‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Showrunner Says Boat Gives New Direction

When Fear the Walking Dead left off last season, Travis (Cliff Curtis) and Madison (Kim Dickens) were leading their extended family away from Los Angeles, as both the undead and the military brought the city to its knees. Hooking up with Strand, played by the new series regular Colman Domingo, the group of refugees fled to Strand’s yacht.

Fear The Walking Dead Will Not Be “Love Boat With Zombies,” Says Dave Erickson

The first season finale for Fear the Walking Dead left many feeling that the spinoff series was dragging its heels and really lacking the intensity of its parent series; so, when the group took off for Strand’s boat, it left followers of the series feeling as though they had been abandoned with the zombies within the confines of blazing Los Angeles.

Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson says that’s not so and that there is a definite plan that goes along with taking everyone aboard Strand’s boat. Everyone is uneasy to begin with, because Strand seems so mysterious. That tension will build up over the span of a few episodes, as Travis and Madison begin to realize that Strand has ulterior motives for trapping the group together on his yacht at sea.

The Fear the Walking Dead executive producer says the key to season 2 is still to keep this family together, whether family is bonded by blood or a shared experience.

“It’s going to be interesting to watch the pressure put on this family — never mind the apocalypse but you’ve got a bunch of people stuck on a boat in the middle of the sea and there’s going to be a little bit of cabin fever among them.”

Erickson pushes the idea that the main source of suspense and drama will still come from the interpersonal relationships within this extended family. While there will be threats coming from zombies and possibly from the military, the main tension will be derived from how they deal with threats as a family.

Fear The Walking Dead On The Water Poses Some New Challenges

Erickson says there won’t be a huge time jump between last season and the second installment of Fear the Walking Dead, because he wants fans to experience the feeling of loss that goes along with losing L.A. to the undead. The Fear the Walking Dead showrunner also wants fans to see the move to the boat, since that will be a major location shift.

Erickson cautions fans not expect the boat to dock at a new port each week. Instead, they will find themselves stuck at sea, where the dangers will be just as imminent as those threats on land. He says zombies can’t swim, but they can wade through water, but adds that a greater threat may come from those with similar ideas about heading out on open seas.

Fear the Walking Dead‘s second season won’t be shot entirely on the Pacific. Dave reveals that, at some point, they will opt to dock and try to set up a home somewhere along the coast.

“We’re not going to make it across the Pacific,” says Fear the Walking Dead‘s Erickson. “But there will be multiple stops and, at some point, we find a place we can call home and try to rebuild. And if we do that, that will go terribly wrong!”

Erickson says that a big reason for taking the yacht has been to give a wider perspective. As Fear the Walking Dead‘s family takes to the ocean, trading one threat for another, they will realize that L.A. wasn’t the only city to fall.

“Part of what they do as they try to find places that they can hide out and escape the dangers on sea and land is they’ll also be getting the realization and confirmation that there may bot be a safe place anywhere.”

Fear the Walking Dead returns on Sunday, April 10 on AMC.

[Image by AMC]