‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Season 5 Premiere ‘Here to Help’ Review: A Failed Mission

Fear the Walking Dead returns with a promising future ahead. After the convoluted fourth season and completely disregarding everything that went down post-dam explosion in season three, the show looks like it’s back on its feet, ready to take off with a new narrative and a fresh bunch of characters. But despite Fear being an established spinoff of the Walking Dead universe, the season 5 premiere establishes a distinct connection to the main show—making it seem as if the two are bound to meet halfway soon.

Tonight’s premiere episode, titled “Here to Help,” offers a fresh, new look to the show and introduces four new characters right off the bat. Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 also sports a new opening title card, which is now a little more colorful than last season’s bleak aesthetic:

AMC

My previous review of Fear the Walking Dead‘s season 4 finale had me saying that I was ready to say goodbye to the show. But what season 5 offers is an interesting new world that’s established within Fear‘s chosen narrative and a hopeful glimpse at redemption. Where Angela Kang succeeded in making The Walking Dead Season 9 good again, Fear showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg seemingly learned from their mistakes in season 4 and made this a launchpad to make the show more interesting and less drab.

Simply put, Fear the Walking Dead is on the right track this time.

A Brand New Premise for Fear the Walking Dead

Season 4 ended with Morgan (Lennie James) bringing the whole gang together to go around and continue the trucker legacy of helping people. True enough, season 5 cold opens with an optimistic fanfare and a distinct feel of it being a totally different reality within Fear the Walking Dead‘s timeline. We are introduced to brothers Dylan (Cooper Dodson) and Max (Ethan Suess) as they witness a plane crash land in a radioactive area. In it, Morgan’s crew consisting of Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Al (Maggie Grace), John (Garret Dillahunt), June (Jenna Elfman), and Luciana (Danay Garcia).

Ryan Green/AMC

Conflict is established right away as the group recovers from the rubble to fight off the onslaught of a herd lumbering towards the crash site. As soon as they clear out the area, another new face comes to their rescue—Annie (Bailey Gavulic), Dylan and Max’s older sister. It’s not clear where these kids came from, or where their allegiances lie, but it seems like we won’t be having them on the show all the way. It’s also worth noting how the term for the Dead keeps expanding, especially in Fear. We only knew them as Walkers back in Georgia and the Infected from the first three seasons of Fear the Walking Dead. Now we call them Growlers thanks to Annie, Dylan, and Max,

We then find out that Morgan is looking for a guy named Logan and his small group of survivors. Little does he know that Logan wants the Denim Factory for himself, seeing as he was Clayton’s (the man behind the “Take What You Need, Leave What You Don’t” boxes) former trucking partner. After retaking the factory, he boots Strand (Colman Domingo), Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), Sarah (Mo Collins), and Wendell (Daryl Mitchell) out—leaving the whole crew homeless once again. Alicia becomes enraged, swearing to kill Logan as Morgan tried to keep her cool.

Ryan Green/AMC

A former series regular also makes his return to the show. Daniel (Rubén Blades) is seen in one of Al’s tapes when she tasks Strand to acquire a new airplane from one of the people she interviewed. After all that Daniel and Strand have been through, it’s going to be a tough reunion for the two frenemies.

It’s a simple premise for a premiere episode, but it strongly weaves in the initial threads that will complete Fear the Walking Dead’s season 5 storyline.

Notable Connection to ‘The Walking Dead’

“Here to Help” not only acts as a good beginning for the new season; it also sets up a subtle but massive connection to Rick Grimes and the main Walking Dead show.

As the crew clears out the crash site from the Growlers, Al encounters a new zombie that showrunners Chambliss and Goldberg previously teased to “open a universe of possibilities” for the show’s storytelling. This Walker was decked out in black riot gear, making it impossible for Al to stab it in the head. Curiosity also got the better of her, as she returned to the crash site to film the zombie on her camcorder. Al discovers a booklet of hand-drawn maps, with a prominent logo of three rings marking the cover. The same logo was seen on the helicopter as Rick was airlifted out by Jadis and her new people.

But then again, Fear the Walking Dead’s timeline fast forwarded to 18 months when Morgan came along to become the show’s new lead; meaning Rick is still alive and kicking during Fear‘s current season. This just goes to show that the community where Rick is currently recovering is huge, one that we are bound to encounter in the latter season of both Fear and The Walking Dead.

‘Fear the Walking Dead: Here to Help’ Overall Verdict

Fear the Walking Dead is crafting a worthwhile redemptive arc for season 5. It completely re-writes the mistakes of Season 4 and takes on a life of its own. But it’s no denying that the old version of the show is literally dead. Instead, we are given a brand new take on the show’s long-standing battle and journey with the Dead—and that’s okay. If it stays on this track, it could also bask in the same glory that The Walking Dead Season 9 currently exudes.

Fear the Walking Dead continues next Sunday, June 9th, with “The Hurt That Will Happen” at 9/8c on AMC. Watch the preview below: