Fear The Walking Dead showrunners talk about Daniel Salazar’s return

The Fear The Walking Dead showrunners recently gave a little more info about Daniel Salazar’s return to the show in Season 5.

Daniel Salazar is finally coming back to Fear The Walking Dead. His absence in season 4 had some fans wondering if Daniel didn’t survive the events at the dam at the end of season 3 but it was revealed in the season 5 trailer that Daniel would indeed be back in the upcoming season 5. Recently the showrunners talked to EW about Daniel’s return and why Daniel is such a compelling character.

There aren’t very many original characters left on Fear TWD so it’s great season Daniel come back. Daniel has always been a mysterious character who is both a comforting and capable character and a person who has no problem performing violence when necessary.

His past as an interrogator for a militant group gave him skills that are very valuable in the Fear The Walking Dead universe. But after losing his wife early in the outbreak and his only child Ofelia in season 3 it wasn’t clear if he would find a new purpose to live for or not. Fear TWD showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg had this to say about the enigmatic Daniel Salazar:

"He’s a character who we’ve seen a very nurturing paternal side from, but he’s also a character that we’ve seen a very dark side from, who has a very traumatic past that goes all the way back to his childhood. The thing that is most interesting to us is to explore what side of Daniel Salazar will win out in something as traumatic as what happened at the dam and what he was dealing with emotionally with the loss of his daughter."

Daniel And Victor

Daniel had a very good relationship with Madison Clark, but his relationship with Victor Strand was less friendly. Daniel has a keen ability to size up people as well as situations and he saw Victor for what he was very early on in the show.

When he found Victor imprisoned at the dam in season 3 he considered leaving Victor there but released him because Victor told him that Ofelia was alive. Daniel and Ofelia were separated back in season 2 when Daniel burned the compound allowing the others to escape and everyone assumed he died in the fire.

Daniel and Victor last saw each other Victor shot Daniel in the face and left him to die, so it’s safe to assume that these two are not going to be all that happy to see each other in season 5. It will be interesting to see how the relationship between Daniel and Strand changes in the light of everything that these two characters have gone through since the explosion at the dam. In that world seeing a familiar face, even one that isn’t a friendly face, counts for a lot.

Daniel Salazar returns in season 5 of Fear The Walking Dead which premieres on June 2nd. Follow @SonyaIryna and @UndeadWalkingFS for the latest Fear TWD news and analysis, interviews, and more.