Fear TWD Shows Madison’s Death Really Was Pointless

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Fear the Walking Dead season 6, episode 14, “Mother.”

The unexpected return of Cole (Sebastian Sozzi) and the others in Fear the Walking Dead further prove that Madison’s death really didn’t need to happen. At the end of season 4’s flashback story, it was revealed that Madison (Kim Dickens) gave her life so that the people in her group could live. Surrounded by zombies, she died in a fire to provide everyone else with an opportunity to escape.

In Fear the Walking Dead season 6, episode 14, titled “Mother”, Alicia (Alycia Debam-Carey) was put into a situation where she had to revisit the ultimate sacrifice her mother made at the stadium. While with Teddy (John Glover) and Dakota (Zoe Colletti), Alicia reunited with season 4’s Cole, who was joined by a few other former members of their old community. Much to her shock, she discovered that they had become a gang of robbers and killers. After gaining the upper hand, Alicia angrily killed Cole, feeling that he had wasted the chance Madison gave him.

What ‘Teddy wanted Alicia to learn from this experience was that her mother’s sacrifice didn’t hold the meaning that she thought it did. And unfortunately, it would seem that he wasn’t entirely wrong. There were dozens of people living within Madison’s community whose lives she was trying to save, but most of them are now dead, and the ones that didn’t die – as pointed out by Teddy — now represent the worst of the zombie apocalypse. The only confirmed survivors that still remain outside of Alicia are Luciana (Danay Garcia) and Strand (Colman Domingo). Madison’s other child, Nick (Frank Dillane), survived the incident at the stadium as well, but was killed shortly after by Charlie (Alexa Nisenson).

What was so crushing for Alicia was this idea that Teddy actually had a strong argument when he was talking about the impact of Madison’s sacrifice (or lack thereof). Looking at the fact that there isn’t hardly anyone left from the stadium, it is really difficult to see the purpose and meaning behind her death at this point.

This has long been the opinion of Fear the Walking Dead fans who felt that killing off Madison was the wrong direction for the show to take. Prior to Morgan’s arrival, she was the leader of the group and the main protagonist, but the series eliminated her and other mainstays and totally rebuilt the cast with new characters like Althea (Maggie Grace), John (Garret Dillahunt), and June (Jenna Elfman). The show concluded a long-running series of flashbacks in season 4 to confirm what many already suspected was true, which was that Madison died in a past event. It was a disappointing revelation, especially considering how integral she had been to the series. However, some are still holding out hope that the show will somehow undo this tragedy and write her back into the story, but whether or not the show will actually take this path remains to be seen.

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