‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Kim Dickens on Possible Madison Clark Return

Former Fear the Walking Dead leading lady Kim Dickens has “no idea” if her Madison Clark is really dead, but doesn’t expect to return to the series.

“I’m definitely working on other things, and I think that’s part of this genre, that you lose characters unexpectedly sometimes,” Dickens said Saturday during a panel at Walker Stalker Con Atlanta hosted by ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis.

“I don’t think that’s how it works. I don’t think they do come back.”

Madison was revealed to have died in the Fear Season Four mid-season finale after she sacrificed herself at the Dell Diamond baseball stadium as it was invaded by a horde of the undead.

After igniting a flare and drawing the walkers away from her escaping children, Nick (Frank Dillane) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), and friends Strand (Colman Domingo) and Luciana (Danay García), Madison baited the dead before lighting them aflame.

Giving her life for her children was expected of Madison, but Dickens is doubtful the ferocious mother would have stayed behind and gone down without a fight.

“I’m pretty sure Madison would have shimmied up that wall,” she said.

Season Four showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg confirmed to ComicBook.com Madison’s story came to a close in 408. Her death propelled the story and themes for the season, which Goldberg characterized as “a journey from hopelessness to hope.”

“For us, it really centered around Madison, who we saw in our flashback story this season had really become this beacon of hope. For everyone, her family, and the people that she brought in from the outside into this stadium community that she helped nurture,” Goldberg said of structuring the season in a way that would slowly reveal the reasoning behind the “very dark place” the survivors were now in.

“It was about how they regain the hope, and the philosophy that Madison gave her life for. Not only did she sacrifice herself to save them, but she gave her life for an idea, for a way of life, a way of existing in this world beyond just survival, a way to maintain hope, and that’s something that a lot of people that survive her are going to carry forward.”

That philosophy ultimately drove Alicia, Strand, and Luciana to remain in Texas and help Morgan (Lennie James) oversee his mission to reach out to nearby survivors and offer help to the needy, a story that will play out in Season Five.

Goldberg and Chambliss, when defending the decision to kill Madison, previously confirmed her death was the plan from the beginning as it fueled the entire season.

Dickens told EW she learned of Madison’s fate one month before production start on Season Four, admitting learning she would unexpectedly be killed off the series left her “shocked and disappointed and heartbroken.” Co-stars Domingo and Debnam-Carey said during San Diego Comic-Con losing Dickens was “devastating.”

The actress has since filmed Showtime pilot Queen Fur and will next reprise her role of Joanie Stubbs in the upcoming Deadwood movie, now in the works at HBO.

Dickens still sometimes watches Fear, saying she’s “so proud” of her remaining castmates.

“That’s why I wanted to watch it, because I love the show,” she said. “I love my castmates. I was super proud of Colman for directing. I thought it was an incredible episode [412, ‘Weak’]. It’s still in my heart.”

Fear the Walking Dead will return with its fifth season in 2019.