Five Reasons To Be Excited For The Return Of ‘Fear The Walking Dead’

Fear the Walking Dead returns for the second half of its third season on Sunday night. If you’re not in the crowd which is excited to head back to the apocalypse with The Walking Dead‘s sibling series, you should be.

Launching with a two-hour midseason 3 premiere, Fear the Walking Dead will jump right back into the high tension which it left off with earlier this summer. In the aftermath of the Clark family murdering the leader of Broke Jaw Ranch and staging it as a suicide for the benefit of the community and a deal with Walker’s Native American clan, the stakes are higher than ever as the risk of word getting out builds.

It’s all part of a number of reasons to be excited for Fear the Walking Dead‘s return which about four million people will be tuning in to see. In fact, Fear the Walking Dead has emerged as one of the best show’s on Sunday nights in its most recent episodes.

Here are a few reasons to be excited for its returns…

Improvements

It’s no secret Fear the Walking Dead struggled in its early seasons. What was promised as a zombie drama in the vein of The Walking Dead became a family drama which fans quickly lost interest in.

Late in Fear the Walking Dead‘s second season, however, the series truly embraced the apocalyptic world. Instead of seeing Cliff Curtis’ Travis struggling to accept the harsh reality of this new world, it became Travis slaughtering the two boys responsible for his son’s death and accidentally killing another in the process. 

An episode later, in the Season 3 premiere, Travis would be killed in a shocking turn of events which saw him falling to his death from a helicopter. Not only did it show Fear the Walking Dead has the same willingness to kill key characters as any other series but also allowed the focus to hone in on the Clark family with Kim Dickens’ Madison emerging as the clear cut leader. 

Toss in the arrival at Broke Jaw Ranch and the surprisingly interesting Otto brother dynamic and the drama of Fear the Walking Dead is instantly compelling. 

Alliances

With Broke Jaw Ranch came the introduction of a never-before-seen conflict in the Dead universe. 

Occupied by Jeremiah Otto at the time of its introduction, the Ranch housed several closed-minded racist survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Meanwhile, Ofelia had landed with Qualetaca and his Native American group of survivors. A feud ensued between the groups who had a deep history.

All the while, Madison Clark played both sides of the battle and came out on top — for now. 

The series brought up important topics which many series steer clear of but not in a manner which would distract viewers from the events of the series. Fear takes a compelling approach to people with opposing views and will continue to do so as Mexican, American, and Native American characters continue to blend in the back half of Season 3. 

New Leaders

“There’s this leadership vacuum in the Ranch,” Alicia Clark actress Alycia Debnam-Carey said. “Otto is gone and Jake is getting weaker by the second. Alicia steps into that role. It’s a really, really exciting beginning of what she can do.”

Alicia is quickly becoming Fear the Walking Dead‘s Carol Pelettier. The character started as a quiet and scared survivor. Quickly, however, she has become a capable and smart character — more so than many around her, which is a major change from the early episodes.

The best part: Alicia is hardly the only character emerging as a leader. Her brother Nick has formed alliances. Ofelia has earned rank. Daniel completely took over a key location. And Madison is clearly in charge of Broke Jaw Ranch. 

World-Building

While The Walking Dead has kept its communities close and on the East coast of the United States, Fear the Walking Dead continues to explore uncharted territories.

When Fear the Walking Dead returns, the world-building in the Dead universe will continue. The show has already introduced a literal cosmonaut as he floated through space, eventually coming into contact with Victor Strand to reveal the entire world had fallen to the zombie apocalypse and no where remained. Not even The Walking Dead went that far!

Not only will Broke Jaw Ranch’s reach expand but new communities will be introduced, including a new Bazar location where survivors trade goods and pay debts in unconventional manners. 

Best of all, the character fans seem to be appreciating more than any other, Daniel, will return to build on what happened to water supplies as he serves as right hand man to the leader of the dam…

Ruben Blades

…which brings up one of the things everyone should be excited about: more Ruben Blades. 

Blades and every scene he is a part of comes complete with intense sequences and brilliant performances. The musician/actor portrays one of Fear the Walking Dead’s most troubled characters.

When Fear returns, Blades’ Daniel will continue his seemingly hopeless search for Ofelia while trying to prioritize his work at the dam. While the audience knows Ofelia is alive and well, though drastically different as a character, Daniel has no idea the truth of his daughter’s fate other than she is not tat the hotel where Strand last saw her. 

In the first half of Fear’s third season, a Daniel-centric Spanish episode became one of the best the series has had to offer.