A Farewell to ‘Fear the Walking Dead’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Kim Dickens, Rubén Blades, Danay Garcia, and Colman Domingo as Madison Clark, Daniel Salazar, Luciana, and Victor Strand in Episode 808 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘Iron Tiger’. (Photo Courtesy of Lauren ‘Lo’ Smith/AMC.)

On August 23, 2015… the world of zombie themed fiction received quite the gift. In that, the runaway success of The Walking Dead, prompted AMC Networks to do something that had not been done in ages in the world of zombies. Specifically, giving life to a new and sweeping franchise that would absolutely rival that of George A. Romero’s Living Dead Saga in scope and size. Courtesy of a brand-new series… Fear the Walking Dead. A series that would serve as the first spin-off of many and promised to deliver a few elements that were rarely seen in the world of the dead. Such as showing us the fall of mankind to the walking dead, and what survival looked like for people that genuinely had no clue how to handle that kind of situation and well… what followed… was quite the journey.
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One that yes, delivered as promised. For we were indeed treated to the fall of mankind through the lens of the Manawa and Clark families, who lived in Los Angeles and watched the second largest city in America succumb to living death in a record time period. And yes, we were indeed treated to horrors untold and an understanding that these everyday urbanites were not ready for this kind of life and had to learn on the fly. But once we got out of Los Angeles and into the land of the dead, something special happened with this show. It followed a new direction, one that took the time to explore new corners of this universe and new corners of the human condition and well… what it accomplished will be studied and dissected for years to come. 

For this turned into a story that explored things that no other zombie story ever pondered upon. For instance, this is a series that pondered upon the nature of loss and grief, and how difficult that is to process in constant crisis. And while yes, it’s been touched upon elsewhere, no series dug deeper into such matters than this one. Since we saw every single second of struggle that comes about from such a conundrum, yet… we also saw the characters dealing with it, grow. We saw them fight it, process it, and work their best to overcome it and that’s huge, because they did it the right way here, and actually confronted it. Sure, it might have taken a few seasons, but that really is something special that horror needs to explore more, and this show was a pioneer in such matters, and so much more.

After all, this is a series that also thumbed its nose at a lot of tropes and was supremely progressive in nature and groundbreaking as well. For it was incredibly diverse, and featured proper representation and showcased America as it was before the fall of everything. Not to mention, this is a show that actually took the time to showcase the wonder of Latino/Latinx culture through Daniel Salazar and Luciana’s journey, and even included a powerhouse Spanish-spoken episode. Which was groundbreaking as well. Not to mention, it examined topics that no other story out there was willing to do, and it challenged the characters like never before with difficult decisions that not even the audience knew the right answer to as the outside observer. Making this a brave show that really wanted to stand out from its sister series and do something special and it most certainly did.

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Kim Dickens, Colman Domingo, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Danay Garcia, and Ruben Blades on the Set of the Series Finale of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’. (Photo Courtesy of Seth F. Johnson/AMC.)

Plus, it did something that most spin-offs won’t do. Which was to offer up crossovers to continue the story of characters from the flagship show. Not as a gimmick, but to give them proper closure and proper growth that they could not achieve with TWD working toward telling the comic book story. Which allowed for Morgan to become so much more than his trauma, and it brought forth the redemption that Dwight and Sherry craved and well… they weren’t alone. For character growth was a huge focus for the show period, and everyone found a new horizon through growth by the end of this series, and that’s wonderful and hopefully future TWDU shows that spotlight new characters and new stories, take a page from that. 
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But alas, all good things must come to an end, and we have in fact… reached just that with this series. For these wondrous characters are on new paths now, and while there have been no announcements for spin-offs… I don’t think anyone would be upset if a few came to life. Simply because… it would be wonderful to see what that growth did for all of them. But in the here and the now, the time has come to say goodbye and offer thanks. To the talented crew for making sure that week in and week out, this show could come to life, even during scary times in the real world. To Dave Erickson, Scott M. Gimple, Andrew Chambliss, Ian Goldberg, and Michael E. Satrazemis for shaping these bold stories and giving them life as producers, writers, and directors, and of course… we must offer so many thanks to the cast of this series, in no particular order.

To Kim Dickens for being the hero. One that informed us to never quit regardless of how hard it gets, to Alycia Debnam-Carey for being the amazing moral center that this series needed often. To Colman Domingo for being the man we loved to hate but also hoped deeply would become the man he did. To Rubén Blades for playing such a powerful character that informed us that life is far grayer than we would like to admit. To Danay Garcia for being the beacon of hope often through Luciana’s beautiful views of the world, regardless of the darkness. To Maggie Grace for reminding us to always be curious. To Garret Dillahunt for reminding us to always do our best to keep our souls pure. To Austin Amelio and Christine Evangelista for reminding us, that love can make anything possible, and that redemption is real. To Lennie James for showing us that we can overcome trauma if we put in the work. To Jenna Elfman for informing us that we can reinvent ourselves and accomplish anything if we fight for what we want.

To Karen David for reminding us to always be objective, so we can work our way out of any trouble in this life. To Alexa Nisenson for teaching us that we don’t have to be products of our environment. To Mo Collins for reminding us to laugh, and to Keith Carradine for showing us that the past does not define us. For all of you, and the rest of the cast this writer missed, assembled a beautiful tapestry that represented the best and worst of parts of us, and how those bits make us the beautiful, and flawed mess we are. And also, on a more personal note… I cannot thank the many members of the cast and crew that took the time to speak with me over the years via various interviews. Those chats were simply amazing and added depth to a series that meant a lot to this writer. For zombies are my favorite monster, and to be able to pick the brains of experts, pun intended… was a true honor, and well… that as they say is that, and we have indeed reached the end of the journey. One that truly enriched zombie fiction like never before and took us on a very human adventure through a land of living death.

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