We’re only one episode into Season 7 of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead and already a huge mystery is looming. However, it has nothing to do with what was viewed in Episode 1 on Sunday night but, rather, what was missing.
Episode 1 concentrated on Victor Strand’s (Colman Domingo) story as he is hot on his way to becoming this season’s big villain. Already, Victor has killed a newly introduced character and set up an undead barrier against those who know him such as Morgan Jones (Lennie James).
Episode 2 of Fear the Walking Dead is expected to concentrate next on Morgan’s struggles but many viewers are more interested in why Maggie Grace’s name was omitted from the opening credits.
Maggie Grace plays series regular Althea
Fear the Walking Dead has a huge cast and Maggie Grace is one character that has previously been listed in the opening credits in Season 6. She plays Althea, a character who has collected many stories from the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.
Currently, it is assumed that Althea is safe after being rescued by Isabelle (Sydney Lemmon), who is a member of the secretive Civic Republic Military (CRM) group that has featured in not only Fear the Walking Dead but The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
She, along with Luciana (Danay Garcia), Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), Jacob (Peter Jacobson), Daniel (Ruben Blades), and Wes (Colby Hollman) were all flown to safety via a CRM helicopter right before a nuclear explosion occurred.
Because of this, it is somewhat surprising that her name has been omitted from the opening credits for Season 7, as the assumption was made by fans that the group had survived.
As Comic Book points out, the omission could help to garner curiosity after the events of the Season 6 finale unfolded. After all, the CRM are known to kill people who discover their identity.
Is Althea really dead?
While it is possible that Althea has been killed by the CRM, it is also potentially unlikely as there has not been a major death of a character in Fear the Walking Dead that occurred offscreen (Except for that hot mess involving Madison Clark). So, it seems unlikely that AMC is going to begin doing so in Season 7.
Plus, AMC has already released some Season 7 images from Episode 6 that show Althea is alive and well. However, as Comic Book also points out, this character will also be absent from Episode 2, thanks to the AMC Plus early screening of the episode, and her name is still not featured in the opening credits for this episode either.
So, what’s going on?
Potentially, Maggie Grace has been knocked back from being a series regular cast listing to that of a guest star. As Decider points out, this is certainly possible as Maggie gave birth to a child last year and could be interested in cutting back her appearances in Season 7 of Fear the Walking Dead as a result of this.
However, an official statement has not yet been made by AMC so this is all mere speculation at the moment. But, at least fans can look forward to her appearance in at least one more upcoming episode for Season 7.
Season 7 of Fear the Walking Dead is currently airing every Sunday night on AMC.