AMC’s The Walking Dead is known for its gruesome and tragic storylines, and as the saga continues with Fear the Walking Dead season 8, the sad moments are only getting sadder. During Fear the Walking Dead season 8, episode 2, Shrike forces June to work on a cure by having Finch bitten by a zombified head. For the next four episodes, June attempts to devise a cure for Finch, however in episode 6, “All I See Is Red,” Finch dies.

Fear the Walking Dead is a prequel series to the original zombie series, The Walking Dead. The show begins before the events of The Walking Dead, with a blended family experiencing the very beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Now, the series runs alongside the timeline of The Walking Dead, and sees the cast learning more about PADRE, a government-run location that kidnaps children and holds people hostage. With Fear the Walking Dead season 8 being the last season, it has revealed more about PADRE and a cure for the zombie virus, however, it also has brought beloved characters to their tragic ends.

Finch’s Death Is One Of The Walking Dead’s Darkest Moments

Although death isn’t a new or surprising theme in The Walking Dead franchise, it is especially hurtful when the victim is a child. Furthermore, in the case of Finch, this death was particularly tragic and preventable. As previously mentioned, Finch’s demise occurs when Shrike, the co-leader of PADRE infects him with Adrian’s zombified head. She doesn’t necessarily do this to hurt Finch, but instead, to push June into working harder on a cure. Nevertheless, Shrike’s plan doesn’t work and both she and Finch die in the process. Finch’s death is a major blow for his parents, Dwight and Sherry, and for June, for potentially could have saved him.

Moreover, Finch’s premature death is upsetting because of its parallels to Carl and Lizzie’s The Walking Dead deaths. In season 4, Carol kills Lizzie after the 12-year-old stabbed her own sister to death. Although Lizzie had violent tendencies, her youth still made her death shocking and hard to watch. Furthermore, Carl’s death in season 5 is one of the most upsetting deaths in The Walking Dead franchise. After being bit by a zombie, 15-year-old Carl takes his own life with the gun he carried since the beginning of the series. All three of these deaths are far darker and more memorable than others because of how young the characters were.

Why Fear The Walking Dead Killed Off Finch

Due to the tragic nature of Finch’s death, it makes sense to wonder why Fear the Walking Dead would kill him in the first place. For the most part, it seems that his end is a highly symbolic one. After Fear the Walking Dead revealed PADRE, the show needed to establish what kind of place it really was. Although the organization presents itself as a safe haven for children, Finch’s death is proof that, in reality, they don’t care for the children they have custody of. In this way, his death is a reminder of PADRE’s true evil nature.

Finch’s Death Completely Changes A Walking Dead Story

Another side effect of Finch’s death is that it completely alters an ongoing storyline. Throughout The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, Dwight and Sherry have had a tumultuous relationship and reputation. Over the course of the two series, the husband and wife have been torn apart and constantly reunited. From Negan’s reign of terror to rebel groups, the pair have had to overcome a variety of differences. However, the death of their son Finch may be an event that cannot be fixed, or at the very least, won’t be easy to heal from. Now that Finch has died, Dwight and Sherry’s partnership will certainly see darker, more trying times.

Once again, The Walking Dead franchise has hit viewers with yet another traumatizing death. Plus, with season 8 being the final season of Fear the Walking Dead, it’s almost certain that even more heartbreak will occur. Nonetheless, it seems that Finch’s death, like the young people before him, will remain one of the most upsetting and haunting ends of a The Walking Dead character. Hopefully, as the franchise continues to grow, this tragic trend won’t become an inevitability.