Really enjoying Fear at the moment. The premier last week was pretty strong and they've followed up with another pretty cool episode this week. As per usual, I'll give a small run down of some of the main scenes, throw in my opinions of it, then round it up with an overall review and rating of the episode. I'm sure you've got the gist of things by now! So let's get started...
The intro to the episode is a short one, with two young kids (who we later find out are called Harry and Willa) playing on the beach, as some walkers walk towards them. We find out that there's a fence stopping the walkers from getting onto the beach.
The group find out that their intended destination of San Diego has been overrun, thanks to the log book Nick picked up last week. They see a light flickering on and off near the coast of an island, and dock there to investigate. Strand decides to stay with the boat while the others go, but Salazar, still suspicious of Strand, offers that he and Ofelia stay behind with him. Really enjoying the way Salazar is acting as the eyes and ears for the group, who still have their doubts about Strand's real intentions.
Travis, Madison, Alicia, Nick and Chris meet the family who stay on the island: George and Melissa, along with their young children Harry and Willa. George allows the group to go inside and hopefully help them find some answers. We then see George inform Travis that the entire west coast has fallen, and has been bombarded with Napalm. Clutching at straws, Travis asks if there is anywhere further inland that is safe, to which George tells him there is very little. This was one of one of the first times I saw total defeat on the face of Travis, as he realizes that there is indeed no safe harbour. As Madison and Melissa are chatting, we are introduced to the family's older son, Seth, who seems suspicious of Madison and appears unhappy that there is anyone else in their home. While the parents discuss things, Nick, Alicia and Chris play with the two kids, and Nick immediately strikes a bond with Harry. He asks Chris to join them, but Chris continues to distance himself. This whole section of the episode focussing on the interactions between the two families was interesting on a few levels. For one, I really enjoyed the dynamic between Nick and Harry, as I feel that Nick saw someone who he could potentially mentor and be a big brother figure to. Melissa seems intrigued about what Madison is like, asking about her job before everything went South, and if she doesn't like young children.
Meanwhile, Salazar grills Strand about whether or not the boat was actually his, which Strand insists it is. It doesn't sell Salazar though, who later searches the boat and finds an automatic gun hidden along with a whole bunch of maps. Nick tells Alicia that night that he feels something isn't quite right with the family.
The next morning, we see signs that Chris may be coming to terms with the world as it is now, when he helps Seth dispatch of some walkers who were against the fence on the beach, although he looked like he was perhaps enjoying it a little too much. Travis finds him and doesn't seem pleased with what he is doing. I didn't quite understand Travis' logic behind that at first because he knows that in this world, putting down walkers has to be a commonly done thing, yet the idea of Chris pulling himself together a bit and learning how to do so properly seemed to anger him. I guess we'll see how Chris' attitude develops from it but I'd personally like to see him grow into a strong survivor for the series.
Nick searches the house while he thinks no one is home, seemingly looking for drugs of some sort. He opens up a globe and finds some suspicious looking pills, but ultimately leaves them where they are - something he probably regretted doing by the end of the episode. Melissa and Madison have another conversation, where Melissa admits that she has MS, and signalled the boat to shore on purpose so they could take Harry and Willa, and try to start a new life for them. Travis is sceptical of this at first, but Madison convinces him, saying they can't keep leaving people behind. Where I appreciate that concept, and especially with little kids, I can't help but feel she is still rather naive to the dangers people are to them, but I'm sure they'll all find that out in due course.
My personal suspicions that Strand may be a bit dodgy seem to be well founded, as he is seen on the phone to someone, arranging to meet them at sundown, and assuring them "I'll be there". Nick tells Travis and Madison he thinks the pills he found might be George trying to poison his family, claiming that he knows his pharmaceuticals, and they definitely aren't prescription. His fears are of course right, as Willa takes one of the pills and dies. Melissa cradles her body as she reanimates, biting Melissa in the neck as George hands Harry to Travis and tells them to take him on the boat. Strand tries again to stop Madison from helping, telling her to put him back where she found him, but Madison refuses, telling him he doesn't get to decide who lives and who dies, which apparently, he thinks he does. I honestly don't like that guy at all, so shady. It was to be a non-issue though, as Seth shows up, pointing a gun at the group and demanding that Harry stays with him. Despite Madison's pleas, Seth forces Harry off the boat and Strand leaves dock, as Melissa's reanimated corpse makes it's way towards Seth and Harry. Seth tells Harry to wave goodbye as he puts their mother down.
So yeah. Really sad scene at the end there guys, especially with Willa dying and ultimately killing Melissa when she turns. I think that Seth may have sealed his and his brother's fate by refusing to join the group on the boat, although they may turn up later in the series so we'll see. George was clearly a bit nuts and a bit delusional as to how safe they were on the island compared to anywhere else, and in fact was planning to kill his whole family eventually so they were all going together. Some good stuff again with Nick, although it seemed that he was relapsing again when he appeared to be looking for drugs, he ultimately figured out what was going on with this family and tried to put a stop to it, unfortunately a bit too late to save Willa. I felt it was a really intense episode, again some decent scenes in there with Salazar acting as the general for the group, keeping an eye on everything and doing some digging to find out more about Strand. In terms of a score I'd probably have to give this episode a 7.5/10. I still think there's some untapped potential in Fear and I hope, with season 3 being officially confirmed for next year, that they'll continue to explore what continues to be a really interesting spin-off of The Walking Dead.
As always guys, let me know what you think of this episode and of this review in the comments, on facebook and on twitter @filthymcnastie, but for now I'm checking out.