Fear the Walking Dead: Alycia Debnam-Carey has officially left the show

A few weeks ago, we shared the news that Alycia Debnam-Carey, who has been playing the role of Alicia Clark on the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead since it began, had signed on to star in Hulu’s eight-part psychological drama series Saint X. That caused some confusion, as the shooting schedules of Fear the Walking Dead season 8 and Saint X are going to overlap – but there was some talk that Debnam-Carey could join the production of Fear the Walking Dead season 8 “later in the shoot”. Now it has been confirmed that won’t be the case. The penultimate episode of Fear the Walking Dead season 7 was Debnam-Carey’s last on the show. She took to social media to make her departure from the series official, saying

To my dearest @feartwd family, tonight marks the end of an extraordinary and life changing journey of playing Alicia Clark. Where to begin… I will never be able to fully express the kind of journey I have had working on @feartwd for so long. It has gifted me so much. It has been the most extraordinary training ground as an actor where I’ve been given the chance to grow and learn. I’ve had the honour of working with so many inspiring and talented people. It provided new opportunities, such as directing and it has bonded me to such incredible fans that have supported me along the way. It has been exciting, challenging, fun, hard and inspiring.

I was 21 when we began this crazy journey but now at 28, after 7 years and 100 episodes, I decided it was time for me to move on as an actor and as a person. As is the nature of our jobs I needed to seek out new challenges, new opportunities and carve out a new chapter for myself. I have been so lucky to be a part of something so awesome for so long but I hope you can understand and respect my choice to further expand and grow. I wouldn’t be here without you all and I am so grateful.

I had a lot of conversations over the years with our showrunners @goldbergian and @andrewchambliss and I think we found a fitting way to conclude Alicia’s story. It is beautiful, hopeful and elusive.

To the crews and casts from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Mexico to Texas, I am thankful for everything you’ve taught me. I love you all so much and I am so lucky to have had you all by my side. To the cast going forward, I’m so excited for what you will create next! And to my ride or dies who have been there with me every step of the way (you know who you are) I will be forever grateful to you.

It is bittersweet, but it is time. Thank you for everything. My love to you all.

Alycia Debnam-Carey

I used to review every episode of Fear the Walking Dead here on JoBlo / Arrow in the Head, and in my reviews I often had to vent frustrations about the show’s creative decisions. I’m behind on the show now, I haven’t watched an episode since the season 5 finale, but news of Debnam-Carey’s departure makes it clear to me that Fear the Walking Dead must still be frustrating. That’s because Alicia Clark has just made her departure one episode before her mother Madison Clark (played by Kim Dickens), who appeared to have died halfway through season 4 and hasn’t been seen since, is going to make her return. One of the biggest reasons to bring Madison back is to allow her and Alicia to be reunited, but now we know that’s not going to happen. Dickens is back, but now Debnam-Carey is gone. This is surely very disappointing news for any fans who were hoping to see Alicia and Madison together again. It will be a while before I’m caught up on the show, and I’m already disappointed by this news.

How do you feel about Alycia Debnam-Carey leaving Fear the Walking Dead right before Kim Dickens returns? Let us know by leaving a comment below.