True to their word, Fear the Walking Dead co-creators Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson have given audiences a show that feels different from its post-apocalyptic predecessor while still fitting in the same universe. But there does seem to be a bit of a particular callback happening in our first look at the second half of Fear the Walking Dead Season 2, and Nick Clark looks to be well on his way to becoming this show's version of Rick Grimes. Remind you of anything?
To recap (not that there's a whole lot going on in that photo to cap in the first place): the now by-his-lonesome Nick is heading down a long road into the unknown, where there are some cars scattered. And a tower on the horizon, which could be an eventual destination for one reason or another.
Even though he's not on a horse, it doesn't take much imagination to consider this an obvious reference to one of the world's first looks at AMC's The Walking Dead before it premiered. The iconic shot of Lawman Rick riding his horse down an empty Atlanta highway with only the vaguest clue of what the hell is happening in the world around him.
Nick probably spent a lot of time on his own being strung out and/or higher than a kite before everything went to shit, and he's carried on quite well as a loner in the new world. Still, he has no clue what horrors could await him at any point during his walk, and he doesn't even have a horse. Which is a damned shame.
And it's not like this image is the only thing that connects Nick and Rick on a character level. (Their names rhyming is just a cherry on top.) Even though Papa Grimes is more established central character to that show, Nick shares his leading role with several other people, but he's clearly the person most equipped to handle himself in a walker-filled universe, largely because he thinks about things from the right perspective. He loves his family but isn't so tethered to them that they're a liability - something proven quite well by him getting pissed at Madison for Celia's death and leaving his squad behind - which isn't like Rick at all, but it's still part of the "do whatever's necessary" outlook.
Plus, they're the two characters responsible for figuring out how to walk around among the dead.
So there are definitely more differences than similarities between Nick and Rick at this point, but there's absolutely the possibility that the younger man will follow in the same thematic footsteps to become a leader himself. Does that mean we'll get to see him grow a huge bushy beard? Oooh, or maybe he'll lose his hand.
Fear the Walking Dead will return to AMC for the second half of Season 2 on Sunday, August 21, at 9 p.m. ET, with The Walking Dead Season 7 premiering in October. To see everything else coming to your televisions this fall, check out our premiere schedule.
