‘Fear the Walking Dead’ review: ‘Blood in the Streets’ is solid, confident television

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Fear the Walking Dead made some major strides forward in the story arc this week with an episode that both introduced a major new antagonist for the group and finally shed some light on the mysteries of Victor Strand.

Of the two plotlines that are roughly evenly split within ‘Blood in the Streets’, it’s Strand’s story that is overall the most compelling. After three weeks of satisfyingly escalating mystery involving the character, Fear laid most of its cards on the table regarding Strand’s back-story and his end goals here, and it’s pleasantly surprising to see that the information provided here was genuinely unexpected.

Strangely enough, the Walking Dead shows have been extremely reticent about flashing back to the pre-apocalypse days despite the ample dramatic potential in juxtaposing the normalcy of an intact society with its broken, hollow shell, so the choice of ‘Blood in the Streets’ to delegate a significant amount of screen-time to laying out Strand’s story pre-apocalypse was an unusual one upon first sight.

It proves to be a savvy storytelling choice, however, allowing Fear to lay the groundwork for future developments for Strand in forthcoming episodes while telling a small side story that was satisfying and thematically intriguing in of itself.

Each of the flashbacks are impressively dense, packing in plenty of insights into Strand’s past and psyche that effectively sketch out the image of a man who may be deeply opportunistic to the point of exploiting and hurting people to achieve his goals, but certainly doesn’t seem to be an amoral man by any means.

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After my suspicions that Fear was going to catapult Strand into full-on villain status, the flashbacks do a very good job of re-establishing his moral complexity that defies simple classification. Strand’s worked as a character because his morality always been located in a distinctly grey area that pragmatically varies with the situation, so it’s good to see the show actively entrench that idea within his backstory.

The flashbacks also serve the important purpose of fleshing out Strand’s partner, Thomas Abigail. Strand’s blossoming relationship with Abigail is the key through-line of these flashbacks, and it builds convincingly throughout the episode as the two men gradually cast aside their single-minded interest in profit in favour of embracing a life focused around the personal to the point where the reveal of their romantic relationship at the end feels like the natural and convincing end-point for which the groundwork has been carefully laid by each growingly intimate flashback.

It’s also great to see a bit more inclusivity of LGBT characters as a crucial part of the ongoing storylines, especially considering how The Walking Dead has awkwardly handled its LGBT characters by pushing them to background status or killing them off full stop.

The Strand storyline also experiences some significant developments in the present day storyline with the introduction of Abigail’s assistant Luis. The choice to cut back to Strand, out alone on the ocean in a deflated boat, is a clever one that creates a compelling juxtaposition between the flashbacks depicting a Strand the con-man at the height of his powers and the modern day depicting Strand at his most passive and vulnerable, finally being forced to rely upon the altruism of Madison for survival at the end of the episode.

It’s notable how both of these states are linked by his ruthless opportunism and lack of sentimentality, allowing Fear to explore the wildly varying effects of Strand’s ideology and the way in which his life seems almost like a protracted series of gambles resting on good fortune.

The introduction of Luis into the modern day story also constitutes some significant progress on the road to the Baja house, and I’m intrigued to see how he’s going to deal with Strand’s impulsive choice to let everyone go on the Abigail, especially considering he’s been firmly established as someone who’s perhaps not Strand’s biggest fan.

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By contrast, the pirates storyline is notably less compelling, though not without its merits. The chief issue here is that there’s very few complex characters to latch onto as there are in the Strand storyline. Aside from perhaps Matt, whose ambiguous attraction to Alicia lends him at least some intrigue, the pirates who we spend most of the time with here are pretty thinly sketched, with characterisation that doesn’t go a lot deeper than a defining personality trait and perhaps an area of vulnerability.

That’s more or less it, which means that they’re not awfully dynamic villains because there’s not enough substance within their characterisation to create genuinely meaningful contrasts with the familiar crew of the Abigail. It’s all very surface level and cursory; obligated characterisation that does the bare minimum necessary for the pirates to feel like something approximating real people, but adds very little more on top to make these characters genuinely memorable villains.

What’s more satisfying is the way that the pirates story allows for the central ensemble to cohesively work together to execute an escape plan, with almost all of the central cast members playing a different purpose in the efforts to stall the pirates for time; for instance, Travis as the mechanic who’s able to slowly carry out his efforts and Madison as the seemingly sympathetic mother who’s painfully aware of the weak spots for anyone carrying a child.

It’s smart, satisfying usage of the ensemble that functions off intelligence and resourcefulness to push the plot forward as opposed to the frustrating stupidity on display last week, and evidence of how Fear is gradually becoming more capable in understanding how to use its substantial regular cast in a way that makes the most of each character and doesn’t downplay anyone.

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With Alicia and Travis kidnapped by the pirates and Strand rescued by Madison, ‘Blood on the Streets’ leaves off with a tantalising cliffhanger that promises an exciting continuation next week.

It’s a testament to the satisfying improvements Fear has made after that rocky season premiere that I’m genuinely intrigued to see what happens next, illustrating that the show’s done a much better job lately of fleshing out these characters to the point where they’re tangible enough to become invested in as a viewer.

Encouragingly, most of my hopes for this season are gradually being fulfilled – there’s a much more cohesive and interesting story arc that builds in a way that indicates Fear has a well thought-out trajectory in mind for this season, and it generally seems as if the show has roughly figured out what kind of stories it wants to tell and in what way.

‘Blood in the Streets’ is evidence of this growing stability and sure-handed execution – it’s solid, confident television that rarely inspires yet almost always entertains, working as a satisfying and complete hour of television that naturally builds anticipation for the next instalment.

And considering how Fear’s parent show is increasingly relying on shock value and gimmicks for investment rather than solid storytelling and satisfying narrative development, there’s something to commend in how this spin-off is going about things.

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Aired at 9pm on Monday 2 May 2016 on AMC UK.

> Buy the Season 1 box set on Amazon.

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