As the younger AMC zombie series, Fear The Walking Dead still continues to flesh out its characters and define them for the audience. We know what to expect from Rick Grimes and his group of Alexandrians, but Madison Clark’s family remains a bit more of a mystery. One such element that hasn't been fully expanded comes in the form of the relationships between the Los Angeles survivors. Fear The Walking Dead hasn't had much in the way of romantic situations yet, but chemistry between two unlikely characters led many to "ship" a romance that would have totally changed the course of Season 1.
Mercedes Mason, a.k.a Ofelia Salazar on Fear The Walking Dead, recently sat down with EW and explained that her chemistry with actress Alycia Debnam Crey led many to want a potential romance between Ofelia and Alicia during the events of the first season:
And I think because there have been some scenes cut with Alicia and Ofelia — which, I don’t know if it wise time-wise or they changed the idea of where the story was going, but some of those scenes were released — so I think the fans were like, ‘Oh my God, look at the chemistry between the two.’
Ofelia had strong chemistry between siblings Nick and Alicia, so when scenes of her interacting with Alicia were released, many people started to speculate about a potential blooming romance between the two female characters. Perhaps AMC decided to drop that subplot and not let anything come of it. Mercedes Mason also explained that due to Alicia’s considerably younger age, the whole thing might not have sat well with a large portion of the audience. Ultimately, we think they made the right call, but certain elements of this romance should definitely be considered for a future storyline on the zombie spin-off series.
If Ofelia develops a relationship with a woman at some point during Fear The Walking Dead, it would certainly add another dimension to the series. Much like the fan theory that Daryl Dixon of The Walking Dead is gay, it would deepen her characterization and definitely shed some new light into why she ticks. Mercedes Mason cited the example of the soldier she developed a relationship with during Season 1. It shows that she may have taken a soft approach to manipulating him, rather than simply acting like a love-struck woman in a dire situation.
Fear The Walking Dead still has a long way to go towards getting the audience to genuinely like these characters. Outside of Strand and Daniel Salazar, nobody's all that interesting yet. Ofelia hasn’t had much to do on the series, so we think this looks like an opportunity that AMC shouldn’t pass up.
Fear The Walking Dead is still an incredibly young show; as such it remains entirely plausible that Ofelia could eventually develop a relationship with a female character at some point. Although that character is unlikely to be Alicia, we like the idea that the show could take those sorts of risks. Be sure to check out Fear The Walking Dead every Sunday night on AMC.
