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Madison’s last episode on Fear the Walking Dead was in the middle of Season 4 as a flashback, back in 2018. After she left, Dave Erickson — the showrunner who left after Season 3 — revealed that he had plans to turn Madison into an evil character who slowly descended into becoming a major villain. Those plans never became reality.

She Would Have Been a Negan-Level Villain

Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg took over the series in Season 4 after Dave Erickson left and changed a lot of things up when. Scott Gimple also joined as executive producer at that same time. One of the storylines they changed centered on Madison. Some viewers think they made a big mistake going in a different direction from what Erickson had planned.

Digital Spy reported on Erickson’s plans for the show, which involved a seven-season-long arc that would have culminated in Madison becoming evil — Negan level evil. He ended Season 3 with a bomb that destroyed a dam and swept Madison and others away, their fates unknown at the time. Madison was already turning to her darker side. She killed Troy in a very dark scene and widened the gap between her and her son Nick. Nick was finding his way through the world and becoming an amazing survivor, perhaps on his way to outpacing his mom. But both their journeys were cut short.

Erickson told The Hollywood Reporter that not only did he plan to widen the gap between Madison and Nick, but he also planned to tell the story of Madison’s descent into villainy.

He said: “Of our group, who could become a Negan? That’s interesting to me, to watch an evolution of a character and start with them as a hero, and bleed that into antihero, and bleed that into full-on villain. It would have been interesting. In terms of the final conflict within the family, it would have been key. For me, there’s a lot left for Madison specifically.”

He said that at her core, Madison was a woman of violence and she could embrace that again. But it’s a shift that Nick would not be able to tolerate.

It sounds like he might have envisioned a final conflict that centered on Madison being fully evil and Nick being the one that had to ultimately face her down.

And that would have been amazing.

Today, fans are debating and hoping that despite Madison’s dying in Season 4, the showrunners might change their minds and bring her back. We didn’t see her die on screen, after all. But if that happened, how would it even play out? Nick is dead, and he was going to be the character who would have faced her in her full Negan form. Would it be Alicia now instead?

Perhaps a better choice than bringing back Madison would be to have Strand be the one that goes down the dark path originally intended for her. It would still be a compelling story to watch, although it might not be quite as poignant without Nick to face off against his mom. Maybe the showrunners are planning a Strand-Alicia showdown that might mirror the Madison-Nick showdown originally envisioned. If so, would this be a storyline you would want to see?

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Stephanie

Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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