‘Fear The Walking Dead’: Is Madison Related To A Character From ‘The Walking Dead’?

Episode 9 of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead saw a revelation of Madison Clark being of Southern descent. So, could she possibly be related to one of the characters from The Walking Dead?

Spoiler alert: This article discusses Episode 9 of Season 2 AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead as well as its companion program, The Walking Dead. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Episode 9 of Fear the Walking Dead saw Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) and Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) sit down for a well-earned drink. In the process, Madison’s heritage was revealed. It turns out, while Fear the Walking Dead opened with her living in L.A., she is actually from Alabama. And where is Alabama? it is in roughly the same location (albeit a three-hour drive from each other) as where the characters in Fear‘s companion show, The Walking Dead are from.

So could Madison somehow be connected to one (or more) of the characters from The Walking Dead?

This is not the first time Madison’s roots have come up in Fear the Walking Dead, although it is the first time it has been discussed in the show, between characters. During Talking Dead after the Season 1 finale of Fear the Walking Dead, Madison’s accent was discussed by Chris Hardwick and Fear‘s showrunner, Dave Erickson.

“It’s an interesting element of her character… we haven’t said where Madison’s from yet… I’m surprised no one has commented on that yet, and that’s the shocking thing to me,” Erickson originally said during Talking Dead.

Hardwick went on to suggest Madison could be related to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in The Walking Dead.

“We should go to Atlanta, see my brother, Rick Grimes,” Chris Hardwick joked as a way for the crossover between the two shows to be broached in Fear the Walking Dead.

Having Madison and Rick as siblings would be an interesting way to tie the two shows together without having an obvious crossover. After all, the settings for both shows are just too far apart to logistically see characters from either meet up. However, by having one person related to another in each of the shows would appease the fans who want to see a crossover. Fans of The Walking Dead will also know that very little is known about Rick’s family outside of his wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), their son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), and their potential daughter, Judith. So, to have Rick and Madison related makes a lot of sense. However, the one problem with this theory is the fact it has been hinted at several times that Madison’s past is not so squeaky clean, whereas Rick’s has never really alluded to problems in his past or with his family. Also, as one fan pointed out, according to the comic book lore, Rick does not have a sister.

A more interesting theory, though, is to have Madison related to Rick’s wife, Lori. Little is also known about Lori’s roots, so these two could be sisters. Having Madison related to a character in The Walking Dead who is now deceased will make the revelation to the audience a bittersweet moment. Knowing Lori doesn’t make it and having Madison hope her sister is still okay would make for a great television moment. Once again, though, while many fans question Lori’s parenting skills, there hasn’t been much of a suggestion of a dark past for her or her family either.

So, this leads to a new theory that perhaps Madison is related to the Dixons. This theory was introduced on the Walking Dead Forums and actually has some merit as far as fan theories go. While Madison is educated, unlike the Dixon boys, she seems to know her way around drugs. While this can be attributed both to her work as a school guidance counselor and her son’s drug addiction, it is also plausible she grew up in this sort of culture. After all, it was suggested in Episode 9 of Fear the Walking Dead that her husband, Stephen, had a “darkness” to him. He died after driving into oncoming traffic. Madison told her children he had fallen asleep at the wheel, however, this was a lie, she admitted to Strand. So could Stephen also be from the South and brought his drug problem with him when they escaped to L.A. Only by tuning into further episodes of Fear the Walking Dead will reveal all.

Potentially, though, Madison could be related to anyone on The Walking Dead. Who would you like to see her related to? Let us know your thoughts and theories by commenting below.

Season 2 of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead returns Sunday, September 4, with Episode 10 (entitled “Do Not Disturb”) at 9 p.m. ET.

The official synopsis for Episode 10 of Fear the Walking Dead is below.

“Travis struggles to connect with Chris while searching for shelter. Meanwhile, Alicia meets a lonely woman with a bloody past.”

[Image via Richard Foreman, Jr./AMC]