"Fear The Walking Dead" has arrived! After months of build-up, the prequel to AMC's enormous hit "The Walking Dead" has been revealed... And it's good. Like, really, really good. Scary in all the right ways, well fleshed out characters (no pun intended), and full of more tension than a tight rubber band.

Sure there's no Daryl or Michonne yet, but it's literally early days. So while the dead are still fresh, let's break down every big moment in the pilot episode.

Same S--t, Different Day

It's clear from the very first shot who's daddy "Fear The Walking Dead" is, even if it's also making it very clear that this show isn't like "TWD." Nick (Frank Dillane) wakes up looking almost right into camera, just like Rick at the beginning of "Walking Dead" -- their names even rhyme! He stumbles around a flophouse, looking for his friend Gloria. And he finds her... Eyes red, chewing the face off a fellow druggie.

Chronologically, it's the first walker we've seen -- ever -- and as promised, it's way fresher than the ones over in Atlanta. Nick freaks out, runs from the flophouse, and gets hit by a car. And the show bends over backwards to visually show -- not tell -- how this is different from what Rick encounters, because the camera zooms out to show a bustling, fully functional Los Angeles.

For now, at least.

Modern Family

From there, we get more establishment of how the world is soooo normal, with Madison (Kim Dickens) and Travis (Cliff Curtis) joking about "gluten-frickin'-free" bread, and saving $300 on pipe fixing. Oh, we were so naive before the zombie apocalypse.

Anyway, Nick gets picked up by the police and taken to a hospital, where we learn that not everything is happy in this modern family... Particularly when it comes to Nick's sister Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), who is not as happy to keep bearing with her brother's drug addiction as everyone else.

Oh, and Travis has his own family, and a son who is heading to see him in Los Angeles for the weekend. Which is going to turn out to be a big mistake on his part, I sure bet.

The Kids Aren't All Right

The first inkling -- other than the zombie, of course -- that things aren't about to go really well for everyone is when acne-scarred student Tobias (Lincoln A. Castellanos) lays it out for Madison. He explains that people are dying all over the place, the kids sick and out of school aren't really sick, and nothing will ever be the same again.

"If there was a problem we would know about it," Madison says calmly. "The authorities would tell us."

And then they both look directly into camera and say, "Get it?" for five solid minutes.

Gloria, Don't Forget My Number

Back in the hospital, Nick explains to Travis that Gloria helped him score, that everyone in the flophouse was dead, and Gloria was snacking on the people. "She was eating them," Nick whispers, trying to explain to Travis that it's not the drugs that caused him to see this... Or maybe even scarier, he's going insane.

Again, we're underscoring one of the big differences between this show and "The Walking Dead": that people really don't know what they're dealing with yet.

Which bears a little explanation/back-story: one of the conceits of Robert Kirkman's comic/show, which is never really discussed, is that in the world of "The Walking Dead" there are no zombie movies. So when this all goes down, the characters don't know what it is, and don't know how to deal with it.

So Nick tells Travis what's happening, but neither have any frame of reference for it... Which means Travis heads to the flophouse without too much trepidation. Only to discover, of course, it's slathered with more blood than the inside of your body.

The Best Laid Plans

Alicia's whole storyline is pretty much about how plans are made to be ruined. She's planning on leaving school -- and town -- in a year. She's planning on going to her boyfriend's house for a weekend of sexy fun. She's planning on forgetting about her druggie brother for real this time.

But of course, all the future plans in the world are about to be wrecked by the living dead. Anyway, that's her deal in a nutshell. It's unfortunate that everything that happens to her can be boiled down into this, because Debnam-Carey is a great actress -- she was excellent on "The 100," in particular -- but at least in the first episode, not a ton going on with her.

Nick's Cave

Back at the hospital, Nick tries to escape by convincing a nurse to untie his hand while he uses a bedpan, but gets interrupted by his roommate going into cardiac arrest. Which certainly won't lead to the man dying and coming back as a zombie, but it also gives Nick a convenient window to get his clothes on and exit the hospital.

Travis and Madison are on the case, though. They decide to head back to where it all started at the flophouse/shooting gallery. But when they get there, it's empty. "There's no bodies," Travis says. "They couldn't just get up and walk away."

They both look in the camera and say, "get it?" for five minutes. Tobias pops in about halfway through and says, "Eh? Eh?"

Life Is A Highway

If you couldn't gather from that last bit, there's a fair amount of prequel-itis going on in the first episode of "Fear." But one way it gains a lot from its place in continuity is the feeling of absolute dread in nearly every moment of the show, particularly as it goes on.

To wit: Travis and Madison are on the highway when they get stopped by some sort of police action. Helicopters circle, shots are fired, and the duo drive away to safety. In Los Angeles, it's not like this is a weird occurrence. But because we know its zombies, and we know things are getting worse -- and its possible things can go horribly wrong at any moment -- this moment is skin-crawingly uncomfortable to watch.

That tension pervades the premiere, and this highway scene is the turning point.

Also true to LA form, the event gets recorded. The next day, Madison and Travis see video of the man being shot at. He bites a police officer, is fired at dozens of times, and still keeps moving.

Everyone at school is talking about the incident, and the principal calls it a half day. From this point on, fifty minutes into the episode, we're in a non-stop pressure cooker. The set-up is out of the way, and no one -- no one -- is safe.

Oh, also, during the evacuation, Tobias does actually look at the camera for real and grimaces knowingly. No joke.

Nick Of Time

Nick reconnects with his dealer Cal (Keith Powers), who listens to him blubber about Gloria killing a bunch of dudes. Cal promises to get Nick some drugs to help him feel even, which seems... Suspicious. "Cops talk to you?" Cal innocently asks while driving Nick to an abandoned section of town in a reservoir.

It looks like things are going to turn out very "Chinatown" for Nick, as Cal pulls a gun from the trunk... But Nick jumps Cal, shooting him once in the gut.

Nick runs, calling Travis for help -- who brings Madison, of course. Nick blurts out everything, telling the duo that he killed Cal after the dealer pulled a gun on him. They head to find Calvin's body, which would lead in a very different direction if this wasn't a zombie show, of course.

So instead of dealing with a very LA crime/"Traffic" type cover-up, the trio instead discover that Cal's body is missing. Which leads Nick to think he's going crazy.

And hey, maybe he's the lucky one, right? Everyone else has to deal with this rationally, while Nick can believe he's just an insane dude who had a break.

The Walking Dead

That's when Calvin reappears. Travis and Madison approach Calvin, who tries to bite them. So Nick runs him over their car! Good thinking, Nick.

Calvin stands right up because that wasn't a head-shot (which they don't know about yet), and comes right for Nick. Nick hits Calvin again, tossing him into the reservoir Cal "died" in.

But even that doesn't do it, as Calvin is still "alive" to their shock and horror. "What the hell is happening?" Madison asks. "I have no idea," Travis says, as we pull out to another shot of LA... An LA that's about to be changed forever.

Forget it, Nick. It's Zombieland.