'Fear The Walking Dead' Showrunner On Tonight's Shocking Death

The Death

"When I had the conversation with [Jake actor] Sam [Underwood], he was incredibly gracious, cause God knows I hate having these conversations," Erickson said. "He said, 'I'll look at it, of course. I just assumed that was gonna happen.'"

For cast members in the Dead universe, getting the news their character is bowing out of the show never seems to come as surprise, especially when their character is the moral compass type.

"And I think in his mind, [Jake is] somebody who's trying to hold onto some thread of decency in this world, and some sense of morality," Erickson said. "We always knew there would be a confrontation between Jake and Troy, and it's very much an Of Mice and Men quality in that relationship, in the sense that Jake's always been -- despite Troy's misdeeds, his crimes, his evil -- Jake has always felt compelled to protect him, and has suffered that burden for a long time."

Ultimately, the burden cost Jake his life, and allows Troy the opportunity to continue to grow as a compelling character on Fear the Walking Dead.

"So that was always going to happen," Erickson said. "The real question, and we didn't refine this until we got later into the season, was 'Who was gonna go?' And I think for our purposes, Troy has become such a pivotal character that if he were to go, it needed to be at the hands of somebody ... someone else. And I think we got to a place where Troy's connection to Nick and to Madison was such that to lose him, it would have been premature."

Troy isn't the only character who will grow in Jake's absence, though.

Impact on Alicia

Alicia Clark will be feeling the effects of Jake's death. However, by the sound of it, the little Clark girl will grow as a result of losing her second boyfriend.

"Every time we have a significant character death, it definitely has to have repercussions and it has to echo, and it's gotta drive the other characters and drive story, so that's very much the case with Jake," Erickson said. "From a character perspective, what you're going to see as we now pivot into the final few episodes is Alicia becoming far more prominent and far stronger than she's been before."

It's exactly what so many of the fans have been waiting for.

"I think there's a lot of people when I do look at social media who have been waiting for that to happen, and it does, and it is," Erickson promised. "Part of what had to happen was [Jake] had to go. I think that her relationship with Jake was not one based on romance, or on a true love. There was a practicality to it. But I think she recognized something in him that was good. And I think that when she realizes at the end of the episode... Well, it's later actually, when she realizes this... But when she does realize this, it's gonna be a major pivot point for her."

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The Walking Dead's sibling series Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season on October 22, 2017. The Season Eight premiere will mark 100 episodes overall for the popular AMC series. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

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