Spoilers for the finale of Fear The Walking Dead ahead.
Everybody loves zombies. AMC's megahit apocalyptic drama The Walking Dead has certainly proved that, as it is consistently breaking record in regards to viewership and critical reception. Zombiemania has proven such a sound business choice that the network produced a spinoff titled Fear The Walking Dead. Fear's second season ended this past Sunday, delivering a gut wrenching and consistently surprising two hour finale that surely helped tide hardcore viewers over until the original series returns in a few short weeks. The spinoff's finale had a ton of shocking moments, the most significant being Travis' descension into violence and murder. But is he going to continue on this path during Season 3?
Fear The Walking Dead's Executive Producer Dave Erickson recently spoke to the good folks over at ComicBook.com regarding the show's explosive finale and upcoming third season. Regarding Cliff Curtis' future performance as patriarch Travis Manawa in Season 3, Erickson said the following:
We're going to see a badass version of Curtis in Season Three, yes. I think that you can't cross that line and then go back. That's not to say he's not going to protect Madison or be protective of her and Alicia, but he's going to go about that in a much, much different way. He's going to be somebody much quicker to pull the trigger. He's going to be somebody who is far more aggressive.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty psyched about this change in Travis. Let's break down how he got to this point, and where the character might go when Fear The Walking Dead returns for a third season.
Travis has always been one of the more frustrating characters on the show for me. His pacifist attitude, while admirable, simply doesn't fly for the zombie apocalypse, as well as the viewers who have been watching Fear and The Walking Dead for years. Characters who opposite violence are fighting (or...not fighting) a losing battle, and can make for annoying interactions with more realistic characters, while also slowing the series as a whole down. This happened in Season 6 of TWD with both Morgan and Carol, and for the spinoff this role was taken by Travis.
However, things have truly been turned upside down for Madison's trusty husband. He put his ex-wife Liza down at the end of Season 1, and spent the majority of Season 2 chasing around crazypants Shane clone Chris. Unfortunately, things didn't exactly pan out the way he wanted, and Chris left his father to go off with a bunch of teenage hoodlums. He ended up being killed by one of his new comrades after breaking his leg- a practice that Chris fully supported in theory. After finding this out, Travis went full on Hulk and killed the two kids as well as another member of the Hotel community. Travis has had a mental break, and it will no doubt affect how he handles foes in Season 3.
With Madison, Travis, and Alicia all experienced killers, they're sure to be a force in Season 3. Let's hope they can somehow reunite with nomads like Nick and Ofelia. Because right now the characters are a bit too spread out for my taste.
Be sure to check in with us at CinemaBlend for all things Walking Dead. The Walking Dead will return to AMC on October 23rd.
