There’s a big reason to be scared on Sunday nights, and it’s only partially because you have work on Monday.
The much-anticipated “Walking Dead” companion series, “Fear the Walking Dead,” finally premiered on AMC, and it was intense. Things got started when Nick (Frank Dillane) woke up from a drug binge to discover that a bunch of people are dead and his friend is eating them. Realizing this isn’t normal, he runs into the street, gets hit by a car and winds up in a hospital bed, a la Rick Grimes — and the series gets underway.
Image: MoviePilot/AMC
We’ve heard the companion series would be way different from “Walking Dead,” and the premiere finally showed us what that meant. While the original show has been a lot about cool zombie head shots, the “Fear” premiere focused more on the struggles of Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), a school guidance counselor who couldn’t care less about being sentimental, and her boyfriend Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis), an English teacher, as they try to blend their families in the midst of a zombie outbreak. (Great timing, y’all.)
The premiere answered a lot of questions, but it raised quite a few as well. For instance, while struggling with a zombie at the end, did Madison actually get bit? And why do Madison’s kids hate Travis so much? Plus, Travis fixes a leak and says he saved them $300. Would it really cost that much? If so, why didn’t we all just become plumbers?
Luckily, “Fear” actress Kim Dickens talked with The Huffington Post about the premiere to answer those questions and more:
There’s a struggle between you and a zombie at the end of the first episode. Did you actually get bit?
It doesn’t appear that my character gets bitten. That’s for sure. There’s definitely scuffling, as our characters are certainly naïve of the dangers of what exactly is going on. So we get dangerously close to them.
What’s scarier: fighting zombies or raising the teens?
I personally have not raised any teens, but I have been a teenager. I jokingly said my character’s training is that she’s been wrangling teenagers for a while.
Why do the kids hate Travis so much? He seems cool.
I don’t know if they hate him. I think it’s just sort of daily dramas that go with blending a family when you have teenagers, and there’s a new authority in the house and everyone’s adjustment to that.
Since a lot of the series focuses on Los Angeles, are we going to see health-conscious or vegan zombies?
They may have been healthy before they were zombies. But I don’t think they’re very discerning in their appetite. Or they are discerning but certainly not healthy. Our zombies are fresher because they’re less decomposed. It’s an earlier place in this outbreak. So our infected — we’re not calling them zombies or walkers, we’re calling them “infected” because that’s all we know — so they look different. They’re fresher.
Though you call them infected, on “Walking Dead” they’re called walkers. LA isn’t known for people walking a lot. Do you think that gives you an advantage?
[Laughs] Well, you know, you can get in your car, and you’re stranded in traffic, so I don’t think it’s necessarily an advantage.
Will we see any LA celebrity zombies?
Wouldn’t that be great? Or go see a zombie ruin somebody’s red carpet moment. I don’t think so. Not in the first season, at least.
What is the symbol your character’s daughter Alicia gets drawn on her arm? Just a spiral?
I don’t know. That’s between her and her boyfriend’s character.
While in the hospital talking to the cops, Nick says he doesn’t even know what viscera is. Can you explain to everyone what is viscera? And can we expect more big words on the show?
[Laughs] I would imagine so. Viscera. Isn’t it parts inside the body?
Yeah, I think it’s like entrails and stuff. Speaking of that, when you guys go to the drug den there’s blood everywhere. Why don’t you call the cops at that point?
I’ve had a lot of dealings with the cops and probably wanted to get to my son first. [Madison’s] son on the show is an addict, so I think her instinct was just to try to get him on her own rather than go to the cops.
Early on, Travis repairs a leak and says it saves you $300. Would it really cost that much?
I don’t know. You’re gonna have to talk with the writers because that seems kind of pricey.
If the zombies don’t scare ya, the repair bills sure will.
“Fear the Walking Dead” airs Sunday at 9:00 p.m. ET on AMC.
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