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Fear the Walking Dead (2015) is billed as a companion series to The Walking Dead (2010), and transports audiences to the other side of the country during the original days of the zombie virus outbreak. The series takes a different approach to its storytelling, operating as more of a family drama with the occasional zombie attack as opposed to the violent, action-packed survivalist energy of the main series. This tactic amplifies the realities of what would be going on if this were a real event, and how families would try to process what was happening and what they need to do. The humdrum quandaries of regular life suddenly become overshadowed by a global fight for survival, yet the existing inter-family quarrels that existed pre-apocalypse continue to permeate their relationships.

What’s successful about the premise of Fear the Walking Dead is that we, the audience, after being privy to years of information on the parent show and over a decade worth of comics, are aware of much more than the show’s characters. While they’re busy attempting to figure out what is happening, come to terms with their new world, and figure out how to survive, we’ve already been there, done that.

It’s arguable this viewer knowledge could make Fear boring, but that’s where the change in focus is important. If the show intended to evolve as a clone of the parent program, there wouldn’t be any incentive for audiences to learn or care about what happens. But turning the angle towards a different kind of drama allows for the setting and atmosphere we already know to serve as an ominous backdrop to whatever unfolds with the new characters, without spoiling their experiences. It turns our knowledge of the original series into context instead of content, inspiring Fear to develop its own rhythm.

Knowing more than the characters also develops a constant tone of uneasiness. There are a few shots in Fear’s pilot that are successful only because it plays to our expectations. For instance, the moment when Madison (Kim Dickens) walks into her boss’s office to find him bent over in a chair, not moving, facing away from her. The camera lingers on his back, the music picks up, and Madison inches her way towards him with some caution. Immediately, viewers think “he’s a zombie,” but he was listening in on the school’s faculty to conduct teacher observations. That type of shot is made possible by the foundation built by the companion series and audience’s constant anticipation of zombie appearances. It’s definitely something we’ll continue to see.

There is definitely room for Fear the Walking Dead to take on life as a unique television program should it continue to play with viewer knowledge and expectations while concentrating on its originality.