Timeline Web Series | Dead in the Water

Timeline Dead in the Water – SPOILER ALERT

Complete summary table at the bottom of the page.

The Geopolitical Significance of the USS Pennsylvania

The eighth web series in the TWD world, Dead in the Water plays a pivotal role in justifying the subsequent destructive dynamics of Texas:

• The Persistence of the Military Chain of Command: The web series demonstrates that in the first two weeks (until August 20th, 2010), US strategic nuclear submarines were still receiving validated orders from the Pentagon. The extreme decision to strike San Francisco highlights how government protocols had already abandoned the idea of ​​saving civilians, preferring a scorched earth approach.
• The Origins of the Nuclear Warheads in Season 6: This prequel explains how Teddy and his followers from the “The End is the Beginning” cult gained access to the nuclear launch keys in Season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead. Teddy didn’t have to hack the submarine’s computer systems; he simply manipulated and recruited the sole surviving officer (Riley), who possessed the biological and manual access codes to activate the ICBMs.

Production and Curiosities

• Digital Distribution: Consisting of six parts with a total running time of approximately 43 minutes, the web series was released in April 2022 exclusively on the AMC+ platform.
• FTWD 6 Characters: In addition to Teddy and Riley, who play main roles in the sixth season of Fear, there is another little-known character who came to life from this web series: Walter, one of the few surviving sailors of the USS Pennsylvania, who will become one of the rangers of Virginia, in Lawton.
• Scenographic Realism: The production shot most of the scenes inside a real historic US Navy submarine used as a museum, perfectly managing to convey that sense of claustrophobia, darkness and metallic tension that characterizes the work.

The “Dead in the Water” connection to Fear The Walking Dead

The series explores Riley’s past and explains how the USS Pennsylvania washed up on the Texas coast, becoming the nuclear weapon used by Teddy in the season six finale of Fear the Walking Dead.

August 20th, 2010
It is the day of Operation Cobalt, the codename for the military operation that decreed the bombing of major American cities. A submarine is patrolling the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Riley (who will reappear in FTWD 6) is an officer on board, recently become a father. After the order to bomb San Francisco, no further communication is received from land.
When a soldier suffering from appendicitis dies during the operation and reanimates, panic erupts on board. Trapped inside the steel vessel, almost everyone succumbs and turns. Only a small group of men, including Riley, manage to survive and reach land near Galveston.
September 12th, 2010
After days spent in isolation on the beach, and realizing that his wife and child are dead, Riley decides to take his own life by shooting himself. But a mysterious man approaches, telling him this is not the end but only the beginning.
That man is Teddy (FTWD 6), and Riley will become his most loyal follower.

P.S.: The dates in the timeline are approximate, but everything happened more or less around those days.