Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

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

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 12, 2018

Some indirect spoilers are included in this review.

While it's smooth sailing for The Walking Dead, it's choppy waters for Fear there Walking Dead. It's the show that just can't seem to get over that hump, even as a show that came in riding the blazing-hot coattails of one of the most consistently excellent, engaging, and beloved shows on television. But for a number of reasons -- and a few obvious ones in particular -- there's a disconnect, an inability to not necessarily capture the same magic and regurgitate the same ideas and scenarios as its elder companion show but rather take that same essential center and make it, again, a richly realized world populated with cherished characters (heroes and a large gray-area contingency) feverishly fighting to maintain their own moral centers in an ever decaying world, where it's not the rotting flesh of the animated dead but rather the rotting human condition that's truly swirling the world around the drain.

Official synopsis: As "Fear the Walking Dead" returns for Season 3, our families will be brought together in the vibrant and violent ecotone of the U.S.-Mexico border. With the world’s end erasing international lines, our characters must attempt to rebuild not only society, but the notion of family as well. Madison has reconnected with Travis, but Alicia has been fractured by her murder of Andrés. Mere miles from his mother, Nick’s first action as a leader saw Luciana ambushed by an American militia group, and though the couple escaped death, Nick no longer feels immortal. Meanwhile, recovering both emotionally and physically, Strand has his sights set on harnessing the new world’s currency, and Ofelia’s captivity will test her ability to survive and see if she can muster the savagery of her father.

Two of the season's best moments come in its first two episodes. In episode one, Travis, Alicia, Nick, and Madison find themselves in a post-apocalyptic military base where "soldiers" are conducting experiments on the living, and the dead, very much in the style of Day of the Dead. At the beginning of episode two, the Walking Dead universe does what it does best, throwing a gut punch that's the most powerful this iteration has yet dealt. It's an honestly shocking and raw moment and so far the best Fear has had to offer, but for the show it's a quick descent from a high and a fairly steady-course path along mediocrity thereafter. Most of season three is a drag, punctuated by a few solid character moments, world-building events, and several interesting twists that altogether make the show watchable, but there's a malaise, a funk, a problem with pacing and narrative flow that the show cannot overcome. Season highlights include Nick's relationship with Jeremiah and practically any moment with Rubén Blades, including the standout episode "100" which is one of the finest hours, if not the finest, across either program and certainly in the three-season run of Fear. On the flip side, Alicia's arc is stale and Madison's evolution feels all too predictable. Action is slow to develop and the story struggles to maintain the quick-step evolution of its big brother show. It was the same problem season one encountered, and to a much lesser extent season two, still the high-water mark for the show. The common thread? The primary character roster.

Even as The Walking Dead features a fairly steady turnover with only a few holdouts from the beginning remaining, Fear the Walking Dead has largely left the main cast untouched for the duration. Of course that changes a little bit in season three, but even over the course of all the episodes and the evolutionary world-building conditions they face, the main cast remains something of a drag. There are no real compelling arcs to speak of, and even when the characters face a major emotional upheaval in the season, there's little real, tangible, raw response or a sense of lingering emotional challenge. That's where The Walking Dead soars and Fear the Walking Dead stumbles. The latter is bone dry, emotionally, and the characters offer little reason to care beyond that they're main characters. Whether it's the script or the performances or something in the middle, Fear's unwillingness to push and gnaw and inability to do anything in the aftermath when it does leave the audience reeling are significant faults. Viewers are left glazing over the story's slow-drip construct without much in the way of emotional connection to the roster. Season three is particularly bad in this regard; it does just enough to keep forward momentum going with some, admittedly, solid work building towards the intersection of two paralleling stories -- the ranch and the dam -- but the show is hardly the emotional wrecking ball continually colliding with the inertia-driven narrative that makes the other show such a rousing success.

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

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season ambles onto Blu-ray with a generally high-yield 1080p transfer. Low-light noise is commonplace, and it's not unheard of to see it buzzing about during more brightly lit scenes as well, but rarely is it bothersome in any lighting condition. This is, overall, a positive image experience, one that boasts nicely defined textural complexities such as frayed and worn clothes, weathered and bloody faces, crisply shaped environments, and of course various gory zombie makeup and prosthetics. Of particular highlight are some impressively presented textural wonders on worn-down city streets early in episode four, which also offers some highly agreeable color depth and density. Colors are even and well saturated as a rule. Red blood is richly vibrant, variously colored clothes dazzle, and any number of environments -- though many are fairly earthy as they are -- are accurately portrayed. Black levels are pleasantly deep and true with only the occasional burst of paleness or noise peering through. Skin tones across the show's diverse spectrum appear true to any given actor's complexion. Beyond some trace examples of banding and the aforementioned noise, no troublesome source or encode issues are immediately apparent.

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

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack generally hits all the right notes. The track provides well-rounded (literally given the surround parameters) and nicely defined world ambience, whether considering environment-essential details like insects or wide, booming, striking thunder in episode four or briefly heard but scene-critical details like dripping water in a chilling torture chamber or angry chirps and beeps in a damaged helicopter. No matter the support sound, the track does a good job of spacing things out and delivering clear, accurate cues that draw the listener into various locales. Core action effects are a little more hit-or-miss. Zombie groans can range from throaty to screechy with impressive definition, but gunshots usually fail to offer any kind of serious depth or engagement. Music is well integrated, nicely defined through the entire range, positively spaced, and enjoying a good flow and feel to its placement throughout the speakers available to it. Positive low end engagement is a regular aid, which includes some very good percussion beats early in episode two. Dialogue is always well defined from its consistent front-center locale.

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

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season contains three commentary tracks and deleted scenes for select episodes.

Disc One:

• Audio Commentary: Co-Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Dave Erickson, Co-Executive Producer/Director Andrew Bernstein, and Actor Kim Dickens for "Eye of the Beholder."

Disc Two:

• Audio Commentary: Co-Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Dave Erickson, Co-Executive Producer/Director Andrew Bernstein, Writer Jami O'Brien and Actors Kim Dickens and Dayton Callie For "Children of Wrath"

Disc Four:

• Audio Commentary: Co-Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Dave Erickson, Co-Executive Producer/Director Andrew Bernstein, and Actor (sic) Kim Dickens and Colman Domingo for "Sleigh Ride."
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, various runtimes): Scenes from episodes 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 307, 311, 313, and 314.

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

Spinoff TV is tricky business. For every Better Call Saul -- which, at this point, might be better than its parent show, Breaking Bad -- there's a Fear the Walking Dead, a second-rate show that has never, save for a few isolated scenes and brief story arc details, come anywhere close to the excellence of The Walking Dead. The show handles essential drama well enough but struggles to take command of its emotional center, build a convincing world, or shape its characters with a fine-point chisel. It's solid enough entertainment, but it cannot -- and at this point seemingly will not -- reach that summit where The Walking Dead has long been perched. Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season delivers solid video and audio along with some scattered commentaries and deleted scenes. Worth a look.