Another One Bites the Dust on Fear The Walking Dead

In the wake of the death of fan favorite Nick Clark in episode three of Fear The Walking Dead’s fourth season, it became evidently clear that no one is safe, an old saying that rings true very much so in “The Walking Dead Universe” lately.

Last year, actor Cliff Curtis, who portrayed series deuteragonist Travis Manawa, was killed off the show after Curtis landed a role in the new Avatar movie. Travis was a fan favorite, and his death certainly rocked the boat, but overall, pushed the show in a different and interesting way that made season three easily the best season of the show. With Travis’ death, Dillane’s Nick filled in the spot of the series’ deuteragonist. Already a fan favorite, Nick was more developed in season three and seemed to be gearing towards a stronger role in season four, especially with the crossover with parent show The Walking Dead. Nick’s role in season four was limited, and in episode three, titled “Good Out Here,” Nick was killed off, shot in the heart by a little girl who he tried to help. Nick’s death was a result of Dillane requesting to be killed off in order to leave the show and work on other projects, much like Curtis the year before.

Ironically, Dillane asked to be written off the year prior, like Curtis, but the idea of two major characters dying wasn’t an idea that showrunner Dave Erickson liked, so Nick stuck around until season four. But unlike Curtis’ exit, Dillane’s only created problems for the series and its parent show, as both have become plagued by the same problems for a while now. In the mid-season finale of season four, one more original cast member was confirmed to have died, further showing the problems with the show at the moment.

After flipping back and forth between the flashback and current timeline, one thing was always on everyone’s mind: where is series protagonist Madison Clark? That answer came in the mid-season finale, titled “No One’s Gone.” So what exactly happened to Madison? The answer is simple:

Madison is dead.

But how? Surely the show wouldn’t kill off two of its biggest characters within just a few episodes of each other, right? Unfortunately, it appears so. The show revealed in a flashback that Madison decided to save her son, Nick Clark, her daughter, Alicia Clark, and her friends Victor Strand and Lucianna Galvez from walkers by bringing the walkers nearby inside of the Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium, who were soaked in oil, and lighting them on fire, killing herself too. While her death differs from the two prior deaths mentioned above since actress Kim Dickens didn’t want off the show and felt that there was more story to tell for Madison; her death is equally, if not more so, devastating to the show and fans alike.

So the big question is “what now?” Nick is dead, Madison is dead, what’s left? Alicia is still alive and will likely assume the role of series protagonist. Victor Strand will likely take the place of Nick as the deuteragonist, and Lucianna will assume Alicia’s former place as tritagonist. There is also the characters of John Dorie, Morgan Jones, and Althea. We will have to wait and see what is left for the characters of Fear when the show returns from its break.