AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead
Season 4, Episode 8: “No One’s Gone”
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Written by Ian Goldberg & Andrew Chambliss

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “The Wrong Side of Where You Are Now” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “People Like Us” – click here
Madison (Kim Dickens) sneaks up on someone in the dark— Althea (Maggie Grace). Both women are clearly on hard times. But there’s an interesting story here, seeing these two meet before where we are currently.
Speaking of which, the SWAT vehicle is surrounded by burned up zombies. Inside, John (Garret Dillahunt) has a bullet stuck in him, while Naomi (Jenna Elfman) – whose real name we later find out is actually June – tries doing what she can. Althea keeps the camera rolling, passing it off to young Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), while she pushes forward.
Jump back to Madison’s meeting with Althea. They try making a deal, though Madison drives a pretty hard bargain. Including a bit of an ass kicking when Althea tries to fight back. Madison gets away, along with those precious tapes. Oh, no. That’s not a good sign for wherever this little moment in the past is headed.
In the present, Althea and Morgan (Lennie James) are enacting a plan. Naomi joins them, in hopes of getting the necessary medical supplies to save John. Althea mows down a bunch o walkers, giving Morgan and Naomi time to run for the inside of the stadium. Problem is, Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and the others have turned up.
We hear more names for the zombies – “stumblers” – as Madison searches the tapes she stole, desperately searching for Alicia and Nick (Frank Dillane). However, it isn’t long before Althea tracks her down. She’s asking for Madison to tell her story, wanting to know all about her, as usual.
Althea returns fire with Alicia, Luciana (Danay Garcia), and Strand (Colman Domingo). Simultaneously, Morgan and Naomi work their way through shadowy halls full of crispy walkers. It’s a veritable horrorshow. Doesn’t help that, all the while, John’s started bleeding more. The man is not in good shape whatsoever. On top of that, Luciana busts out the RPG, firing on the SWAT truck and taking one of the doors off.
Skip back. Madison and Althea talk one-on-one, the latter wanting more footage to add to all those tapes. It’s a way of connecting people, to keep humanity somehow recorded so  in the post-zombie apocalypse people might remember those connections and, in turn, their shared humanity. Althea tells Madison about the village where she lived before, she tries to ingratiate herself to her. Eventually, Madison tells her a little more— about the hopeful community she was trying to build, which ultimately failed.
Things have gotten bad for Alicia. She’s not the same person she was once. She has Charlie in her grip, threatening the little girl’s life if Althea doesn’t do what she asks. This is not going to end well. Naomi and Morgan head back for the SWAT truck, not realising there’s more danger than just walkers waiting for them. Luckily John gets his hands on the walkie, allowing Naomi and Morgan to hear the whole conversation. This puts Alicia and Althea in a fight, tooth and nail. In the midst of it, Alicia knocks over a bunch of noodle cups, inadvertently helping her discover Althea knew her mother.
But y’know what’s a real bummer? The word ‘knew’— implies a past tense. I keep on fearing the worst. It seems we’re only getting closer to the eventual revelation that Madison is, more than likely, dead.
Not long later, Alicia confirms her mother died. She blames Naomi, too. She’s got her gun pointed at her, and Morgan steps in, trying to prevent another cycle of revenge starting all over again. Morgan wants to stop this, just as much as he wants to help save John’s life, as well. He knows all too well the perils of falling into this type of cyclical violence. He’s a walking case study for madness in the post-zombie apocalypse wasteland. If he can come back from all the horror, anybody can. Soon enough, he’s able to convince Alicia to drop the gun.
It was only a while after leaving Althea that Madison found Alicia and the others again at a motel in Texas. They were happy, at least for a bit. Afterwards, Madison took them to see the baseball stadium, were they’d make their future home. The same place where it all came crumbling down.
Althea wants to know what happened to Madison, so Alicia offers to tell the rest of her mom’s story. We go back to that night at the stadium, when Alicia and Nick were stuck outside the walls. Strand and the others went to get them. Madison tried telling the others to stay put, but it didn’t work— people began fleeing. It was chaos everywhere. Then, the group were left without a vehicle outside, as were others. Naomi got caught up, separated from everybody else.
And what did Madison do? She sacrificed herself, drawing the hordes of walkers towards her while the others were able to get to safety. Madison drew the walkers into the stadium with her, allowing Alicia and the rest to get away. She lit the place ablaze while she was inside.

“No one’s gone until they’re gone”

Oh, my. I’d been worried since the start of this season, in regards to Madison. I love Kim Dickens! GOOD LORD! Didn’t want to see her go. But I guess this is goodbye. And if it had to be goodbye, it’s a spectacular one. The true way for such a bad ass as her to go out.
Can’t wait for the back half of Season 4. Certainly lots to look forward to, as the series keeps changing. This season’s truly shook things up, which is always a good way to keep things fresh. Stay tuned for when Season 4 returns.