The second episode of the FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, "So Close, Yet So Far," picks up the pace from the pilot, which many complained was too slow moving and too lacking of any gory Zombie action. This was true, because the series starts a good six weeks or so before the original TWD began and there just aren't any hordes of Walkers wrecking havoc and devouring the living-yet. Nevertheless, as this episode makes clear, all that is coming as civilization begins to more than fray around the edges as LA rapidly becomes aware that something in going terribly wrong and our cast of extended family members are on their own.
The show picks up right where last week's pilot ended with the first big Walker encounter; this prompts Travis and Madison to decide that the proper course of action is to get the hell out of Dodge as fast as possible, a plan that quickly runs afoul of the fact that they dealing with teenagers here. Alicia has gone to the home of her boyfriend, Matt, because he hasn't been answering her texts; Travis's son, Chris, is downtown and finds himself quickly caught up in a mob when the police seemingly shoot a homeless man for no reason; and heroin addict Nick is on the couch going through some wicked withdrawals (puking, puking, and more puking). And all the while, an oblivious neighbor is throwing a birthday party for her daughter, complete with a bouncy house.
These complications force the core group to separate, always a good strategy in an apocalypse. Travis goes to get his ex-wife Liza, and the both of them head downtown to find Chris. Madison heads back to the high school where she works to retrieve some opiates to ease Nick's withdrawals. All of them run into complications and it looks like it might take the better part of season one to get everyone back together.
While the world as we know it has not crumbled, we can clearly see the coming Zombie Apocalypse beginning to take shape in the little things: a neighbor who is coughing and feverish; a cop being treated for a bite wound; another cop seen stockpiling bottled water in the trunk of his squad car; lights blink and 911 is busy; an empty high school-though not quite, as Madison and Tobias learn almost to their final regret; a mob scene that explodes in violence when a Walker chick, mistaken for an out of control druggie, is shot down by the police.
But most telling of all is the way the self preservation instinct has begun to kick in: Madison and Travis size up Alicia's fever stricken boyfriend and quickly decide he's a goner, then hustle her out of the house and leave him to his fate; Madison wielding a mean fire extinguisher to save Tobias from Artie the Principle turned Walker; and at the end of the episode when she prevents Alicia from going outside to help the lady across the street when a Walker crashes the party. We're still a long way from the Governor, Terminus and the Wolves, but the road leading there is clear. It's obvious the protagonists are going to have some very hard choices to make in the days ahead.
While I really liked this episode, there are things that compare poorly to the original, which had Robert Kirkman's epic comic to follow. There are times when the gears of plot are clearly showing, especially in the way the core group is easily divided to create dramatic tension. Also, there is the way Travis and Madison never stop and take the time to explain to Alicia, Liz, and Chris what they have seen and why it is critically important they get out of LA (not that fleeing to the desert would help matters, but they don't know that); why not take the time to convince them how dire the situation really is, which just might save their lives and prevent stupid ass decision's like Alicia's aborted attempt to return to Matt. Instead, we get a lot "I can't talk about it now" dialog.
The performances were fine and I'm really getting to like this group as we begin to see them under the gun. Though he spends a lot of time on the couch and the floor, Frank Dillane's Nick is still my favorite character and we do get to get much better acquainted with Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henrie as Travis's ex and son. We are introduced to the Salazar family, a barber, played by Ruben Blades, who gives Travis, Liz and Chris shelter when things on the street take a very bad turn. Mercedes Mason plays his wife, while Patricia Spindola portrays his daughter; they're featured prominently in future episodes. The breakout character for this episode is Tobias, played by Lincoln Castellanos, the teenage geek who has been the first one to see things for what they are. Tobias has become an instant fan favorite and though he's not slated to be in any more episodes this season, the producers would be very smart to bring him back in season two.
Overall, the show is progressing nicely with the sure promise of ever increasing gore in future episodes. I liked it a lot, the only thing that would have made it better, would be if a certain Alice Cooper song were playing over the closing scenes.
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