‘Fear the Walking Dead’ episode 3 summary, recap

Fear the Walking Dead has been successful with limited introduction to the show’s zombie outbreak, the catastrophe that is out there.

The situations seen in the third episode, ‘The Dog,’ tend to be as fertile a breeding ground for questions as they are for creating more of the undead. Those questions primarily concern who knew what and when, and how did it all get so bad so fast? A true origin will likely never be released.

By limiting how much the audience and characters know and what they can see, Director Adam Davidson delivers an effectively eerie and progressively terrifying atmosphere, the show depicts what the characters are allowed to see and how they choose to take in the chaos around them.

To recap, Travis (Cliff Curtis), his ex-wife(Elizabeth Rodriguez), and his son are given refuge in a barbershop, thanks to the Salazar family. The characters are relatively safe, Chris makes eye contact with a walker with red-ringed, lifeless eyes staring back. A fire next to the barbershop leads to an emergency exit and a race through the burning streets.

Lorenzo James Henrie in “Fear the Walking Dead”

Travis, Madison, Daniel, and especially Nick (Frank Dillane) process the information of the outbreak, but never really compare notes as the family regroups.

‘The Dog’ contains sequences where characters are forced to make on-the-spot decisions that may or may not go against the type of person they think they are. Killing the “undead” is used as a quick divide between the characters. Daniel, played by Ruben Blades, is particularly guilty of this, as he demonstrates zero hesitation for killing those he perceives as a threat, and calling others who cannot bring themselves to kill so easily “weak.”

Kim Dickens’ character, Madison, struggles with this decision and truly captivates the audience as viewers will now discuss “what they would do” or just “kill it.”

Fear the Walking Dead not only has an interesting handle on how to limit its characters’ understanding of the situation, but it also to foreshadow the hopelessness of the characters not reacting and planning.

Alycia Debnam-Carey also stars as the daughter Alicia.

Fear the Walking Dead continues Sunday with ‘Not Fade Away’ @9pm on AMC.