Warning: Minor SPOILERS ahead for Fear the Walking Dead "Channel 4".
Fear the Walking Dead's latest episode seems to be teasing Madison Clark's return, but whether or not she actually comes back is a tough question to answer at this point. It's clear that Fear the Walking Dead is far from being the same show that it was just two seasons ago, and it's certainly different from what was in the beginning. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, even though Fear the Walking Dead tends to have its absurd moments, it's resulted in one of the characters being written out.
Towards the start of Fear the Walking Dead season 4, Nick Clark was shot and killed by Charlie. While it was a shocking moment, it turns out that Frank Dillane wanted to be written off the show; it was his choice to leave. But that same cannot be said for Kim Dickens' Madison Clark. In the season 4 midseason finale, Madison saved everyone by igniting a flare and luring the walkers into the baseball stadium, thereby using the walls to keep them inside instead of out. Madison was confirmed to have been killed off in the Fear the Walking Dead season 4 midseason finale, but the thing is, she was never actually shown to be dead.
Now, Fear the Walking Dead's season 5 midseason premiere, "Channel 4", seems to be teasing her return. In the Fear the Walking Dead season 5 midseason finale, John and Dwight discovered a tree with a carving on it that read, "If you’re reading this it means you’re still here." Alicia discovered another tree just like it in "Channel 4", and she's now made it her mission to find out who's been writing on the trees. In fact, she says into the camera, "My mom used to look for the little bit of good every time she went out into the world. She would've liked this."
It's not an explicit reference to Madison, but it's certainly alluding to her return. Not only did Alicia discover this tree and make it her mission to find out who's been leaving these messages, but the writing on the trees are also evocative of what Madison used to say. Furthermore, when Fear the Walking Dead season 5 was still in production, a set photo leak showed another tree that had the writing "No one's gone until they're gone" on it, which is the very last thing Madison said to her children.
It wouldn't be the first time that an old character has come back after one or more seasons. Daniel Salazar returned in Fear the Walking Dead season 5 after being absent throughout all of season 4 and surviving more than one near-death situation. In fact, Morgan reappeared on The Walking Dead after being missing for several seasons, only to later become one of the main characters on its companion series. Dickens can certainly revisit Fear the Walking Dead as Madison, and now's a perfect time for that to happen.