“Fear the Walking Dead” series finale ending is like storming a castle

For Michael E. Satrazemis, wrapping production on Fear the Walking Dead was a cathartic event. Satrazemis has been with The Walking Dead franchise since day 1, starting on the flagship show as a camera operator — eventually being promoted to both director of photography and director of some of the series' most famous episodes ever, including "The Grove." But he left the mothership to join Fear the Walking Dead in season 4 as a directing producer, and now, executive producer.

That means he wasn't around when The Walking Dead wrapped production after 177 episodes in 2022. "I didn't get a chance to wrap up The Walking Dead because I'd moved over to Fear," Satrazemis explains. "So I had a lot of emotions when The Walking Dead was ending because it's just the epicenter of everything. They're still my family. You form bonds that are very personal and extreme. So it was a lot of mixed emotions."

Seth F. Johnson/AMC Colman Domingo on 'Fear the Walking Dead'

When it was announced that Fear The Walking Dead would be following suit and finishing up at the conclusion of season 8, Satrazemis knew not only that he had to be there, but that he needed to direct the final installment himself. "It feels karmically correct."

However, the emotions for cast and crew — including showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss — began well before the finale. While Fear the Walking Dead will have aired 113 episodes by the time all is said and done, the final six installments — which will run from Oct. 22 to Nov. 26 on AMC — were treated like a sprint. "Everyone was on fire," Satrazemis says. "You just run! The show's so big that you have to prep really hard. You shape one mindset and then you divide and conquer and storm a castle. And knowing this was the end, everyone charged."

Expect the last run of episodes to feature a mix of huge action and character-driven deep dives. "The entire back half of the season is really tight and really special," the exec producer promises. "We have some very big scope episodes. We've got a couple down the rabbit hole sort of episodes where we take a little right turn and hook away. They're going to be surprising and beautiful. This back half [of season 8] is very emotional. Every cast member has an amazing episode. And it has a proper ending."

Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC Kim Dickens on 'Fear the Walking Dead'

About that ending… will the final episode wrap up eight seasons of story, or set up what is to come on various other Walking Dead shows like Dead City, Daryl Dixon, and the upcoming The Ones Who Live? "Scott Gimple's been really good about intertwining the shows and having one show feed the others," notes Satrazemis of The Walking Dead's chief content officer. "He's a wizard. But I feel that this has a complete end. It's not feeding or fueling anything other than ending the story. That felt really nice to honor the show in that way." And while the director notes that "the universe really has a way of continually creating and has a magnet that can pull anything back together again," he feels "that Fear has a really beautiful ending and a proper ending honoring the show and the cast."

And after not being part of the original mothership's landing, Satrazemis is happy he was part of the team to finish up Fear. "I was really proud. It's such a beautiful group of really talented filmmakers, and to get to end it the right way with all of us looking in each other's eyes and knowing we gave it our all is very special. It was a really beautiful experience."

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