AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead" turned up the action for its second episode on Sunday, but as the body count increased so did some questions as to the race of the show's first casualties.
More and more people became infected by the mysterious disease that was making people act zombie-like. And the show's primary family experienced it for themselves when Nick's (Frank Dillane) friend and drug dealer Calvin (Keith Powers) became infected and Nick and his parents barely escaped without being bitten.
On Sunday, we learned that Alicia's (Alycia Debnam-Carey) boyfriend had become infected. And despite her desire to take care of him, her parents convinced her to leave him. The power had gone out in parts of the city and there was a growing unease among the citizens.
Meanwhile, Nick was suffering from intense withdrawal. In an effort to help her son, Madison (Kim Dickens) went to the school to find medication to help him. While there, she discovers that Principal Artie has become full-on zombie. And in order to save herself (and a student, who himself was stocking up on goods from the school), Madison had to bash the principal's head in.
One thing that viewers and TV critics realized was that the three victims were all black. Plus, all of this occurred against a backdrop that wreaked of comparisons to Ferguson -- first responders were being attacked by the infected and police were resorting to gunning down unarmed citizens who wouldn't back down.
Viewers expressed some outrage over the show's number of black deaths:
So, first two episodes of @FTWD_AMC and two black people die in both episodes. Well, thanks for the hope, but I'm gonna watch @whoismrrobot.
Typical how they have killed all the black characters off already. #FTWD
— ryan (@ricklgrimes) August 31, 2015
Damn...dating a black guy is harder in the Walking Dead than in 1940s America. #FTWD
— The Dark Patriot (@casiichandler) August 31, 2015
Damn, the black people dropping like flies! AGAIN! Three brothers in the first two shows!
SMH! #brotherQuota#FTWD
— Justice (@justnice0409) August 31, 2015"Fear the Walking Dead" showrunner and co-creator Dave Erickson said that race was never a factor when deciding who would die.
"When we were writing the pilot, it wasn't something that came up in conversations in the room or with the network," Erickson told The Hollywood Reporter. "Ultimately, it came down to when we were casting those parts, we didn't know who was going to live, who would die or how those stories would arc out or not arc out. For us, it was about casting that felt reflective of the community and getting the best actor and that was the final determining factor."
When THR asked if there was some discussion about the race of the actors once those casualties were decided and the casting completed, the showrunner said no.
"For that episode, it was about how it would reflect on the characters themselves and how things would play out over the course of the season," he said. "I realize it's clearly become an issue and it's something we are mindful of. But ultimately it's trying to tell the story the best way we can and cast the best people we can."
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