New Details About Fear The Walking Dead

With the success of The Walking Dead still far from dwindling, it's no surprise that AMC and the series creator Robert Kirkman went ahead and spawned a new series, simply titled Fear The Walking Dead.

Though news of the companion series have been out awhile, we still don't know much about the story, and characters, other than it is set in Los Angeles, and will star Cliff Curtis as a divorced teacher in a relationship with Kim Dickens character, who's a guidance counselor with two children played by Frank Dillane, and Alycia Debney Carey.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Fear The Walking Dead showrunner, Dave Erickson offered more than a couple of details about the new series.

First of all Fear The Walking Dead isn't a prequel, as it's set during not before the events of the main series.

We are loosely covering the period of time that [The Walking Dead’s] Rick (Andrew Lincoln) was in his coma in season one. We’re able to watch and experience the things that he missed. It’s more of a parallel story than a prequel; imagine the opening where Rick gets shot and goes in his coma — that day was probably very close to our day one. We’re playing out the idea of what was going on in the country and the world until he woke up, stepped outside and it’s welcome to the apocalypse. That’s why a ‘companion piece’ has been the phrase used at the network. It’s not a prequel in the sense of Better Call Saul, where we’re jumping back six, seven years. It does tie very specifically into the pilot of the original. ‘Prequel’ is not the right word; it’s kind of its own strange, hybrid thing. I wish I had a better word.

As for finding out what exactly caused the zombie apocalypse, don't hold your breath.

I had a couple of early pitches that touched on what you’re referring to and Robert shut me down. For him, it’s never been about what caused it; it’s always been about the impact it has on people.

Case in point, the dynamic within this family of survivors will be one of the main dramatic forces behind the series.

We have this highly dysfunctional, blended family and all the issues that they face and they would have faced if the apocalypse hadn’t struck, those are the problems we’re exploring. The main narrative drive is the conflicts within this family dynamic and how those things are exacerbated by the arrival of the apocalypse.

For instances:

Travis (Curtis) just moved in with his girlfriend Madison (Dickens) after they got married. She has two children, one of whom has some issues. Travis has a very pissed-off teenager and an ex-wife. You’re talking about two people who, as the story opens, all they want is to bring their family together under one roof and make everyone whole. The irony for us is that the only thing that helps accomplish that is that the world ends.

Many of our characters, as we will come to discover, have gone through some very unsavory things — histories that they try to bury. With the onset of the apocalypse, they’re going to have choices to make as to whether they can tap into the darker sides of themselves things that they tried to distance themselves from in order to survive. They also end up going back to the quotidian of it. In a blended family, you’re also dealing with people who have been in marriages and have lost loved ones; have been in marriages and gone through divorce; and they’re going through their own identity shifts when we first meet them within the family drama world of things. Then, as everything becomes more serious, you’re forced to shift, adjust and become the thing that you hated. There are some lovely intersections between some of the thematics on the original show, where at a certain point doing the right thing becomes the absolute wrong thing. We’re going to start with some relationships, specifically the Travis and Madison relationship — which is beautiful and everything seems to be harmonious and they’re truly in love — and we’re going to put them through the ringer over the course of season one.

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