‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Episode 2 Recap: Lights Out in East L.A. 

Spoiler alert: This recap contains plot details from the latest episode of “Fear the Walking Dead.”

After a slow-burn premiere that spent more time on the humdrum problems of an unremarkable L.A. family than it did on the looming apocalypse, Sunday’s second episode of “Fear the Walking Dead” turned up the heat considerably. The result was a tension-filled hour of television that improved on last week’s debut in every way.

Following a brief pre-credit sequence, the episode – titled “So Close, Yet So Far” – begins with Maddie, Travis and Nick fleeing the scene of Calvin’s gory resurrection. Fearing for the safety of their kids, the two parents frantically call Alicia and Chris, while Nick searches the radio for news about the horrific outbreak.

A plan to escape to the desert is quickly hatched, though why Travis instantly decides they’ll be better off running away from the reassurances of civilization is barely addressed. The best he can offer is that there will be fewer people around. The protagonist in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” the short story that Travis taught last week, might disagree with him on the benefits of going it alone.

Maddie finally reaches Alicia, who says that she’s at her boyfriend Matt’s house. In the middle of their conversation, the phones suddenly die. Later on, the lights and power will go out as well. In the world of “The Walking Dead,” this is how society ends: not with a bang, but with a gradual loss of electricity.

In a seemingly throwaway moment, Nick glances up at a jet flying slowly across the sky. On reflection, it’s an ominous image that raises a number of questions. Could something equally nightmarish be happening up there at that very moment? Is the virus spreading to other cities or countries? And how soon before those jets start falling from the skies?

This type of potent imagery is scattered throughout the episode. Take, for example, the sight of a cheerful bounce-house in a suburban neighborhood that’s about to become a zombie feeding ground. It’s a darkly comic visual — part Raymond Carver, part George A. Romero.

Elsewhere, Chris gets an emergency call from Travis, but he ignores it. Here’s a friendly note to all the moody teens watching this series. When your well-intentioned parents try repeatedly calling you during the apocalypse… answer the phone! Clearly the show’s writers are trying to make Chris and Alicia into realistically flawed young people, but did they have to be so utterly annoying? Who are these two unlikable characters supposed to appeal to, anyway?

While Chris is stubbornly screening his calls, Maddie, Travis and Nick practically have to drag Alicia away from her boyfriend’s sickbed. A gory bite on his shoulder reveals the cause of his illness. For a brief moment, Alicia drops her guard and tells Matt that she loves him. It’s a rare sympathetic gesture, offering hope that perhaps there’s more to her than we’ve seen so far.

It’s interesting that Travis and the others abandon Matt, leaving him to surely die alone. That’s not the type of heroic act we expect from the leads on a TV series. Quite the opposite, in fact. And yet that tough decision hints that Travis and Maddie might have what it takes to survive in this kill-or-be-killed world.

At this point, the episode becomes a chaotic game of musical chairs as the main characters split up and race around the city trying to gather family members and supplies. These frantically-edited scenes increase the tension to a near-fever pitch.

While Alicia nurses Nick’s heroin withdrawal, Travis drives to his ex-wife Liza’s house in search of Chris, who’s gotten himself involved in a downtown police protest. Before long, the first wave of walkers makes their lumbering appearance and all hell breaks loose. Fleeing the violence, Travis, Liza and Chris take shelter in a barbershop run by Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades).

If this plot development reminds you of Rick Grimes taking shelter with Morgan and his son in the pilot episode of “The Walking Dead,” or of Brad Pitt taking shelter with a Hispanic family at the start of “World War Z,” you’re not alone.

Meanwhile, Maddie searches the deserted high school for drugs that might help ease Nick’s pain. And here’s where this episode truly comes to life… so to speak.

From the second that she accidentally sets off the school’s metal detector, to the moment when she bashes in the skull of a freshly-zombified Principal Artie, this entire sequence is a well-crafted exercise in mounting dread. Perhaps the most chilling scene of all occurs when Maddie eavesdrops on a moaning walker through the school’s intercom system. It’s a skin-crawling detail.

Unfortunately, the return of last week’s pimple-faced student Tobias adds an unintentional laugh to the otherwise stellar sequence. “Can I have my knife back?” he asks almost immediately. Now, let’s consider his weapon of choice for a moment, shall we? The tiny blade is barely two inches long. Surely he could find something with a three-inch blade at home? Or, better yet, a jumbo kitchen knife! Maybe a hammer or a lethal garden tool? Anything other than this rinky-dink toothpick that he’s weirdly attached to for some reason.

The episode ends with Maddie, Nick and Alicia locking themselves in for the night, while bloodcurdling screams echo through their once-peaceful neighborhood. A few miles away, Travis and his estranged family listen to the sounds of police sirens and car explosions from the dubious safety of Daniel’s barbershop.

Though it featured fewer walkers than the low-key premiere, this second helping of “Fear the Walking Dead” was far more intense, suggesting that series creators Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson might be able to take their spin-off in some enjoyably dark directions over the next four weeks.

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Boring, very boring, very poor acting. Looks cheap and cheaped-out, definitely will not be following this very poor shadow of TWD. To each their own, but I suspect those that “enjoy” this sub-standard FTWD so far, is more about withdrawls waiting for the real-deal TWD, rather than any true quality of filming and acting on FTWD. Just a bad show, very poor quality on all levels. Again, to each their own, enjoy your fix ’till the return of TWD.

I personally think this show is AMAZING. Another comment below mentions how it may seem boring and slow-paced because of the fact we all know what the outcome is. Don’t get me wrong, I love the original walking dead series- but seriously, these guys are developing characters so beautifully. Think about a world- that has no idea that a virus would even make people want to eat one another. Think about a world- that we live in even today- where killing is actually the worst crime. These people still think the zombies are living people! That’s why Madison wanted to help the Principal of the school. She didn’t care as much for Calvin, but because she knew Arty for a while, I think she had second thoughts about him becoming a zombie. Remember Hershel with his barn of zombies? These people are in denial!! How can they comprehend this? It is displayed perfectly. I am so thrilled at the build-up and how this show is advancing. The characters are so easy to attach to and I’m feeling suspense build up within me like never before. It’s a zombie show with a totally different feeling. If you aren’t ready to really build up with the characters, then yea, it’s gonna be boring and make you go to sleep! The original series give us action but it’s such a nice change to being able to see the development of the virus and how people cope with it. I think it’s a great show. Love it or hate it!

Does anyone think it is weird that they asked Matt “Is that a bite” and he says “yeah” and then they go about saying goodbye and giving him water. No one says “A bite?” “Who bit you? Where was this? Were their eyes white?” WEIRD…

Also I am sure they are going to be together again but the blended family suddenly became unblended…. Madison with her kids and Travis with his.

Finally after hours and hours, Madison finds it not important to tell Alicia what is really happening????

I agree that they didn’t wonder where the bite was from. That would have been a great opportunity for them to find out more what they do and what could potentially happen. Ahhh

For Madison, she just experienced killing her friend/colleague/principal… she obviously doesn’t know he’s dead and a “walker” so I think she’s in a zone where she thinks she is a murderer. Traumatized. Washing away the blood and crying… it’s all so real. It’s a hard thing to admit to and tell her children as a mom. But little does she know that she’s gonna be doing a lot of that soon. She has no idea that the principal was “dead” to begin with so I assume she’s just really caught up in the fact that she’s done a terrible deed!

It’s still boring albeit better than the first one. If I pay bills on my phone while its on, something about it is not compelling

Tobias is the only character that I cared about. This family is SERIOUSLY tedious

I liked the pilot much more than this week’s episode, mostly because of the mom. In this one she sees the principal all zombied up, staggering toward her and dripping blood and she’s like “are you okay? we’re gonna get you some help”. This lady already knows that these things are very hard to kill, like as in running them over with a truck doesn’t even do it and then she’s getting up close with one of them, letting it attack her and her student. I hope she grows some more brains soon.

Is there some implicit understanding that contemporary zombie dramas aren’t allowed to have the characters acknowledge popular zombie dramas? I’d be yelling Night of the Living Dead if some dead corpse reanimated & tried to chew my arm.

Jose Roth is rooting for Ofelia. The others – I don’t care what happens to them.

Well this was definitely better than episode 1, and you can see how society is starting to break down.

The reason for not telling everyone what they know, is that it’s pretty unbelievable, the chaos that would happen if they did believe, that might prevent them from leaving.

There are some folks that know whats happening, like the one neighbor, the cop loading his car with water, the freeway packed.

People this is the pre Rick waking up and just about everyone’s a zombie, showing how it started, the breakdown is society. how badly the situation was handled.

I was hard on the first episode last week and was outright disappointed. This episode I thought was a major improvement. It was definitely more eerie like the original series and of course a lot more action. One of the best scenes towards the end shows for a split second through the window the turned zombie neighbor slowly limping across the street to the birthday neighbors’ hosue. I am sure most people caught that, but it introduced some directing patience and subtlety that was not present in the future episode. Of course a following scene shows the zombie neighbor attacking the borthday neighbors which was disturbing in its own right. I am looking forward to episode 3 in two weeks.

The haters are over analyzing this. I thought this episode was great! What you see could actually happen. In the course of a couple of hours it went from nervousness to panic, to rioting.

I feel we’re spoiled as an audience since we know the outcome. The producers kept saying that we’ll like knowing more than the characters. But honestly, I don’t like it. I wish I didn’t know where the story was heading. It would make it more suspenseful. It’s like when they release a remake of an old movie, you know how it’s gonna end. How many times can Superman defeat Lex Luther and still be interesting?

I think in the next 2 episodes we’re gonna start seeing a lot more gore. The National Guard will get involved. They’ll reveal a little more information about the “virus”. Over the next 24 hours of the show’s timeline, people will understand what’s going on and total panic will play out as 7 million people in LA try to survive.

Seriously people, you should have a bug out bag packed, some weapons, dried food and water ready at all times. A disaster can hit anywhere anytime. Aren’t we remembering Hurricane Katrina this week? Those people thought they were safe. In 24 hours their whole lives were turned over.

To those people who say, “If the next episode is slow, I’m out” I call BS, you’re obviously a TWD fan, you’re not going to give up on this show for at least 2 seasons. So sit back, relax and enjoy it. You’re not a film or TV critic, you’re a fan.

Yes, I agree! People are being overly critical of the unfolding of the riot and chaos, but when it goes down it goes down fast. The people in the streets don’t disperse, go home, re-organize on Twitter, then get back out there. I found it believable and well written, and they’re introducing the kinds of problems a city larger than Atlanta would have. They kind of make it like the jungle, when you split up it seems like you’ll never reunite.

My one complaint is that I wish they would just talk more. I understand the parents not knowing what to say yet, but the brother could’ve said more to his sister, like “Don’t you get it? MATT’S DEAD!” Or if he cares about her, tell her the truth of why she can’t leave – not just Mom said you can’t leave.

I found myself yelling at the TV “Don’t go in there! Why do you have to investigate that strange noise? IDIOT! No, Toby, not in the neck, stab him in the head! Get him in the head [with that fire extinguisher]…atta girl!” Knowing more than the characters is definitely as frustrating as it is fun.

I thought the first episode started well enough. I knew this was going to start slow as it was at the beginning of the outbreak. The second show however has taken a turn into the campy, low budget horror movie genre.

First off, the only thing the parents know is that the heroin addicted son told them some crazy story that happened in a church, they go check it out but find no bodies, just a lot of blood. It’s LA, so no biggie. Then they see some guy get shot on the freeway, again it’s LA. Trust me on that one, I used to live there.

Second, once the try but fail to kill the drug dealer, they just leave. Two law abiding citizen just leave and don’t call the cops. Somehow they know its the end of the world with the little bit of info they have?

I thought the fact that they don’t tell the daughter what was going on was typical of low budget horror shows.

The lame riot that spontaneously broke out because one walker got shot. And where those the three skater punks from Dogma that kicked the metal door to the shop as soon as they rolled it down? lol.

I had high hopes for this show, but if this mediocre writing and directing continues on episode 3 I’m out.

Um people commenting below … this is entertainment. Zombies do not exist and they never will.

Well, it didn’t get any better, at least the first episode lulled me into a nice nap. I will try one more episode, but most likely, I’m out of here,”Fear the Walking Dead.”

No you’re not. You will watch all 6 episodes of this season and sit there drooling waiting for season 2 to start. Robert Kirkman is a master story teller. They are building up to the one-two punch.

What did you expect? The first episode to just drop you right into shooting zombies and looting stores? This is the back story people have been asking for.

And the author of this review was obviously given an advance copy of the show to make his nice-nice we-love-you-AMC comments go public before the show aired. No wonder his view of the episode is so far from what actually happened.

The showrunners are more interested in crafting a naive soap opera than the collapse of society as seen from a dysfunctional family. Why the parents won’t talk to their children is silly and illogical. Any self-respecting parent will inform their kids why they can’t go outside, even if the real truth is diluted. You don’t just stand there with your mouth shut.

So the mom has already seen a zombie, but when she encounters the principal who has obviously turned she has amnesia and asks if he’s ok… let’s him close in and attack her. The virus is turning people into zombies but the family is keeping it a secret from everyone who doesn’t already know. The bad acting continues from uninteresting-to-annoying characters. So far it’s Fear the Walking Derp.

Apparently the author of this article saw a different episode than I watched tonight. It was dull, plodding and poorly acted. It is a shell of The Walking Dead and is tarnishing the original’s image. Hopefully AMC will pull the plug after it’s short run and come up with a more worthy spin-off.

The 2 shows of “Fear of the walking dead” have dragged out.

Yes you are right, it had turned it up (minimally) tension and suspense in episode 2.

But from now on I will dvr it, because watching 20 minutes of commercials, and 40 minutes of so called suspense with nothing much to discuss isn’t my kind of television.

The 90 min premier (well 60 min if you’re counting commercials) should have told the stories of both episodes.

My eyes started to close, and not because I was tired. So far there is “no fear” in this walking dead series. Kick it up a notch!

Wholeheartedly agree. This had the feel of a Syfy show, and not in a good way.

They keep mentioning going to “the desert” to ride it out. Kinda vague Pretty dry out there, very little food, either. Yet no one filled water containers or tried to pack anything. Alicia spent her time scrubbing vomit out of the carpet, instead. And to be fair, yes they left the feverish kid alone, but he had said his parents were driving in from Vegas and would be there shortly. We all know they would be stuck in an endless traffic jam, but the characters didn’t know that yet

NO! I actually like the Mom. I think her face is kinda the “what is the right face to make when you see the principal try to eat a kid” face?!! hahaha I think I would stuck in crazy face too if I witnessed what they have/are gonna:)

Does anyone feel like Maddie is instantly unlikable? The same facial expressions the entire episode. She bashes the principals head in and still stares, mouth agape, like in every other scene.

I don’t agree at all. I enjoy her character the most, so far, and don’t see any signs of what you mention. Often very bare scenes without score and slo-mo can make actors exposed, and people can call it bad acting when it’s just the raw technique that they’re not liking, imo. I think Kim Dickens has that smart kind of sex appeal – like a Sigourney Weaver, and hope we see lots more of her.

Yes. The actress is awful. She only has one expression and it’s bland. Really bad casting.

I agree with you Jason. Her character lacks any real emotion. The bathroom scene clearly displays this when she is washing the blood off her coat and starts crying. The acting in that scene was just unbelievably fake. She is more enjoyable as a reporter in House of Cards.

I’ll keep watching, maybe the acting will get better.

Wow – all this negativity after only two episodes. I know Walking Dead is a act to follow, but at least give them six weeks to get it going! I seem to be the only one here who is enjoying it. We’ll see.