# Fear the Walking Dead series premiere tonight @ 9 (open spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638 "2015-08-23T21:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/81 "2015-08-25T11:36:35Z")
OK, but if the whatever-thingy that causes zombification is _also_ fatal to a percentage of the population at initial infection that’s going to change the odds. If you have the normal death rate PLUS, say, a 30% fatality rate from the Z-flu (stat pulled out of my backside) on top of it I could see things going down the toilet rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/82 "2015-08-25T11:55:03Z")
I’ve been a fan of TWD since day 1, and I don’t remember anyone dying from flu-like symptoms. Jim was feeling just fine up until he was bitten by a walker, so he doesn’t count. Yes, he was losing it mentally earlier in the day when he was compulsively digging graves, but that’s just a minor mental breakdown as a result of the zombie apocalypse ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/83 "2015-08-25T13:38:17Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’m picturing the hospital putting all the “the infected patients” in restraints and trying to warehouse them somewhere while frantically seeking guidance from the CDC, which won’t give them a straight answer. Isn’t that what happened in The Oath? > > I agree the idea of a government cover-up lasting more than a few days is harder to believe than dead bodies reanimating. Maybe the Chinese could pull this off, but even that it wouldn’t be long before hospitals became non functional because of staff calling off (though the local authorities could force workers to remain at there post at gunpoint). Apparently, on the [“story sync” thing that AMC does](http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/08/fear-the-walking-dead-easter-eggs/), there were some extras. One of them was a [WHO protocol document for handling the dead](http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/08/fear-the-walking-dead-easter-eggs/). So apparently the old guy did die and they were following the WHO protocol for what to do with the deceased. But if there are WHO protocols on how to deal with the dead, then I would think the information would be more widely known. It seemed like when there were the ebola cases in the US, there was a lot on the news about what to do and not to do. Maybe they’ll show some of that on the next episode. > [@salinqmind](#): > > I don’t get why you people think the junkie son looking like Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves is a liability. If he looked like John C. Reilly or Danny Trejo I wouldn’t be watching this thing at all. I’m shallow and like a little eye candy. I wasn’t saying it’s a liability, he just has one of those faces that bugs you because it’s familiar. Funny enough, he should remind people of Stannis Baratheon, because Frank Dillane is Stephen Dillane’s son. Some people didn’t seem to like Nick, but I like his survival instinct. Other than being a junkie, he seems to have good odds of going far. > [@Rigamarole](#): > > OK, I’m watching the stream on AMC’s website and my biggest problem with the show is that there’s a [shot of a gas station](http://i.imgur.com/c9YQtcx.png) displaying the price of _ **$2.35/gallon** _! And this is L.A., where gas is generally much more expensive than the national average. What the hell, is this supposed to take place in the 1960s? > > Also another problem I have with zombie outbreaks generally is it just seems like the small number of initial infected would be trivial to contain long, long before they completely overrun the world population (save for the small groups of survivors that the audience follows). Why didn’t they go inside the chapel after they arrested the guy in the beginning? They would have found them immediately and been able to deal with it rather easily. I missed that on the gas prices. But that brings up a good point, is the show set today? Or I guess it would be set right before The Walking Dead started, which premiered in 2010, though I don’t know if it was set starting then. [The historical gas price chart for LA](http://www.losangelesgasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx) shows that gas was that low for a while in 2008-2009, but not really that low for much other times. I’m not sure why no one other than the mom’s boyfriend went into the chapel. Do the police usually clean out shooting galleries, or just leave them be until necessary? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/84 "2015-08-25T13:43:43Z")
TWD had an amazing pilot episode. This was weak. The mom and step dad seemed rather nonchalant over seeing a guy they know get run over, stand up, get run over again, and still be alive with half his face missing. I once saw a girl jay walk and get run over and everyone on the sidewalk flipped their lid. The horror-esque music was great, but there weren’t particularly good visuals to go along with it so it was mostly wasted. I like watching the breakdown of society, but it seems difficult to do convincingly on a TV budget so I’m curious to see how they proceed. Will they actually show complete mayhem in the streets, thousands of people rioting and so on, everything on fire, masses of overturned vehicles, etc. or will it happen off screen and they’ll just listen to radio/tv reports with maybe some stock footage? ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/85 "2015-08-25T13:51:22Z")
Neither of The Walking Dead shows are necessarily set in a specific year or time. We know when the series started on TV, but that doesn’t mean the writers are locked into that time. They are actually pretty careful to not give clues to any particular year. If you notice, in season 1 of TWD, they were dealing with transportation a lot, frequently using whatever cars they could find, and scavenging gas from others. Lots of opportunities to see license plates. They were always careful to either remove the decal indicating expiration date, or obscure it. The gas price might have been a “miss”, something that they didn’t catch in editing. Or it could have been a “who cares”, as in it really doesn’t prove any particular time point. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/86 "2015-08-25T13:52:57Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > Sure enough, they killed the black dude first. > > And then killed him again. > > And then again. > > And he was still twitchin’! > > In other news, that scene with the daughter and her artsy boyfriend: did anyone ELSE get the vibe that HE was doing his best to act, whereas daughter was doing her best to broadcast, “I have neither energy nor enthusiasm for this scene, and would rather be doing a Clairol commercial?” I wasn’t wildly impressed with whiny junkie, but his sister made him look like Olivier. I wasn’t impressed with her acting ability, either. At least she’s pretty. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/87 "2015-08-25T13:53:43Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > …The mom and step dad seemed rather nonchalant over seeing a guy they know get run over, stand up, get run over again, and still be alive with half his face missing. I once saw a girl jay walk and get run over and everyone on the sidewalk flipped their lid. (post shortened) “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/88 "2015-08-25T14:02:25Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I don’t get why you people think the junkie son looking like Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves is a liability. If he looked like John C. Reilly or Danny Trejo I wouldn’t be watching this thing at all. I’m shallow and like a little eye candy. Actually, Danny Trejo would make a great addition to the cast! Maybe the current characters can meet up with him later, when he saves them all from the attacking zombies via machete mayhem! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/89 "2015-08-25T14:18:33Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Neither of The Walking Dead shows are necessarily set in a specific year or time. We know when the series started on TV, but that doesn’t mean the writers are locked into that time. They are actually pretty careful to not give clues to any particular year. If you notice, in season 1 of TWD, they were dealing with transportation a lot, frequently using whatever cars they could find, and scavenging gas from others. Lots of opportunities to see license plates. They were always careful to either remove the decal indicating expiration date, or obscure it. > > The gas price might have been a “miss”, something that they didn’t catch in editing. Or it could have been a “who cares”, as in it really doesn’t prove any particular time point. It’s been a while since I’ve watched The Walking Dead, but I thought I’d read people making fun of the product placement of various cars that still work and look great despite it being a while into the zombie apocalypse. But I guess they could have the product placement but obscure the expiration dates. It’s not a big deal, it just made me curious. I can accept a show being set around present day, without it being more specific. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/90 "2015-08-25T15:30:15Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > (post shortened) > > They killed the white female junky first. She was the one with the large knife sticking out of her ribs. I beg to differ. She was dead before the show started. Although if you want to get picky, I suppose Junkie Guy’s roommate died first… Only reason I brought the whole thing up was because I rather liked T-Dog, but by his third episode, I was already thinking, “Dang, the only reason this guy is on the show is so he can die messily when they find another black guy to replace him.” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/91 "2015-08-25T15:40:06Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I missed that on the gas prices. But that brings up a good point, is the show set today? Or I guess it would be set right before The Walking Dead started, which premiered in 2010, though I don’t know if it was set starting then. [The historical gas price chart for LA](http://www.losangelesgasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx) shows that gas was that low for a while in 2008-2009, but not really that low for much other times. Wow, go figure. I’d never heard of “Conserv Fuel” but apparently it’s a real gas station with just 2 locations in L.A., and I found the one in that shot on [Google Maps right here](https://goo.gl/maps/BeRhj) (you can see in the shot from the show I linked the street sign for Beverly Blvd). That street view photo is from Dec. '14 and the “cash unleaded” price was $2.57 then. It’s one of those stations that gives a discount for cash instead of credit. And from the charts it looks like it may have dipped that low very briefly around late Jan / early Feb of '15, so now I know exactly when and where they shot that scene. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/92 "2015-08-25T15:43:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > It’s been a while since I’ve watched The Walking Dead, but I thought I’d read people making fun of the product placement of various cars that still work and look great despite it being a while into the zombie apocalypse. But I guess they could have the product placement but obscure the expiration dates. > > It’s not a big deal, it just made me curious. I can accept a show being set around present day, without it being more specific. Yeah, it’s a perfectly valid question, one not helped by the absolutely ridiculous product placement of a [2011 Hyundai Tucson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKZoKJN9xlc). It threw a serious case of “wait, where the f did that come from?” into the series. All of their other cars were older beaters, and then, bam, a 2011 model appears as a featured vehicle in season 2, which was running in, oh, 2011!! Kinda locked themselves in there, didn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/93 "2015-08-25T16:09:08Z")
I just watched it and wasn’t impressed. TWD grabbed me and held me within minutes in the pilot; FTWD didn’t hold my attention at all. The characters aren’t likable, and the set up feels forced to me. I’ll give it a couple more episodes but so far, not a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/94 "2015-08-25T16:46:52Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > OK, I’m watching the stream on AMC’s website and my biggest problem with the show is that there’s a [shot of a gas station](http://i.imgur.com/c9YQtcx.png) displaying the price of _ **$2.35/gallon** _! And this is L.A., where gas is generally much more expensive than the national average. What the hell, is this supposed to take place in the 1960s? A few months ago when this was shot (in LA), that was accurate to our LA prices. If memory serves that gas station was a lot of CG (covering the actual brand of gas and advertisements) but that price was right. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/95 "2015-08-25T17:03:25Z")
“We only want the gas! Just dead-walk away!” ---
**Author:** ![MegaNazz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MegaNazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaNazz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/96 "2015-08-25T17:48:58Z")
I feel like they’re doing a good job of setting up a fairly believable metropolitan family. I’m not saying every family in LA has a junkie but it’s also not something that you’d hear about and think, “No way, that’s incredible.” It also presents a somewhat unique hurdle because the kid’s going to be going cold throughout the first season at least. A hardcore junkie can die if they quit cold turkey. It will be interesting to see how a guidance counselor and teacher with no knowledge of zombies weathers a zombie outbreak with a teenager going into severe detox. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/97 "2015-08-25T18:09:38Z")
> [@MegaNazz](#): > > It will be interesting to see how a guidance counselor and teacher with no knowledge of zombies weathers a zombie outbreak with a teenager going into severe detox. It will probably be much better than all the other times were. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/98 "2015-08-25T18:17:30Z")
Yeah, it’s better than just going to rehab for 28 days. later ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/99 "2015-08-25T18:29:54Z")
One thing about civilization ending. The weak don’t survive, and there sure as hell ain’t no drug dealers, or a steady flow of product. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638/100 "2015-08-25T19:00:41Z")
In one of the reviews I read, I thought I read that stepdad was supposed to Hispanic, but the guy is actually Maori and he convinced the producers to have him play his actual ethnicity. But I didn’t hear any NZ accent, unless he’s like the only guy of Maori ancestry born in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-the-walking-dead-series-premiere-tonight-9-open-spoilers/728638.md?page=6)