Fear the Walking Dead Series Regular Maggie Grace Removed From Opening Credits

Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey) isn't the only one missing from Fear the Walking Dead. Maggie Grace, a series regular who has played Althea since Season 4 of Fear, is removed from the opening credits of Sunday's Season 7 premiere "The Beacon" and Episode 702 "Six Hours" (streaming early on AMC+). We last saw Al leaving Morgan's (Lennie James) dam community in Season 6 Episode 11, "The Holding," setting off to find and warn CRM soldier Isabelle (Sydney Lemmon) about Teddy (John Glover) and his nuclear warheads. But now the LOST alum is, well, lost for now — Grace's name no longer appears as part of the credited cast of Season 7.

It's unusual for any Walking Dead show to remove the name of an actor whose character hasn't died or otherwise exited the series. 

But it's not unprecedented: some Season 6 episodes of The Walking Dead removed Steven Yeun's name from the credits for the first time since the pilot when his character, Glenn Rhee, appeared to be killed by walkers. (Yeun's name returned after a later episode revealed Glenn survived by scurrying to safety under a dumpster. After Glenn's death in the Season 7 premiere, Yeun's credit was removed for good in Season 7 Episode 2.) 

Grace makes a voice cameo over walkie-talkie in Fear's Season 6 finale, "The Beginning," when it's revealed Al called for the Civic Republic Military helicopter that rescues a group of her friends from Teddy's bombs. The finale was among the episodes filmed after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down filming for several months in 2020, not wrapping until March of this year. 

In October 2020, Grace announced the birth of her first child with husband Brent Bushnell on Instagram. Filming on Season 7 has been underway since April in Texas under four-season showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, again taking an anthology-style approach with a handful of characters appearing per episode.

Grace's absence from the credits could be because of secrecy surrounding Al's storyline involving the shadowy CRM, a dangerous conspiracy she's been investigating since Season 5. Like Yeun, removing Grace's name could disguise whether Al will return after disappearing last season. 

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(Photo: AMC Studios)

Officially released Season 7 photos from AMC Networks confirm Althea is alive and will soon appear on this season of Fear. Victor Strand actor Colman Domingo, now a producer on Season 7, said during an impromptu Instagram Live ahead of Sunday's premiere that it's unclear why Grace's name is missing after multiple seasons on the show. 

"As far as I know, Maggie — because I've seen her on set — so as far as I know, she is in the show. I actually don't know why," Domingo told a fan on Instagram who asked if Grace is still a series regular in Season 7. "That could be a mistake, actually. I actually don't know...but hopefully it will be solved and resolved soon, and probably by someone with a higher pay grade than me. Somebody like our showrunners will be able to answer that." 

Here is the order of credited series regulars as they appear in "The Beacon" and "Six Hours": Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danny Garcia, Austin Amelio, Mo Collins, Alexa Nisenson, Karen David, Christine Evangelista, Colby Hollman, Jenna Elfman, with Keith Carradine and Ruben Blades.

New episodes of Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 premiere Sundays at 9/8c on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD and stay tuned to ComicBook for coverage all season long.   

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