Spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead season 8 premiere below!
Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Ian Goldberg explains why season 8 takes its big time jump. The Walking Dead's first spinoff series premiered in 2015 and centered on Madison Clark's (Kim Dickens) blended family as they attempted to survive the initial outbreak. Over the years, members of her family died while new characters were brought into the fray. Fear the Walking Dead's season 8 premiere kicked off its final run jumping ahead of time seven years.
On the heels of Fear the Walking Dead season 8's premiere, Goldberg spoke to Entertainment Weekly to discuss why the show decided to include a time jump to start the final season. Goldberg explained he wanted to explore the island survival community of PADRE through the eyes of Mo/Wren (Zoey Merchant) after growing up in that world. Read what the showrunner said below:
Well, there were a few reasons why we started to gravitate in that direction. And I think one of the biggest was we've been teasing this place PADRE since season 7, and really slowly unpacking what it is. Finally, in episode 716, through Madison, we realize who they are and what they're about, but we haven't yet [seen] what it's like from the inside.
We felt the best way to understand what it's like to grow up as a child at PADRE, in a place where you're kept from your family — where you're taught not to have connections with other people, certainly not with your parents — was to do it through the perspective of someone who actually grew up there. And the perfect character for that, of course, is Mo, who doesn't even know that her real name is Mo until this episode. She's grown up thinking she's Wren.
It just felt like the right lens to tell that story through. And also, it created a real rift and mystery about the rest of our characters, and it showed how life at PADRE had impacted all of them as well — both those who are still in each other's orbits, and those who aren't. But I think the big impetus for the time jump was just to show how much life at PADRE has impacted all of our characters and their way of existing in the world.
What the Time Jump Means for Fear the Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead season 7 concluded with Madison and Morgan (Lennie James) blindfolded and on their way to PADRE. However, season 8's premiere began with an unseen community leader seeing through the pair's ruse to save Mo, resulting in Madison fighting in order to allow Morgan and Mo to safely escape. Unfortunately, Madison was captured and ultimately locked away in solitary confinement for seven years. When Mo inadvertently frees Madison, the revelation that the better part of a decade has gone by comes as a shock.
Season 8 has a lot of explaining to do regarding Morgan and Grace's seven-year role with PADRE. After escaping with Mo, he found himself in a tight spot as Walkers closed in on his position. He eventually became a Collector for the community, stealing children to give to PADRE. Although Fear the Walking Dead gave a brief explanation regarding his major character shift from savior to Collector, the teasing of the mysterious graffiti inside the houseboat may indicate there is much more of his story to tell.
During Morgan's interrogation by PADRE, he revealed the location of the rafts that departed the Tower with survivors at the end of season 7. However, the people within those rafts were long gone. After seven years, Fear the Walking Dead season 8 will likely address how the group survived their arduous trek from the Tower and what they have done to stay alive in those seven long years.
Source: EW