Back in 2015 The Walking Dead was entering its fifth season and solidifying itself as the go-to zombie series. About a month before the Season 5 premiere, however, AMC expanded the universe of The Walking Dead by introducing fans to Fear the Walking Dead. This first spinoff series was something brand new and unknown for the fans since it wasn’t based off any comics like the original show. It was a new cast of characters, a new location, and it covered the very beginning of the zombie apocalypse. This past weekend, Fear the Walking Dead came to an end after eight years and honestly, it was long overdue.
Around the time when Fear the Walking Dead premiered, The Walking Dead was at a creative plateau. Season 5 was directly in between the Governor and Negan storylines and our group of characters were going through the motions. When it was announced that there would be a first-of-its-kind spinoff series to this beloved show, fans were a bit skeptical. But this new show turned out to be just what we didn’t know we needed. With a brand-new cast of characters and starting the story right before the outbreak began, we became invested in the lives of these characters and the dangers that we as The Walking Dead fans knew they would soon face.
What made Fear the Walking Dead such a breath of fresh air for fans was its ability to ease us back into the zombie issue plaguing the world. Almost the entire first season was setup like a classic zombie horror film that showed the slow implosion of society. And instead of rural Georgia, we got to see what a booming city area like Los Angeles was like during the outbreak.
We met Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) and her two children Nick and Alicia along with Madison’s fiancé Travis (Cliff Curtis) and his son Nick. We also got to see this blended family that was already having its own problems melding together as a single-family unit struggle to hang onto this strained relationship as their world crumbles around them. Along with series staple characters like Daniel Salazar, Ophelia Salazar, and Victor Strand, we grew to understand and love these characters and became invested in the hell on earth they were all about to endure.
As the seasons went on, the show changed up locations in the same manor that the original series did. We were brought onto a giant yacht, to a family ranch, a military base, a small village in Mexico, and an old baseball stadium. Each of these locations brought with them new characters and new challenges that made every season exciting. What made this show stand out in the universe, however, was its bold choices. It was not afraid to kill off most of the original cast in the middle of a season. People you thought were never going anywhere were wiped off the playing board in brutal ways.
This was Fear the Walking Dead at its absolute peak and what separated it from the original series. All was well, until the show made another bold choice that started off seeming like a good idea. The crossing over of Morgan Jones from the main series to Fear was the beginning of the end.
When the showrunners decided to bring Morgan over, it was almost like they were admitting that they killed off too many likable characters. Morgan was one of the best characters on the original series and had a lot to bring to the table. Instead of reinvigorating the show, however, his presence ended up giving the writers an excuse to slowly fall back into their lazy habits from the original series. The plots got confusing and wild and almost goofy. The new group of main characters were not as strong as the original group. The show just wasn’t the same after this massive shift.
There was a point a few years ago that could have and should have been the end of the series. The villain of the season had figured out there was an active nuke that he was planning on using to reset the landscape and take over what was left. The nuke ends up going off and somehow the main group manages to survive.
The seasons that followed this event got worse and the quality never returned. As a fan of the series, it was disappointing to watch the show slowly deteriorate and be pushed way past its expiration date. The day they finally announced that this would be the last season was also the day that the show decided to bring back the somehow magically not dead Madison Clark after seasons of her being presumed dead. This made no sense and completely took away from her meaningful sacrifice to save her family.
The final season made several big mistakes that led to the lackluster ending that we got. As we previously mentioned, Madison is back after what we thought was a pretty obvious death. Bringing back the main character that made a sacrifice that propelled the remaining survivors forward and even shaped some of their character arcs. Along with Madison, they also decided to bring back her daughter Alicia (who became the main character after Madison’s death) in what felt like the most last minute and desperate attempt to please the audience.
And to top it all off, they brought back one of the villains from earlier in the series that Madison definitely murdered, but who is now alive with just an eye issue? All of these decisions along with a very mediocre plot that didn’t seem to go anywhere made for a forgettable and sad swan song for this series. The new spinoffs are already making sure they aren’t following in the same footsteps as the last few seasons of the Fear the Walking Dead. Instead, they are building up beloved characters and creating new and intriguing environments.
I consider myself a true fan of The Walking Dead and all the spinoff series that have come from it. As a fan of the original series, I could recognize that not all of it was the best quality that it could’ve been. I still loved and appreciated the effort that they put into the show, and it will always have a special place in my heart.
Fear the Walking Dead started off in a fantastic and unique way and truly was a well-done show, but the decision to keep it going past its prime was something that hurt the legacy of the series. This final season was the perfect example of why the show needed to end. It was sloppy, inconsistent, and in the end made very little sense. Even with this unfortunate ending, this show served its purpose in the universe of The Walking Dead and it seems that the new era of spinoffs are learning from its mistakes.
Featured image courtesy of Seth F. Johnson/AMC
From a young age, Tyler has been amazed by filmmaking and writing. When he’s not watching movies in theaters, he also enjoys playing video games and binging one of the numerous shows he’s watching at any given moment. Working with The Young Folks was a highlight of his writing career and he is looking forward to this new adventure with In Between Drafts!
