The second season of Fear The Walking Dead picks up shortly after the events of the first season. The group has made its way to Strand’s beach-side home, board his yacht, the Abigail, and quickly set sail for San Diego. As they make their way out to sea, the waters are becoming overrun with walkers, and the military starts bombing Los Angeles in an effort to contain the outbreak. The others still aren’t sure if they can completely trust Strand, and don’t know what his ultimate plans/motivations are, but he has given them no reason to question him has of yet. Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) is still upset that his father Travis (Cliff Curtis) shot his mother, even though it was in order to stop her from turning into a walker. Meanwhile, only Strand seems to be aware of the imminent dangers posed by other people in this new world—he is adamant about not taking any new passengers onboard his boat. However, Madison (Kim Dickens) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) still have the knee-jerk reaction to try to help those they pass. And when Alicia makes contact with a sinking fishing boat, her desire to help others quickly compromises the group’s safety.
Over the course of this second season our survivors face new dangers—both living and undead. Loyalties are tested and the group becomes fragmented, not only due to outside forces, but also as folks go on their own separate journeys of self-exploration. As the survivors try to find some sort of sanctuary in this new world, they cross paths with underwater zombies, pirates, military forces, bandits and more. Their journey takes them into Mexico where they come into contact with other settlements, including some folks who are struggling to accept that the undead are no longer their loved ones.
There is quite a bit of character growth this season. Our group of survivors start to realize the harsh realities of this new world. As Chris’ anger festers, he starts to accept the horrible things that need to be done in order to survive, but Travis still struggles to hold onto his ethics and morals. Meanwhile, Nick (Frank Dillane) learns a valuable new survival technique that allows him to explore his own addictions and inner demons. There are several character-centric episodes this season, which give viewers a lot more backstory on characters like Strand, Nick, and Daniel (Rubén Blades).
There are also several new characters introduced this season, including Strand’s friends Thomas (Dougray Scott) and Luis (Arturo Del Puerto), Luis’ mother Celia (Marlene Forte), La Colonia community leader Alejandro (Paul Calderón) and resident Luciana (Danay García), hotel manager Elana (Karen Bethzabe), and American tourists Brandon (Kelly Blatz) and Derek (Kenny Wormald).
When I initially watched the season as it aired, I wasn’t a big fan of it. However, I enjoyed the season quite a bit more binging it this second time around, not having to wait a week or months inbetween episodes. I think one of the fundamental flaws of this series is how quickly it jumped into the full-blown zombie outbreak, throwing away the opportunity to slowly explore the decline and fall of civilization. I wanted to witness the events that ultimately led to the bombing of Los Angeles unfold, and not just suddenly see an explosion from afar as the group sails away. As a result of this speeding up of events, this series ends up being more of a clone of The Walking Dead, except that many of the characters we are supposed to be rooting for aren’t all that likeable.
That said, I did enjoy many elements of this season of Fear The Walking Dead, such as how the outbreak has affected those on the ocean, and how zombies act underwater. The season also gives a nice exploration of various types of survivor settlements and how they are dealing with the fallout. There’s the Geary family trying to live out their lives on a secluded island; on Celia’s estate we see that some people refuse to believe their undead loved ones are actually dead (similar to Herschel and his barn in the original series); in La Colonia we see a sort of symbiotic relationship between the survivors and the walkers; and in the hotel we see a ragtag group of folks trying to band together to survive. There is also some tense political drama, fighting and struggles within each of these communities, and lots of personal drama within our own group of survivors as they disband, go on their own voyages of discovery and try to come back together. Also, the interesting backstories we get for some of these characters helps to connect with them and care more about their fates. And speaking of fate, there’s a definite sense of stakes this season—no one is truly safe and anyone could and will be killed off at any time, which is a very important aspect in a show like this.
The Blu-ray is presentation looks excellent. While the original The Walking Dead series is quite grainy, this prequel has a much cleaner, crisper look. The picture is quite rich in color and detail, in both the darker nighttime and brighter daytime scenes. The audio presentation is even more impressive, making excellent use of all of the channels to provide a truly immersive experience. The bass is nicely used to amp up the excitement, stereo channels are add direction to the action, and the surround channels provide great ambiance and make you feel like you are right in the middle of the events as they unfold on screen. The discs come packed in a standard multi-disc keep case with a slipcover and an insert containing the digital copy redemption code. The first four discs contain the episodes, 3-4 per disc, while the fifth disc is solely bonus material. Unlike the first season, which first had a stripped-down basic release followed by a Special Edition months later, this season there’s just one, and it includes a wealth of bonus material. There are audio commentaries for the first seven episodes, 8 minutes of deleted scenes, the full Flight 462 webisode series, an extensive PaleyFest Q&A panel with the cast/creators, and recap/making-of featurettes for almost every episode of the season.
What’s Included:
Episodes: (10:50:50)
- All 15 episodes of the second season
“Monster”, “We All Fall Down”, “Ouroboros”, “Blood in the Streets”, “Captive”, “Sicut Cervus”, “Shiva”, “Grotesque”, “Los Muertos”, “Do Not Disturb”, “Pablo & Jessica”, “Pillar of Salt”, “Date of Death”, “Wrath”, “North” - 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Digital HD Copy redeemable via Vudu
- Includes all 15 episodes plus all 15 “Inside…” featurettes
- Audio Commentaries
Audio commentaries are provided for the first seven episodes, and can be found on the first two discs along with the corresponding episodes. These are entertaining and informative—the participants give a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories, talk about the production process, sets and effects, and give some insights into the characters and story. They also mention some of the things that changed over the course of filming and editing. It’s a shame that no commentaries were included for the second half of the season. The participants are as follows:- Episode 201: Monster (42:49)
Co-Creator/Executive Producer Dave Erickson and Actor Kim Dickens (“Madison Clark”) - Episode 202: We All Fall Down (43:59)
Co-Creator/Executive Producer Dave Erickson and Actor Kim Dickens
- Episode 203: Ouroboros (42:49)
Writer/Producer Alan Page and Actor Cliff Curtis (“Travis Manawa”) - Episode 204: Blood in the Streets (43:58)
Writer Kate Erickson and Actor Colman Domingo (“Victor Strand”) - Episode 205: Captive (41:59)
Executive Producer David Alpert and Writer Carla Ching - Episode 206: Sicut Cervus (44:52)
Executive Producer David Alpert - Episode 207: Shiva (42:59)
Co-Creator/Executive Producer Dave Erickson and Actor Rubén Blades (“Daniel Salazar”)
- Episode 201: Monster (42:49)
- Deleted Scenes (8:13)
A collection of 8 deleted scenes play back-to-back. The scenes are as follows: 201 Sc. 12, 205 Sc. 23, 205 Sc. 25, 206 Sc. 8, 206 Sc. 9, 206 Sc. 27, 206 Sc. 37 and 212 Sc. 40. While many of these scenes are quite short, there is some interesting material here and I was happy to see them included.
- Flight 462 Webisodes (14:34)
Flight 462 is a short web series that took place during the events of the first season to introduce a couple characters that show up in the second season. Watch as passengers deal with a zombie breakout aboard their plane, in flight. The entire series is presented back-to-back with just episode title cards inbetween each of the 16 parts. - Q&A with Cast and Creative Team from PaleyFest LA 2016 (54:29)
Recorded on March 19, 2016, just before the second season premiered, the cast and creators take the stage at PaleyFest to talk about the series and answer fan questions. The participants include actors Colman Domingo (“Victor Strand”), Lorenzo James Henrie (“Christopher Manawa”), Mercedes Mason (“Ofelia Salazar”), Rubén Blades (“Daniel Salazar”), Alycia Debnam-Carey (“Alicia Clark”), Frank Dillane (“Nick Clark”), Cliff Curtis (“Travis Manawa”) and Kim Dickens (“Madison Clark”), executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, and showrunner/executive producer/co-creator/writer Dave Erickson. - Inside Fear the Walking Dead (1:02:12)
The cast and producers discuss the major developments of each episode. These give a nice, concise recap of the season, and should be a great refresher to watch just before the upcoming third season premieres. Participants include executive producers Dave Erickson & Gale Anne Hurd, and actors Kim Dickens, Rubén Blades, Colman Domingo, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Cliff Curtis, Lorenzo James Henrie, Frank Dillane and Mercedes Mason. Unfortunately there is no Play All option. Select from:- Inside Episode 201: Monster (4:54)
- Inside Episode 202: We All Fall Down (4:59)
- Inside Episode 203: Ouroboros (4:12)
- Inside Episode 204: Blood in the Streets (4:01)
- Inside Episode 205: Captive (4:03)
- Inside Episode 206: Sicut Cervus (4:35)
- Inside Episode 207: Shiva (4:02)
- Inside Episode 208: Grotesque (4:02)
- Inside Episode 209: Los Muertos (3:34)
- Inside Episode 210: Do Not Disturb (3:43)
- Inside Episode 211: Pablo & Jessica (4:11)
- Inside Episode 212: Pillar of Salt (3:37)
- Inside Episode 213: Date of Death (4:15)
- Inside Episode 214: Wrath (3:48)
- Inside Episode 215: North (4:16)
- The Making of Fear the Walking Dead (40:14)
Go behind-the-scenes of almost every episode with the cast and crew as they give viewers a glimpse into the sets, effects, props, stunts and more. Participants include executive producers Gale Anne Hurd & Dave Erickson, property master Colin Thurston, make-up department head David Dupuis, assistant stunt coordinator Kyle Weishaar, visual effects supervisor Boyd Shermis, co-executive producer/director Adam Davidson, writer/producer Alan Page, director Stefan Schwartz, VFX on-set supervisor Peter Crosman, drone operator Mike Fortin, aerial director of photography Michael Fitzmaurice, director of photography Patrick Cady, assistant prop master Cristina Thurston, director Kate Dennis, stunt coordinator Randy Hall, co-executive producer/director Andrew Bernstein, stuntman Carlos Regas, Nick stunt double Alex Smith, 2nd assistant director Isaac Mejia, head of 3D scanning team Jordan Williams, stunt coordinator James Armstrong, special effects set foreman Scott Roark, writer’s assistant Lauren Signorino, production designer Bernardo Trujillo, marine coordinator Jimmy O’Connell, underwater camera AC/tech David McDonald, drone pilots Danny Nichols & Billy Clary, director Christophe Schrewe, stunt driver Brett Smrz, special effects supervisor Frank Ludica, and actors Lorenzo James Henrie, Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Jake Austin Walker (“Seth Geary”), Alycia Debnam-Carey, Michelle Ang (“Alex”), Rubén Blades, Arturo Del Puerto (“Luis Flores”), Sarah McCreanor (“Red”), Jesse McCartney (“Reed”), Mark Kelly (“Connor”), Colman Domingo, Karen Bethzabe (“Elena”), Ramses Jimenez (“Hector”), Cliff Curtis, Raul Casso (“Andres”), Andres Londono (“Oscar Diaz”), Kelly Blatz (“Brandon”), Kenny Wormald (“Derek”), Alejandro Edda (“Marco”) and Paul Calderon (“Alejandro”). Unfortunately there is no Play All option. Select from:- The Making Of Episode 201: Monster (2:12)
- The Making Of Episode 202: We All Fall Down (2:13)
- The Making Of Episode 203: Ouroboros (3:43)
- The Making Of Episode 204: Blood in the Streets (2:27)
- The Making Of Episode 205: Captive (3:14)
- The Making Of Episode 206: Sicut Cervus (2:40)
- The Making Of Episode 207: Shiva (3:04)
- The Making Of Episode 208: Grotesque (2:04)
- The Making Of Episode 209: Los Muertos (3:08)
- The Making Of Episode 210: Do Not Disturb (3:35)
- The Making Of Episode 211: Pablo & Jessica (3:11)
- The Making Of Episode 213: Date of Death (2:30)
- The Making Of Episode 214: Wrath (3:20)
- The Making Of Episode 215: North (2:53)
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Blu-ray:
Digital Copy (See starzuv.com for Redemption Deadline):
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
Worth A Look For Others
I enjoyed the second season of Fear The Walking Dead more the second time around when I was able to binge the episodes via the Blu-ray. Fans of the series will definitely be pleased with this release—it looks and sounds excellent, and contains a solid selection of bonus material. However, those unfamiliar with the series, who are expecting more of an exploration on the fall of society before the events of The Walking Dead may be a bit disappointed. While the series does venture into the inner-strife of societal groupings at the local level, it doesn’t look at the national or global impact of this outbreak. Also, the characters quickly find themselves in a world that is already overrun by walkers, which at times makes this series a bit indistinguishable from the original—it just has a different setting and characters. While I still find Fear The Walking Dead entertaining, I wish this series had a more unique perspective to differentiate it from the original series. That said, I still think this release is worth checking out for curious fans of the original or fans of the genre in general.
