Fear the Walking Dead went up against the 2015 Emmys on Sunday for its fourth episode.

Perhaps it was a good thing that many viewers would be tuning into the Emmys instead of Fear (this writer included). The episode was tame in comparison to the first three episodes. In fact, “Not Fade Away” was almost entirely without walkers. What’s the point of watching an apocalypse begin to occur if there are no walkers?

Following last week’s crazy events (namely Madison and Travis’s neighbor being killed by the army), things have slowed down considerably now that the family in a safe zone. It’s Day nine “since the lights went out,” and a fence has been quickly built around Travis and Madison’s neighborhood. Everyone inside the fence — a six mile wide area — is safe (ha!), as are the people in the 12 other safe zones in the Los Angeles area.

Perhaps they’re a little too safe, or Fear is making us wait for the fireworks. The episode didn’t offer any terrifying walker attacks unless you count what Madison saw when she stepped outside of the fence. With only two more episodes to go until the season is over, we hope another round of mayhem is lurking in the not too distant future.

This week’s apocalypse highlights

– A light on the horizon: Chris and Madison spot someone sending a signal for help on a hill far outside the fence. His dad, for whatever strange reason, can’t believe there’s actually someone still alive outside of the safe zone (What a silly thought! Between this and doubting the apocalypse, he is consistently one of the more ignorant characters on the show).

Madison made an attempt to rescue the mysterious person after Travis and the soldiers declined to offer help, but she turned around after spotting too many dead bodies and more people from the military. Better luck next week.

– Hospitalized: Speaking of people gone missing, two people within the safe zone were dragged out. Nick was taken away when a new character, Dr. Exner, determined that he needed better help in his fight against the drugs. Too bad, because he was just starting to get along with his sister Alicia! Second was another new character named Doug, who was mentally unable to handle all of the mayhem going on when his family needed him most. Hmmm… okay.

Taking both of these people to the hospital was rightfully controversial. Madison slapped her son around after he fell off the wagon again — isn’t that enough given the circumstances? Plus, his family didn’t want him taken away.

Also taken to the hospital is Daniel’s genuinely ill wife Griselda. Before heading to the hospital with her, he asks Madison to take care of his daughter, Ophelia. Uh oh.

The best part of the episode may’ve been when Madison realized newly-minted “Nurse” Liza was partly responsible for taking away Nick. Shit, Madison and Liza are really going to be at each other’s throats now.

– The soldiers: One thing’s for sure, the soldiers managing the safe zone are assholes. They’re smug, rude, and may be up to something bad. Madison notes their possible bad intentions when she talks to Travis about their inability to make contact with people outside the fence. Don’t trust anyone who can’t remember how to use a landline!

We will give them a little credit, they’re successfully keeping the walkers away. For now.

What did you think of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ 1×04?

As we mentioned at the start of this review, Fear the Walking Dead episode 4 really shook things up in terms of pacing and terror. We hope the intensity will return for the remaining two episodes in the season, because we need a good reason to return to Los Angeles next year.

Watch a preview of next week’s episode below: