A major character death is in cards for Fear the Walking Dead season 3. The post-apocalyptic series is set to return to the AMC airwaves this upcoming Sunday, with the promise of a brand new setting and predicament for the show’s remaining survivors to thrive in. Unfortunately, one of them will not live past this new season.
Fans have been waiting for 8 long months to find out where Madison and the other main characters on Fear the Walking Dead wind up next. Season 3 is expected to tie loose ends that include Ofelia (Mercedes Mason) traveling to an unknown destination, as well as Nick (Frank Dillane) and Luciana (Danay Garcia) grappling for their lives in the Mexican border, from season 2’s cliffhanging finale. On top of that, the introduction of the Ottos - brothers Troy (Daniel Sharman) and Jake (Sam Underwood) Otto and patriarch, Jeremiah Otto Sr. (Dayton Callie) will add a new dimension to the series. The family’s ranch will be the base camp for post-apocalypse survivors, though their true motives for supposedly helping other people have yet to be revealed.
Uncertainties aside, one thing has been confirmed - a character will die a heroic death this season. The nugget of information came from Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson during an interview with CBR. While he did not name drop anyone in order to preserve the mystery, the show boss explained that the anonymous death will come unexpectedly - to get the most impact out of it not just for the fans but for the other characters on the series:
From the sound of it, Fear the Walking Dead season 3’s imminent death is not in the cards just for shock value. Oftentimes, TV shows - especially recent ones - have used the concept of death just for the sake of flooring audience. But based on Erickson’s comments, it seems like the unknown casualty will not only be heroic but also pivotal to the plot of the show moving forward. It might be in some sort of ways a launching pad for new character arcs for the remaining survivors.
“We wanted a heroic arc. I think we did that. There’s a certain conventional way to go about a character’s death. We could have done that. Once people see the episode, they will see what I mean. What we chose to do is follow a route where having accomplished something, having saved loved ones that are dear, you now get kicked in the gut by the Apocalypse and the randomness of the violence. The moment itself should be sudden. It should be jarring. It has a very profound impact on all the other characters, all the members of the family. It’s a pivotal moment that drives the rest of the season. That’s the goal whenever you lose a character, especially one that important. It needs to resonate.”
In terms of who might bite the dust, there are a couple of options from the pool of characters including - Alicia (Alycia Debnam Carey) and Travis (Cliff Curtis), whose respective deaths would arguably affect how the rest of the family will operate from there on. While it is highly unlikely, taking Madison (Kim Dickens) down should also not be automatically taken out of the table. Despite the show having largely built up her character, a ripple effect on the storytelling of Fear the Walking Dead in the future from her death would obviously be immense.
At this point, anything is possible in the world of Fear the Walking Dead. Its parent series, The Walking Dead has never shied away from killing fan-favorite characters and given that both shows have similar tropes, it is possible that the spin-off show will also pull similar gut-wrenching deaths throughout its run.
Fear the Walking Dead returns this Sunday, June 4th.
Source: CBR
