‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Fighting Like You’ & ‘The Road Ahead’

11/20/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Daniel Sharman and Kim Dickens as Troy Otto and Madison Clark in Episode 811 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘Fighting Like You’. (Photo Courtesy of Seth F. Johnson/AMC.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Finale of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’. To revisit the shows penultimate episode, click here.

When the eighth and final season of the bold and dynamic AMC series, Fear the Walking Dead, kicked off… the series made it clear that it wanted to ponder upon a powerful question. In that, are we a species that can be saved? For The Walking Dead established in its final season that we are indeed worthy of it, courtesy of the good that we harbor within our souls. But worth and action are indeed two different things, and well… we’ve seen things over the course of this show’s eight year run that have left us wondering as to whether or not we can indeed find salvation and what it might take for us to get there.

Since we’ve seen a group of good people… go to extremes and fall to the wayside often. Since Alicia Clark was briefly a villain after losing her mother, and of course… Morgan Jones lost himself and found himself over and over again during his time on the show. Not to mention, Victor Strand, a man that tended to do selfish things in the name of personal gain, outright became the heavy for a time. Plus, that period in between the Civil War at the Tower and the rise and fall of P.A.D.R.E. saw every single hero lose themselves to the darkness within and commit to acts that were downright questionable for certain.

Which spoke more to a species that was yes, worthy of salvation, but stuck deeply within its own toxic and self-destructive cycle. And well… all of those moments, more or less indicated, that perhaps we cannot be saved… and that answer seemed to hang heavy over the show’s series finale. For ‘Fighting Like You’ and ‘The Road Ahead’ featured a bevy of dark moments. The kind that quite frankly, saw Madison Clark complete her transformation from the humble and kind, and brave and bold mother that we met in the series premiere, to a being of vengeance and fury… courtesy of Troy and the final showdown we’ve been waiting for between the two of them. One that was as unique as they come.

Because despite amassing a giant herd of the walking dead to use against the island, eventually Troy and Tracy succumbed to a booby trap on the road. One that badly injured Troy and separated the two. Which allowed for Madison to find Tracy one more time, wherein she was able to learn about Troy’s location so they could square off. That reunion in turn, helped Madison to learn that Troy hurt Alicia and murdered her in cold blood… because she was a voice of good and reason in this world. One that put his beloved wife in danger because she believed in Alicia’s teachings, in the hope she engendered, and he simply could not cope with the fact that good cost him so much, especially after what his father taught him.

Alycia Debnam-Carey and Kim Dickens as Alicia Clark and Madison Clark in Episode 812 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘The Road Ahead’. (Photo courtesy of Seth F. Johnson/AMC.)

Which was an admission that spoke to a hopeless path for Troy, one mired in evil and sorrow and the only card he had left to play, was helping Madison and her friends find the herd and stop them… but even then… that went poorly. Since Crane decided now was the time to strike and get his own brand of vengeance, and that meant another hard fight for Madison, one that oddly… finally helped Troy to understand the fool hearted nature of his actions. Because there were people genuinely trying to cause harm in this world, and they were clearly scary and terrifying and well… he no longer wanted to be that. He realized that the universe had granted him more, granted him so many chances to be better, to be a real beacon for his daughter. So… he helped. He stopped the herd and sadly… died for his efforts.

For Madison, who was still in that place of darkness, didn’t believe he could ever change, ever help. That this was nothing more than a trick. And for her decision, she was greeted with the reality that Tracy was her granddaughter and that motivated her to make a mad dash to find Alicia’s walking corpse… to give herself the peace she thought would heal her. But alas, disaster struck. A second herd hit the island, because of Troy’s passing, and the dispersed herd found the search party for Tracy. Leading to chaos, the fall of P.A.D.R.E. and seemingly the death of Madison at Tracy’s hands. Because in this moment, the group hit rock bottom. No one worked together, everyone fought one another and tore each other down. Making it seem as though… we could not be saved because of our demons’ ability to overpower our better angels.

But alas, Madison survived her injury, and once more… led the dead to an explosive death, one that seemingly claimed Madison as well. But her heroic act, inspired everyone to realize… we are better than our demons. We are capable of great acts, great beauty at our absolute worst. That prompted the beginnings of M.A.D.R.E., a movement to honor Madison. One that saw the group part ways to build the right kind of communities all over America, and that sacrifice inspired Tracy… to find Madison and save her, and the story of Madison Clark spread so far… that a mysterious hero named Alicia Clark, who was cured of her poison by a high dose of radiation… came to bury her mother and instead found family again. Giving rise to peace and salvation for the Clark family, and new beginnings for the Otto family. Since we learned that Tracy was not Alicia’s daughter, but Madison was told so… so Tracy would be given a chance to thrive with people that cannot be stopped by the world, and the darkness we sometimes indulge in.

Which meant, Fear the Walking Dead, offered up a happy ending. Where Strand found love and finally became the good man he always wanted to be. Where Daniel Salazar and Luciana found the family bond they lost so long ago. Where June found purpose and direction again and a chance to take on the motherhood role she craved, where Dwight and Sherry were ready to confront their past and their fears and where Madison Clark and her daughter were granted a second chance to do the right thing and inspire others. Because the real answer to the question that season eight posed, is that yes… we can be saved. Because we can right wrongs. We can change and reinvent ourselves and grow and step away from the evils that plague us if we choose. Giving rise to a species that always finds a way forward. Regardless of the dark days and the mistakes. For as Madison herself has said often... 'No one’s gone until they're gone.'

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