Season 1 – Fear the Walking Dead

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Faiz D Not as good as the Walking Dead. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/14/25 Full Review robert f Sorry! Just Not believable. Poorly written. Though, later episodes were better. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 04/11/25 Full Review Charlie v Season 1 Review & Exact Rating: 8.5/10 Fear the Walking Dead’s premiere season is a terrorizing, gripping, and character entrenched premiere to the first (and longest) of The Walking Dead’s many spinoffs. The Clark family is compelling, especially in Nick Clark’s (Frank Dillane) coping with drug addiction and how his mother Madison (Kim Dickens) becomes toxically territorial over him for past failures. As they and sister/daughter Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), respectively, collide with others like conman Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) and barber shop owner/ex special field agent Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) and his family, this new group explores apocalyptic LA and U.S. west coast devastations, combating with each other and the dead at every turn. Original show runner Dave Erickson utilizes these complicated characters to lock viewers into the grayer side of TWD Universe, making these first six episodes a more complex run than the original show. It’s a bit rushed, especially during the middle of the season’s military occupation, and the writing doesn’t always stick. But for the most part, because of insanely grounded performances particularly from Frank Dillane and Colman Domingo, countless themes about increasing religious dependence in chaos, selfishness, selflessness, redemption, and the definition of family, splashy sites and sounds and an overall better understanding of how typical people would react to zombies makes this Fear an impactful family dilemma where death isn’t the worst that can happen anymore. Episode reviews: Episode 1: “Pilot”—8.8/10 It’s a bit long, but Fear the Walking Dead’s pilot episode is full of surprises, imbued character drama, and complicated circumstances thanks to the addiction plot anchoring it all down. This is a great start to this show and The Walking Dead Universe as a whole. Episode 2: “So Close, Yet So Far”—8.4/10 Fear the Walking Dead’s second episode can feel overly cataclysmic to rush things and the water wasted is maddening, but it’s overall another spontaneous, chilling, and character/plot-climactic episode. The Clark family tension boils to irresistible levels, backdropped by an apocalypse’s rise giving way to both literal riots and religious dependence. Episode 3: “The Dog”—8.3/10 Another chilling entry in this budding zombie family drama—though not without cumbersome moments and plot progression—keeps Fear the Walking Dead rolling in terrifying fashion. Episode 4: “Not Fade Away”—8.5/10 Another episode between this and the last to show the military’s takeover would’ve been good, but this episode is a mostly tight continuation of the Clark/Salazar family drama amidst larger tensions and dangers. The beginning monologue was corny and things are still convoluted, but it’s hard-hitting and engaging. Episode 5: “Cobalt”—8.7/10 Despite a few now typical logical lapses and convoluted presentations, Fear the Walking Dead’s penultimate season 1 episode ups the stakes, both circumstantially and psychologically. As the danger swells, characters like Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) crack under pressure, leading to hasty decisions. Victor Strand’s (Colman Domingo) entrance is also a sly addition. Episode 6: “The Good Man”—8.3/10 It’s a bit longwinded considering the slight lack of zombified scope and one or two corny moments, but Fear the Walking Dead’s first season finale is a climactic, emotional end to this prequel’s beginnings. Thankfully there’s two more seasons of the original plan ahead—but may the gods help after that. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/10/24 Full Review Ed R Thankfully this was only six episodes. Tough start that didn’t tie into The Walking Dead that well. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/24 Full Review Mary Ann F UPDATE: The below review (the one I wrote first) is about the first four seasons. But Season Five? What the hell happened? Apparently new showrunners took over and everything basically went to hell. I'm still sticking with it because I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess. I do still like the characters but the cornball writing is almost more than I can bear. What a shame that it took such a dive. That said, I still say the first four seasons are pretty terrific and well worth a watch. PREVIOUS REVIEW: To start, I should confess that I was not a big fan of the original TWD as it just felt like a big soap opera with zombies. And I became less of a fan when I committed to the one season where a few of the main characters were not only killed off, but tortured beforehand in ways that made me shield my eyes. Good Lord. But I was drawn to FTWD when I saw that Kim Dickens was the star. It felt like such an odd choice for her that I just had to look, and I'm so glad I did. This series feels so much more cinematic than the original, and I loved watching the progression from Day One, to watch this family slowly slip into their new world fueled now by existential dread. The series is actually less about zombies and more about humanity when all societal structure breaks down. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/01/24 Full Review Audience Member The last episode ruins the show unfortunately, Like who the hell releases thousands of zombies to rescue a few people that could be fine? Killing hundreds of innocent lives, so Salazar should have been stopped and Andrew Adams should be a main character. So much insufferable drama and lack of common sense, lack of logic from the main characters , it's very headache inducing. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/19/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Fear the Walking Dead — Season 1

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