They finally put FEAR THE WALKING DEAD out of our misery after eight seasons, which was probably four too many. I was enthusiastic at the beginning, as were most diehard THE WALKING DEAD fans, even if the show got off to a slow start. But the series did improve, and by Season Three, which leaned heavily into the horror element, it felt as if FTWD had found its groove. But the producers had other plans, which included a "soft" reboot in Season Four, which necessitated the exit of Frank Dillaine's Nick (he wanted off the show), along with Kim Dickens' Madison Clark, whose tough and pragmatic former school counselor had become the show's major character. Lennie James' Morgan Jones from TWD was brought in to be the show's new MC, along with a host of other new faces played by Jenna Elfman and Garret Dillahunt, and in time, Dwight and Sherry from the original show joined them. As far as I was concerned, this new direction was a total failure, though not for want of trying by the cast. But their best efforts seemed to have been undermined by some of the worst writing possible for a major TV production that produced ridiculous character arcs (Alicia morphs into a one armed girl warrior out of Mad Max), plots that often had characters meander around for whole episodes on quests that came to nothing (most of the cast trying to find a sanctuary to escape Virginia the Cowgirl and then just giving up), and stupid twists that made no sense (too many to mention, though the series finale topped them all). At some point, the producers tried to rectify some of this mess by bringing back Kim Dickens, and throwing in Daniel Sharman's Troy Otto as well, even though she'd clearly killed him with a hammer in Season Four.
The first part of Season Eight resolved the battle for Padre, and sent Morgan off on a search for Rick Grimes with his adopted daughter by his side. This left Madison to face off with Troy, who, with a young daughter of his own, comes to get vengeance and take Padre for himself. This set up a finale where everyone chased everyone around in Georgia (these characters really got around going from California, to Mexico, and then Texas, and finally Georgia where everything got started). There were more zombie herds, near death experiences, just in time coincidental rescues, walkie-talkies with ranges that went for thousands of miles, and twists that made for a lot of eye rolling. The endless back and forth over Tracy Otto's parentage was some of the worst writing this series has ever seen, and that is saying something. Troy gets a tree limb through his shoulder on his left side above the heart, but he's fine after Madison pulls it out. He saves her when they both look like they're goners in the quicksand (talk about a cliché), but she kills him again anyway because, for the moment, she doesn't believe in second chances anymore. Tracy pays her back later by shooting Madison at point blank range, but Madison is just fine because she's saved by another cliché, and goes on to save everyone at Padre by sacrificing her life yet again-only she doesn't die. Padre becomes yet another sanctuary that everyone fights to hold onto for a whole season, only to be abandoned. Alycia Debnam-Cary strolls back into the series looking much better for her time away, and is reunited with her mother in a scene that feels like a throwaway instead of a big dramatic payoff. I don't know where Alicia had been in the zombie apocalypse, but from the looks of her hair, there's still a salon open somewhere out there.
In the end, all the main characters survived-Madison, Victor, Daniel, June Dorie, Luciana, Dwight and Sherry-and in the final scene, went their separate ways with Troy being the only big death, which was a shame, because Daniel Sharman really did show up and give a performance despite the bad scripts, and his Big Bad character really wasn't that much worse than some of the others, especially Victor Strand. This final season did have a glimmer of the better days gone by whenever Colman Domingo, Kim Dickens, and Ruben Blades shared the screen. There was even a passing mention in the final episode of Cliff Curtis's Travis, a pivotal character completely forgotten since Season Three. Some of us thought he just might show up in the finale despite taking a bullet and falling out of a helicopter.
In the end, FTWD felt like a big-might-have-been, and a lot of squandered opportunities. What if they'd followed the plot trajectory that appeared to be forming at the end of Season Three, where Madison was going down the path of becoming a pragmatic villain along the lines of Negan, while her son Nick would have become the hero of the show. The arc that was thrust upon Alycia Debnam-Cary, one that didn't fit her character at all, would have worked with Nick in the part. It would have set up a dynamic which could have carried the show for many seasons, and built to an explosive and satisfying finale. What might have been...
Will we see any of these characters in future Walking Dead projects? Probably not, but I wouldn't mind seeing Victor Strand and his German family come between Negan and Maggie in Dead City, and I'd gladly tune in to see Madison Clark and Rick Grimes come face to face. Or even have Madison team up with Carol and Darryl Dixon in some project.
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