"Fear what you become."
With Fear The Walking Dead (FTWD) well on its way to establishing its own world within a world (of The Waking Dead franchise), it arguably still feels like it has some work to do.
Fear The Walking Dead The Complete Third Season continues successfully ground its look in an almost Tex-Mex flavor with the world gone mad along the southern border. Could that be more appropriate right now? Unfortunately, this season seems flat, feels misguided in its direction and in general as lifeless as a zombie.
Even this series with its unique identity can't be saved by its much heavier reliance on a more global modern soundtrack (versus the American rock and folk stylings that populate the Georgia appeal of the parent series). The music does its part to set the series apart from the original.
As a series it's fairly steady, but by no means the kind of appointment television so well configured for The Walking Dead original. The aforementioned series is adept at juggling various story lines with aplomb and does so with a plethora of fascinating characters. FTWD is deficient in this department drawing upon a small circle of cast members. The same cast that showed much promise in the first season dries up in the third season as lackluster and uninteresting. The series material is simply not as compelling as the parent series or even its own thrilling starter season. Some characters have not been as fleshed out (pun intended) as one would have hoped based upon that first fairly strong six episode opening salvo. This may explain why things get changed up so radically for the show in the upcoming seasons. It stands to reason.
There are missteps here. In fact, FTWD derails beyond allusions to illegal immigration woes just to be topical. The preaching goes further. At one point, "white man" goes to war with native Americans and you begin to actually forget there's a zombie apocalypse at all. The messaging gets a little stronger and the writing lazier. The Third Season begins to falter for FTWD after a resoundingly solid start with its last two seasons.
At times the third and weakest season to date feels like a nod to the reservation-themed drama of Longmire (2012-2017) though never anywhere close to that good. Cowboys or ranchers versus Indians complete with the left-leaning political messaging. Yeah, yeah preach it! This had quickly deteriorated into a very boring apocalypse.
TWD was masterful at warring tribalism in the zombie aftermath. It was nail-biting intensity. FTWD literally turns to actual tribalism (which explains the terrific promotional art for the season; the best thing about it) with an Indian vs white man theme for a good portion of the festivities. Unfortunately there isn't a single interesting character or compelling baddie to rival the likes of The Governor or Negan from TWD to be seen. Additionally, with a lower than average zombie quotient and less than compelling characters played by average actors with less than stellar material it's no wonder the series was heading for a major shake-up. This was simply not very convincing material.
Even leadership by a main character that was previously a high school student while adult men and women listen on intently just doesn't hold water. The adults in the room on TWD made sense at least even if there were bruisers sitting on the sidelines waiting for direction. Some of these people don't have the weight to be believed or even want to follow. Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes commanded attention and could hold an audience in a room. Maggie was a credible leader too. There are just some tough sells here which simply don't help sell entirely weak material and concepts from the get go.
Despite being a true struggle to get through this poorly conceived season it was still apparently enough to manage the show's consistent renewal and that's fantastic news for fans of The Walking Dead Universe.
What's on display here was a slog for this writer and fan of the original. It's a real shame too because that first season had the right idea. By contrast, parent series TWD was appointment television. You couldn't wait to see the next episode. FTWD never quite got there. It was closest during Season One and then Two, but Season Three leaves one nonplussed, disengaged even bored at times. By the time this writer reached the mid-point of the season it was almost hard to believe the themes and storyline were greenlit to go forward in this way. How many more episodes do I have left?
With some resolutions to this rather tenuous, precarious scriptwriting completed, could the second half at least improve the third season of FTWD? The answer is perhaps marginally, but it's still pretty bleak in a bad way. It's a befuddling place to be and even more bewildering considering the showrunner, Dave Erickson, handled the first three seasons. Well, sadly, this third season takes it off the rails in terms of quality.
Clearly some saw the writing on the wall for a change in showrunners and an overhaul. Additionally, character arcs have been underwhelming with one of the best being killed off at the beginning of the season rather arbitrarily (did that actor have the wisdom and foresight to get out?).That character's departure was unexpected, underwhelming, sudden, inexplicable, anti-climactic and weak in the writing department. That actor couldn't have saved this hot mess. I can't help but wonder if there was a reason for that and if this season wasn't simply lacking from the very start. Kim Dickens, as much as I like her, just doesn't have the material to lift the series like an Andrew Lincoln or even a Melissa McBride. The latter being that damn good. There's no one (writers or actors) here capable of elevating the material and concepts to the level of even some of The Walking Dead's weakest material.
Matt Fowler of IGN felt Dickens made the series better and allowed for the series to even best The Walking Dead. Laughable. Not a chance in hell. This season proved, if anything, it was in dire need of better casting and better writing. The dry, arid landscapes of the show's setting are wonderful, but the material is subpar and it was a relief when the season was over.
This third season needed a real infusion of ideas and an installation of some considerable characters with weight backed by some stronger writing and performances at this point. If I was a betting man I might have thought FTWD was heading the way of the dodo bird if things didn't improve (and fast), but it's hard to guess what gets greenlit and cancelled. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
Once again, it's something of a head scratcher to see a season so poorly conceived just die on screen and without much zombie love for good stretches of the season. It just never seems to capture the energy of its first two seasons and especially of parent TWD. It's incredible to think some of the finest series in television with so much more on offer are cancelled prematurely and yet, alas, there it is, FTWD, still shuffling along. The series remains afloat thanks to the lifeblood of a thriving franchise. Let's hope they can turn things around with the Fourth season.
How ironic the tagline for this Third season warned "fear what you become." Uh well, yeah, hell, that's exactly the problem with this season of FTWD.
