just because these people actually have it pretty good in comparison to the rest of the zombie community. Also, Maddie seems intent on trying to take it over already. Add to this the likely arrival of Strand to the town eventually after he was tossed out of his hiding spot for playing doctor for a little too long — even though he was able to successfully deliver a verdict.
Final Verdict
The first episode of season 3 (read our full review over at the link here) proved itself to be a great celebration of what the show can be: Violent, crazy, and incredibly intense. Both episodes suffered from a lack of super-powerful, super-emotional moments, and this episode featured the biggest death of arguably the entire series in a rather unsatisfying fashion. While Fear the Walking Dead maybe reached a creative peak in the premiere, they’ve got their work cut out for them to get themselves out of the valley of episode 2. Grade: C.
What’s next
Head over to the link here in the event you want to get some additional news when it comes to the future of Fear the Walking Dead this season. (Photo: AMC.)