'Fear the Walking Dead' Recap: 'What's Your Story?'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

What I’ve always found fascinating about Fear the Walking Dead, is how The Walking Dead fanbase has yet to fully embrace the show. One would have thought this sucker would have been beloved from the get go since it is set in the same universe and features plenty of walkers to go around. But the sheer fact that series stumbled with its storytelling style early on seemed to turn off a fair chunk of the fans and while I get it, the fanbase demands the same excellence that the sister series provides, it was also obvious that this story was going to need a little time to properly find its footing.
 
Which is why I’m such a fan of last season of this show. Because it finally allowed for the characters to grow, rather than react to the apocalypse that surrounded them and that change allowed for some powerful storytelling to take place and it’s obvious now that the powers that be want to see this show succeed, and satisfy the fan base as whole, since last night’s season four premiere of the series, ‘What’s Your Story?’, brought forth some serious changes and improvements to this saga in the hopes of making Fear what everyone has been craving from the very beginning; a series worthy of its predecessor.
 
But of course, the big question is, did this spin off accomplish such a feat last night? In my mind, the answer is yes and much of the success of this tale can be attributed to the wonderful crossover event that set the stage for season four because let’s be honest. This particular series has never felt properly connected to The Walking Dead universe, and having Jesus, Carol and Rick Grimes show up in surprising fashion helped to finally establish that all important link and that connective tissue was only solidified by the fact that Morgan Jones is now a lead character on this series as well, and his journey away from Alexandria, is what truly made this season premiere so incredibly special.
 
Because his journey out into the wilderness reminded us just how bad things are in the world, and how much of humanity is gone from the face of the planet and well, it was nice to have the universe re-establish the fact that the dead rule this land and well, the fact that there are so few of us left, added a sense of desperation and tension I’ve never seen on this series before and it was compounded by the addition of John Dorie, a modern day gunslinger desperate to communicate and connect with another human being to the point where he hadn’t used his voice in nearly a year and that desperation allowed for him to follow Morgan at every turn and allowed for John and Morgan to find a new friend in a woman named Althea. 

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​If anything, her addition to the story added a new wrinkle to the fold when it came to the overreaching theme of connection present in this episode, since she was hell bent on learning more about anyone she encountered, and I truly appreciated the fact that someone out there believes that the good and the bad that everyone has been through in this harrowing time warrants documentation for posterity. But to me, her need to record the story of those she encountered spoke more to her trying to do these people a favor, to remind them of who they are and where they’ve come from to preserve their humanity, because so many have lost their way.
 
That was something that the series was quick to remind of us. Because the sequence with the scavengers was downright savage to say the least as they did their best to rob Althea of her awesome truck, one that reminds me of Dead Reckoning from Land of the Dead, and while the tiny group was successful in defeating them, there were still more lost souls for the group to encounter, and in stunning fashion those wanderers in question just so happened to be Alicia, Strand, Luciana and Nick and well, Althea was right to ask them what their story was, because seeing them in full on looter fashion seems quite out of place for this group. 
 
If anything, this really felt the first time that we’ve seen the world in honest fashion on this series since prior seasons did plenty to insulate Madison and her family and friends and I love the sense of danger and desolation that crept into this premiere and it did also leave us with some serious questions. After all, where is Madison? And what exactly happened to her children to make them stoop to the point of deception to get what they need? Granted I’m certain those questions will be answered in the coming weeks, but they’re important none the less and posing such dark questions, clearly demonstrates just how different this show is going to be going forward.
 
However, despite the ominous nature of certain parts of this story, I truly appreciated the fact that it provided us with a vastly different dynamic from its sister series. Because while Rick and the good people of Alexandria are about to enter an era of potential peace and prosperity, the rest of the world continues to suffer and it gives this series something to work toward in the weeks to come, and it should be interesting to see whether or not the new people that Morgan is coming into contact with can achieve what Morgan briefly enjoyed back east, and I have to admit, I like the new direction this series is headed in and I’m quite curious to see what it will explore as the season rolls on. Until next time.  

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