Season 2, Episode 1: “Dollhouse” Director: Loni Peristere Cinematographer: Shasta Spahn

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Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Fear the Walking Dead (S03E03) TEOTWAWKI Airdate: June 11, 2017 @amc @amc-walking-dead Ratings: 2.504 Million :: 1.02 18-49 Demo Share Score: 7.25/10 @amc-fearthewalkingdead TVTime/FB/Twitter/Tumblr/IG/Path: @SpotlightSaga **********SPOILERS BELOW********** Ever start watching an episode and ask yourself if what you are watching is even the right series? That's how 'TEOTWAWKI' kicks off FearTWD's 3x03, in a bit of a complete mindfuck... And since that's exactly how we like our horror, I gotta say that this is exactly what we want from creators Robert Kirkman & Dave Erickson when it comes to this series. S3 started off with a 2-parter, the first of which was a complete mess... It did its job however and quickly moved the pieces and characters of a show that had felt largely displaced since the S2 mid-season finale, when all the characters were quite literally separated and repositioned. Part 2 raised the stakes and showed a new leader emerging to the family forefront. No not Jeremiah Otto (Dayton Callie), tho Jeremiah is quite the enthralling question mark with tension radiating from his being, unmatched to any other current character on the show... The reference belongs to Madison (Kim Dickens) who has grown from meek, frightened wannabe-humanitarian in S1 & S2 to strong, focused, matriarch at the start of S3. Her switch is so refreshing, it reminds me of my favorite aspect of TWD Universe, with the evolution of Carol over the course of 7-Seasons... Without her I'm not sure I'd keep coming back to the show again and again through rough patches of writing and that spacious chapterized-style storytelling that TWD has adopted and clung onto so tightly. FearTWD is no different, it's shown us that it can go up & down and back & forth, but that the viewer should show allegiance, because the reward is greater than the risk... The slow-burn and psychological & sociological heavy emphasis creates compelling television, period. Here we are, and in just 3-episodes it feels like like FTWD has literally leaped across the Grand Canyon. The set-up is REAL. The writers and creators, this episode specifically written by S1 'Revenge' contributor Ryan Scott, have positioned Matriarch vs Patriarch, or at least that's what I'm begging for it to eventually come down to. Nick (Frank Dillane) remains the family wild card, but seems to fall in line under the sudden soft-motherly authoritarian switch Madison has embraced, even attempting to sway Luciana to stay put and stick to the plan that Madison is forming. After all, 'some plan' is better than roaming with 'no plan', Nick should be very well aware of this firsthand. Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) remains her mother's faithful, running off to what her mother thought was a Christian Rock band/teen bible study group. Alicia quickly finds out that Gretchen Trimbol's (Rae Gray) Bible Band is really an angsty get-together that resembles the most normal thing to teen life Alicia has probably seen in years, maybe ever. They smoke bongs and center their group in a basement that oddly resembles the one of 'That 70's Show', placing a zombie head in a birdcage named Jeff in the middle of their teenage pow-wow... Just consider him their post-apocalyptic, living-dead, magic 8-Ball... Only Jeff doesn't tell them their futures, but they do joke and speak for Jeff, which I can see taking a very hard and disturbing left turn. Sure, it's almost relieving and funny in a way for Alicia now, but there's something significantly unsettling about this whole picture. Teenagers can be dangerous, they haven't developed a good sense of empathy yet, which makes them borderline sociopathic... And in this environment, that's a terrifying thought. While the teenagers and Jeremiah Otto gain steam in the 'potential threat' department, Troy (Daniel Sharman) almost seems to be losing his menacing edge... Proving once more that where you start out in the TWD Universe isn't where you necessarily end up. That's not to say that Troy won't have some sort of relapse and engage in a psychotic break, but his almost overkill 'Dudley Do-Right' brother, Jake (Sam Underwood), and the revealing of the boys' now deceased, drunkard mother, Tracy Otto (Emma Caulfield), paints a picture of two boys that withstood damage and went separate ways in terms of psychological consequences. If one is ying and the other is yang, then underneath their surface lies an opposite of their light and dark essences... Meaning, I don't necessarily expect these two to stay in the positions that they currently hold forever. If anything, Jake is far more passionately devoted to his father than Troy. This may actually prove useful to Madison and her clan somewhere down the line. Irony can always be expected and absorbed in the realm of post apocalyptic, psychological horror. Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) is basically on another planet, riding around, searching for someone he shouldn't be... His former associate, Dante (Jason Manuel Olazabal). Strand has been running scheme after scheme since losing his money in Katrina and not all of his financial victims fell for his deep, silky voice and natural charisma like his late partner, Thomas. Dante was basically waiting for the man to show up, clearly excitable and boisterous on his arrival, showing off his ruthless tactics and liquid currency then threatening to throw him over a large dam and then actually throwing him in a cage. Remember folks, if a character doesn't die on screen, then they are most likely still alive. I've heard a lot of talk about Daniel being some kind of mirage, that's clearly not the case. I would have preferred to see some sort of fire damage to Daniel's face or body, though we may see signs of that later, but I guess showing that would immediately ruin the excitement and mystery of Daniel's sudden reappearance. FTWD continues to move into the right direction, now slowly positioning characters into their natural positions instead of tossing them where they need to go as quickly as possible as shown in the S3 opener. There's a lot of talk about ratings, which I have included at the top of the review. While it's true that FTWD has slowly tapered off from a massive start in S1, it's still doing quite well for a show on cable. It remains AMC's 2nd highest rated series on the network. Just because a show doesn't get TWD like numbers, doesn't mean that it isn't successful. It looks to me like FTWD has found its cushion, so to speak, and will most likely waver slightly above & below this current number, barring premieres and finales. Even dropping a few more points in the coveted 18-49 demo will not hurt this series one bit. FearTWD carries on...

TROY OTTO in FTWD s3ep5 “Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame”

Troy Otto to Jake Otto in FTWD s3ep12 ‘Brother’s Keeper’

@traumverloren-anderswelt