[Warning: Review contains SPOILERS]

The Walking Dead gave viewers a glimpse of what life was like before the fall of civilization by way of flashbacks, which might have been the way to go, because the companion series Fear the Walking Dead unfortunately starts out sluggishly and without much of a bite.

Fear’s 90-minute opener centers on a family emergency versus the impending zombie apocalypse, which isn’t as interesting. Aside from the bookended walker references and the zombie elements peppered throughout – like the shambling shadowy figure in the park – Fear the Walking Dead comes across as a completely different show from The Walking Dead. The tension and horror elements are still great but are confined to the opening sequence. The rest of the pilot never tops those first five minutes, and instead gets bogged down by a melodramatic family drama arc.

We’re first introduced to Nick Clark (Frank Dillane) a strung-out druggie, crashing at an abandon church. He wakes up to find his friend Gloria feasting on the squatters of the junkie haven. Nick takes off, trying to determine if what he saw was real or a hallucination brought on by the drugs. His contemplation is cut short after he is struck by a motor vehicle.

This becomes the most compelling plot point because Nick makes a compelling case that he is certifiably crazy if what he saw wasn’t real. It also pays off later when he confesses to killing his two-timing drug dealer Cal in self-defense, and the body goes missing.

The Clark household is called to the hospital in order to check up on Nick. Kim Dickens plays Madison; the headstrong mother trying to hold her family together during this crisis. She’s joined by her live-in-boyfriend Travis Manawa (Cliff Cutis), and distant daughter Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey). If that wasn’t enough drama, we find out that Travis is a divorcee sharing custody of his son Christopher (Lorenzo James Henrie) with ex-wife Liza (Elizabeth Rodriguez). Surely this will further complicate the battle to survive as things get more chaotic.

As the pilot goes on, the characters are pulled into situations that slowly bring them closer to the inevitable zombie apocalypse. The urban setting should provide for an exciting watch but as it stands right now, the series comes off as boring and provides few reasons to keep watching. With five episodes left in the season, the series has to quickly find an engaging balance between making these characters significant while tearing down Los Angeles at the same time, if they hope to be considered a worthy extension of The Walking Dead franchise.

Episode two “So Close, Yet So Far” airs August 30 on AMC.

The writer of this piece is: Laurence Almalvez
Laurence has previously written over at Whatculture.com.
Laurence tweets from @IL1511