Fear The Walking Dead Season 8’s Alicia Absence Explained By Showrunners

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Fear the Walking Dead series finale!

Fear the Walking Dead showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian B. Goldberg have opened up about why Alicia didn’t appear throughout the show’s final season. The last episodes of the series focuses on Madison’s conflict with Troy, a major factor being the villain’s claim that he killed Alicia in the past. However, it’s revealed in the series finale that she is alive, happily reuniting with her mother.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Chambliss and Goldberg revealed why Alicia was absent from the final season until Fear the Walking Dead‘s ending. Golberg in particular explained how the decision was made due to both scheduling her return with actor Alycia Debnam-Carey, and trying to craft an emotional story for the final season. Check out what Goldberg had to say below:

The way that it played out was always the plan, and there were a couple of reasons for that. A big one, a practical one, was that Alycia Debnam-Carey was no longer a series regular on the show as of the end of season 7, so building out any larger story for her would have been very challenging. Alycia was off doing other projects, she was not as contractually tied to the show, and so that just opened up a pathway for us to finding a different way to create that reunion.

But, the way that we chose to do that was by creating this narrative question about Alicia’s fate and seeing what that did to Madison and the other characters, and the places it took them to emotionally, and bringing Alicia back at the end of the finale we saw as Madison’s karmic reward for kind of ultimately making the right decision and not letting go of her ideals, even in a very dark moment. So, that’s kind of how that that all came together.

How Alicia’s Reunion With Madison Ended Fear The Walking Dead Properly

Alicia didn’t appear in the final season of the show until the series finale, resulting in an emotional reunion with Madison. By having the series end with the pair back together, the Clark family’s story is completed in a way that ties the entire show together. This is made all the more powerful by their decision to take Tracy Otto with them to LA in hopes of building a new life for themselves in their old home.

Fear the Walking Dead‘s other characters believe the pair are dead, allowing them to have a fresh start helping others in a new location. The only one who knows of their true fate is Victor Strand, who sees them just before he leaves with his own family. While their secretive departure makes for a bittersweet finale, Madison and Alicia’s reunion also sets up stories for the characters the franchise could explore in the future.

While it’s unclear if Fear the Walking Dead could cross over with other spinoffs in the universe, the door is left open as characters go their separate ways, pursuing their personal goals. This means Alicia’s return could signal plans for her and Madison in the future, despite how final their ending is. For now, though, Alicia’s single appearance in the series finale delivered proper bookends to the story of season 8 – and to the series as a whole.