Is This Why Fans Aren’t Connecting With ‘Fear The Walking Dead’?

Fear the Walking Dead has hit series low ratings despite becoming one of the most entertaining shows on television in its third season. Across Internet comment sections or Twitter threads, the common reason fans appear to being disconnected or disinterested in the show’s characters.

Fans often compare Fear the Walking Dead to its sibling series The Walking Dead, claiming to feel more of a connection to the characters on the original series. This series has a couple of advantages, however. Not only have the fans been engaged with these faces and names for eight years but the series was thoroughly established in years of comic books prior to becoming a TV series.

Still, the conversation always comes back to not feeling connected to Fear the Walking Dead‘s characters which has lead to the series dropping from over 10 million viewers in its series premiere to 2.14 million in its most recent episode.

The character drama on Fear the Walking Dead has intensified as Madison’s dark past has been amplified, Strand’s backstory was revealed through interesting flashbacks, and interesting family dynamics are dominating Season 3. So, what is keeping audiences from identifying with these characters…?

Icons

The Walking Dead reached freakish rating levels in its earliest seasons by making each of its characters icons within the show. Every single character has or had an iconic prop, outfit, or appearance. They were larger than life, right off the bat.

For example, Rick Grimes was known for wearing his Sheriff costume and holding his massive python gun. Daryl Dixon was known for using his crossbow. Shane Walsh wore an easily identifiable “Police” hat and a necklace with “22” on it. Carol was easily recognizable for her short hair and even Lori could be picked by her constant wearing of plaid. Then comes Michonne, a sword-wielding character unlike any other. Enter the Governor, identifiable by even passive viewers for his eyepath and then Negan, who not only wears a ridiculous red scarf and a leather jacket but carries a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. King Ezekiel has a tiger, for crying out loud! Abraham has his red hair and army gear, Rosita has her specific hat no one else is seen in, and Dwight has a burn on the side of his face. The list goes on.

On Fear the Walking Dead, none of the characters appear to have an iconic association with any props or appearances. Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Alicia comes to closest, twirling a pocket knife around every few episodes but other than that no one is known for anything other than a gun and basic clothing. 

The zombie apocalypse is an already-implausible setting, so is it a requirement to have larger than life characters to command audience’s attention?

The evidence points to this being the case. Fear the Walking Dead may have struggled with its story telling early on but is unquestionably delivering high quality episodes on a weekly basis in Season 3. Fans just don’t appear to be very interested in Madison’s guidance counselor skills being used to manipulate her survival in the apocalypse while carrying a an unidentifiable pistol.

More Fear The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead‘s sibling series Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season on October 22, 2017. The Season Eight premiere will mark 100 episodes overall for the popular AMC series. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

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