Fear The Walking Dead’s Record Scores Continue To Reveal A Shocking Turnaround

Credit where credit is due, Fear the Walking Dead’s recent surge of quality was not just limited to its premiere, and here in season 6 we are now up to three episodes aired and a fourth coming tonight with early previews already live indicating another quality installment is on the way.

It is a little hard to express just how remarkable this is. Even with the same showrunners as the generally disliked seasons 4 and 5, Fear the Walking Dead season 6 has now produced three of the top 10 IMDB scored episodes in series history, and it’s likely looking at a fourth tonight.

Here’s the list as it stands right now:

1. The End is the Beginning (Season 6, Episode 1 – 8.9)

2. Welcome to the Club (Season 6, Episode 2 – 8.5)

3. Alaska (Season 6, Episode 3 – 8.5)

4. The Good Man (Season 1, Episode 6 – 8.5)

5. Sleigh Ride (Season 3, Episode 16 – 8.3)

6. Brother’s Keeper (Season 3, Episode 12 – 8.3)

7. What’s Your Story (Season 4, Episode 1 – 8.3)

8. This Land is Your Land (Season 3, Episode 13 – 8.2)

9. Wrath (Season 2, Episode 15 – 8.2)

10. Children of Wrath (Season 3, Episode 8 – 8.2)

So yeah, the first three episodes of season 6 are tied with the season 1 finale as the top four of the entire series. That’s wild. And looking ahead to tonight, there are only 37 reviews in for the John Dorie episode, The Key, but it already has a perfect ten from AMC early viewers, it seems, and all the previews I’ve read say it’s another quality episode.

Last week’s episode, Alaska, contained significant developments in that it had both Dwight reunite with Sherry at last, and Al made contact with Isabelle again, a member of the helicopter people, returning to that storyline which was one of the only highlights of last season. It was indeed a solid episode. I still am not sure that these three episodes are the three best in series history surpassing everything from season 3, but I’d give that honor to at least Morgan’s premiere, which is currently #1 and seems like it’s going to stay that way.

We have never seen a season of Fear the Walking Dead open this strongly in terms of fan ratings. Actual ratings? I mean they’re not high, but at around a 1.50, they’re actually higher than a lot of the episodes from season 5, probably over half, and we have not seen a steep drop-off or anything, so that’s more good news.

With The Walking Dead ending after season 11, giving way to a Carol and Daryl spin-off, and World Beyond being a 20 episode limited run series, it’s not clear what happens to Fear, which does not have an end date. But with positive press (even from me!) and decent viewership, I would expect there might be a few more years left of it if this trend continues. Stay tuned.

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