Fear the Walking Dead at times feels like it was not only born in a rut, but that it’s happy to remain there. An episode like “Teotwawki” can offer glimpses of a better, more interesting show, but all too often Fear adheres too strictly to the parallel timeline it shares with The Walking Dead, interpreting the concept of a shared universe so literally that it more often than not just apes its sister show’s plotlines, beat for beat.
“Teotwawki,” as so often happens when Fear aims for more character-based installments, is a slow episode. Several times I thought it was over, only to see I had about thirty minutes left. But it’s more successful than previous attempts; the show actually offers some decent characterization and development. I really like the detail of Jeremiah Otto having been a pitchman in his previous life, hocking VHS survival guides about surviving the apocalypse. It’s convenient, to be sure, but people like this exist in the world, they often live in remote, fortified compounds like Jeremiah’s, and it explains why he’s so good at surviving in such extreme circumstances. (And the show either put makeup on Dayton Callie or made him look younger digitally, which surprisingly came out looking pretty good.)
Other than that, “Teotwawki” unfolds pretty much how you’d expect it to. Maddie and the kids split up to try to assimilate themselves into the camp. Maddie is baffled at the cold shoulder they’re getting, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that she stood up in the middle of Charlene’s funeral, seemingly adopted a cartoonish southern accent for two minutes, and took the opportunity she’d given herself to talk about Travis.
Alicia fares the best of the three Clarks. This is the first time in a while that Alycia Debnam-Carey has gotten to do anything besides play with that dumb knife, and guess what? She’s charming! She gets invited to a Bible study, which turns out to be a night of drinking and smoking weed next to a severed walker head in a bird cage, all while some vaporwave version of David Bowie’s “Heroes” plays, which strangely enough helps set the mood. (Also, I guess they just do this all night? When they leave it’s dawn.)
This gives us a chance to see how other people in the camp feel about Troy, which for the most part is pretty positive. “Troy and the militia do what we can’t,” Alicia’s new friend Gretchen explains. Alicia responds: “You can’t depend on the Troys of the world.” Which is a line I like, but which underscores an unfortunate but undeniable point about Brokejaw Ranch: This is Alexandria. Note for note, this is Alexandria.
And I’m sorry for once again drawing comparisons to similar things that happened on The Walking Dead, but FTWD is hell-bent on replicating what happens on that show with such fervor that at times it feels like I’m watching a goddamn remake. The Clarks are Rick’s group, hardened outsiders who have killed not only walkers but people. The people staying at the ranch are the hapless Alexandrians, constantly reminded of what they’re incapable of doing (by Rick’s group in TWD, by the militia here). Once Jeremiah shows Maddie his underground armory, the resolution to this storyline becomes clear: the ranch will be attacked either by a horde of walkers, or by whatever group shot at the helicopter.
Strand is unfortunately stuck in the world’s most boring plotline (at least he fares better than Ofelia, who hasn’t made an appearance in any of the first three episodes). Since this show – and this franchise – follows a predictable arc, Strand goes from one settlement to another, looking for a man named Dante, who no one watching cares about because we’ve never even heard his name, despite the rich backstory he supposedly shares with Strand.
Dante is the kind of man who wears a suit during the apocalypse, like Ty Burrell in Dawn of the Dead, so you know he’s bad news. To wit, he throws a former cartel enforcer off of a ledge and into a pile of walkers below. I have to admit, I like the idea of someone who establishes a stronghold during the end of civilization and uses his platform to get revenge on people. Dante threatens Strand with the same fate, and the moment doesn’t land because in no universe would Fear the Walking Dead kill two main characters in two weeks. But credit where credit is due: Colman Domingo does a good job here, and while the danger doesn’t feel real to the viewer, it feels real to Strand, and Domingo’s performance helps the moment come closer to landing. The main reason I’m feeling slightly more charitable towards this storyline is that it reintroduces Salazar, who arrives near the end to give Strand some water. If Fear wants to focus on its two best characters, I’m all for it.
“Teotwawki” succeeds about as often as it fails, but in spite of myself – and this show’s history of letting me down – I find myself intrigued by the ranch, and moreso by the Ottos. Dan Sharman and Sam Underwood, as Troy and Jake, are strangely engaging, even though by all standards they’re just two nondescript white guys. But they’re believable as brothers, and I’m starting to wonder if I was right in my prediction that one or both of them would turn out to be the villain. And I guess that’s all I really want from this show: to be surprised.
A Few Thoughts
- I liked the scene between Nick and Alicia; it allowed Frank Dillane and Debnam-Carey to play with the sibling dynamic this show so often explores.
- I hated the scene between Nick and Troy, which ends with Nick ripping pages out of Troy’s notebook while laughing maniacally, which might be the most annoying thing Nick has ever done on this show.
3/5
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