Despite being one of the few remaining OG cast members, Alycia Debnam-Carey quit Fear The Walking Dead in season 7 for one overarching reason.

Alycia Debnam-Carey made no secret of her motivation for leaving Fear The Walking Dead in 2022. Alongside Colman Domingo’s Victor Strand and Rubén Blades’ Daniel Salazar, Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Alicla Clark was one of precious few original characters still standing in Fear The Walking Dead season 7. While Victor and Daniel would roll onto season 8, Fear The Walking Dead‘s final season, Alicia left the group. Mistakenly believing she was close to death, Alicia separated from the main Fear The Walking Dead cast out of fear she might hurt them. When Alicia ultimately survived, she headed into the unknown on a solo mission.

Although Alycia Debnam-Carey remained absent throughout the vast majority of the zombie spinoff’s final season, Alicia Clark did return for Fear The Walking Dead‘s ending. Reuniting with her mother, Madison, and forming a team with Troy Otto’s young daughter, Alicia opted not to reveal her survival to the group, but pledged to continue doing good deeds in the bleak, post-apocalyptic landscape. Although Alycia Debnam-Carey did make herself available for one final goodbye, her absence during Fear The Walking Dead season 8 was notable, although not without explanation.

Alycia Debnam-Carey Left FTWD To Pursue Other Career Opportunities

Alycia Debnam-Carey explained that her decision to quit Fear The Walking Dead after seven years was primarily made to seek out other acting opportunities. Posting on her social media, Debnam-Carey stated, “As is the nature of our jobs I needed to seek out new challenges, new opportunities and carve out a new chapter for myself.” The actor also pointed out that having joined the zombie franchise at 21, she felt the need to pursue other ambitions as her 30s beckoned. Cutting through zombies is hard work, and the rigorous schedule of the Walking Dead Universe can limit an actor’s availability for other TV and movie gigs.

Debnam-Carey certainly made good on her promise. Since leaving Fear The Walking Dead, the actress has enjoyed main roles in Saint X and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Debnam-Carey also has two upcoming movie projects in the form of Liked and It’s What’s Inside. Both Saint X and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart took the actor far away from the horror-tinged action of Fear The Walking Dead, offering introspective drama, layered characters, and a chance for Alycia Debnam-Carey to prove her range by breaking away from the apocalyptic heroine mold created by her two most famous roles – Alicia Clark and The 100‘s Lexa.

How Alicia Could Still Return In The Walking Dead Franchise

Crucially, Alicia Clark was still alive when Fear The Walking Dead ended. With the wider Walking Dead franchise continuing to build momentum and talk of a potential crossover being legitimized by franchise-runner Scott M. Gimple at NYCC 2023, the prospect of Alycia Debnam-Carey returning to the Walking Dead is very much open. Although her character, along with Madison and Tracy Otto, was headed toward California when the spinoff concluded, her connection to Morgan Jones provides a link to the main Walking Dead cast. Bringing Alicia Clark back for a Walking Dead crossover would surely be a tantalizing proposition for producers and audiences alike.

Not only is Alicia one of the more recognizable faces to originate outside the main Walking Dead TV show, her mission to help strangers coalesces neatly against the rising threat of the Civic Republic Military. As Rick Grimes prepares to face his biggest enemy yet, and with Morgan actively looking for Rick after his own Fear The Walking Dead departure, Alicia Clark may be inclined to help her old friend topple a villain they cannot defeat alone. Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Fear The Walking Dead season 8 return proves the actor is willing to revisit the zombie apocalypse if the story is right, and that only makes her character’s future even more intriguing.