Fear the Walking Dead: So Close, Yet so Far (1:2) SPOILERS

Most people I've talked to are loving the new series. The ones that are hesitant, complain that it's slow moving. Seriously people! It's the slow burn:

Ok, maybe that's not the slow burn I meant, but hey it's my blog I can do whatever I want!

There were a few things that struck me about this episode and what it was trying to achieve visually. If we look at the title "So Close, Yet so Far", drove home the theme of this week's episode. As a society, we are so close to civilization and but so far. It seems there are two types of people: those who know and those who don't.

Seriously though, Adam Davidson did a great job of showing the dichotomy of society:

Travis, Nick, and Maddy roll up in their beat up truck with a brand new hood emblem: is it rust? is it a new paint job? Nope, it's blood. Not just any blood, but the blood of a man who we ran over a few times because he rose from the freaking dead! Oh, but behind them, there's a birthday party, "Hey, guys we rented a bouncy house!" Woop de freaking do:

Actually, one of the symbols I did pick up on was the balloon from the party:

If you remember on The Walking Dead: "Try" there was an entire episode that used the balloon as a symbol. I argued that the balloon represented the people of Alexandria trying to hold onto civilization in a ruined world. When the balloon is let go, Rick fights Pete and shows them what the "real" world looks like. It seems Fear alludes to its parent show, and uses the balloon for the same purpose. Again, there are two types of people: those who know and those who don't.

The police officer is stocking his cruiser up with water. It doesn't seem like he is trying "to protect and to serve" He's no Rick Grimes!

 Travis and Maddy's neighbor seems to have the right idea. I wonder how he knows?

Oh, that's right cause he was bit!!!

 Just when you think people on the radio are going to talk about it...

 Nope... they are talking about football!

The real dynamics can be seen with Maddy and her daughter, Alicia. When they find her at Matt's house, we clearly see that he is bitten. Of course, Alicia doesn't see that. Matt. like the good boy friend he is, doesn't tell her what he has seen. He just sits there scowling. Wouldn't you want to say what happened?

People ignore what is truly going on and continue with their everyday lives.

No... what's scary is the guy with the baseball cap who stares at you. His hat is pulled down, hands in pockets. That guy freaks me out:

As The Walking Dead became a social commentary on society, I'm beginning to see Fear take on the same tones. 2015 pretty much is the year of "Let's get angry about something". Fear shows how minuscule those things are when the apocalypse is upon us. We already saw Nick looking at the radio and see a calimity of biblical proportions, and they were talking about a football player. Even better, is when Travis is trying to find his son and is on the phone with his ex-wife Liza:

Meanwhile, who gives a damn about your visitation rights when the zombies are coming? We need to know what Obama would do!

In the last year, we have seen multiple protests against the police; it seems that Fear is showing similarities: Art imitating life.

 Reading through transcript,  we can see that Chris is standing up for the rights of others. He is noble, he is becoming an activist. He should be making his father proud.

However, this is the apocalypse, man. We don't need to worry about the rights of the individual. We need to worry about the survival of mankind!

 That's what I think is great about this show so far. We are looking at civilization and what everyone thinks is important. In reality, water, food, shelter is what is important. The world is going down, and we are just along for the ride

Even after the crowd sees the police take down an "infected", they don't don't applaud them. They riot! (Maybe they think she was Darryl Dixon?) {Get it... they kill Darryl we riot}... ok, you know it's bad when you have to explain your pun... I should probably just delete it. Sadly, no... suck it up readers...I have bad puns.

In my writing or critiques of writing, I'm always wary of dating my work with the inclusion of things that are popular at the time. In my class, I have taught books that have included popular bands. However, after some years of publication, the bands don't have the popularity with the demographic that the book is intended for. I believe one book used Red Hot Chili Peppers. Yes, they are great, but to 13 year olds, they have no idea who they are. Fear is a little different. This is a companion series, we assumed that The Walking Dead started in present day. So, season one of The Walking Dead takes place in 2010. Since the outbreak consumed the world at the same time, we can assume that Fear also takes place in 2010. But, there is confirmation, and it is in the details that Andrew Davidson uses in the show.

When the camera pans through her bedroom, we see her acceptance letter to UC Berkley:

In proper letter format, there is a date. Let's zoom in!

April 19, 2010! This gives a much better timeframe for the show. If we look at everything in the show, things start to fall into place. First, we haven't seen one "newer" car. All the cars seem to be older models. Look at Travis' truck! Have any of you noticed the cell phones? Everyone has a different brand. I'm an apple guy, but I didn't get my first iPhone till the 4s which came out in 2011. Did you notice Alicia's phone?

My buddy, Chris, pointed this out to me. He asked me if I noticed the charger on the iPhone. It's the old charger, the 30 pin plug. Also, that is definitely the iPhone 4. Well done, Mr. Davidson. There were some other clues too. Scroll up to Chris' protest. Notice anything anachronistic (Thank you, Princeton Review for that word)? In 2015, the year of the protest: 

If you have not seen PCU, it is a classic. But, really, we know about these protests and riots because everyone has the ability to record video. Who is the only one that is recording the protest? Chris. Plus, he's not even doing it with his phone. He has a camcorder! Why? Because it's 2010 and iPhone 4 took horrible videos! Who has a camcorder these days?! I wonder if the producers, directors will continue this in upcoming episodes. (They didn't really do it in the first with the video of the guy on the Freeway, but hey we all can't be perfect)

Last post, I mentioned the parallels between Nick & Rick. I think there is another parallel that can be made: Eugene and Tobias. Tobias is just as socially awkward as Eugene:

Tobias seems to know what is going on and what is going to happen: 

Also, just like Eugene, he's pretty useless in terms of the "infected"

A steak knife doesn't really work so well when you are trying to crack the cranium. You're lucky Maddy was there to save your life. Also, why did you break into the school? 

Oh that's right, to get food. When Maddy says leave it, he runs back and gets a can that fell. But wait:

Where's the food? You left it there? You had one job to do!

As stated before: Tobias is Eugene, and they are pretty USELESS when it comes to the dead, but what their information is pretty accurate:

I'm pretty stoked for this week's episode. I will do my best to meet my Thursday deadline for the blog; however, we are taking a family vacation. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get it up as quickly as I play. However, I will have it up before air time next Sunday!

To end with, there were some pretty interesting scenes that I think should be brought up:

Nick's grand mal seizure, or was it?

There is something special about this kid. He knows pain and suffering; he will endure in the zombie apocalypse.

There was an article stating that there will be a short film about a plane crash with in The Walking Dead universe. Could this be the plane?

Then there's Matt. Poor Matt who loves Alicia: 

He tells her to leave and go with her family, his parents will be home soon. Yeah, well Matt, or at least cognitive Matt is not, and I fear his parents are no longer with us either: 

This was outside his house. The trunk is open, suitcases are out, lights are on, but no sign of anyone. As Tobias said, when things go bad, they go bad quickly. 

Life as we knew it is "So close, yet so far." 

Till next week!!