‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 2 Premiere: Recap of Episode 1 Entitled “Monster”


Season 2 of AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead premiered with episode 1 entitled “Monster.” For a show that has big shoes to fill, just how well did the season 2 premiere episode hold up?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about season 2 of AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Episode 1 of season 2 of Fear The Walking Dead starts with the culmination of Operation Cobalt. The group at Strand’s (Colman Domingo) house must, therefore, evacuate by boat. Thankfully, Strand has a boat called Abigail at the ready. This leads to the first epic zombie kill with one having its face shredded by the boat’s engine.

Madison and Travis head for the high seas in episode 1 of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead season 2
[Image via Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC]
Considering this episode starts just a few hours after the season 1 finale, Chris Manawa (Lorenzo James Henrie) is yet to grieve the loss of his mother, Liza (Elizabeth Rodriguez) and thinks it will be a good idea to drag her along for the ride. Thankfully he does eventually sees reason and dumps her body overboard, gaining little in the like department as far as fans go unfortunately.

While they may have avoided the government annihilation on land, they are soon to find out that life at sea is no easier. They are not the only survivors who thought escaping on a boat would be a good idea. When people seeking shelter on Strand’s boat approach, it is Strand and Travis (Cliff Curtis) that refuse their entry. Whether this is right or wrong according to the women on board, for fans of The Walking Dead, we all know it’s the right thing to do.

As well as the human threat, it doesn’t take the group long to realize there is also an undead problem — even when they are out at sea. Because the infected are undead, they can float and bite their way across the ocean indefinitely. This is something Chris finds out the hard way when he dives into the ocean for a swim and everyone else thinks it is to kill himself. Apparently not a single person on board Abigail noticed the massive shipwreck right next to them, but now all those dead are undead and are rising and biting their way to the surface, meaning Chris has to be rescued. Interesting to note are all the bullet holes riddling the vessel. Has piracy in earnest happened so early on in the zombie apocalypse? Or is this another government attempt at a cover up?

Another great threat to the group could have been Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) who spent most of episode 1 of Fear The Walking Dead playing CB romance with a guy called Jack. For interested fans, this episode of Fear The Walking Dead was shot in the same water tank as the movie Titanic was filmed. This led to a lot of Jack/Titanic-inspired tweets. Although, to be fair, many also linked Jack to Captain Jack Sparrow. The whole episode seemed to revolve around whether Jack was a good guy or a bad guy. Strand puts him squarely into the bad guy category and announces Jack and his sinking ship will not be rescued. Unfortunately, Alicia may, or may not have already shared the coordinates of Abigail with Jack.

The episode then ends with the arrival of another ship that may, or may not, belong to Jack. Or could this ship be the one that shot out the earlier shipwreck? Hang on, could this vessel be both Jack’s boat, and the one that shot out the other boat? Fans will have to tune in next week to find out if Alicia has placed the group in danger or not.

And, of course, you can’t have a zombie apocalypse series without the desperate hope of help in a distant place. For Fear The Walking Dead, it comes via Strand’s conviction that San Diego is their safe harbor. But will it really be? And just what is Strand’s ulterior motive? Fans of The Walking Dead can already assume the answer to that one.

What did you think of episode 1 of Fear The Walking Dead’s season 2? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!

Season 2 of AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead returns next Sunday, April 17 with episode 2 entitled “We All Fall Down” at 9 p.m. ET.

The official synopsis for episode 2 is as follows:

“The group seeks shelter with a survivalist family; Salazar tries to reveal Strand’s intentions.”

[Image via Richard Foreman/AMC]

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