Fear The Walking Dead: Kim Dickens talks about Madison’s past at SDCC

During the Fear The Walking Dead panel at SDCC Kim Dickens talked about Madison’s past and how it has prepared her to survive the apocalypse.

In season 3 of Fear The Walking Dead Madison’s back story was revealed. Her admission to her kids that she had killed her abusive father as a child answered some questions but raised others.

During the Fear The Walking dead panel at San Diego Comic Con Kim Dickens talked about how that childhood experience prepared Madison to be a leader in the post-apocalyptic world.

She talked about how Madison’s willingness to do whatever was necessary to protect herself and her loved ones makes her a great leader in the new world. But does it? Or does it make her someone who will put her interests above the needs of a group?

Here is a video of that discussion as shared on the official YouTube channel of AMC:

Based on her comments at the SDCC panel it seems like Madison will only be a great leader if she embraces the entire community of the ranch as her family. And that’s going to be tough to do. The people who are left at Broke Jaw Ranch are a disjointed group who don’t trust authority figures. Uniting them into a community will take the skills of a strong leader. Madison may not be that leader.

Her willingness to manipulate Troy Otto for her own agenda doesn’t indicate that she’s full on board with saving the people of Broke Jaw Ranch. Instead it seems as if she wants to make the ranch secure for herself and her kids. She doesn’t seem too interested in protecting anyone that isn’t going to serve her purposes.

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Madison’s Leadership Potential

There’s no question that Madison’s childhood experiences have prepared her for surviving at any cost. And that’s very valuable in the Fear The Walking Dead world. But, in order to unite a community a leader must be willing to make sacrifices. Sometimes a leader even has to sacrifice their own personal safety or the safety of loved ones.

Rick Grimes is the ultimate leader on The Walking Dead because time and again he risks his own safety for the good of the group. Madison doesn’t do that.

When Alicia was being held as a hostage at Walker’s community Madison put Troy Otto and the entire militia at risk. She also put the ranch at risk. She was willing to sacrifice others to get her daughter back. That’s not a move that a community leader would make.

As Fear The Walking Dead continues an intense season 3 it will be interesting to see how Madison handles the death of Jeremiah Otto and the battle that’s coming for leadership at Broke Jaw Ranch. Anyone who assumes a leadership role at the ranch will have a tough time getting a group of rugged individualists who don’t like authority figures to work together as a community.

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But if no leader steps forward that can unite the community there isn’t a lot of hope for the survival of the ranch. Fear The Walking Dead returns September 10^th. It will be interesting to see how the battle for leadership at the ranch plays out.