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‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Premiere: Why The ‘TWD’ Spinoff Moves Slower Than The Walkers

By Chanel Adams
Published on: 15:46 PST, Aug 23, 2015

Fear the Walking Dead made its big debut on AMC. The spinoff to the highly-successful series, The Walking Dead, is slightly different in that it has a slow buildup, not with its characters, but with the zombie world. Some fans would say that Fear’s pilot episode is slower than the actual zombies on the show.

Fear the Walking Dead may take place in the same world as TWD, but it’s obvious that it’s set in a pre-apocalyptic world and in a different location: Los Angeles, California.

Even a recent report via Biography warned that Fear has fewer zombies than its predecessor. Although the show’s pace is slower than The Walking Dead or the zombies, but it will pick up with time, according to executive producer Dave Erickson.

“We purposely built the show a little bit more slowly than the original. We tried to slow burn the story [and] make it as much about the anxiety and tension and paranoia that goes with this outbreak as much as it is about the actual confrontations with zombies.”

Fear the Walking Dead premiered on AMC on Sunday evening, August 23, at 9 p.m. on the East Coast. It was followed by a special episode of The Talking Dead, which talked about the spinoff and season 6 of The Walking Dead, which is expected to be better than ever, according to host Chris Hardwick. There is even going to be more walkers than ever, according to the show’s show-runner, Scott Gimple.

But let’s get back to the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead. Fans have already shared their reactions on Twitter and there have been mixed reviews about this spinoff. Unlike TWD, Fear The Walking Dead has a slow buildup when it comes to the zombie apocalypse. Also unlike TWD, Fear has actual character development early on in the series.

Fans will enjoy watching AMC’s new drama because they already know what’s going to happen, as described by Forbes magazine.

“The mystery isn’t whether or not the government will succeed in stopping the zombie apocalypse – we already know they won’t – the question is, will the new characters survive it?”

Fear the Walking Dead has been already described as “gradually-emerging horror” by the Telegraph. This show may have given fans a glimpse at zombies and horror in the opening of the pilot, but don’t expect that all of the time. Fear the Walking Dead is about a zombie apocalypse that’s gradually happening as the characters deal with their real life situations.

“Against this messy, emotionally fraught background, a narrative of dread and gradually-emerging horror unfolded. Until the episode’s final moments, the gore was cleverly limited, glimpsed only in secret corners of the bustling city: in the abandoned church haunted by Nick and his fellow addicts, or in disturbing camera footage of a police confrontation with a zombie, leaked on to the internet and widely dismissed as a hoax.”

Fans will also find it easy to love and care about the characters early on, which may make it even harder to say goodbye when and if they die off in later seasons. Fear follows Madison (Kim Dickens) and Travis (Cliff Curtis) who try to make their blended family work, as Madison’s son Nick (Frank Dillane) battles his heroin addiction and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) deals with getting good grades in high school. Travis also has to deal with his ex-wife Lisa (Elizabeth Rodriguez) and his estranged teenage son (Lorenzo James Henrie).

Not only does this family have to deal with real life situations, but they’re also learning about a virus that’s spreading and causing the zombie apocalypse we all know.

Fear may even have scarier moments since the zombies are fresh and creepier than usual. Another benefit to Fear is that it will provide some comic relief, unlike most episodes on TWD.

It’ll be interesting to see if Fear the Walking Dead will captivate fans of TWD or turn them off with its gritty drama and slow-building horror. As previously stated, fans have been sharing their mixed reactions; however, that hasn’t stopped #FeartheWalkingDead from becoming the top trending topic in the U.S. on Twitter.

What are your thoughts on Fear the Walking Dead? Do you think the episode is crawling at a zombie’s pace with its suspense and horror? Or, do you like how different it is from The Walking Dead, so far? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

[Image: Fear the Walking Dead/AMC]

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