‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Creators Assure Fans, Season Two ‘Capitalizes On The Rage’ Leftover From Season One
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Friday, 01 April 2016 15:00
- Published: Friday, 01 April 2016 15:00
- Written by Jason Marshall
Barely six months have passed since AMC wrapped the first season of its companion series to the more-popular-than-ever "The Walking Dead," but that isn’t stopping the horror train from chugging along its path towards total TV domination.
And while Dead is set to finish its sixth season on Sunday (April 3rd, 2016), the cast and crew of "Fear the Walking Dead" are ready to get back on the horse with their perspective of Robert Kirkman’s zombie apocalypse.
“Honestly, you know, a lot of fans were very angry at us from season one,” jokes executive producer Dave Alpert at a March 30th press conference held inside the posh Four Seasons Los Angeles in Beverly Hills.
“There was a lot of anger and a sense of betrayal,” he adds. “And that was because we only had six episodes. So, we’re hoping that that anger and that rage is built up for the season premiere of "Fear the Walking Dead.”
“… capitalizing on the rage,” chimes in Kirkman, who is also an executive producer on the show in addition to being one of its two creators.
All kidding aside, the vibe from the people in charge is that this show stands on its own thanks to the dynamic of the family at the story’s center, led by Kim Dickens, and their (hopefully) relatable drama. With season two being doubled in size compared to last summer’s premiere, Fear has plenty of time to find its sea legs.
“What "Fear the Walking Dead" does best is, you know, you have this familiar world,” Kirkman explains. “And so, people that do enjoy the world of "The Walking Dead" are getting something that’s somewhat familiar. But, you know, our location is so different. Our cast is so different. And the stories that we are telling - especially with our second season when you guys get to watch these episodes, you’ll see - we’re doing so much different that we’re really providing something that’s entirely new in the construct of a cool companion show.”
Taking place mere hours after the conclusion of October’s first season finale, "Fear the Walking Dead" picks up with the survivors taking the plunge into the unknown (and the Pacific Ocean). And, of course, they quickly come to the realization that the yacht they’ve boarded isn’t as safe as it looks from shore.
“We [the characters] are all now, you know, challenged by being on this boat,” says Dickens. “It sort of becomes this tinder box of emotions with seven different people with different ideas, and motivations, and different things that they are grappling with and trying to reconcile.”
“I think that’s the interesting thing about these characters as well,” adds Colman Domingo – who plays the boat owner with questionable morals, Victor Strand.
“We have no idea the stuff that we are made of and, when we’re at this crossroads, what we’ll actually do [to survive]. Especially when it comes to protecting their families, protecting their best interests, their futures in some way, their dreams, their hopes, their ideals. We have no idea unless we’re thrust into that situation.”
“It’s an exciting story to tell too with such life and death stakes,” concludes Dickens. “You know, you really get to explore all the human values and ethics of society, and how that shifts [when the world ends].”
That constant state of the unknown may be good for the audience, but it also leaves some of the cast wondering what their fate may be.
“[Our characters possibly dying is] definitely in the back of our minds,” explains the casts youngest member, Lorenzo James Henrie. “But it keeps you on your toes. It’s fun.”
“We also don’t have a blueprint, like The Walking Dead does,” adds Mercedes Mason [Ofelia]. “They base it loosely – or not quite so loosely – on the comic books, so we don’t have that. It’s a little scary. We never know, you know?”
What we do know is that with water comes all sorts of new ways to showcase the special effects genius of Greg Nicotero – something Kim couldn’t finish the day without mentioning.
“Greg Nicotero, and his team, does phenomenal work and makes these walkers, which are waterlogged now by the way, makes them so believable, haunting, and tortured in a way. It makes it such a dense, beautiful genre to work in.”
Catch all of the cast and crew’s “beautiful” work when the 15-episode, second season of Fear the Walking Dead premieres on Sunday, April 10th.