Alicia Clark explains how she became Fear The Walking Dead's lead protagonist, but her story gives off strong echoes of how her own mother, Madison, rose to the top. Fear The Walking Dead season 7's "Follow Me" finds Alicia (portrayed by Alycia Debnam-Carey) in a period of transition. Chopping off her own zombie-bitten arm has, understandably, affected her mental well-being, and a constant fever has convinced Alicia she's destined to turn undead at any given moment. Searching for meaning and desperate to find PADRE for her people, Alicia even resorted to using a zombie politician as a sat-nav.
Needless to say, it didn't work, but Fear The Walking Dead's latest mid-season premiere provides a much needed moment of clarity. Speaking to Morgan Jones back on his submarine, Alicia realizes the voice pushing her to find PADRE wasn't a zombie after all, but her own inner voice rising to the surface. She describes the sensation as, "My mom had her dream, Nick had his, you have yours. I've always had such strong voices around me, I've never really stopped to listen to mine... but I am now."
In this moment, Fear The Walking Dead cements Alicia as its main hero. Though Debnam-Carey has always stood among the spinoff's main cast, she never quite took top billing. Her mother, Madison, emerged as Fear The Walking Dead's answer to Rick Grimes, before brother Nick (Frank Dillane) adopted a central role of his own. Then, once both relatives had fallen to the terrors of the apocalypse, a wild Lennie James appeared as Morgan Jones, immediately claiming the spotlight as an import from The Walking Dead. After 7 seasons surrounded by these strong personalities, Alicia is finally taking center stage in this climactic battle against Victor Strand. Curiously, however, this is a journey we've seen already in Fear The Walking Dead - with Alicia's mother, Madison.
When Fear The Walking Dead first began airing, no clear lead protagonist emerged, with the spinoff instead opting for a more ensemble vibe. Over those initial seasons, both Travis (Cliff Curtis) and Nick threatened to become the main character, but neither made that final step. Only after Travis was killed and Nick struck out alone did Madison finally evolve into Fear The Walking Dead's true central figure. Just like Alicia describes to Morgan in Fear The Walking Dead season 7, other strong voices dying or taking a step back allowed Madison to fulfill her potential - and we're now witnessing exactly the same phenomenon for Alicia.
Making the parallel especially poignant is Madison's impending Fear The Walking Dead return. Kim Dickens is officially confirmed for a comeback, and has seemingly spent the past 3 seasons captured and brainwashed by mystery assailants. Mother and daughter look destined to eventually reunite, and that could mean a timely reversal of roles. Whereas Alicia has now found her "voice" in Fear The Walking Dead season 7, Madison may prove more fragile since the flaming baseball field incident and her harrowing experiences since. That would mean Alicia stays on as the de facto "leader" of Fear The Walking Dead, while Madison struggles to relocate the voice she found in season 3.
That's assuming Alicia survives long enough. By drawing the comparison between Alicia's journey and Madison's, Fear The Walking Dead could be foreshadowing the exit of Alycia Debnam-Carey's character. Although Madison found her zombie apocalypse groove after the death of Travis, it was this newfound sense of duty and determination that compelled her to make the ultimate sacrifice. Now Alicia has found that same sense of purpose and self-resolution, she too might encounter a situation whereby sacrifice is necessary to save her people. And that really would be a case of like mother, like daughter.
Fear The Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC.