The best way to describe Fear the Walking Dead is a rollercoaster.
The spinoff of The Walking Dead has proven it can be good, but it can also be terrible.
With such inconsistent storytelling, it’s a surprise the same showrunners have remained in power for four seasons.
That doesn’t seem to be changing with Fear the Walking Dead Season 8, but the series needs a jolt in the right direction to regain its former glory.
Below, we’ve rounded up our Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 wish list.
Make Madison the Lead
Kim Dickens has been vocal about the handling of Madison’s arc on Fear the Walking Dead Season 4.
She went from the central attraction to a glorified extra, to off the show.
It was a slap in the face to the fans and Dickens. You don’t invest this much time in a character to be treated like that.
When it was announced that Dickens would return, many thought it meant there would be a shake-up behind-the-scenes.
With that not happening, we can only hope the showrunners realize there is a lot of potential in making Madison the lead.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 16 detailed her link to P.A.D.R.E. and gave her a reason to be back on the show.
Hopefully, we’re rewarded with a season that puts Dickens back at the wheel of the series.
Ditch the Anthology Storytelling
The anthology approach to storytelling worked very well on Fear the Walking Dead Season 6, but the narrative was structured horribly on Fear the Walking Dead Season 7.
Characters disappeared for several episodes at a time, and it made little sense given what was happening on-screen.
With P.A.D.R.E. being set up as this vast villainous group, it’s time for the series to expand the scope and tell more important stories that involve more of the cast.
This reboot could do with a new way of telling the story.
Bring Back the Fear Factor
The first three seasons managed to strike a good level between horror, action, and adventure.
Everything after has been outlandish events that have been for shock value instead of telling a coherent story.
This universe is filled with zombies, villains, and peril.
We should be getting the sense that something could pop up to wipe out our favorite characters at any time.
That hasn’t been the case for a long time.
We need the characters to fear what’s outside their camps to really bring back the stakes and get the show back to a good place.
Trim the Cast
There are too many characters, plain and simple.
If the show is going to keep the majority of them on the periphery, then why bother keeping them in the universe?
Many legacy characters like Daniel, Luciana, and Alicia took back seats to give newer characters time in the spotlight.
It’s a bit of a slap in the face to the fans who invested time with these characters.
The only way to remedy this is to write some of the newer characters out for good.
Madison-Alicia Reunion
Fans were robbed of a reunion between Madison and Alicia, and with Alycia Debnam-Carey out of the show after seven seasons, they may never share the screen again.
If Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 turns out to be the end, it would be nice to get Debnam-Carey back for one episode to bring their arcs full circle.
Madison setting off on a mission alone to find her daughter won’t work.
We need more.
Increase the Stakes
For a show that left the characters in a radiation-filled Texas, pretty much all of them survived to move to a new location.
Remind us never to take tips for surviving a nuclear blast from Fear the Walking Dead.
Many of the characters should have perished to really show off the extent of the radiation and make it a scary environment.
It’s hard to be invested in the storylines when the show is so scared to kill off characters.
Prepare an Endgame
While it would be nice if the show could be consistently good and continue with a high quality for the years to come, shows tend to lose quality as they age.
The best case scenario for Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 is that the creatives map out an endgame, whether that ends with Season 8, 9, or 10, I don’t know.
But the ratings flatlined during Fear the Walking Dead Season 7, so it’s hard not to worry about the show potentially getting canceled without resolution.
Give Some Answers to the Universe’s Most Burning Questions
The CRM has been used on all of the shows in the universe so far, and we know that they are not to be trusted.
They’ve popped up on Fear the Walking Dead at random times, offering little in the way of answers.
For a show that will soon be the franchise’s flagship, the storytelling needs to get to a place in which we get these answers.
Over to you, Fear the Walking Dead fans!
What is your Season 8 wishlist?
Hit the comments below.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.