Warning: This article contains spoilers for Fear The Walking Dead’s series finale.
Summary
- The missing characters in “Fear The Walking Dead” season 8, Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob, were core members of the group but did not receive a proper send-off or mention in the final season.
- The showrunners explained that they had originally planned to explore what happened to the trio in season 8 but did not have the room to do so.
- The absence of Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob was unsatisfying, especially considering their direct link to Luciana and their potential involvement in defending PADRE.
Now that Fear The Walking Dead has concluded, the reasons provided for three missing characters make their absence from the final season much worse. With multiple character returns in Fear The Walking Dead season 8, like Alicia and Troy, it’s surprising the show passed over characters like Wendell, Sarah, and Jacob. Sarah and Wendell first appeared in season 4 after meeting Morgan in a store and lying about delivering goods by truck to those in need. Jacob was first seen in season 5 when Charlie went to his synagogue after informing him she was separated from her group.
Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob were core members of Morgan’s group throughout seasons 4 to 7, yet they didn’t really have a proper send-off and vanished without mention after season 7, episode 15. Audiences last saw them on rafts fleeing the beach after Strand’s Tower burned. This omitted them from the entire PADRE storyline. Fear The Walking Dead‘s ending neatly concluded the PADRE arc with its fall after Madison’s sacrifice, leading to all remaining characters going off in smaller groups in separate directions. By excluding Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob from season 8, Fear The Walking Dead may have missed out on the ideal way to conclude the characters and the show’s story.
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Where FTWD’s Showrunners Believe Wendell, Sarah, & Jacob Were During Season 8
Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob were last seen with numerous characters who featured throughout season 8, like June and Luciana, making their absence even more unusual. Not even the massive time jump season 8 takes justifies their absences. Although not as satisfying as an on-screen appearance, Fear The Walking Dead showrunner, Andrew Chambliss shared, “It was always in our imagination that they are part of Luciana’s crew out there keeping the roads clear between Texas and the East Coast” (via EW). The trio’s absence was easily explained, but not a single mention of them in season 8, especially by Luciana or members of her crew, emphasizes how unsatisfying their ending was.
When we got into the planning of the final six episodes, we just didn’t have the room for it. And looking back, it’s a bummer to us that we didn’t get to say goodbye to those characters.
Fear The Walking Dead‘s extensive cast and eight-year run unsurprisingly meant numerous characters came and went either for narrative reasons or otherwise. For Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob, a proper end could’ve been included in a smaller capacity than was envisioned in the showrunners’ original plan of keeping Luciana’s truck routes clear. Chambliss also told EW that they originally were going to explore what happened to the trio in season 8. With even the showrunners noting how not addressing where the characters ended up on-screen was unfortunate, their direct confirmed link to Luciana meant their absence was even more amplified.
Wendell, Sarah, And Jacob Should Have Helped To Defend PADRE
Following Morgan and his group prior to season 8, the trio exercised the exact philosophy Madison’s PADRE focused on. For Sarah and Wendell, who were thieves when Morgan first met them, their journey to becoming steadfast members of the group was about helping others and performing good deeds. This would’ve made their assistance with protecting PADRE’s potential from Crane and Shrike and defending it from Troy all the more meaningful. Moreover, from the get-go, Jacob displayed charitable qualities since he agreed to help Charlie reunite with her group.
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Aside from their purposes in the apocalypse aligning with the Clarks’ mission at the end of the series, the trio proved they had the skills to survive and defend, which could’ve been valuable while fighting to protect PADRE. For example, Wendell used a spike trap on his wheelchair when walkers tried to attack. Even though PADRE’s ending ultimately involved the island’s demise, the legacy of what it stood for lived on. Therefore, Sarah, Wendell, and Jacob could have been a part of that and adequately set up the showrunners’ proposed narrative of them helping Luciana by keeping the truck routes clear for “MADRE” trucks to travel and continue helping others.
Why Fear The Walking Dead’s Missing Character Problem Is A Major Injustice
Fear The Walking Dead revealed Sarah’s backstory and developed strong character-building enough to compel additional story beats. For instance, she got a Sarah-centric episode in season 5 while searching for Wendell after the doomsday cult warheads were launched. Not only did this episode emphasize Sarah’s love for her brother, but it showed how important Wendell was to her survival since, as a NICU baby, she took her cue to breathe from him. Wendell’s absence even then was already depriving the show of more brother-sister team-ups.
Wendell was also the franchise’s only wheelchair user, so sidelining him and his adaptive use of his chair as a defense against walkers seemed like a disservice. Jacob’s character was less explored, but his connection to Sarah warranted an explanation of where he went. Jacob and Sarah connected over both being Jewish and his reassurance that they’d find Wendell. Fear The Walking Dead‘s failure to give this trio an on-screen goodbye that matched the conclusiveness as some of their allies, like Luciana, highlighted how the show didn’t always utilize its extensive characters effectively and to their fullest potential.
All eight seasons of Fear The Walking Dead are available on AMC and AMC+.
Sources: EW
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Fear the Walking Dead
- Release Date:
- 2015-08-23
- Cast:
- Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane, mercedes mason, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Kim Dickens, Ruben Blades, lorenzo james henrie, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo
- Genres:
- Drama, Horror
- Rating:
- TV-MA
- Seasons:
- 8
- Story By:
- Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard
- Writers:
- Ian Goldberg, Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, Andrew Chambliss
- Network:
- AMC
- Streaming Service(s):
- Hulu, Amazon Prime Video
- Franchise(s):
- The Walking Dead
- Directors:
- The Walking Dead
- Showrunner:
- Dave Erickson, Ian Goldberg, Andrew Chambliss
