Fear the Walking Dead went out on a blazing note for its recent midseason finale, which put its core characters through the wringer and basically split them all up, Scooby-Doo-style. When the show returns later this summer, we'll see a different side of at least one character, as Alicia will be going through some major maturation after all of her dismal decision-making in the first half of Season 2. Here's how showrunner Dave Erickson put it:
We'll see a woman who really comes of age and hopefully regains her connection with her mother and steps into more of an adult role.
When Fear the Walking Dead began, Alicia seemed like she would be one of the more adult members of the group, already world-weary by her home life. She clearly wasn't Travis' best friend before zombies took over, and she also had to deal with a brother who kept putting his life on the line with his addiction and substance abuse. She already knew how to deal with rough times, but apparently when the world crashed down around her and she hit the sea, Alicia lost her grip on how to handle things properly.
While there were some really great moments and aspects to the first half of Fear the Walking Dead Season 2, one of the major faults was easily Connor and his team of sea-faring asshats, as brought into the story by Alicia and Jack's torrid radio affair. I mean, I guess I understand that desperate people reach out in desperate situations, but that just felt like undercooked writing. I'm all about seeing an Alicia that doesn't fall prey to such easily avoidable scenarios as "falling for the dude whose group is holding your fam-fam hostage." We're definitely going to need a more adult role from her, so it's good that Dave Erickson is already telling TV Line that this is coming.
After all, we still have no idea how the groups are going to thrive when Season 2 returns. At this point, Travis and Chris are by themselves having whatever bonding time is required to make Chris calm the fuck down, while Strand is driving a pick-up truck with Madison, Ofelia and Alicia inside. Strand is broken up about losing his lover, Ofelia will be mourning Daniel (who might not be dead) and Madison will obviously be super-worried about Travis and Nick, who went into Nomad-mode when the shit hit the fan. Alicia is basically the only one in the group working on most cylinders emotionally, even if she probably hates herself for falling for Jack's garbage.
Fear the Walking Dead will return to AMC on Sunday, August 22. Head to the next page to see how Alicia's brother Nick wasn't completely loony when he went off on his own in the finale.
While you wouldn't have been wrong in gawking at your screens when Nick decided to walk away from his mother just because she knew that Celia was a horrible influence on him, there was apparently a method to that madness. Here's how showrunner Dave Erickson put it to TVLine.
We connect something in the premiere of the back half. We find out he had something in his hand that we didn't know about that makes him a little bit less insane than to just walk off. He also reconnects with someone when we come back in Episode 8.
What could he possibly have been holding in his hand that justifies his actions? Is it an ancient scroll that tells him that Celia and her people really do have the right answers? Probably not. And who else is he going to be running into out there? Will his path cross once more with Travis and Chris? Will he join them for some...bonding?
Again, we're just going to have to wait until Sunday, August 22, to see what happens with the rest of Fear the Walking Dead Season 2.
