‘Fear TWD’ showrunners tease we’ll finally learn who saved Morgan, how the rest of the season changed due to the pandemic, and tell us what changed to make the show good again

• Warning: There are spoilers ahead for “Fear the Walking Dead,” season six, episode seven, “Damage from the Inside.”
• Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg spoke with Insider about the first half of the season and what’s next.
• The episode’s title is a hint at why Strand (Colman Domingo) doesn’t go with Morgan (Lennie James) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) by the end of Sunday’s episode.
• We will learn who saved Morgan in the episodes to come and they may have an agenda against Ginny (Colbie Minifie).
• Chambliss said the show will continue to explore Sherry’s PTSD in the back-half of season six.
• Not much changed for the remaining nine episodes of the season that are currently filming. 
• “In a strange way, we were writing COVID-friendly episodes before COVID,” said Goldberg. “That’s not to say we haven’t had to make some adjustments here and there for safety.” 
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

“Fear the Walking Dead” ended a pretty stellar half-season run on Sunday night. Morgan (Lennie James) has most of his group reunited and we now know Grace (Karen David) is alive and well.

But it wasn’t supposed to be the mid-season finale. “Fear” was in the process of filming the original finale in March when production on the show came to a halt.

“We were a couple of days shy of finishing production on 608 when the pandemic shut us down,” coshowrunner and executive producer Andrew Chambliss told Insider. 

Insider caught up with Chambliss and coshowrunner and executive producer Ian Goldberg to get real about why the show feels completely different this season and how the title of Sunday’s episode connects to Strand’s (Colman Domingo) difficult decision by the end of the mid-season finale. 

The duo also told us we’ll finally learn who saved Morgan later this season, weighed in on our dream for a “Fear TWD”/”TWD” merger, and told us how the back-half of the season — which is currently filming — was tweaked a little bit in light of the pandemic.

What happened to make "Fear TWD" so good again in season six?

Kirsten Acuna: I don't know what changed, but holy cow. This first half of season six is the best "Fear" has been since season three. If you recall, I was giving you guys a bit of a hard time at the end of season five. I'm curious as to what changed and don't say it was just turning it into an anthology.

Andrew Chambliss: Our intention at the end of season five was to bring our characters to kind of their most optimistic place and then tear the rug out from under them and test them in ways that we had never seen them tested before and take everyone to kind of the depths of who they are. Then [you] see who breaks down in those situations, who thrives, who can rise above it.

So I think just by virtue of the fact that we separated everyone and we took away their control and their agency, it really forced us to dig down deep with these characters and really examine who they are, who they want to be, who they think they can become. That I think is what has been so exciting about the storytelling and has led to some really interesting stuff coming out of these characters.

Acuna: So this is what I heard and maybe you can expand a little bit. I heard that maybe some people on the show were a little frustrated with their character directions and how they were acting a bit out of character. I'm not going to name names, but maybe that feedback helped guide and inspire a revitalization in the show because, guys, it's fricking good. It's like I'm watching an entirely different show. Characters are acting in ways that they should be. Strand is back to being Strand. Alicia's not painting trees. Is there anything else that you guys can can say there? 

Ian Goldberg: We're obviously constantly talking to the cast and we say this every season, but it really is true. Every eight episodes we try and reinvent the show, with every season, with every half season. And I think the re-invention with season six, maybe it's just more pronounced than it has been between seasons before because it is such a total shift from season five and the brightness and optimism that the characters were going through.

Like Andrew said, that's been exciting for us because it's about taking the characters from their highest highs to their lowest lows and seeing how they react when they've all been kicked in the teeth, which I think has been super exciting. And it's been fun to have those conversations with the cast as well because they're getting to play entirely different shades of these characters. 

This wasn't supposed to be the mid-season finale. Would season six, episode eight have felt more like a true mid-season finale?

Acuna: I forgot that [this episode], 607, was going to be the mid-season finale because we're so used to having eight. Are you guys a bit bummed that this is where we ended the half? Or are you guys happy with the end point? I'm not sure if 608 would have felt more like a true mid-season finale, but I think that this works. 

Chambliss: The plan had been for 608 to be the mid-season finale and then, of course, the world decided that wasn't going to happen. We were a couple of days shy of finishing production on 608 when the pandemic shut us down. I think in looking at the storytelling, it is a very good place to leave on a cliffhanger because we have some open questions about what these characters are going to do.

It really seems like we're at the precipice of Virginia backed into a corner where she's got to act. And then the next couple of episodes when we return are going to answer a lot of those questions and those episodes kind of stand as their own little kind of anthology story within the greater whole. 

Acuna: OK, so we are going to continue this anthology [setup]?

Chambliss: Yep.

Goldberg: The rest of the season.

How the pandemic changed the next nine episodes of "Fear TWD." Not too much, but expect to see less extras.

Acuna: You guys have been killing it in terms of quality. My fear was that filming during COVID-19 may impact the storytelling. Maybe you guys had to rethink how you're doing some of these nine episodes. Do they feel a little bit different? Did you rewrite things at all? 

Goldberg: What's interesting is that because we had been writing them in the anthology model before COVID hit, the scripts did not need to be retooled as much as they would have been if they were all big ensemble episodes. So, in a strange way, we were writing COVID-friendly episodes before COVID. That's not to say we haven't had to make some adjustments here and there for safety. There's still issues of how many extras we can use in a scene or how many walkers, things like that. But the stories really remained pretty much unchanged, which has been a blessing. 

We'll see more of Sherry's personal trauma play out.

Acuna: Something that was unexpected that I loved and that a lot of fans were receptive to this half season was diving into Sherry's PTSD from her time with Negan. I was shocked, but happy that you guys broached this. It's such a timely story. How did you guys decide to tackle this and how much deeper can we expect you guys to explore Sherry's PTSD?

Chambliss: It just seemed like the story that needed to be told for her. We got to see Dwight deal with so much of that on screen, both on "The Walking Dead" and his journey to "Fear," that it seemed like we would really be leaving out a big part of her story if we found Sherry in a much better place — if we saw her already past all that trauma. It's definitely something that we're going to continue as the season goes on.

Read more: 'FearTWD' begins to address Negan's problematic past on 'The Walking Dead.' Star Christine Evangelista speaks about her character's PTSD.

Why doesn't Strand go with Morgan and Alicia? Is he trying to be the man on the inside when it comes to Ginny or is he just being selfish?

Acuna: On Sunday's episode is Strand making the wrong call by not going with Morgan and Alicia? Why doesn't he go? I have two theories, because Strand is a complicated man. He's being selfish and he believes Ginny's his best chance of survival or maybe Strand wants to be the man on the inside and is playing the long game.

Goldberg: I think both those theories are valid and to speak to the second one, Strand has been talking about doing damage from the inside since at the end of season five. That's what the title of this episode is all about. It's why he separated himself from Alicia at the end of episode 602. It's ultimately also why he killed Sanjay in that episode because he needed to curry favor with Virginia.

I think the constant tightrope that Strand is walking is while he's doing this damage from the inside, is he destroying his relationships with the people he cares about the most and is he going down a path he can't walk back from? So that's the really fascinating thing about Strand this season.

We will learn who saved Morgan by the end of season six.

Acuna: In the back half of the season, will we learn who saved Morgan? Yes or no answer here is fine. And the person who saved Morgan — Is there a chance it may be someone who has an agenda against Ginny, as in, someone who maybe had a reason to keep Morgan alive?

Chambliss: I think the answer to both those questions is yes.

Acuna: Very succinct, Andrew.

Are we heading towards a merger between "TWD" and "Fear TWD"?

Acuna: With "The Walking Dead" ending in 2022, are we heading towards an inevitable merger between "Fear" and "TWD"? This key to the future stuff on "TWD" with Maggie's group is certainly starting to feel like it could be part of Ginny's group. Here's what I see: I see Ginny getting taken out, Morgan and Strand taking over, and then working with Georgie and Maggie. That's my dream right there.

Goldberg: You just gave us a great roadmap for the rest of it [laughing]. We should be writing this down.

Acuna: [Laughing] It's recorded. I'll send it to you.

What's next for "Fear TWD"? A Ginny and Morgan confrontation and more of the "end is the beginning" folks.

Acuna: As I'm letting you guys go, what can you tease for the nine episodes ahead? The gang's almost all back together. Are we gearing up for — excuse my "Walking Dead" pun — but "All Out War" on "Fear of the Walking Dead?" I'm getting some season eight "TWD" vibes.

Goldberg: Well, we're certainly gearing up for confrontation between Morgan and Virginia. They haven't spoken since 601. When Morgan told Ginny over the walkie that she was dealing with somebody else now, and we are going to get the bookend to that moment coming up in the next few episodes.

Chambliss: I think, I'll say, the other element that we've hinted at and Virginia's been worried about is this group who remains mysterious now, but has been leaving these messages — "The end is the beginning" — all around the apocalyptic landscape. They will definitely be rearing their heads. 

"Fear TWD" will return to AMC next year. You can follow our "TWD" coverage here.