Odessa
- Episode aired May 25, 2023
- TV-MA
- 43m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
Mo's hunt to prove PADRE's true intentions has her in over her head as she's drawn into the larger web of secrets.Mo's hunt to prove PADRE's true intentions has her in over her head as she's drawn into the larger web of secrets.Mo's hunt to prove PADRE's true intentions has her in over her head as she's drawn into the larger web of secrets.
Lennie James
- Morgan Jones
- (credit only)
Colman Domingo
- Victor Strand
- (credit only)
Danay Garcia
- Luciana Galvez
- (credit only)
Austin Amelio
- Dwight
- (credit only)
Karen David
- Grace Mukherjee
- (credit only)
Christine Evangelista
- Sherry
- (credit only)
Omer Mughal
- Goddard
- (as Omer Aziz Mughal)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe middle-spotted woodpecker is a European bird. It is not found in North America.
Featured review
All the mystery surrounding this group and who was behind it, which had been built up since the end of the previous season, is broken in a ridicul*us way
When it was announced, "Fear" was marketed as a series that would address the beginnings of the apocalypse within the universe of "The Walking Dead," and one of the main things fans expected to see was the origin of the virus and the potential cure. However, as the seasons progressed, the series strayed from this concept and shifted its focus more towards survival.
Over the years, "Fear" significantly lost its audience. At its launch, the series had achieved a record viewership worldwide, even surpassing the main series and the more recent "The Last Of Us." However, due to the questionable quality presented over the seasons, the audience gradually abandoned the series, leading up to this 8th and final season. In essence, it took the series about eight years to answer a question, and it chose its worst phase to do so, as the main series, which carried the highest viewership in this universe, has ended, and the viewership of this spin-off is the lowest of all. Thus, they answered a question that few will know the answer to and that will not affect the main series, since it has already concluded.
Besides these issues, the idea that a cure was discovered by a nurse who isn't a scientist, and with a group that lacks half the resources of a CRM (Civic Republic Military) or Commonwealth, is a huge and forced convenience. Moreover, if this cure is not addressed in upcoming spin-offs, all of this will have been in vain.
A positive aspect highlighted in other episodes was the fact that the season had fewer episodes, which helped the plot to have more substance and pace, something this chapter seems to have failed to capitalize on. Many of the scenes seem disjointed and unresolved, as if during editing many were cut. For example, the scene where Mo (Zoe Merchant) and Dove (Jayla Walton) suddenly find themselves walking in the forest and investigating the schemes of PADRE, and how they got there and why they decided to investigate, especially Dove, who in previous episodes seemed satisfied with PADRE's actions, remain unanswered during the episode.
Additionally, the poor handling of the time passage between the previous episode and this one, which seems to be a direct continuation but simultaneously states it takes place a few days later, makes the episode quite confusing.
The reunion of these two major characters was a huge disappointment and a waste of potential; the episode does not sufficiently explore their relationship, something that could be better explored in future chapters and has great potential, but "Odessa" squanders this golden opportunity for much of the time. Fortunately, this episode saw the return of one of the best and most beloved characters of the series, Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades). A character who has been winning over audiences since the first season, and rightfully so, as the actor is always very charismatic and his Panamanian accent adds even more charm to the character.
Moving from one of the episode's positives to one of its major negatives, we encounter a series of unnecessary suspenseful elements that the episode introduces. One of them is the entire mystery behind the character Dove, who had until then been very underexplored, resulting in a lack of connection between the character and the audience.
The episode creates situations to place her in specific locations at exact moments, and from there, it generates clumsy suspense around the character's parentage. The episode thinks it's developing an interesting plot for the character by putting her in conflict with everyone in search of her true identity and origin, but it fails because it executes this idea in such a weak and generic manner.
Another poor reveal in the episode concerns the identity of PADRE. All the mystery surrounding this group and who was behind it, which had been built up since the end of the previous season, is broken in a ridicul*us way. This third chapter is filled with flashbacks that serve to explain the origin of this group, and it could not have been more cliché. The episode tries to deceive us by working with the idea that the man leading PADRE might be Krennick (Michael B. Silver), the father of Shrike-Sam (Maya Eshet). But we later discover that Krennick died trying to save his children Sam and Ben (Daniel Rashid), and that the mysterious man behind PADRE is Ben, and that he and his sister developed and shaped what PADRE would become. All the flashbacks serve to deceive us and briefly tell the story of PADRE, but this is shattered by a terrible revelation that diminishes the merits of this group and their level of threat, because discovering that the great mysterious leader is nothing more than a teenager pretending to be someone he is not, completely nullifies the mystery and threat that had been built up around this group.
"Odessa" is by far the worst episode of the season so far. It has the weakest script, the worst editing, and technical work. It is filled with events that, instead of enhancing the story, diminish it, destroying some of the good ideas that had been built up until then. Episodes like this, with such empty and clichéd stories, led to the downfall of "Fear the Walking Dead." But despite some flaws, the episode still moves the story forward and maintains the season's fast pace, giving us hope that this arc around PADRE might be concluded in this first part of the season, leaving room for the last six episodes of the series to tackle a new plot. We just have to wait and see if the next three episodes will conclude this arc in a worthy or forgettable manner. The season suffers a significant drop in quality overall with this episode, but the hope for a good season and good episodes still persists, depending on whether the next ones are as good as the first two or as bad as this third one.
Over the years, "Fear" significantly lost its audience. At its launch, the series had achieved a record viewership worldwide, even surpassing the main series and the more recent "The Last Of Us." However, due to the questionable quality presented over the seasons, the audience gradually abandoned the series, leading up to this 8th and final season. In essence, it took the series about eight years to answer a question, and it chose its worst phase to do so, as the main series, which carried the highest viewership in this universe, has ended, and the viewership of this spin-off is the lowest of all. Thus, they answered a question that few will know the answer to and that will not affect the main series, since it has already concluded.
Besides these issues, the idea that a cure was discovered by a nurse who isn't a scientist, and with a group that lacks half the resources of a CRM (Civic Republic Military) or Commonwealth, is a huge and forced convenience. Moreover, if this cure is not addressed in upcoming spin-offs, all of this will have been in vain.
A positive aspect highlighted in other episodes was the fact that the season had fewer episodes, which helped the plot to have more substance and pace, something this chapter seems to have failed to capitalize on. Many of the scenes seem disjointed and unresolved, as if during editing many were cut. For example, the scene where Mo (Zoe Merchant) and Dove (Jayla Walton) suddenly find themselves walking in the forest and investigating the schemes of PADRE, and how they got there and why they decided to investigate, especially Dove, who in previous episodes seemed satisfied with PADRE's actions, remain unanswered during the episode.
Additionally, the poor handling of the time passage between the previous episode and this one, which seems to be a direct continuation but simultaneously states it takes place a few days later, makes the episode quite confusing.
The reunion of these two major characters was a huge disappointment and a waste of potential; the episode does not sufficiently explore their relationship, something that could be better explored in future chapters and has great potential, but "Odessa" squanders this golden opportunity for much of the time. Fortunately, this episode saw the return of one of the best and most beloved characters of the series, Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades). A character who has been winning over audiences since the first season, and rightfully so, as the actor is always very charismatic and his Panamanian accent adds even more charm to the character.
Moving from one of the episode's positives to one of its major negatives, we encounter a series of unnecessary suspenseful elements that the episode introduces. One of them is the entire mystery behind the character Dove, who had until then been very underexplored, resulting in a lack of connection between the character and the audience.
The episode creates situations to place her in specific locations at exact moments, and from there, it generates clumsy suspense around the character's parentage. The episode thinks it's developing an interesting plot for the character by putting her in conflict with everyone in search of her true identity and origin, but it fails because it executes this idea in such a weak and generic manner.
Another poor reveal in the episode concerns the identity of PADRE. All the mystery surrounding this group and who was behind it, which had been built up since the end of the previous season, is broken in a ridicul*us way. This third chapter is filled with flashbacks that serve to explain the origin of this group, and it could not have been more cliché. The episode tries to deceive us by working with the idea that the man leading PADRE might be Krennick (Michael B. Silver), the father of Shrike-Sam (Maya Eshet). But we later discover that Krennick died trying to save his children Sam and Ben (Daniel Rashid), and that the mysterious man behind PADRE is Ben, and that he and his sister developed and shaped what PADRE would become. All the flashbacks serve to deceive us and briefly tell the story of PADRE, but this is shattered by a terrible revelation that diminishes the merits of this group and their level of threat, because discovering that the great mysterious leader is nothing more than a teenager pretending to be someone he is not, completely nullifies the mystery and threat that had been built up around this group.
"Odessa" is by far the worst episode of the season so far. It has the weakest script, the worst editing, and technical work. It is filled with events that, instead of enhancing the story, diminish it, destroying some of the good ideas that had been built up until then. Episodes like this, with such empty and clichéd stories, led to the downfall of "Fear the Walking Dead." But despite some flaws, the episode still moves the story forward and maintains the season's fast pace, giving us hope that this arc around PADRE might be concluded in this first part of the season, leaving room for the last six episodes of the series to tackle a new plot. We just have to wait and see if the next three episodes will conclude this arc in a worthy or forgettable manner. The season suffers a significant drop in quality overall with this episode, but the hope for a good season and good episodes still persists, depending on whether the next ones are as good as the first two or as bad as this third one.
helpful•00
- fernandoschiavi
- May 3, 2024
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content