‘Fear The Walking Dead’ EPs Talk Madison’s Surprising Contingency Plan

Following Madison’s trip to Naomi’s former camp in the last episode of “Fear the Walking Dead,” the Clark matriarch secretly told her daughter Alicia to make a just-in-case Land Rover getaway car. Madison’s decision to arrange a backup plan was quite surprising as she seemed to be the one person at the Stadium that had not even considered an emergency scheme since the Vultures showed up in their parking lot.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunner Ian Goldberg said that learning what happened to the FEMA shelter where Naomi (Jenna Elfman) used to live was one of the things that made Madison (Kim Dickens) realize that any community could crumble in an instant.

“I think in a sense that plays a big role in it,” Goldberg said. “Going through this experience with Naomi, learning what she went through with her daughter [Rose] — certainly that plays a huge role in that moment we see with Madison at the end where she tells Alicia to pack her car just in case. It also speaks to what Mel (Kevin Zegers) and the Vultures have been saying since they arrived and why they’re not sort of villains in the traditional sense. We’ve always talked about them as doctors delivering the news and they — like viewers of ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ — know that communities like this, even when people have the best intentions, like Naomi going to get medicine for her daughter, can fall.”

Co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss added that finding out that Strand (Colman Domingo) had a getaway car and didn’t use it also played a role in Madison’s decision to make a contingency plan. “It most definitely does, and I think that’s more on an emotional level and works hand in hand with everything that Naomi has talked about in terms of trusting people and whether people with the best intentions can still hurt you,” Chambliss said. “Madison learns that someone who is arguably her best friend had lied to her and had actually considered escaping the stadium. That is a really big blow to Madison’s confidence. I think in her mind she thought next to her kids, Strand probably believed in this place more than anyone.”

Interestingly, in the present timeline, Naomi, who is now seemingly working with the Vultures, showed up at the end of the last episode with Madison’s getaway car. “I know what it looks like to them,” Elfman told AMC of what Alicia, Strand, and Luciana (Danay Garcia) were thinking when they saw Naomi with the getaway car. “I did run, but I have a really good explanation.”

“Fear the Walking Dead’s” next episode airs on Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC.