Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 29, 2021

It's been a roller coaster ride for Fear the Walking Dead, the spin-off from The Walking Dead that originally began with much fanfare but little success, found its footing when beginning to more closely resemble the parent show, and which fell off the proverbial cliff again in season five. Season six, which is very much in-line with the traditional The Walking Dead story beats and technical standards, resurrects the show from the dead once more in what is ultimately a satisfying, if not still uneven, season.

Newcomers are encouraged to start back at the beginning (which wasn't very good) and work their way through subsequent seasons (which improve only to drop off again) and return to this higher standard in season six. Every season is available on Blu-ray and linked below:

• Season One
• Season Two
• Season Three
• Season Four
• Season Five

Official synopsis: After being torn apart by the Pioneers, Morgan's (Lennie James) group is now dispersed across their far-reaching settlements, with life behind the Pioneers' walls testing each of the group's members in different ways -- and forcing them to define who they really are in this new world. As Morgan's bid to free the remaining members of the group grows bolder, Virginia's (Colby Minifie) desperation to find her sister accelerates, as does her need to protect the settlements from the enemy forces outside...and within. With new alliances forming, relationships dissolving, loyalties switching, and everyone forced to take sides, "The End Is the Beginning" reveals its deepest meaning.

Now in its sixth season, Fear the Walking Dead has run the gamut of auspicious origins to suspicious debut to bold development to crossover antics to finding itself in flailing death throes in a particularly weak and meandering fifth season. Season six returns the series to a core foundation where it's more business as usual for both the characters and for the larger TWD universe. Season six plays like it belongs in the universe, plays like it knows the universe and its characters, and plays like it wants to stay on the air and keep its fans, not push them away and disappear from view. That is not to say the season is perfect -- it faces its own challenges and pitfalls -- but it is an upswing season that starts strong, ends a little weak, but offers an infinitely watchable program that portends good things for season seven, assuming the show runners don't muck it up again.

Season six evolves at its midway point, which in the TWD universe has become something of a calling card, a soft reset for the season midway through that here introduces a new villain, Teddy (John Glover), with a curious past that makes him a particularly dangerous enemy -- if not one who is fairly flat and doesn't stand out in the larger franchise universe -- with a peculiar idea about how the world should evolve from its current state. The result is a mad scramble to an interesting finale that is at once both genius and laughably absurd: genius in the essential danger posed and challenges faced, absurd in how it ultimately plays out.

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For its sixth season Blu-ray release, Lionsgate brings Fear the Walking Dead to Blu-ray with a classically styled 1080p transfer that is very much in line with the season five release. This is aesthetically as much in-line with The Walking Dead as it gets. It's gritty, raw, but perfectly crisp, capable, and clear within its grainy construct. The picture is never wanting for greater detail; it's razor sharp across the season, well capable of bringing out, perhaps most notably, all of the horrifically decayed zombie flesh, gore, and assorted viscera associated with the grotesque "walkers." Of course, human tattered clothes, skin details, hairs, and plenty of environmental details all present with impressive depth and detail as well, well in line with core expectations for a high yield Blu-ray release from this franchise. Colors are a bit depressed in classic The Walking Dead and, in newer seasons, Fear the Walking Dead fashion. While things like red blood and natural greens are fairly vivid, there's an unmistakable sense of bleakness, tonal depression, almost a gray tint that adds to the pervasive sense of decay and lifelessness that is ever-present throughout the show. But within the confines black levels are deep and skin tones are healthy. There are hardly no signs of print wear and encode artifacts are very few and far between. This is a near perfect Fear the Walking Dead presentation from Lionsgate.

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Season five's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a capable, if not only essential, listen. Like last season there's a good feel for general world ambience and spacing but the track doesn't offer the commanding sonic barrage in its music, gunplay, squishy gore effects, or other show critical elements to truly draw the listener into the chaos. The track is somewhat reserved, with gunfire in particular not really exploding as one might expect; shots are closer to puny than they are authoritative for whatever reason. Music finds good essential spacing, particularly along the front, though not stretching through the backs with any force or fervor. Ambient effects are much more likely to be found spaced around the listener, which is vital in defining world details, whether light winds or other peaceful supports or zombie groans dotted here and there, allowing the listener to get a better feel for the geography around the scene. Dialogue is clear and robust with firm front-center placement for the duration.

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This four-disc set of Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season contains a few scattered commentary tracks. No DVD copy is included with purchase. Lionsgate has bundled in a digital copy code. This set ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

Disc One:

• Audio Commentary: For "The End Is the Beginning:" Executive Producers and Co Showrunners Andrew Chambliss, Ian Goldberg and Actor Lennie James.

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentary: For "In Dreams:" Director Michael Satrazemis and Actor Karen David.

Disc Four:

• Audio Commentary: For "J.D.:" Director Aisha Tyler and Actor Jenna Elfman and Actor Keith Carradine. For "The Beginning:" Executive Producers and Co Showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss and Actor Colman Domingo.

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Season six proves that Fear the Walking Dead is still a very viable show and that the zombie apocalypse remains a viable platform for contemporary entertainment. The season is overlong and plays like two separate entities with a clear demarcation midpoint. It might have worked better split in half. Some of the content is great, some of it is head-scratching at best and ridiculous at worst. But it's a well entertaining show, certainly an improvement upon the disastrous fifth season and still one of the better in the Fear canon. Lionsgate's four-disc Blu-ray set incudes four audio commentary tracks and no other supplements. The video and audio presentations are excellent. Recommended.