FEAR The Walking Dead - Season 4 discussion...

[Moon Knight]

I quite like Luciana, although wasn't much into Colonia either ... and I was fed up with Troy and Walker and all that lot very quickly, almost immediately in fact. Troy was a loose canon and kinda unpredictable, at least that how it can off to me. I actually felt a bit of sympathy for him. Walker just didn’t feel like any character that came before. He wasn’t a villain yet wasn’t the good guy either. He’s just doing his thing. I dug that. I can see why you didn’t like S3 though. It did carry a lot of problems in writing. As far as filler goes, I’ll take Fear’s S4 filler over the TWD’s current filler and just spending mundane time in a particular area with just a handful of the cast. That’s just how I feel about it. At least Fear’s filler kinda moved things along with reveals and the entire cast. Also, when I compare the two, I’m just using the current seasons. Fear’s S4 and TWD’s season 7 and 8; cause those two seasons were formatted and executed exactly the same. Both shows suffer with poorly executed firefights though. They need to cut that shit.

[MinionZombie]

Live viewing figures for 4x08 were 2.32m - so a bump up again after a series low the week prior.

[bassman]

Season 4B Comic Con trailer:

[MinionZombie]

Zombie-nado! There's certainly no mistaking the double meaning of the word "refreshment" splashed on-screen in that trailer. Fear really has gone through a reboot, but considering how iffy the show had become over the 2nd and 3rd seasons, that's no bad thing. Super stoked that John Dorie is alive and well, bringing the dual pistols and wry humour - my new favourite character. Enjoyed the elevator door bit, too.

[Buzzbomb]

I was pretty disappointed with the way 4x08 was done. It's been a while since I've seen it, but it seemed like it relied on mis-direction for the most part, and the ending was handled very poorly... I mean a stadium with just one exit? Also the number of walkers around the armoured vehicle varied dramatically from shot to shot... Hoping the 2nd half get's better, but so far Gimple has made things worse overall I think.

[MinionZombie]

4x09 "People Like Us" Directed by: Magnus Martens Written by: Anna Fishko A bit late putting the info up, but nevertheless... Looking forward to storm vs zombies action, but the most intriguing element was Morgan deciding to head back to Virginia - will something get in the way to frustrate that, or will he really end up back on TWD and might he bring the cast of Fear with him? Is this some sort of 'wrapping up Fear' enterprise now? Might they be looking to take the best characters and insert them into TWD and shut down Fear in favour of a new spin off? I wouldn't be surprised, although if that is the case then that decision would have been made a long time ago (perhaps as a result of season 3 and the continued decline of viewing figures then) ... but being that Gimple is, IIRC, working on a new show in the TWD universe, it'd make sense to not have three zombie shows on at once, but to shut down Fear, take the best (surviving) characters, and port them over to the main show, then start all fresh on a new spin-off. Thoughts? Personally I'd really like to see John Dorie on TWD with Morgan back in the fold again.

[Moon Knight]

I would love for that to happen but my only concern is that TWD already has a bloated roster of characters and Daryl Dixon. What I really love about current Fear is the smaller and more intimate scale of characters. 8X9 felt really refreshing and gave me similar vibes to early TWD. Everyone shines and feels important.

[MinionZombie]

Yeah, one of TWD's core issues is the sheer size of its cast. The same problem is in the comics, and is worse in the comics as so many of the drawings look quite similar to one another (and you don't have an actor's face and voice and everything else to help you differentiate, like you do on the show). I suppose we need 'core representatives' from each group, but at least on the show we've got rid of the Heapsters and have now just got Jadis/Anna. Anyway, if they're planning on moving them over, I really hope to see John Dorie on TWD. That character is my new favourite FTWD character, he's blown all the others out of the water IMHO.

[Moon Knight]

Strand is up there for me. No one on either show is like him. A complex, fun, and charismatic character. I agree about John too. Great character that I really hope makes it far. The comic problem is spot on. Are you caught up or close to it, MZ?

[MinionZombie]

Strand is up there for me. No one on either show is like him. A complex, fun, and charismatic character. I agree about John too. Great character that I really hope makes it far. The comic problem is spot on. Are you caught up or close to it, MZ? 1) Yeah, Strand has always been compelling and intriguing and it's fair to say he stands out in a good way. 2) Umm, I follow it via the trade paperback releases (they come out every six months), and so I have read Volume 29 (which collects issues #169-174), but the next one doesn't come out until mid-September, and then the volumes themselves are usually a handful of issues behind the monthly comics releases as well (the comics are up to Issue #182, apparently). So I've read as far as Issue 174, to cut a long and fastidious story short.

[Moon Knight]

1) Yeah, Strand has always been compelling and intriguing and it's fair to say he stands out in a good way. 2) Umm, I follow it via the trade paperback releases (they come out every six months), and so I have read Volume 29 (which collects issues #169-174), but the next one doesn't come out until mid-September, and then the volumes themselves are usually a handful of issues behind the monthly comics releases as well (the comics are up to Issue #182, apparently). So I've read as far as Issue 174, to cut a long and fastidious story short. I used to do that but a major isssue was spoiled for me so I try and buy the solo issues. Trades are way to go with this series, though. I really hope the show takes a different direction.

[Buzzbomb]

I thought 4x09 was quite a week mid-season opener... tacky CGI and the irritating thing TWD does when characters stop for a chat when they're supposedly on a urgent mission/errand. Hope Morgan goes back to TWD land and leaves FTWD alone... worst case nightmare is Rick showing up in FTWD land. Good to see Series one now on E4 here in the UK. A few people in the office used to watch TWD (most dropped out with the Saviours thread) but none have seen FTWD so far due to the channel it's been on.

[MinionZombie]

4x10 "Close Your Eyes" Directed by: Michael E. Satrazemis Written by: Shintaro Shimosawa Live viewing figures for 4x09 was 1.88m, the lowest rating of not only the season, but of the entire run. Let's see what happens with this next episode if it bounces back a bit. If the figures continue to slide like that, then my theory of them doing away with Fear (and replacing it with a new spin-off) and inserting the surviving characters into TWD seems more likely (although, yes, any such decision would have been made a long time ago - but the figures have steadily declined overall since, well, episode 1x01).

[Moon Knight]

The whole franchise peaked already. I don’t see the ratings increasing on either show.

[MinionZombie]

This episode couldn't really sustain just two characters. There were some interesting scenes, but overall I did find myself checking my watch on a few occasions. I've never really been all that fussed about the character of Alicia, but the girl pulled off some good stuff in this episode and packed some punch. They desperately need to cut the episode order down to 10 episodes and hack out all the filler, mind. At the very least cut it back to 12 for both shows. I'd be surprised if FearTWD got a 5th season, but as I've said before I reckon they'll be looking to graft the remnants of FTWD onto TWD. As for FearTWD overall, I think it has contributed to an overdose of zombies on AMC. You're chomping through zombie material at twice the rate and it saps the audience want for that content. It is fair to say that TWD has peaked, season 6 was probably the peak point overall. That's not to say there hasn't been good - and great - material since, but the instances of iffy stuff has increased overall unfortunately. But these sorts of shows can't really sustain this many episodes for this many seasons and still remain as potent as they once were - they've now become part of the televisual wallpaper, the TV 'establishment' if you will, rather than the hot new thing or the big success story. Those stages have passed. For any new AMC zombie show they're gonna have to come up with something a hell of a lot more interesting than yet more civilian survivors going through the same motions that we've already seen in TWD and repeated in FearTWD.