‘Fear The Walking Dead’ May Have Revealed How It’s Bringing Back Daniel Salazar

Fear The Walking Dead fan-favorite Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) is MIA, but showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg may have hinted how Daniel could return during the already in-the-works Season Five.

In June, viewers got a close-up look at the prized cache of tapes fiercely protected by video journalist Althea (Maggie Grace), revealing a tape marked “D.S.”

Now that Al and her group have settled at an old denim factory and taken up the charitable mission established by trucker Polar Bear (Stephen Henderson), Season Five will see Morgan (Lennie James) and the others venturing out to help the needy and reconnect with the survivors encountered in Al’s tapes — which could lead Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Strand (Colman Domingo) across the path of old ally Daniel.

“We’ll definitely say Al’s tapes are a big part of who she is and was, and we’ll probably be seeing more of them in the future,” Chambliss said on Talking Dead.

Goldberg confirmed Al’s tapes will be used “as a guide to find those people,” which comes after Chambliss enticed fans in May when he told TV Line Daniel is “alive and out there,” teasing “there is a very good chance that he will appear in the Walking Dead universe.”

How and when Daniel returns is “something that we’re still keeping under wraps,” Chambliss added.

Daniel was last seen in the Season Three finale, where he was swallowed up by the massive Gonzalez Dam explosion set off by Nick Clark (Frank Dillane). A former CIA and Salvadoran Junta secret agent, Daniel has proved hard to kill: he previously resurfaced after his first apparent death back in Season Two when the Abigail Estate was consumed by flames.

His last known location was Tijuana, Baja California — the site of the Gonzalez Dam — but following a sizable time jump that skipped past more than a year in Season Four, the missing Daniel could resurface as the characters continue to explore the west.

“We are filming in Austin [Texas] again for Season Five,” Goldberg told ComicBook.com.

“But what we can say is we, without giving away sort of where we’re going story-wise, we will be exploring different parts of the greater Austin area, and possibly the greater Texas area, as part of the story we’re telling. So we’re always trying to avoid repetition, and that will continue, yeah, as these characters take the next evolution in their journey.”

Al’s tapes could hint at potential locations to be uncovered in Season Five: other labels in the collection include ‘St. Luke’s Hospital,’ ‘Slim,’ ‘The Oil Fields,’ ‘Killeen, Texas,’ ‘Dallas,’ ‘Dog Shelter,’ ‘Mrs. Jamison,’ and ‘Bartlett.’

Fear The Walking Dead Season Five begins production in late November for a 2019 return.

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