Why Did They Bring Back Nick Just to Kill Him Again

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[This story contains massive spoilers for season four, episode 3 of AMC'southward Fearfulness the Walking Dead , "Good Out Here."]

3 episodes into their run on Fear the Walking Dead, new showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg take already claimed their outset major casualty — a series regular with roots all the fashion back to the first season of the series.

The episode, "Practiced Out Here," takes place beyond two dissimilar moments in time: the long-ago days when the Clark family was living inside the Diamond, and their current encounters with newcomers John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt), Althea (Maggie Grace) and Morgan Jones (Lennie James). In the first of the 2 time periods, viewers watched Nick (Frank Dillane) leave the condolement of the Diamond for a rare outing, driving through the open world alongside his mother, Madison (Kim Dickens). There, he ran into one of the Vultures who have staked out the Diamond, about killing the man.

In the present, Nick accomplishes the goal; he sees the Vulture driving on the road, tracks the homo down and brutally kills him. Morgan, charged with watching Nick, tries to convince the fellow that there's more to life than vengeance. Morgan fifty-fifty provides Nick with The Art of Peace, the book he earned from Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) back on The Walking Expressionless. It would seem that Morgan has made a new friend, and perhaps even gained a new student in the art of aikido.

Well…so much for that.

In the final roughshod moments of the episode, Nick is shot indicate blank in the chest by Charlie, the little daughter who infiltrated the Diamond equally a mole working for the Vultures. From his perspective, Nick was fighting to relieve Charlie's life. From her perspective, clearly, Nick was impeding on her life. With a squeeze of the trigger, Charlie proved to Nick, the Clark family and Fright the Walking Expressionless viewers that despite what he once said some seasons ago, Nick Clark is not immortal. Indeed, Nick Clark is dead, passing away surrounded by the remaining members of his family.

What went into the decision to kill Nick, the beginning serial regular ever seen in Fear the Walking Expressionless, way back when the prove first started? How volition his death impact the characters left behind? For those answers and more, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with showrunners Chambliss and Goldberg virtually the fell twist and how it will inform the rest of season iv.

What went into the decision to kill Nick?

Andrew Chambliss: It actually goes back to flavor three, before Ian and I even came aboard. Frank Dillane had asked the producers and AMC if he could exit the testify, considering he wanted to pursue other opportunities. 1 of the first things we were tasked with when nosotros came on to run flavor 4 was to find a story that would give Nick a fitting sendoff. He's been with the show from day i, so it was very of import to us and to Frank to find a expiry for him that was emotional and 1 that would ripple forward throughout the storytelling.

How did Frank react to your vision for Nick's expiry?

Ian Goldberg: We should say that Frank has been amazing to work with. We're big fans of his work as this grapheme over the first three seasons. He was actually receptive when nosotros pitched him our idea for how he was going to close out Nick'south story. We think he played it beautifully. He understood the emotional ramifications of information technology. He was very gratis and has been corking about the whole thing.

How about the balance of the cast and crew? Frank has been with the show from the very starting time. Was this a hard pill to swallow?

Chambliss: Information technology definitely was. Peculiarly for the core cast, who were very shut with him going back to the airplane pilot. They actually run into each other as family unit. It wasn't an easy thing to practise. Frank bankrupt the news to the core bandage himself, so we followed upwardly with them nigh how it would bear on their characters going frontward. I recollect you can see how continued everyone is, but in those concluding moments, when Alicia, Strand and Luciana are standing over Nick's trunk every bit he dies. A lot of that emotion is genuine, because Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo and Danay García were all very sad to run into a co-worker whom they became very close with over the years leave.

Have we seen the terminal of Nick, given how the season is playing with time? He's still alive in the past, after all.

Goldberg: It'due south safe to say that at that place's a lot more story to tell with Nick. We understand, to a certain degree, why he's so driven and why he'south so violent toward Ennis in this episode. Nosotros kind of see the buttons Ennis pushes in him, if it'south the fact that Nick essentially lost Charlie to this other family, the Vultures. He taunted Nick about keeping his family fed, playing on Nick'south feelings of failure nigh the crops dying. There'south more story to be told with Nick that we call up volition provide some emotional context for why he's such a different person when we discover him in the nowadays-day story than how we've seen him in the Diamond.

Nick used to walk amongst the walkers. Right now, his encephalon is however intact. Can we expect Nick to come full circle and go a walker?

Chambliss: All I'll say is proceed watching. Perhaps viewers will have an answer to that adjacent week.

The death scene is cut together in a very emotional way, with a lot of time allowed to linger on the different reactions from the people involved: Alicia, Luciana, Strand, even Morgan. The music swells, and the last shot transitions from Nick's body resting in peace to Nick peacefully resting in a blossom field some time ago. What were your goals with this scene, in terms of its construction?

Chambliss: It was very important that nosotros sent Nick off with a sense of peace. He'south someone who over the get-go three seasons had a very difficult time with his family. He was someone who embraced the anarchy of the apocalypse. When we found him at the baseball stadium in the outset of season four, he's constitute a connection with nature and providing for his family unit. He'due south starting to see the skilful in this globe. He may have forgotten that in the present-day story. Morgan may accept been a footling too late, but he started to open the doors for Nick to run into that peace once again. We actually wanted to sell the idea that Nick's mind and his center were open. He was perhaps on the first steps to a more peaceful way when he died. We want to remember him that way going forrard.

In improver to Frank's desire to exit the testify, removing Nick from the story at this point feels logical, given he was the well-nigh obvious hub connecting Alicia, Strand and Luciana. He's Alicia's brother, he'southward Luciana's lover, and he's the offset Clark that Strand always met. Was that role of the reason why he had to dice?

Goldberg: Nick is a critical role of this grouping. Those 3 characters are all emotionally continued to him for dissimilar reasons. All iv of them have been on this very night mission that united them. Information technology's a mission of violence. Information technology's dour and somewhat hopeless. What nosotros're going to exist exploring going forward is what that means for Alicia, Strand and Luciana, and how it impacts their mission. Will they take a different course? How will this affect them? Then there'due south too Morgan. We saw in episode 1 that Morgan ran away from the people closest to him because he knows the perils of getting shut to people and what happens when yous lose people. It's what he says to Al in his interview: "I lose people, and so I lose myself." Hither, it's happened once again: someone he formed a bail with and started to impart some of his philosophy toward — showing him literally The Fine art of Peace — and now he's lost Nick.

What can you say well-nigh Morgan'due south reaction to Nick's expiry?

Chambliss: We're definitely seeing something dissimilar in Morgan here. He stepped in at the final minute and tried to brand a connexion with Nick, but what he'southward actually feeling here is the fact that he hesitated and waited likewise long. At that place were plenty of opportunities in the episode to show Nick that there's a amend way to live. Morgan'southward own fears nigh connecting with people prevented him from opening up and showing Nick the way. Even doing something every bit simple as handing him the book The Art of Peace is something Morgan is scared to do. When he walked away from Nick [before Nick killed Ennis], he saw the flowers and was reminded not only of Nick merely his own conventionalities that all life is precious. It's what makes him turn around. Morgan thinks he's made it dorsum in time to salve Nick, just ultimately, in Nick's death, Morgan is realizing that there'southward a price to exist paid for putting upward walls betwixt you and other people, just as at that place's a price to pay for making connections to people.

It's interesting that both Morgan and Nick have claimed a certain level of immortality in the past, and the two men run across and plant a connectedness moments earlier i of them is proven irreversibly wrong. Was that on your mind in the creation of this story?

Goldberg: It was very much on our minds. When you await at the histories of Morgan and Nick, they mirror each other in many ways. Morgan is no stranger to violence. He has had tremendous periods of darkness in his life. We've seen it in episodes similar "Clear." He sees something of himself in Nick. We've also seen Morgan serve every bit a mentor and influence on other people in the by. It was something that was interesting for usa to explore with Nick.

We're losing Nick at a moment in the flavour when Madison'southward fate is still very much up in the air. For all we know, Alicia is grieving her brother's decease while simultaneously reeling from her own female parent's death. Was that front-of-mind for yous in terms of the timing of Nick's decease, that it would be a real shock while people are so worried virtually Madison's currently ambiguous fate?

Chambliss: I would say the one thing nosotros were very conscious of every bit nosotros were telling these stories over ii different timelines was that people would exist request questions about who's there and who'southward not there. We wanted to write the stories and have them unfold in such ways that there are many twists and turns forth the journey. Continue watching, because there's enough of flashback story to tell and enough of present-mean solar day story left to tell. There's an interesting chemistry between the two.

Goldberg: Telling stories beyond fourth dimension is really about telling one large emotional story. That's where we started this season: a story of hopelessness building toward hope. That's where everything comes from for us. The flashback story provides a dissimilar emotional context for what we're seeing in the nowadays 24-hour interval. We're really excited to see how people react to getting to run across two very different sides of these characters, and asking the questions of what happened that made anybody change so drastically?

What'south coming next in episode four?

Chambliss: Considering of the two timelines, this definitely isn't the terminal time we'll see Nick. In the present twenty-four hour period, nosotros're actually going to feel the fallout of his death, and see Strand, Alicia and Luciana struggle with the question about whether they can keep doing what they're doing in the face of such a cracking loss.

What's your accept on Nick's death? Sound off in the comments and continue following our Fear the Walking Dead show coverage for more.

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Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/fear-walking-dead-nick-dies-showrunners-frank-dillane-exit-1106632/

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