When a person engages in a certain activity to earn a living, even if we talk about those that require artistic skills, it is very unlikely that they will not end up adopting certain guidelines or acquiring some customs that can be seen in the fruit of their work. Because, the episode “The Portrait” (7×07) from Fear the walking dead (Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, since 2015) begins as it begins.
In other words, with the same narrative approach as “Cindy Hawkins” (7×03), especially, but also “Breathe with Me” (7×04): showing us successive scenes of a routine that, at a certain moment, breaks for an unexpected event. And it turns out that the script of this chapter signs it Nick bernardone (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), which has dealt with the The Walking Dead: Red Machete (2017-2018) and six others from the first spin-off, like the mentioned third of this season.
The one in the fourth belongs to Nazrin Choudhury and David Johnson, but remember that the showrunner Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (Once upon a time) are above, pulling the strings. And let “The Portrait” direct it Heather cappiello (Blue bloods), which had already been in charge of “Handle with Care” (6×10) and “USS Pennsylvania” (6×15) and “Quatervois” (2×05) and “Who Are You?” (2×06) in The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Scott M. Gimple and Matthew Negrete, since 2020) accentuates the idea of repeating the last habits of this post-apocalyptic account of the AMC.
Restless lies the head that wears the crown
Certain elements of this routine were already in both “Cindy Hawkins” and in that episode of Lost (JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber, 2004-2010), entitled “Man of Science, Man of Faith” (2×01), the beginning of which reminds us. And others are pregnant with a surrealism that insists like no antecedent in megalomania of the character who has returned to unpredictable walks for everyone, except for Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades): the always difficult Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) in his dangerous drift.
The worrying swerve with which the sequence before the titles closes fits his character and even emphasizes it. But we fear that the threat unusual which then hits him with new faces, one of those curious occurrences that could only be given to us in Fear the walking deadMay you exert your already alarming audacity; if such a thing is possible, of course. Especially when the matter becomes even more complicated, deepening the feeling that there is a mystery to solve in what happens.
A new 360 degree twist on ‘Fear the Walking Dead’
Lto supposed paranoia, eternal companion of the megalomaniac leaders, who suffers what we could consider the villain of this seventh season should not be completely if Nick Bernardone, Heather Cappiello and the pair of showrunners they want to satisfy the public’s desire to be intrigued and astonished on a good basis. As with one of the settings in “The Portrait”, which could seem more typical of an action film similar to Crystal jungle (John McTiernan, 1988) than of this zombie drama in its verticality.
The candid conversations between Victor Strand and Morgan Jones (Lennie James), with their thorny possibilities and their ability to move and show us irreducible ambiguity of the first in Fear the walking dead, whose redemption is on the tightrope, are a real dramatic taste here. And, just when we think the alliances are back on track, a definite twist sinks them to the bottom; and the unrest by an exacerbated attitude oppresses us. How the final surprise shakes us, generating questions, and the cliffhanger with which the chapter ends.