How Fear The Walking Dead Season 2B Will Be Different From Earlier Episodes

Having seen the first three episodes of Fear the Walking Dead's Season 2B return, I can tell you they are quite different from any of the episodes or runs which have come before them. Not to say that the previous episodes didn't have enjoyable aspects and memorable moments, but Season 2B seems to have found a brilliant pacing stride and method of character development.

Speaking to Fear the Walking Dead's producer Dave Erickson, ComicBook.com learned about the different take on the coming episodes from both a story standpoint and a production standpoint.

"From a story standpoint we bit off a lot of story, I think in Season 1 we did really the same thing in the first half of Season 2," Erickson says. "I think we were a lot more aggressive in terms of locations and trends in new characters. I think the decision we made going into the back half is that we would try to slow it down just a little bit."

By "slow it down," Erickson doesn't mean that the series will lack the elements we love about the apocalypse. "It doesn't mean it's any less intense, or violent, but I think that the fragmenting of the family, what it allowed us to do was really focus on some of the members of our family a little bit more specifically and in a little bit more depth if that makes sense," he explains.

The coming episodes are much more character centric, adding in LOST-style flashbacks like they did for Strand earlier this season and new pairings to bring out new characteristics.

"The first episode, obviously, in 2x08, were really, it's really all Nick," Erickson goes on. "There's a couple of flashbacks where we get a better understanding of his back story, and we do see Madison in one scene, but it's really focused on Nick and Nick's story and getting a better understanding of that character."

Once Nick's new story is all set up, we'll be diving into the rest of the group's situations as well. "Later on we'll see pieces with what we did in episode 10," Erickson says. "We see Travis and Chris, and we get a better sense of that but, that relationship, it really was almost like an exhalation in a strange way. I think we've been ratcheted up so tight in the first half and it was good to sort of ease back a little bit and be able to lay those stories out at a slightly different pace. From a story standpoint that was the main thing. That was the main drive."

The fresh approach to the series will be seen by viewers but it comes with some planned-all-along changes in production. "From a production standpoint, it was kind of par for the course," Erickson says. "We continued to work out of the studio in Rosarito. In episode 9 we actually retrofitted our accommodations because most of us stay at the Rosarito Beach Hotel when we're down there. For many of the crew it was just rolling out of bed, and going downstairs, and going to work. I think, interestingly, what Nick's story in episode 8 provided us, and you'll see more of this as we go forward, it's really the first time we get to, from a location standpoint, explore Mexico. We spent half a season getting there. I think the first time we actually went to land and shot Mexico for Mexico was in episode 6 on Celia's compound. This is now the first time we get to embrace the landscape a little bit more."

Fear the Walking Dead will return for the second half of its second season on August 21 at 9 PM ET on AMC. For complete coverage, insider info, and more all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and check out The Walking Dead on ComicBook.com on Facebook.