As ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ closes out its eight-season long run, both fans and critics find themselves at the crossroads of an emotional rollercoaster, grappling with the intensity of the show’s final moments and the longevity of the rocky path it took to get here.
⚠️ WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️
A spin-off from the iconic ‘The Walking Dead’ franchise, ‘Fear’ has carved its niche in the apocalyptic TV genre. Delivering its own unique identity and offering a fresh perspective on the ever-expanding universe. Though its more grounded first three seasons remain its best, the final season offers up some interesting moments for fans to sink their teeth into.
The zombie show that originally started amid the outbreak in LA has since gone on to diverse and colorful landscapes such as Mexico, Texas, and Georgia. Creating cinematic scenery and a unique cast. ‘Fear’ has been through many changes in its lifetime. Switching from a serious, dysfunctional family drama to a happy-go-lucky, cast ensemble, making it a contrasting companion to its predecessor.
What is this season about?
Split into two halves, this season brings us forward seven years with our main cast captured by the mysterious ‘PADRE’. Returning stars Lennie James (Morgan Jones) and series veteran Kim Dickens (Madison Clark), who led the first four seasons’ returns alongside an array of new and returning characters. Most importantly, season three fan favorite Troy Otto, portrayed by Daniel Sharman, returns from the dead again.
Whether you find this distasteful fanservice or a worthy reunion, season 8 harbors between these lines almost constantly. Whether it’s Morgan returning to season 1 location ‘King County’ in episode 4, or the multiple flashbacks of Madison’s “dead” family. The show certainly knows how to pull on our heartstrings.
Why end it now?
Creators and network AMC strategically decided to end the show now seeming it was the right time to do so. Season 1 reached record-breaking numbers, yet the viewership has slowly started dwindling ever since, despite the then-exciting season four crossover. More importantly, critical reception of the show has been a double-edged sword since the height of season 3.
The show has managed to bag a few awards, most notably a Saturn nomination for ‘Best Horror Television Series’. While this is impressive, the show also got the number two ranking on TVLINE’S ‘top 10 worst shows of 2023’ list. Claiming, “Ultimately, the show became so laughably bad. More than 40% of TVLine readers gave the series finale a grade of F.”
Critics haven’t held back either, Erik Kain from Forbes said:
“I’m not sure what I’ll do now that this is over. No other show will ever be quite this entertainingly terrible.”
While Chase Hutchinson from Collider gave the season a nuanced B-, saying:
“If you’ve made it this far, Fear the Walking Dead continues to carve out just enough of its own identity to stick with the series for its closing chapter.”
Fan feedback: A spectrum of emotions
With a huge fan divide between people who enjoyed showrunner Dave Erickson’s run as seasons one – three and the duo Ian Goldberg & Andrew Chambliss who manned seasons four – eight. The change in showrunners came with monumentally different stories and tones that never found a solid middle ground. Season 8 attempts this but loses its pacing, aiming to tell two separate stories in each half of the season. Yet, it never finds enough time to develop anything meaningful.
You’ll find fans from both the ‘Madison era’ and ‘Morgan era.’ However, due to most problems spiraling from Morgan’s entry onto the show and Kim Dickens essentially getting fired as the main character. Fans have eagerly been awaiting to see how season eight handles both Madison and Morgan in one narrative. And perhaps get along for once.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kim Dickens talked about her return since season four and how the show has changed, “I didn’t know what it was going to be like to work with them, but I just said, ‘Look, this is a different show now’.” She continued, “Look, my happiness is not paved with resentment. It’s just not.”
Lennie James also commented on Dickens’s return, “When I came over from The Walking Dead, we didn’t get a chance to work together. Part of the thing I was excited about when coming over was working with Kim.” – Digital Spy.
An ending with mixed sentiments
Ending last year, the main show has already received two spin-offs, ‘Dead Island’ and ‘Daryl Dixon’, with ‘The Ones Who Live’ premiering next year. Fans are left wondering if they will see any fan favorites from ‘Fear’ cross over.
Currently, there has been no confirmation; however, showrunners Goldberg & Chambliss recently said in a Screen Rant interview, “These characters’ stories are constructed in such a way that they live on, there is more story to tell. They are going their separate ways, but they’re all carrying the weight of Madison’s and Alicia’s legacy. And there is certainly a lot more story to tell there, so we’ll see, I guess is the answer. But our goal was to just bring Fear to a satisfying conclusion, and to leave open the possibility of more storytelling should the powers that be decide that they want more.”
So, it seems it’s up to AMC. Will they finally listen to fans in a potential crossover or end the OG spin-off storylines once and for all?
While bidding farewell is bittersweet, the journey through the apocalypse has been an unforgettable experience for fans who have weathered the storm alongside their favorite character’s ups and downs. The final season marks the end of an era, and we can only hope the future has more in store for our survivors.
