Entertainment Extra

2 ENTERTAINMENT EXTRA By Sarah Passingham TV Media T he end of the trail has just begun for some apocalypse survivors in the return of the final season of "Fear the Walking Dead." The "Walking Dead" spi- noff series' midseason premiere airs on AMC Sunday, Oct. 22, just in time for an early celebration of the eeriest holiday of the year. Kim Dickens ("Friday Night Lights") stars as Madison Clark, a high school guidance counsel- lor before the outbreak who now oversees the reconstruction of a survivors' island colony. "Fear the Walking Dead" clos- es out an impressive eight-sea- son run with six episodes to go before the big, two-part series finale set to air Sunday, Nov. 19. The first of now six spinoffs of the original series, "Fear the Walking Dead" premiered in 2015 and followed an extended family as they tried to survive in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. The series detailed the survivors' journey as they traveled and set- tled in California, Mexico and now an island off the Georgia coast. The island, known as PADRE, was constructed after the walker outbreak as a military operation intended to distribute supplies to new communities of survivors. A tragic walker invasion decimated PADRE, and since then, desperate survivors have used the island's resources that once represented a more hopeful future. In the first half of the final season of "Fear the Walking Dead," Madison landed on PADRE after a hard-fought jour- ney to find the island with Morgan Jones (Lennie James, "Save Me"). The pair reunited Morgan with his daughter, Mo (Zoey Merchant, "The Price of Fame"), by force at PADRE before the show leaps seven years into the future. Madison is imprisoned on PADRE, while Morgan spends most of the first six episodes of the season on his own mission — trying to save Grace Mukherjee (Karen David, "Legacies") from radiation sick- ness before sadly losing her and setting off to Alexandria. With the dangerous former co- leaders of PADRE no longer a problem, Madison attempts to reinvigorate the spirit of PADRE and the island with the remain- ing resources available to them. While the final episodes of "Fear the Walking Dead" could certain- ly detail the establishment of a post-apocalyptic paradise, this is the Walking Dead universe after all, so there will undoubtedly be danger lurking in the shadows of PADRE. This season also stars Rubén Blades ("The Counselor," 2013) as resistance leader Daniel Salazar; Colman Domingo ("Sing Sing," 2023) as antihero Victor Strand; Danay Garcia ("Prison Break") as survivor Luciana Galvez; Austin Amelio ("Hit Man," 2023) as PADRE member Dwight; Christine Evangelista ("Mrs. Fletcher") as Dwight's wife, Sherry; Jenna Elfman ("The Twilight Zone") as nurse June Dorie, who is on the run from PADRE; and one former cast member whose appearance in a trailer for the upcoming return of the series may have come as a surprise to "Fear the Walking Dead" fans. Daniel Sharman ("A Town Called Malice") returns as Troy Otto, a member of the Broke Jaw Ranch community who last appeared in the third season of "Fear the Walking Dead." It seemed unlikely that Troy would make any sort of comeback after he was bludgeoned, but leave it to the Walking Dead universe to bring someone back from the dead. In an official trailer for the upcoming season, Troy spits, "Madison, been a while," before removing his sunglasses, reveal- ing his chilling new appearance. Though one icy-white iris doesn't seem too bad for having survived a hammer attack. After the original series, "The Walking Dead," concluded its run after 11 seasons in 2022, two exciting new series entered the franchise. "The Walking Dead" really made use of its filming locations in Georgia, but these two spinoffs took the stories of survivors far, far away from the Peach State. "The Walking Dead: Dead City" plants Maggie (Lauren Cohan, "Whiskey Cavalier") and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, "The Good Wife") in Manhattan as they search for her son while Marshal Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles, "Friday Night Lights") is on Negan's tail. "Dead City" premiered this June and was renewed for a sec- ond season by AMC, along with the second new 2023 addition to the Walking Dead universe. "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" fol- lows Daryl (Norman Reedus, "The Bikeriders," 2023) after he finds himself on the shores of France with no memory of exact- ly how he got there. The future of the franchise rests in continuing spinoffs, including the upcoming series, "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live." Expected to premiere in 2024, the drama reunites beloved lovers Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln, "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities") and Michonne (Danai Gurira, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," 2022) and is set after the events of the original series' finale. Don't miss the return of "Fear the Walking Dead" Sunday, Oct. 22, on AMC. Schwering Realty 2 x 2" Pear Tree Gallery 3 x 2" On the Cover Jenna Elfman in "Fear the Walking Dead" 'Fear the Walking Dead' returns with final episodes Chase Center 3 x 2" American Legion Post 60 2 x 3" Sage & Tonic 2 x 2"

• Cover