Fear the Walking Dead Review: Eye of the Beholder/ The New Frontier (Season 3 Episodes 1 and 2)
Fear the Walking Dead’s two-episode premiere doesn’t hold back on tension, cool zombie moments, or a major character’s death.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 Episodes 1 and 2, “Eye of the Beholder” and “The New Frontier” take place quickly after the Season 2 finale.
“Eye of the Beholder” is the stronger episode, mostly because it’s so action-packed and has the most zombie thrills. After spending the second half of Season 2 apart, it’s nice to see that there is no time wasted in Travis, Madison, and Alicia reuniting with Nick.
Poor Luciana has basically nothing to do in either episode, only burying her head in Nick’s shoulder or wafting into unconsciousness. Hopefully, she’ll heal soon so she can get back to being a badass character.
Alicia and Madison get holed up in a cushy office as they are offered hot tea by Troy, a soldier with an unhinged smile and a little psychotic gleam to his eye. Meanwhile, Travis is whisked away to a holding area where he sees Nick and Luciana.
Nick hasn’t seen the new Travis, the one who beats men to death, so the slightly bemused look on Nick’s face as he watches Travis stir up trouble with the soldiers is funny.
The soldiers, by the way, are killing most of the people who traveled to the border with Nick. They kill and then wait to see how long it takes for them to resurrect. But it’s cool because you know, science.
The tension gets ramped up as Travis, Nick, Luciana, and a random named Steve cause chaos and then escape. But Travis doesn’t get far and then has to face a pit of walkers.
We are treated to the new, fearless, tough Travis on “ Eye of the Beholder” as he is a one-man zombie killing machine.
The pit is reminiscent of scenes from Season 7 of The Walking Dead, but we all know what kind of survivor Rick Grimes is and we’re just starting to see what kind Travis will be.
Until he dies.
Which is shortly after “The New Frontier” begins. More on that in just a moment.
The action on “Eye of the Beholder” continues as Madison takes Troy hostage by practically spooning out his eye. We meet his brother, Jake, who seems more even-keeled, and he agrees to help Madison reunite with her family.
There is another taut action sequence as a walker herd takes over the compound. Although Madison doesn’t want to go to Jake’s family ranch, she has no choice once Alicia, Travis, and Luciana escape onto a waiting helicopter.
I’m glad that they are leaving the compound because the whole soldier aspect is too repetitive of Season 1.
Nick and Madison are forced to share a car with Troy, who doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against the Clarks but I suspect that he is going to try and exact his revenge somehow. I wouldn’t be surprised either if Troy used to kill animals for fun when he was younger.
“Eye of the Beholder” comes to a glorious end as we see Travis, stoically looking out from the helicopter with a shotgun at his side. It feels like it could have even been the ending to a season rather than the start of one.
Things take a nosedive quickly on “The New Frontier” as someone shoots at the helicopter. Suddenly, Travis grips his neck. He’s been shot. He knows he will die quickly and rather than put the others at risk, Travis throws himself out of the helicopter.
So long, Travis. You will be missed.
It’s too bad that Travis is dead because we were just seeing his potential to be a great fighter. However, losing Chris absolutely devastated him and it changed him too. Travis could have continued on, but he certainly wasn’t going to like himself or the things he was forced to do.
Perhaps Travis had to die so that Madison’s sole focus will be on Nick and Alicia. Travis would definitely struggle with who had become, meanwhile, I think Madison kind of likes her new hardness.
“The New Frontier” introduces us to Brokejaw Ranch, which I hope isn’t just a Southwestern version of Herschel’s Farm. Madison and Nick arrive first and meet with Troy and Jake’s father, Jeremiah, played by Sons of Anarchy’s Dayton Callie.
Jeremiah is a no-BS kind of guy, but so far, he seems alright. Nick wants to get out right away, but Madison tells him they need to stick around. Madison is making the right decision to not be so rash.
Alicia and Jake make it back to the ranch with an unconscious Luciana, who Troy gleefully wants to kill because she may die if she goes to the infirmary. We all knew that Nick simply wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
It’s awfully fun to see him point a gun at Troy, although, once again, a smart decision is made, and he doesn’t pull the trigger. Jeremiah allows Luciana in.
Madison later tells her kids that they are going to stay at the ranch and they’ll take it over if they have to.
Now, I know that watchers often get annoyed with Madison or feel that he cockiness is not earned.
But, she’s seriously faking it until she makes it. Madison’s character has changed dramatically from the first season, but one thing has always been constant–the love of her family. She will do anything to protect them.
Besides, I don’t want to see a wishy-washy main character who isn’t going to make ballsy moves or who is just going to wing it. Madison is tough. She may not know how she’s going to take the ranch over, but at least she sounds like she does.
Lastly, we check in with Strand who is still at the hotel in Mexico. He pretends to be a doctor to calm the crowds gathering outside the hotel, only to be kicked out soon after.
Strand’s scene with Ilene, the woman who stabbed him in Season 2, is one of the best of the episode as he tells her about how terrified he was to deliver a baby, but how he has hope with a new generation. Ilene says that there are no new generations right before she leaps to her death.
It’s such a perfect conversation for Fear the Walking Dead (or any post-apocalyptic show) because that is the eternal struggle, right? The fight to go on, to survive, to hope for something more, but then there is the other side of the coin which is full of loss and despair.
We last see Strand as he unveils the wedding present Ilene gives him– a Maserati. Where will Strand go next? Will he meet up again with Ofelia or the Clarks?
“Eye of the Beholder” and “The New Frontier” are not perfect episodes, but give Season 3 a strong start. There is an abundance of family drama but still plenty of action and high-stakes tension to keep us on our toes.
We have plenty more to learn about Brokejaw Ranch, who shot at the helicopter, where Strand is headed, where Ofelia is, and how the Clarks will adapt to their new digs.
Walker Nibbles:
- I love Nick’s little smile when he feels Madison’s gun and when she says they’ll do whatever they need to do.
- I have a feeling that Alicia and Jake are going to have some sort of “connection” and not sure that I want that to happen.
- Alicia continues to have amazing hair.
- The soldiers ask Travis, who’s Maori, if he communicated with anyone in New Zealand before comms went down. How is the rest of the world? I’d love a Walking Dead spin-off in an international location. The Walking Dead of Paris?
What did you think of the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.
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Nora Williamson
Nora is pop-culture obsessed and has been since she was six years old-- writing stories about going to Hollywood premieres and dating Christian Slater. Her current favorite shows include House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, The Walking Dead and black-ish. She is a sucker for TV shows with forbidden love, bad boys and of course, a Big Bad. Nora may also be the only person on the planet who loves Fear the Walking Dead.