The Best of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – Season 4

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Episode 408: ‘No One’s Gone’
Original Air Date: June 10, 2018

‘No one’s gone until they’re gone.’
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- Madison Clark

Kim Dickens as Madison Clark in Episode 408 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘No One’s Gone’. (Photo Courtesy of AMC.)

​If there is one thing that Fear the Walking Dead on AMC is known for, it’s big and bold and storytelling decisions. Simply because this series leaned hard into the fact that it had no storytelling restrictions related to the comics that inspired this franchise. Allowing for it go wherever it pleased, do whatever it pleased and that led to some stunning decisions over the past eight years. The kind that would see principal actors make stunning decision based upon their emotions, see them go down dark paths that made them as powerful a villain as they were a hero and of course… it also brought about some controversial deaths throughout the years as well.
 
Which one would think wouldn’t be controversial, since this world is filled with living death and suffering, and there is the expectation that people die. But alas, some characters mean too much to us, and we want them to see the end and others… well while we may not have that attachment, we want them to have the chance to go out like a champ. So, when the character in question doesn’t get either in this franchise, we find ourselves polarized and that has happened often here. Take Travis’ death in season three for instance. Because so many felt the sudden and shocking nature of his passing wasn’t the right way to send him off. Not to mention, a ‘death’ from today’s episode spotlight, is one that also split the fanbase down the middle. Since this is one that involves a character that everyone thought should make it to the end.
 
Because ‘No One’s Gone’ featured the initial exit of one Madison Clark. Who much like Andrew Lincoln, was the star of the show and the overall emotional glue to the story as well, and yet… this episode took the time to bid farewell to her for a little while. Courtesy of a mission of truth that finally prompted Alicia Clark and her rag tag family to explain why they succumbed to revenge and hurting people on the road. Because of the fact that they lost Madison in a heroic act that no one thought was a meaningful or proper way to go out. Granted, there’s really no great way for anyone to die in reality or fiction, regardless of what we want to control… or think of regarding these shows… but she did disappear here, and she did in fact, go out in a blaze of epic glory, saving so many lives in the process.

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Colman Domingo and Alycia Debnam-Carey as Victor Strand and Alicia Clark in Episode 408 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘No One’s Gone’. (Photo Courtesy of AMC.)

​But still, it did offend and surprise because of how important she was, and while there is license to discuss how this might have been a poor choice, since having a lead exit is no easy thing to swallow… without this decision… so many important moments to come would not exist. For Madison’s exit and powerful speech before then, really was designed to begin to move the survivors of Los Angeles and their new friends in a better direction. Because up until this point, all of them… had been suffering and aching and seeing nothing but horrors untold. Plus, they all dealt with heavy loss and the darkness of this world and well… in essence everyone here lost sight of what they were fighting for. Which was… a better tomorrow, community, and a chance to being again.
 
A move that Madison’s sacrifice gave them, and while that wasn’t easy to swallow in the moment, everything else that happened here, helped to reinforce that. Since Althea and Morgan all helped Alicia find meaning in her grief and purpose again, and the same went for those that fed off of her sorrow and fury. Which in turn, would lead to a quest to find peace, one that would last multiple seasons in fact. But what matters most about that sacrifice is that… it really did hammer home… the precious nature of life, of its gift and how quickly the people we think will be around in our lives… can leave us. Making this a supremely poignant episode for certain, one that the audience can take a great deal away from, and let’s be honest… regardless of which side you stand upon regarding the decision to have Madison step aside… this was a moving tale.
 
In large part, because of the performances. After all, everyone here just turned on their acting skills and let them rule the day, and the end result was a sense of genuine realism regarding grief. Because you felt Alicia’s pain, you felt the frustration and anger from everyone regarding their circumstances. Yet… you also felt hope. Real hope that they could turn this all around and really do something special and magical with this second chance that Madison gave them. A hope that we want to see fulfilled when the series goes off the air this Sunday. But that aside, all of those moments are precisely why we consider this to be the best that season four had to offer. For it was bold, moving, and shocking. Which are staples of this series, and well… it wasn’t all bad in the end since Madison did indeed return. Until next time.

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