‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Stars Tease Funny and “High Stakes” Second Half

Fear The Walking Dead stars Danay García and Alycia Debnam-Carey say comedy and unexpected pairings lie ahead in the back half of season 4.

“I think there’s a lot of comedy, there’s a lot of drama, there’s a storm. The stakes are really high. I think for something to be funny it needs to be very dramatic, very hard to overcome,” García told Collider at San Diego Comic-Con.

“We have to overcome nature, that’s hard to do. We have to wait until the storm passes to keep going and funny things happen. Characters will come up and they bring so much to the show and a different perspective of how to survive, and that really adds to this second half. It just fills the second half with so much life, because we lost so much.”

Alicia, Strand, and Luciana will continue to pick up the pieces following the devastating losses of both pack leader Madison (Kim Dickens) and Nick (Frank Dillane), but they won’t be weathering the storm alone: their fates have become intertwined with newfound allies Morgan (Lennie James), John (Garret Dillahunt), Althea (Maggie Grace) and June (Jenna Elfman).

Some of those characters will pair off and mix, making for “really interesting pairings to come, unexpected pairings that drive a lot of tension,” added Debnam-Carey.

“I guess one thing particularly is that, because of the loss of Madison and Nick, Alicia is now the only remaining member of the Clark family,” she said. “And so that allows her to finally be her own person, and I mean, it’s a harrowing and awful place to be for her, but it allows her to find her own narrative, which is very exciting.”

Fear wading into lighter territory following a heavy half-season comes as Mad TV and Parks and Recreation funnywoman Mo Collins boards the franchise, alongside series newcomers Daryl ‘Chill’ Mitchell (NCIS: New Orleans), Aaron Stanford (12 Monkeys), and Stephen Henderson (Lady Bird). Of this new batch of fresh meat, one character has been described by James as a newbie survivor — one who is not just newly arrived to the show, but new to a world overrun with the reanimated undead.

It won’t be all laughs as the survivors will have to contend with a new human threat in the form of Tonya Pinkins (Gotham), whose plot and purpose has yet to be revealed.

Fear The Walking Dead resumes season 4 with its mid-season premiere Sunday, August 12 on AMC.