5 pivotal moments from Fear the Walking Dead’s season 2 premiere

Giving a taste of the onset of the zombie apocalypse, Fear the Walking Dead presents the story from a different perspective: busy Los Angeles, where residents have to deal with a slew of very different challenges and situations. As with all of our series break downs, there will be plenty of spoilers below, so be aware — if you’ve yet to catch up on the series, this post isn’t for you.

While the six-episode first season started off too slowly for some fans, season two debuted with a bang, giving the show hope for a stellar run through its next 14 (yes, 14!) episodes this season. As such, we’ve outlined five truly awesome moments from the inaugural episode to get you jazzed about all the carnage to come.

1.That spectacular motorboat kill

The motorboat kill, whereby Nick (Frank Dillane) tips the boat such that the motor rips the zombie’s face to shreds like a blender, was absolutely brilliant. And seeing as it was near the beginning of the episode, it was a great way to show that, already, these guys understand what needs to be done to survive and fend off flesh-eating zombies. It’ll be no time before they’re covering themselves in zombie guts and roaming among the undead.

2.Nick is fearless

In the first season, Nick demonstrates an unwavering acceptance of the “end of the world” state. He notes that, as an addict, he’s been living in an apocalypse for some time — everyone’s just now catching up with him. Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) recognizes this, and tells Nick that he values his fearlessness. Not much later, the 19-year-old swims under a capsized boat to follow a sound without hesitation, showing no fear for the floating undead that could be there to greet him.

3.Alicia makes a mysterious contact on the CB

When 17-year-old Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) finds someone to talk to over CB radio, she quickly shows her wide-eyed, giggly teen naivety. However, while we watch her hold on to that little bit of humanity and engage with the stranger, Walking Dead fans know that this guy is likely bad news. It’s every man for himself in this world. She’ll figure that out soon enough.

4.Travis is hardening … fast

Unlike Rick (Andrew Lincoln) in The Walking Dead, who took several seasons to turn into a savage leader, Travis (Cliff Curtis) appears to be hardening quickly, as is evidenced in two particular instances: The first occurred last season when he, somewhat easily, put a mercy bullet into his ex-wife Liza’s (Elizabeth Rodriguez) head once she became infected. This season, he shows more of that callousness, relenting quickly to Strand’s decision not to stop the boat and pick up a group of survivors in the water.

5.Strand in the captain’s chair

Strand asserts the fact that the survivors are using his boat as a means to escape several times in the episode, showing a Shane-like quality (ala early Walking Dead) right from the get-go. This is a dog-eat-dog world, and you never know who you can trust. His strict rules for being on his boat reflect that Strand isn’t someone to mess with. You want to be on his good side.

The second season of Fear the Walking Dead is poised to finally bring some action alongside its much-needed back story for the franchise. It airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.