Watched both TWD finale and FTWD premiere back to back while they were broadcast, after checking out of both shows at the end of season 7 and season 2 respectively. My reaction to TWD was, "Okay, this should have been the finale for season 7, I guess I'll tune in next season at least for a bit," and was amused that nothing about where the story had gone was that confusing. I really didn't feel as if I had missed an entire season, just maybe an episode or two. It was whatever. I was really looking forward to seeing Fear, though, because I loved what they were trying to do seasons 1 and 2, but most of the show was just so boring in between moments of brilliance.
Seeing Fear right after TWD really highlighted how much better I think Fear can be compared to TWD. Everything was better for me, the cinematography, the acting, the directing, the characters, the dialogue, the pacing, the action, the special effects, the story...all of it! And it was such a quiet and subdued story but was entertaining for me the whole way through, by grace of the direction and performances. This was very different from how boring TWD was getting before I quit. Sometimes it feels like TWD is going out of its way to be boring and frustratingly uninteresting.
I think if I had watched all of S8 I would be in the camp that Morgan is boring, since I'm assuming his character 'transformation' from peace lover to cold blooded killer to recluse was heavy handed. He was delightful to watch here without that baggage. And yeah, it did feel like a Morgan spinoff premiere rather than a continuation of Fear, but I was okay with that. The introduction of a new major player should be a major event, and letting us get to know just how reclusive Morgan is at this moment should inform his character being brought onto a show that has a unified family as the core premise (I'm assuming this is still true about Fear?). I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with him and the family. I don't mind him being a semi-focus of the season, because his intro was good. It was like having Worf on DS9. Not only that, but his cowboy and journalist "friends" are well written, well acted characters, with a lot of charm. So much to like. I hate pretty much every character on TWD so this was a nice change.
In fact, I liked the episode so much that I decided to go back and watch season 3. Watched that first episode of S3 last night, and wow! What a great episode, too! Does anyone have any strong feelings about season 3? Is it worth the watch? I'd like to know what was going on up until the time jump. Time jumps can either be great to move the story along (Voyager books) or disasters (DS9 books). That introductory episode was just so gritty and uncomfortable but compelling in a way I hadn't felt since early episodes of TWD, but for all different reasons. The characters have such a real quality to them in their desperation and rage, compared to how comic booky TWD characters are (yes, I understand the irony of that statement). Is season 3 like season 1 and 2 where we get action for an episode and then go back to really boring before Madison burns down the town? (This is possibly my favorite aspect of Fear, that this family just seems to hilariously bring casual destruction wherever they go, usually by accident.)
) and honestly; I could care less if Nick or his b*tch of a mother (nothing against the actress I just really hate the character she plays) are back on the show or not. (but that's me).
