Pre-teen Alexa Nisenson slays in Fear the Walking Dead 410

Though she plays a divisive character on Fear the Walking Dead, pre-teen actress Alexa Nisenson delivers one heck of a performance in “Close Your Eyes.”

Love Charlie or hate Charlie, there’s no denying that 12 year old actress Alexa Nisenson delivered a memorable performance in Fear the Walking Dead 410’s “Close Your Eyes.” At long last fans learned where Charlie came from, and the young actress melted hearts with her sorrowful tale set in the middle of a life or death struggle to survive.

Alexa Nisenson’s Charlie has been a polarizing character in season 4, but seeing Nisenson’s emotional performance in “Close Your Eyes” makes it clear that this troubled child has been suffering for quite some time. Charlie only wanted to survive and to not become one of the monsters that her parents became. She’d rather end her life than become one of the undead. Nisenson’s portrayal brought tears to the eyes of fans screening the episode during the taping of Talking Dead on August 15. The emotion of this episode is generated by the stunning performances of Alycia Debnam-Carey and Nisenson, making “Close Your Eyes” one of the top episodes of the series to date.

Cue the Emmy nominations now, if you please. If Nisenson can put together a performance like this at her age, imagine what’s going to happen when she’s older!

Speaking of age, Nisenson was only 11 when she filmed this episode, and it’s hard to believe someone so young could capture so beautifully the guilt and sorrow of a child who has lost everything. She lost her parents, she lost the Vultures and she lost Nick and Madison. She is all alone. Charlie knows she messed up when she killed Nick, and she accepts it. She calls herself garbage and all she wants is to preserve the photos so that the family won’t be forgotten. With nothing else to lose, her personal mission is to keep the memory of this family alive.

There are layers to Charlie that haven’t been explored yet, and if anyone can see the pain this little girl is in, it’s Alicia. If Alicia wants to honor her mother, she’ll take Charlie under her wing and together they will be a force to be reckoned with. Alicia doesn’t have to forgive Charlie, certainly, but they can move forward together and that’s all that matters.

Based on this performance, there’s no question that Nisenson will be just like her idol Alycia Debnam-Carey very soon, and having them both in such a powerful and pivotal episode was a real treat.

After seeing this duo in action, are we seeing the start of a new team in the apocalypse? Alicia and Charlie, the dynamic duo? We can only hope that the rest of Fear the Walking Dead brings us more Charlie because Alexa Nisenson is a brilliant actress and she’s a lot of fun to watch.