Fear the Walking Dead Eye of the Beholder/The New Frontier review S3 Ep1 and Ep. 2

Eye of the Beholder and The New Frontier were certainly interesting ways to kick off the third season. Give Fear the Walking Dead credit for the ballsy move of killing off one of the series’ main characters in such unexpected fashion. That outta nowhere death would be the equivalent of the main show killing Daryl, Carol or Michonne with no build-up.

The series is three seasons in now and it’s still a struggle to completely care about the cast. Madison has yet to evolve into a compelling character. Nick is far too erratic and melodramatic. Only Alicia has really changed for the better barring her occasional lapses of good judgment. Travis was a good man and fairly complex as far as killer zombie shows go. After his big moment in the pit, he seemed poised to be the kind of kick-a$$ fighter this show badly needed. And then came that fateful helicopter ride.

But first, Madison, Travis and Alicia once again had to play Where’s Nick? Our gallant ‘savior’ botched his chance to play hero and now he and Luciana were all that was left of the Colonia villagers. On the plus side, the same militant nut jobs grabbed Travis, Madison and Alicia too. Their leader, Troy (Daniel Sharman, The Collection), is a little off. Still, maybe he doesn’t have the worst idea about conducting experiments on the walking dead process?

I’m glad Eye of the Beholder didn’t waste a lot of time on Troy’s troops. After a long at times needlessly draining season with The Saviors, the last thing Fear the Walking Dead needs to do is get in on the action too.

And for all my endless annoyance with her indecisiveness, it was nice to see Madison step up. Who knew a spoon could be such a deadly weapon? This was probably the first time she’s gone into a battle of wits where didn’t enter unarmed. RIP Steven. That guy helped Travis, Nick and Luciana escape and got killed cause Nick decided to be chivalrous.

Troy’s brother, Jake (Sam Underwood) helped defuse the tension enough for the two groups to rally when the walkers invaded. I’ve watched a lot of Walking Dead shows, but by far the creepiest thing ever was the rats emerging from that vent shaft. And really, that goof had that awful death coming. Why would anyone think that was a good idea?

As a kickoff to the third season, Eye of the Beholder definitely had some exhilarating and tense-filled moments. It wasn’t perfect, but it set the season up for some interesting possibilities.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Read on for The New Frontier review

Photo Credit: Michael Desmond/AMC