After a strong start last week, Fear the Walking Dead continues to pick up momentum in the third episode entitled “TEOTWAWKI.” Since the show began, Fear the Walking Dead has failed to reach enough momentum to reach the level its counter part, The Walking Dead has. Living in the shadow of its much more powerful older brother, the show has been unable to find storylines and even characters that are as compelling as The Walking Dead.
This episode gives fans everything a good episode of Fear the Walking Dead should have. There’s suspense, great character moments, a surprising return and a zombie head in a cage. Everything I ever wanted in an episode and more. When we last left our characters, Madison, Nick, Alicia and Luciana are now at the Otto family’s farm. The Otto family farm has been preparing for dooms day since way before walkers started running the Earth. Jeremiah and his family created this safe haven when Troy was just a little boy and now they’ve been taking in survivors since the first walker appeared.
The Otto family farm seems to be a perfect combination of Hershel’s Farm and Alexandria from The Walking Dead. First off, you’ve got the old, wise leader, Jeremiah, who has taken our leader, Madison, under his wing. Then, you’ve got people who have no idea how bad it’s in the real world, like Alexandria. This creates the perfect storm for an incredible Fear the Walking Dead season. Each character has been placed in various sections of the community and we’re excited to see how this goes.
Let’s start with Madison. She’s pulling a Carol right now, pretending to be innocent and grieving over Travis so she can survey the environment. It’s the perfect strategy and Madison is already using it wisely. She’s growing closer to Jeremiah and she learns his weaknesses. She finds an old VHS tape revealing an old TV promo for the farm. It shows Jeremiah arguing with Troy’s mother, his second wife, and having a soft spot for his family.
Madison and Troy also continue to be go head to head and it’s one of the best dynamics season three has given us so far. Daniel Sharman spares with Kim Dickens perfectly in these scenes as we learn more about Troy. Sharman and Dickens are the perfect new duo for this season of Fear the Walking Dead. It’s hard to predict whether they’ll continue to be adversaries or band together eventually. Same with Nick and Troy. In this episode, the duo also go head to head when Troy takes Nick out for an evening hunt. Something Fear the Walking Dead has previously been lacking are these tension filled relationships between our group of survivors and new groups. The show has tried to provide us this in previous seasons, but this is finally working for us.
While the entirety introduction of the Otto family farm is interesting, Alicia’s new group of friends really stand out in this episode. A group of teenagers say they’re going for Bible study, but really they go smoke weed and hang out with a walker head named Jeff. This is what we imagine That 70s Show would look like if it were set in the apocalypse. Jeff asks questions to Alicia and it’s such a memorable moment for Fear the Walking Dead. Especially when Alicia opens up to them and reveals she’s killed a man.
Alicia’s storyline in “TEOTWAWKI” is reminiscent of when Carl meets the other teenagers in Alexandria in The Walking Dead. They haven’t had to endure the hardship he has, so he gives them a wake up call to what life beyond the walls is like. Alicia is in a similar situation this week. These teenagers don’t know anything about life outside of the farm. We really like seeing Alicia with other characters her age and her embracing her badass nature. We can’t wait to see where Alicia goes this season.
The one downfall to “TEOTWAWKI” is Victor’s storyline. Everything happening with Victor is so far removed from what The Clark’s are up to that we’re bored during his scenes. There’s currently no foreseeable future of all of these storylines combining, so we’re confused as to why we should care about what Victor is doing. Right now, Victor has run into an old friend that is holding a grudge and basically wants to kill him. Even the big reveal that Daniel is alive isn’t enough to save this storyline. We’re starting to wonder why we should care about Victor’s storyline and if it’s worth keeping him around. Also #WhereIsOfelia?? We need ANSWERS!
MVP’s of The Week
Once again, one of our MVP’s of Fear the Walking Dead this week is Alicia. Her storyline has been on point since the end of season two and we’re so excited for her role on the Otto’s family farm.
Our other MVP is Jeff. Like c’mon, he’s a walker head in a cage. How cool is that?
Rick Grimes Moment of the Week
Madison gets our “Rick Grimes Moment of the Week” again for her sneaky behavior on The Ott’s family farm! She’s surveying the area, figuring out the weaknesses and now she’s volunteered to help on a mission. She’s making herself essential and then we’re sure she’s going to strike with Nick and Alicia and make this community there’s. WE CAN’T WAIT!