Posted by Major deaths taking place in Fear the Walking Dead prove that season 7 is fulfilling its
biggest promise. The events that have played out since the nuclear bomb drop have already taken the life of one character in Morgan’s group. Now, a second is poised to die as well.
Immediately after killing off Howard, Fear the Walking Dead season 7, episode 12, titled “Sonny Boy,” featured a heroic end for John Dorie Sr. (Keith Carradine). After realizing that he had no chance of ever swaying Strand to his way of thinking, John sacrificed himself to get Baby Mo out of Strand’s Tower. As a result, John became the first major member of Morgan’s group to die in Fear the Walking Dead season 7. Admittedly, he was a fairly recent addition to the cast, so his death won’t be a massive loss to the series. The same can’t be said for Charlie, though. Charlie, who has been around since season 4, is dying of radiation poisoning. Grace and June have confirmed that she’s living on borrowed time. As June said in “Sonny Boy,” all they can do now is keep her comfortable.
What the show is doing with Alexa Nisenson’s Charlie and John Dorie Sr. is a sign that Fear the Walking Dead season 7 is indeed the story that the showrunners promised it would be. When season 6 ended, much was said about how the nuclear bomb would fundamentally change the series and the characters’ way of life in general. And there’s no denying that it’s complicated things, but despite all the dangers that come with nuclear fallout, each character found a way to make it work. That finally changed when Charlie and John became sick. What happened to them demonstrates just how much things have gone from bad to worse in Fear the Walking Dead.
Admittedly, John didn’t die of radiation, but knowing that he didn’t have much time left played a direct role in his decision to risk it all at the end of the episode. So because of the nuclear bomb, the show is losing not one, but two main characters. These are severe consequences and exactly the sort of scenario that one would expect from the show deciding to unleash something as catastrophic as a nuclear apocalypse on its protagonists. It seemed highly improbable that several warheads could go off and that everyone would just come out of it one piece. The last two episodes make it clear that this was never the plan. Teddy’s actions have already killed John Dorie Sr., Charlie is now on death’s door, and there’s no telling who could be the next to go.
The fates of these characters put things into perspective and help get across this idea that Fear the Walking Dead really has redefined life in the zombie apocalypse. Nuclear radiation has added a deadly obstacle that the characters in the other Walking Dead shows never had to concern themselves with. Two have already been doomed by it, and time will tell if it will cost the lives of more members of Morgan’s group in the episodes to come.