Spinoff Fear The Walking Dead has just barely surpassed flagship series The Walking Dead on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
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The Walking Dead carries an 81% “fresh” when counting All Critics on Rotten Tomatoes, just one percent lower than Fear The Walking Dead‘s 82%.
When counting just Top Critics, The Walking Dead comes out ahead with 90% compared to Fear‘s still fresh 67%.
The Walking Dead, having just wrapped up its eighth season, has an average audience score of 81% from viewers who have rated the series with 3.5 stars or more.
In comparison, Fear The Walking Dead has only a 59% “liked it” audience score, indicating 41% rated the series lower than 3.5 stars.
The Walking Dead also tends to score higher on average with critics:
Season 5 is rated the highest of all seasons with 90%, followed by 89% for seasons 1 and 3. Season 4 comes in fourth with 86%, followed by season 2 at 83%.
Season 6 scored 78%, trailed by season 8 with 75%.
Season 7 โ which started with Abraham and Glenn’s brutal and gory murders at the hands of a merciless Negan, and which saw the survivors serving the Saviors โ is the lowest season of The Walking Dead with 60%.
Though all eight seasons are fresh, seasons 7 and 8 are the only two runs of the show not to be “certified fresh.”
Fear, which just launched its fourth season, fared best in its acclaimed season 3 with 80%. Season 1, the only season thus far to be certified fresh, racked up 78%, followed by season 2 with 71%.
AMC is planning to expand the world of the undead with more spinoffs, overseen by newly appointed Walking Dead Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple.
Looking ahead to season 9 of The Walking Dead, leading man Andrew Lincoln told ComicBook.com about the “formidable force” Rick Grimes may be facing come next season: Hilltop leader Maggie Rhee.
Rick’s controversial decision to ultimately allow Negan to live will continue to play out in season 9, as teased in the season finale when Maggie conspired with Jesus and Daryl to “show” Rick he was wrong.
“I think there’s a very strong ideology from Rick that there’s problems,” Lincoln told us. “Are those cracks gonna be able to mend or are they gonna move apart even wider? That makes for interesting drama, certainly.”
The Walking Dead is expected to return with season 9 this fall on AMC. Fear The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c.