Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 Midseason Finale Recap

AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead’s Season 4 midseason finale finally brought the timelines of past and present together while revealing the fate of key character Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) and whether or not Morgan (Lennie James) and the others were able to save John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt). Check out a behind-the-scenes video for Episode 4.08 “No One’s Gone” in the player below, as well as the most talked about scene from the heartbreaking midseason finale.

The fourth season of Fear has definitely altered the series with the crossover of Morgan into the show from The Walking Dead, the introduction of John, Al (Maggie Grace), and Naomi (Jenna Elfman), and the big loss of Nick (Frank Dillane) earlier this season. As the season four midseason finale came to a close, it feels like Part One of the series has concluded as we say goodbye to the iconic Madison Clark and wait for the second chapter of Fear to begin.

From the number of tapes we’ve seen in her SWAT van, we know that Al has interviewed and met a number of people in her travels since the apocalypse began. In a surprising twist, one of the people that Al ended up meeting was Madison herself after the events of season three. Madison has been searching for her children and comes across Al instead. After a heated confrontation, Al ends up with the upper-hand and agrees to help Madison by giving her food and supplies if Madison will simply share her story.

In the present, Morgan, Al, Naomi, and Charlie have charged into the stadium full of walkers, determined to get to Naomi’s old infirmary to gather supplies to save John’s life. As Al provides cover with the help of the SWAT van’s machine guns, Morgan and Naomi rush inside. The group quickly learns that Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Strand (Colman Domingo), and Luciana (Danay Garcia) have caught up with them. Alicia is out for blood, specifically Naomi’s, and they begin firing on the vehicle.

After taking an RPG rocket to the van, Alicia makes her way inside and takes Charlie hostage, demanding Al get on her walkie and tell Morgan and Naomi — who have made it inside and are gathering supplies — that it’s safe to come out. Luciana and Strand are waiting elsewhere in the stadium to take out Naomi once they see her. While Alicia is distracted, John grabs the walkie and turns it on so Morgan and Naomi can hear that it’s not actually safe. Alicia and Al end up in a scuffle with Al nearly getting taken out by walkers thanks to Alicia. After their struggle, Alicia comes across boxes of instant noodles and demands to know where Al got them.

Alicia quickly realizes that Al came across Madison before and desperately seeks out the tape in Al’s belongings. She finds one labeled “Amina” and knows that it’s Madison’s story. Watching the tape, we jump back to when Al and Madison first met and we learn that Amina is short for Willamina. Madison is telling Al that when Nick and Alicia were kids, they named an injured bird Amina and they were determined to save its life. Madison explains that she doesn’t want her children to essentially lose that good in them, their determination to do the right thing, because of this new world and that she was finding a home for them to not only keep them safe but to give them that stability so that they don’t lose themselves.

This hits home for Alicia, who has become a feral version of herself after losing so much. Still bent on revenge, Alicia makes her way into the stadium to kill Naomi, blaming her in part for her mother’s death and for joining the Vultures. Morgan stands between Alicia and Naomi, telling her that he stepped aside for Nick but that he wouldn’t step aside now. Morgan reaches out to Alicia, recognizing that she’s been through a lot but that he still sees the good in her. Alicia, hearing her mother through the words of a stranger, breaks down and hands over the gun.

Back in the SWAT van, the group of new and old characters are together again, riding along as Naomi patches up John, who is going to survive. Naomi even reveals to John that her name is actually June, explaining that she never revealed her real name to the group. John gives a little laugh and tells her that June is his favorite month.

At the end of the episode, the group — sans John who lays recovering in the SWAT van — gathers around a campfire to finish telling Madison’s story. Back at the stadium, Madison, Strand, and Luciana fought hard to save Nick and Alicia who were trapped thanks to the massive herd of walkers surrounding their vehicle in the parking lot. The group inside of the walls panic and try to flee in their own vehicles but meet their ends as they are consumed by the dead. Mel saved Charlie and the two fled the scene as Naomi, convinced the others were dead and overwhelmed by the walkers, ran. She was later found by the Vultures and believing she was alone again, agreed to join them to stay alive.

Madison, desperate to save her children, uses a flare and her screams to draw the walkers to her. She leads them inside the stadium, knowing that if the walls were strong enough to keep them out, they’d be able to keep them in. Initially, Madison planned to escape through the tunnels and backtrack outside but is blocked by more walkers. So she closes the gates and gets on her walkie, saying her final words where Alicia, Nick, Strand, and Luciana — all in the car together now — can listen:

“I was afraid to lose this place because I thought you needed it to stay who you are right now,” she says, “but you know it: no one’s gone until they’re gone.” Madison then throws her flare at the feet of the walkers, who are covered in oil thanks to Ennis from the previous episode, and our final image of Madison is her being illuminated by the blaze as the walkers close in on her.

With the ultimate self-sacrifice, Fear has lost one of its biggest characters — two this season — and the next chapter of the series will find the group attempting to survive in the aftermath. Fear the Walking Dead will return for the second half of season four, consisting of eight episodes, on Sunday, August 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The first half of the season began with one figure, John Dorie, huddled around a campfire and ended with nine. Characters who started their journeys in isolation collided with each other in unexpected ways and found themselves in one of the last places they ever expected to be… together.

In the back half of the season, they will explore who they are now — as individuals and as part of the greater group — and how they will forge ahead. They will find themselves pitted against new adversaries — human, walker, and even nature itself. Theirs will be a journey wrought with danger, love, heartbreak, loss, and ultimately, hope.

Fear the Walking Dead is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, as well as Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Gale Ann Hurd and Greg Nicotero, and produced by AMC Studios. The series stars Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Garrett Dillahunt, Maggie Grace, and Jenna Elfman.

What did you think of the Season 4 midseason finale? Were you shocked by the death of Madison Clark? How do you feel about the fresh dynamic between the group of survivors that have now joined together? Share your thoughts and your predictions for the second half of season four in the comments below!