The Best of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – Season 2

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Episode 202: ‘We All Fall Down’
Original Air Date: April 17, 2016

‘This is it. We all die. It’s a question of surrender or survival. Acceptance or denial.’
‘I choose survival.’
‘Yeah. You think everything’s gonna be okay?’
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-George Geary and Travis Manawa

Cliff Curtis and David Warshofsky as Travis Manawa and George Geary in Episode 202 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘We All Fall Down’. (Photo Courtesy of Richard Foreman Jr./AMC)

Zombie fiction has been around long enough, that certain tropes have found their way into its structure. For instance, if someone who is unsavory, or an outright a-hole gets bitten… they will do everything within their power to hide the bite. Because they know they are doomed and they want every ounce of life, regardless of the cost because their ego means more. Not to mention, every group of survivors out there in these stories that the main characters encounter is either straight up evil or have this incredible sense of survival. For they represent the human condition and its ability to endure for better or for worse and well… those tropes stick around because they offer enjoyment and drama and keep us from having to face some hard truths about the potential end of the world.
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In that, not everyone in this life is eager to rise to the occasion and do what must be done to survive, for we’ve seen people turn their backs on the hard work in real life when the going gets tough, which infuriates us to no end and well… let’s be honest… that kind of attitude would exist in the world of zombie fiction. Where neighbors would hide away and do nothing but exist to ‘ride out the storm’, which is a very dramatic and passive way of handling the end. One that guarantees a hollow existence. Not to mention, some… might turn their backs on survival altogether and just give up. For various reasons that might seem shocking to others, but that is a real possibility during an apocalyptic event. Since some may not want to see the horrors and hard days that lie ahead. Which is why, Fear the Walking Dead on AMC… deserves our awe.

For this particular series has always leaned into the dark ‘what ifs?’ that might occur during the end of the everything. Such as what might happen if a mad man gained a following and gained control of nuclear weapons or in the case of season two’s finest episode… what might happen if heroes that were driven to see tomorrow, ran into survivors… that had no desire to see the sun rise ever again. Which made ‘We All Fall Down’ quite the harrowing and powerful tale. For that is what Madison and Travis and the survivors of the Abigail encountered… in the most surprising manner. For in this story, the ship was forced to dock to avoid unsavory characters and in doing so, it was discovered that the remote island used for refuge was home to a family, the Geary Family.

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Catherine Dent and Kim Dickens as Mellissa Geary and Madison Clark in Episode 202 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘We All Fall Down’. (Photo Courtesy of Richard Foreman Jr./AMC)

Who were the perfect, pre-walker American family. 2.5 kids. Good dad, good jobs. In fact, old George made it seem as though catching their breath was going to pay off in spades. Since he was able for the first time ever, to break down Operation: Cobalt for the audience and explore its inconsistent impact upon the American landscape. Giving rise to world-building and for a brief moment… hope. Since families were working together to make this little sanctuary safe and people were bonding. Making it seem as though, better days were ahead for everyone, and well… that’s when the story took its dark turn. Since Nick discovered drugs that would and should kill a person no problem and some begging from the mother of the family to take her kids away from this place, made it clear what was on George’s mind.
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In that, he spent his time during this crisis observing from afar, and during that time he realized that this had the potential to be humanity’s extinction-level-event, and that even if man survived… a new dark age awaited, and well… that scared him. For that meant people would suffer, he and his family might suffer, and he truly thought it better… to skip that. To check out and see what waited on the other side and that was… a shocking revelation. For it really did go against everything we see in this subgenre, but it was also… bold. Because it worked, and it added a fascinating sense of realism to this story because that would happen if the dead were to walk in our world. It doesn’t make it right, especially here since it claimed two children, but it does it make it clear that at the end of the world… all bets are indeed off and survival of the fittest does come into play.

Which is why we consider this episode to be, the finest that season two of this show has to offer. Simply because… it set the tone for the season ahead and informed us that this show would hold nothing back in presenting how hard the first days after the end would be for people. Plus, it added a unique air of horror to this story, and really informed us… that the end was nigh. Which made for an immersive and sour experience, which is what good horror does. Not to mention, it let the cast shine as they put in their two cents regarding these events, and that decision made the return to the water for our heroes, all the more frightening. Because just like that…they were in a hopeless world where anything could happen, and that’s a very powerful epiphany for everyday folks from Los Angeles to endure in the early days of the zombiepocalypse. Until next time.

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