[WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 13, “Sonny Boy.”]
Fear the Walking Dead just got rid of two main characters in a single episode, but we’re predicting the blood won’t stop flowing there in the Tower War.
Currently, there are more characters than perhaps ever before who might depart the world of walkers before Season 7 ends; characters have radiation poisoning, characters have switched sides, characters have lied to former Somba Negra agents (probably a bad move, Luci [Danay Garcia]). Here, we’re discussing which of the characters currently in peril might not live to see Season 8.
Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Charlie
Unfortunately—or maybe fortunately, depending on how bitter you still are over Nick’s (Frank Dillane) death—Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) is probably most likely to die within the next few episodes. While characters have beaten radiation poisoning before, their health hasn’t deteriorated as quickly or visibly as Charlie’s. Plus, if the show eliminates Charlie before Madison (Kim Dickens) arrives, it won’t have to navigate the murkiness regarding whether Madison would forgive Charlie for killing her son.
Verdict: Die. We think Fear might want to avoid delving into whether Madison would want revenge for Nick’s death, and getting rid of Charlie gets rid of that as a potential storyline.
Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Wes
Wes made the mistake of switching sides, heading over to Strand (Colman Domingo) after Luciana (Danay Garcia) lied to Daniel (Ruben Blades). While we don’t see Morgan (Lennie James) killing him for it, there are characters in the group who would—Daniel, especially. There’s always the possibility Wes might make a mistake or do something Strand doesn’t approve of and find himself thrown off the top of the tower, too.
Verdict: Die, probably during the fight for the tower. Wes made the wrong choice in siding with Strand, and there are plenty in Morgan’s group who—unless Wes repents and switches sides again—could kill him for that.
Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Dwight and Sherry
These two have started their own “lawful outlaws” group, but other than that they’ve had pretty limited screen time in Season 7 and not a ton of development in their (eternally tumultuous) relationship. Love doesn’t tend to last in the Walking Dead world—just ask poor June (Jenna Elfman)—so we could see one, or both, losing their lives in the battle for the tower.
The two were also talking about starting a family in 7A, and if there’s one conversation that reeks of ominous foreshadowing on these shows, it’s that. Few, if any, couples have survived it, and plenty have taken tragic turns in the aftermath.
Verdict: One lives, one dies. At this point, it’s hard to say which half of this pairing wouldn’t live to see Season 8. Dwight (Austin Amelio) had a larger role in the Walking Dead comics, so it’s possible he survives—but with that said, The Walking Dead’s final season is likely to give that comics story to someone else. Sherry (Christine Evangelista) has shown she can be reckless when it comes to revenge or getting what she wants. Neither has an existing Madison connection, so her return wouldn’t be a reason to keep Dwight or Sherry around.
Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Luciana
We’d be shocked if repercussions of some kind aren’t coming for Luciana. At the end of Episode 11, she made the surprising decision to lie to Daniel and tell him his late daughter, Ofelia (Mercedes Mason), is alive and inside the tower. That’ll help Daniel focus to take down Strand, but we’ve seen Daniel’s wrath before: At one point, accidentally lying to him about Ofelia’s whereabouts almost got Strand killed. We can’t imagine Daniel will be happy with Luciana for what she’s done. Will he be angry enough to kill her for it?
Verdict: Live. Daniel will almost certainly be enraged with her, but unless Danay Garcia asked to be written out, we doubt Fear would jettison one of the “Seasons 1-3 originals” before Madison’s arrival, especially one who was so close with Nick.
Lauren “Lo” Smith/AMC
Daniel
It’s no secret that Daniel’s health has declined in recent episodes of Fear. While he seemed like his old self at times in Episode 11, Luci learns that was because he had something to focus on—if he doesn’t, even he readily admits his forgetfulness and confusion aren’t improving. When Luci lies to him about his daughter, he tells her he won’t survive losing Ofelia again; given that she’s dead and absolutely not in the tower, he’ll definitely lose her again before Season 7 is done.
Verdict: Live/Die. There are compelling arguments on either side. He might die because he spelled things out so clearly to Luci: He won’t make it through losing Ofelia again, and we know he will lose Ofelia again. But if he lives, it’ll be Madison’s return that saves him—as with Luci, the show might not want to get rid of a favorite character from the early seasons just before she arrives.
Strand
In a just world, perhaps Victor Strand wouldn’t live past Season 7’s final moments. He’s done too many irredeemable things: He and his men have killed children, thrown plenty of innocent people off the top of a tower, lied to people to get them to serve his mission, etc. How does someone come back from that? Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was bad, but even he had lines he wouldn’t cross. Sometimes it seems Strand and his rangers don’t even have that.
Verdict: Live. Is it right that Strand doesn’t pay for his misdeeds with his life? Maybe, maybe not. But he’s gotten out of so many perilous, deadly scrapes by now that we just can’t picture one actually killing him. We also don’t see him going when Madison’s so close to returning, especially knowing how close Dickens and Domingo are in real life (and that Domingo was instrumental in bringing the actress back to the show).
Alicia
“What’s wrong with Alicia?” has been one of Season 7’s central questions. A walker bit her on her arm, forcing her to amputate it herself before the infection spread…but she might not have gotten to it in time, since she’s still feverish and weak. If this is the result of the walker virus, Alicia might be slowly turning—but it could also be another illness caused by the very-much-not-sterile instruments she had when she “operated.” We still don’t know.
Verdict: Live/Die. Alicia’s getting the same verdict as Daniel because there’s so much we don’t know about what’s going on with her. If she had the walker virus, one would think she would’ve turned by now. But even if that’s not what’s happening, there are other diseases that, left untreated, could kill her, and she’s not exactly spending time resting and recovering. Would Fear pull a “Daniel and Ofelia” with Madison and Alicia? Given that Ofelia and the circumstances of her death have come up again recently, it’s possible. Alicia’s a major fan-favorite character, though, and her mom is just episodes away from returning. We doubt we’d lose her this season unless Alycia Debnam-Carey asked to leave. It’d be a real pity if Fear exchanged one fan favorite for another.
Fear the Walking Dead, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC
