Fear the Walking Dead has had some memorable characters, and whether they were loved or hated, they were taken from us too soon.
Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead has introduced many new characters, some of which garnering more popularity than others. But over the course of four seasons there have been other memorable characters, both heroic and villainous, who could have made the show interesting had they stuck around. It’s not always necessary to introduce new people to create new drama, and these seven familiar characters could have kept the story interesting.
Jim
Jim may not have been a sympathetic character, but his healthy dose of antagonism was much-needed in an otherwise amiable group. Fear the Walking Dead is meant to be about characters, and character growth. If everyone agrees on everything, how can anyone grow? In order to change, you need someone to challenge you, and show you a different perspective.
Jim’s view on life in the apocalypse may have been flawed, and annoying, but he at least created tension and conflict for the group to deal with so they weren’t just one big love fest.
Be sure to check this out for more detail as to why Jim didn’t deserve to go the way of Carl.
Nick
Nick was always the most interesting Clark. Sorry Alicia fans, as loveable as she is, she’s too sane to be interesting.
You could always rely on Nick to show you a perspective on life, the world, or people, that you hadn’t thought of before. Though his motivations were consistently about doing good, his methods were ever-changing, and seeing that contrast from Madison or Alicia provided some good family drama. Let’s also not forget watching his constant struggle with addiction, seeing where he’d get his latest fix, and how that would influence his decisions.
Nick just had more depth compared to the characters we have now. Understanding his psyche wasn’t straightforward, so his arc was never predictable, which is something that’s severely lacking on Fear the Walking Dead lately.
Madison
The matriarch of the group should never have left to make way for Morgan. As great as Morgan can be, he’s no leader. As flawed as Madison’s leadership could be, she made a great leader.
Indeed, her sometimes controversial decisions are what made her more interesting to watch. You could never be sure what she really had planned, but you always knew it’d be for the good of her kids. She was a badass woman who wouldn’t back down no matter what. It was far more interesting watching her learn how to be less dictatorial than it is watching Morgan learn to make decisions. It’s true some people complained about having Madison on the show, but now that she’s gone, it’s hard not to miss her.
Chris
As time wore on, so too did our patience with Chris. But had his “growth” been handled differently, we actually could have come to love to hate Chris.
Unlike many others, Chris didn’t adapt to the changing world too well. Similarly to Martha, aka the Filthy woman, he cracked. He became trigger-happy and uncomfortably comfortable with killing. He was an annoying brat, and his death relieved us of this pest, but what if hadn’t died? What if Chris had lived long enough to become the villain? Wouldn’t it have been an interesting devolution to see a character you’re supposed to root for become the antagonist of the entire show? How would a season have looked if the enemy group was lead by our group’s son? Talk about family drama.
Chris didn’t need to die. His story didn’t have to be over just yet. He could have begun a new story that would have created a conflict we’ve yet to see on the show.
Gretchen
Gretchen’s dad left much to be desired, but Gretchen seemed like an all right girl. At the very least, she was kind to Alicia, trying to make her feel included at Broke Jaw Ranch. Poor Alicia is cursed though, and can’t make friends with anyone who can stick around for an extended period of time. Not even her family survived.
Imagine if Gretchen had never left Broke Jaw Ranch and survived. Okay, maybe not that much would have changed, and she probably would have died anyway at some later time. But at least Alicia would have had a friend for a little longer. We just want Alicia to be happy, dammit.
Lola
Lola was a close friend of Daniel’s, and any person Daniel has deemed worthy of his respect is worth keeping around.
Good people never seem to last long in Fear the Walking Dead, and Lola was the epitome of good. Her response to the world ending was to set up a system to provide people with water from the dam. She was so good, in fact, that after control of the dam was taken from her by an armed force, she risked her life to continue providing water in secret. She was strong minded and pure of heart, and while we’re not lacking of those type of characters in season 4, it would have been nice to see that kind of character survive and not just be replaced.
Troy
Who didn’t want to find out one way or the other what Troy’s deal was? Was his bromance with Nick just platonic? Would something have ever happened between him and Madison? We’ll never know now.
Weird relationships aside, Troy was a captivating villain. He was horrible, of course, but riveting to watch, not least of all because of Daniel Sharman’s performance. Although the trajectory of his character seemed a bit off at times, he was a character with a lot of space to grow, in a lot of different directions. What could he have become? How would having him in the group have affected what Madison, Nick, Alicia, or Strand became? Would his influence have corrupted any of them? Maybe Madison’s leadership style would never have changed, and she wouldn’t have died. Troy’s death leaves us with so many ‘what ifs’ that we’ll never see occur.
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