Title: Fear the Walking Dead: “The Wrong Side of Where You Are Now”
Network: AMC
Air Date: June 3, 2018
Genre: Serial Drama, Horror
This week’s episode of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead is an episode in which I call a ‘bridge’ episode, it’s placed here to bridge the beginning suspenseful events of the story to the climactic and often horrible events of the end. We are starting to get the pieces of the puzzle the FTWD writers have been putting together and learn a few answers to questions we’ve been asking. Unfortunately, in an episodic television series, these bridge episodes are numerous and prolonged. I always reach this point in a series and begin to get very critical and impatient, I really just want some answers already! I imagine this is the way Althea is beginning to feel as well.
Speaking of our friend, Al, we get to see a little more from her this episode; unfortunately, it is nothing of substance and far too little. The majority of the episode is spent in the past, catching us up on the events that lead up to the destruction of the Stadium. We finally find out what those flags we’ve been seeing around are indicative of, and as expected, it’s nothing good. I am struggling to understand the motivation behind some characters, like Ennis for example, why is he compelled to continue a war with the Stadium survivors?
I haven’t been giving a lot of discussion to Madison in past reviews, it is time we corrected this. Her character is one of the few that seems to want to be changing, to be making up for past mistakes. She has turned a new leaf and wants to settle down and create a life, her vision for the Stadium is to become a place of refuge and hope for her children. She was typically looked for this from others, she’s found places preestablished and chosen to remain for safety, here it is different. The Stadium is the first place Madison can really call her own, she built it and she will most likely die defending it. She also seems, for the most part, a bit wiser. She has a new slogan, “You’re Not Gone Until Your Gone.” which she tries her best to live by. It’s a sweet notion, in my opinion, but if I’ve learned anything from the world, it’s that nothing is ever as black and white as you might wish it was and it’s in the gray that we discover the most awful truths about ourselves and others.
Also, can we please talk for a second about Laura/Naomi… Her new look is to die for, that pun was 100% intended, I won’t apologize! I mean her hair, with those braids and her badass post-apocalyptic biker chick outfit is on fleek! She also seems more confident than she did at the Stadium, less Kurt Cobane grunge chic and more Sarah Connor calm and collected. She also seems to be honestly invested in her relationship with John and I really hope we get to have some kind of payoff for them. There is most certainly a showdown brewing between Alicia and Laura in the next few episodes, I worry that there will be little to no room in which Alicia will be willing to see beyond her rage.
There are a lot of contrasting scenes in this episode of Fear the Walking Dead, pre-fall Alicia to current Alicia is the biggest; which by the way is the most frustrating and disappointing character to me this season. This is a girl who has been through the wringer on so many occasions, she has watched people make mistake after mistake and when her time to choose comes, she chooses to make the same mistakes! Seriously?! Maybe this is an intended choice on the part of the writers, are they trying to tell us that we are who we are and circumstance cannot alter our core personality? Maybe I’m looking too deeply into this…Most of these characters seem to be fighting against their better angels.
Verdict: Overall, this week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead has left me wanting. There was very little accomplished in both storyline and character development. The cinematography and sound work was mediocre and the visual effects were typical. I am also left with a bit of confusion regarding the title of the episode, The Wrong Side of Where You Are Now, it honestly doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. Does this reference the choice Al makes to step out from behind her camera? or the fact that most of the characters in the show are now beginning to exhibit traits opposite of those they have in the past? Your guess is as good as mine, in fact, please do guess; tell me what you think below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject, maybe I’m missing something.
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