In 2022, Fear the Walking Dead, the first spinoff of The Walking Dead got its own side story. Dead in the Water was a digital webisode that expanded the story of Jason Riley (Nick Stahl), a member of the doomsday cult run by Teddy Maddox (John Glover) featured in season 6 of Fear TWD.

The webisode was created to promote the back half of season 7 of Fear TWD, which premiered April 17, 2022, and gave more insight into the USS Pennsylvania submarine, first featured in the previous season. The episode was written by Jacob Pinion, a Fear TWD writing team member who also wrote The Althea Tapes, a six-part digital series. Kenneth Requa, producer for The Walking Dead and Fear TWD, directed the webisode. Dead in the Water originally aired exclusively on AMC+ but would later be released on YouTube.

The crew on board the sub was running drills during peacetime, but they soon discovered that the world outside the confines of the USS Pennsylvania was anything but peaceful. The story takes place before season 1 of Fear TWD, which begins at the onset of the series and is a prequel to events in season 6.

New father, Jason Riley, has yet to meet his recently born son as he is stationed on a sub in the Gulf of Mexico. When a crew member dies during an appendectomy on board the sub, he turns into a walker and begins attacking the others on board. This is due to the fact that, as Dr. Jenner (Noah Emmerich) would tell Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in season 1 of The Walking Dead, “we are all infected.”

Riley and his fellow shipmates begin a fight for their lives on the walker-infested death trap. This sets up Riley’s story to be continued in Fear TWD, where he joins Maddox’s doomsday cult.

You can watch the six-part episode on Youtube.

Dead in the Water cast

Damon Carney as Walter
Emmett Hunter as Captain Renwick
Jay Gutierrez as Lt. Alvarez
Ja’Quan Monroe-Henderson as Winokur
Garrett Graham as Ginger
Jason Francisco Blue as Pierce
Austin Hyde as Middlebrook
Alexander Biglane as Park
Jon Lee as Farley
Zach Lazar Hoffman as Cook
Calum Sharman as Friedman
John Franklin – XO
AJ Jones – Park’s Asst.
Marco Ramirez – Seamen
Eyland Gaddy-Brewer

Be sure to watch Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water as it is a vital tie-in to the sixth season of Fear the Walking Dead.