Fear The Walking Dead 2x06 "Sicut Cervus" episode discussion...

[MinionZombie]

Please keep all talk of episode 2x06 "Sicut Cervus" specifically inside this thread.

If you have a theory for a following episode, please use the "spoiler tags" (visit the HPOTD FAQ to find out how to use them if you don't already know).

Enjoy!

Directed by: Kate Dennis
Written by: Brian Buckner

[slayerized]

Please keep all talk of episode 2x06 "Sicut Cervus" specifically inside this thread.

If you have a theory for a following episode, please use the "spoiler tags" (visit the HPOTD FAQ to find out how to use them if you don't already know).

Enjoy!

Directed by: Kate Dennis
Written by: Brian Buckner

In a perfect world this series would be put down with a bullet to the head and the freed up budget money could then be directed to making TWD even more epic...definitely not what I signed up for last season...I can;t imagine this going on season after season ugh!

[Moon Knight]

In a perfect world this series would be put down with a bullet to the head and the freed up budget money could then be directed to making TWD even more epic...definitely not what I signed up for last season...I can;t imagine this going on season after season ugh!

It's not THAT bad. Besides, if it wasn't FTWD, that money would just have gone to some other AMC show to fill that void.

[MinionZombie]

There's pieces of this show that always stand out, and are good, but this season is really struggling to work as a whole.

The scene where Strand's man was dying was very well performed, Dougray Scott was really selling it and making it feel real that those two characters (who we don't know awfully well) really cared for each other.

The church massacre with everyone slaughtering the zombies was pretty nifty, although I don't know what all this stuff with Chris is, it just seems kinda strange - and the sort of "it's not what it looks like" sneaking into the bedroom scene at the end was just all kinds of "eh?"

Daniel continues to be one of the most interesting and involving characters. Interesting that Gaffigan asked on Talking Dead that might the boy that Daniel sees be Daniel? If not, then it'd be a flashback to deeds that Daniel did as a young man, but maybe it is him as a boy.

The wine cellar full of walkers had shades of Hershel's barn about it, so there was no surprise there whatsoever, and kinda felt a bit awkward in that regard. It felt more like a reference to TWD's second season than anything else. That said, the Mexican angle on the dead was an interesting bit of something different here - an alternative view on proceedings.

However, again, we're only no more than two weeks in, right? You've got Nick talking like someone who's just got back from their second tour of Vietnam, and Chris ... geez.

So, next week is the mid-season finale. I feel that going to 15 episodes has lead to a lot of filler this season. It lacks a fair bit of oomph. The first season really shifted - too fast, if anything - as I said last week, might a 'one day/one episode' structure have been more interesting? To toss 'TWD style zombie action' into the mix they've skipped over the entire raison d'etre of FTWD!

Like I said, theres pieces of this show that work very well, but these parts can't hold the rest of it together in this current state.

[slayerized]

There's pieces of this show that always stand out, and are good, but this season is really struggling to work as a whole.

The scene where Strand's man was dying was very well performed, Dougray Scott was really selling it and making it feel real that those two characters (who we don't know awfully well) really cared for each other.

The church massacre with everyone slaughtering the zombies was pretty nifty, although I don't know what all this stuff with Chris is, it just seems kinda strange - and the sort of "it's not what it looks like" sneaking into the bedroom scene at the end was just all kinds of "eh?"

Daniel continues to be one of the most interesting and involving characters. Interesting that Gaffigan asked on Talking Dead that might the boy that Daniel sees be Daniel? If not, then it'd be a flashback to deeds that Daniel did as a young man, but maybe it is him as a boy.

The wine cellar full of walkers had shades of Hershel's barn about it, so there was no surprise there whatsoever, and kinda felt a bit awkward in that regard. It felt more like a reference to TWD's second season than anything else. That said, the Mexican angle on the dead was an interesting bit of something different here - an alternative view on proceedings.

However, again, we're only no more than two weeks in, right? You've got Nick talking like someone who's just got back from their second tour of Vietnam, and Chris ... geez.

So, next week is the mid-season finale. I feel that going to 15 episodes has lead to a lot of filler this season. It lacks a fair bit of oomph. The first season really shifted - too fast, if anything - as I said last week, might a 'one day/one episode' structure have been more interesting? To toss 'TWD style zombie action' into the mix they've skipped over the entire raison d'etre of FTWD!

Like I said, theres pieces of this show that work very well, but these parts can't hold the rest of it together in this current state.

I thought the church attack was a joke...I thought the acting sucked, the makeup sucked and the editing was horrible...it reminding me of every shitty European zombie movie from the mid 80s...just a real low budget feel to it -- and the family storing their dead? They have to come up with their own original story lines and not just borrow from what's already been done on TWD...

Next week's mid season finale doesn't look much better with Nick proclaiming "I walk among them..."

Think they're going to need to find some better writers quick...

[Moon Knight]

I enjoyed it last night. The issue is this seemed way too familiar. Hershel's farm and his family as walkers? C'mon, guys you can do better. Also, Chris was about to Knife his stepmom and sister? Wtf? Lol calm down with that, way too forced.

I enjoyed Strand and Abigal's story for what is was. Good emotion there.

I come in with low expectations and leave satisfied; besides, Game of Thrones is on! FTWD really dissapointed me because it didn't give us what they promised. They jumped the gun on humans killing eachother way too quickly but oh well. Not gonna waste time complaining. It is what it is.

[shootemindehead]

This show is losing me rapidly. I practically knew every beat of that episode before it appeared.

The writing runs the gamut from mediocre to rubbish and once again we have holy Joes storing their dead? Christ, we did all this shite in 'Dawn of the Dead' nearly 40 years ago. It's tiresome. Plus, yeh, we're a few weeks in and people have 1000 yard stares already? What?

It's got to get much, much better in the latter half of this series, or I'm done.

[MinionZombie]

It's almost as if the team who write it are trying to be The Walking Dead (and not doing a great job of it, it must be said) rather than simply being their own thing in the same universe.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - they had a great opportunity to have people from a different walk of life in this series (e.g. the government, the military) and see the zombie apocalypse from an alternative perspective. We've got the ragtag gang of civilians in TWD already and it works very well, but we didn't need that all over again. About the most we've got here is a little bit of racial diversity (the South American folks) - but being that they're still civilians, we end up in similar circumstances.

I'd love to see how a government deals with this kind of thing from the inside, and it's why I wrote "Cold Shadows" (the TV series script version, not the unrelated short story series that's in the HPOTD fiction section, which I wrote years and years and years ago - I just reused the title) with the added influence of actual UK government documentation regarding pandemic survival strategy. I read that document and it opened up a whole array of story ideas, so I wrote the first episode and have the other five mapped out in a document. I'm rather chuffed with it, but I didn't get any bites from the few places I sent it to. I actually took some inspiration from you good folks here at HPOTD, as well, seeking to do - and likewise not do - certain things that we as zombie obsessives want to see.

A long, meandering, roundabout, perhaps a bit gauche, and barely related way of saying - man - they've missed some great opportunities with FTWD. Bummer. I really hope the quality improves, while there's some annoying-as-hell characters in there, there's some really good characters in there too, and there's potential ... although with the rush to seemingly just become The Walking Dead: West Coast, a lot of that potential has been lost. :(

[Moon Knight]

It's almost as if the team who write it are trying to be The Walking Dead (and not doing a great job of it, it must be said) rather than simply being their own thing in the same universe.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - they had a great opportunity to have people from a different walk of life in this series (e.g. the government, the military) and see the zombie apocalypse from an alternative perspective. We've got the ragtag gang of civilians in TWD already and it works very well, but we didn't need that all over again. About the most we've got here is a little bit of racial diversity (the South American folks) - but being that they're still civilians, we end up in similar circumstances.

I'd love to see how a government deals with this kind of thing from the inside, and it's why I wrote "Cold Shadows" (the TV series script version, not the unrelated short story series that's in the HPOTD fiction section, which I wrote years and years and years ago - I just reused the title) with the added influence of actual UK government documentation regarding pandemic survival strategy. I read that document and it opened up a whole array of story ideas, so I wrote the first episode and have the other five mapped out in a document. I'm rather chuffed with it, but I didn't get any bites from the few places I sent it to. I actually took some inspiration from you good folks here at HPOTD, as well, seeking to do - and likewise not do - certain things that we as zombie obsessives want to see.

A long, meandering, roundabout, perhaps a bit gauche, and barely related way of saying - man - they've missed some great opportunities with FTWD. Bummer. I really hope the quality improves, while there's some annoying-as-hell characters in there, there's some really good characters in there too, and there's potential ... although with the rush to seemingly just become The Walking Dead: West Coast, a lot of that potential has been lost. :(

A look at the apocalypse through the government and military would have been spot on and refreshing. Would have been very interesting.

Can we just get Strand, Daniel, and Nick on the main show?

They are really exploring themes and senarios that even the main show has beaten to death. I'm still sticking with it to see where it goes.

[slayerized]

A look at the apocalypse through the government and military would have been spot on and refreshing. Would have been very interesting.

Can we just get Strand, Daniel, and Nick on the main show?

They are really exploring themes and scenarios that even the main show has beaten to death. I'm still sticking with it to see where it goes.

I for one would have loved if Liza had just said "fuck the rest of you guys" and jumped on board that chopper and she and Dr. Exner actually made it to Edwards AFB...then we could have started a new story arc out there centering around the military and the government trying to figure what was happening...I have always been intrigued by the whole "Wildfire" thing from TWD and how Jenner mentioned it had first been discovered MONTHS previous - Government must know SOMETHING...that would have been an interesting story to follow - provided the writers didn't fuck it up (which given their track record here - they probably would have!)

What really bugs me about this whole thing is that everybody is behaving like it's already 2 years in...we're only a couple weeks in - everyone should want to be looking for survivors, monitoring the radio for broadcasts, anything to find information on what is happening or how widespread things have gotten...seems like nobody really gives a shit...

And I was kind of hoping we would get our survivors at least "surviving" along the US west coast somewhere...seems once they get booted from Casa Abigail (unless they decide to take it over - are we really there yet?) then they;ll just be wandering around the MEXICAN countryside...

[Neil]

OK.. I'm finding this show a tad "confused" TBH...

We're seemingly weeks into this event, yet we seem to have confused plots which surely show groups/mindsets of people who are years into it?

[MinionZombie]

OK.. I'm finding this show a tad "confused" TBH...

We're seemingly weeks into this event, yet we seem to have confused plots which surely show groups/mindsets of people who are years into it?

Yeah, this is one of my main gripes with the show. At this point they'd all still be thinking "well, the government are going to get this under control again, right?" - I mean look at the Mexican border crossing thing where they still had guards operating on the boats - there's still elements of government out there working. I don't think anyone would go full-on Mad Max mode this fast!

[Moon Knight]

Wasn't Dawn of the Dead only a few weeks into the ZA? This is just rediculous.

Between that flaw and the constant themes being rehashed from the main show and comics are getting a tad bit annoying. Even next week's title is lifted from the book, c'mon now haha.

I still have hope!

[MinionZombie]

Wasn't Dawn of the Dead only a few weeks into the ZA? This is just rediculous.

Yeah, IIRC it starts out about a month in (so further in that where we are with FTWD right now), and then over the course of the film it advances to a few months in. When it all starts off in Dawn they still have a (albeit crumbling) form of government, they have nationally broadcasting television, they have police, they have SWAT teams doing raids, although people are starting to scatter - but there's still a very recognisable society continuing to exist.

Different ZA's, of course, but if you use Dawn as a marker to judge FTWD against, in Fear they're waaaaaaaaay early for some of the things that are going on ... heck, even just looking at it on its own it's way too early for some things to be happening, as have been mentioned in this and other FTWD threads in recent weeks.

[Moon Knight]

Yeah, IIRC it starts out about a month in (so further in that where we are with FTWD right now), and then over the course of the film it advances to a few months in. When it all starts off in Dawn they still have a (albeit crumbling) form of government, they have nationally broadcasting television, they have police, they have SWAT teams doing raids, although people are starting to scatter - but there's still a very recognisable society continuing to exist.

Different ZA's, of course, but if you use Dawn as a marker to judge FTWD against, in Fear they're waaaaaaaaay early for some of the things that are going on ... heck, even just looking at it on its own it's way too early for some things to be happening, as have been mentioned in this and other FTWD threads in recent weeks.

I don't even think FTWD had any broadcast other than the social media clip from the school. Nothing scarier than confused newscasters reporting dead people coming back to life and eating the living. I've said it before, what a wasted opportunity.

[JDP]

Yeah, IIRC it starts out about a month in (so further in that where we are with FTWD right now), and then over the course of the film it advances to a few months in. When it all starts off in Dawn they still have a (albeit crumbling) form of government, they have nationally broadcasting television, they have police, they have SWAT teams doing raids, although people are starting to scatter - but there's still a very recognisable society continuing to exist.

Different ZA's, of course, but if you use Dawn as a marker to judge FTWD against, in Fear they're waaaaaaaaay early for some of the things that are going on ... heck, even just looking at it on its own it's way too early for some things to be happening, as have been mentioned in this and other FTWD threads in recent weeks.

In Dawn the protagonists are even afraid that the government might detain them and confiscate the helicopter that they took from the TV station if they don't show the authorities proper paper work for it. That's how functional the government still is at the start of that movie, even like a month or so into the zombie crisis. In FTWD it seems like everything has gone to hell too fast.

[slayerized]

In Dawn the protagonists are even afraid that the government might detain them and confiscate the helicopter that they took from the TV station if they don't show the authorities proper paper work for it. That's how functional the government still is at the start of that movie, even like a month or so into the zombie crisis. In FTWD it seems like everything has gone to hell too fast.

Not to mention the fact that government and military would just say screw it and napalm all the major cities 10 days into the crisis...

[Trin]

Following the military and the government would be interesting were it not for the fact that they've already cast the military as jerks and the government as having abandoned the populace in Season 1. That doesn't leave much room for a protagonist to follow.

I haven't really been paying attention to the timelines, but after reading through some of these threads I have to agree that the fall of society and the characters going post apocalyptic in mindset has been too rapid. I can't imagine having left the country by sea so quickly into it. I'd still be huddled in my basement eating stored foods clutching a baseball bat with a radio on 24/7.

[facestabber]

Following the military and the government would be interesting were it not for the fact that they've already cast the military as jerks and the government as having abandoned the populace in Season 1. That doesn't leave much room for a protagonist to follow.

I haven't really been paying attention to the timelines, but after reading through some of these threads I have to agree that the fall of society and the characters going post apocalyptic in mindset has been too rapid. I can't imagine having left the country by sea so quickly into it. I'd still be huddled in my basement eating stored foods clutching a baseball bat with a radio on 24/7.

Abandoned Season 1!!!!!! Are you forgetting the single Huey flying patrol in S3? And the incompetent ground support squad that let the Gov and co wipe them out? Hahaha. Just once I wanna see a competent military element that isn't filled with rapists, thieves etc.