Alicia Clark

Appearances

Season 1

Alicia becomes more worried about her brother Nick's chemical dependency. School closes early due to the high levels of absenteeism and rumors of an epidemic. Alicia, her mother Madison, Nick, and Madison's fiancé Travis Manawa choose to flee to the desert, and they want Travis' son Chris, and Chris' mother Liza to follow. Alicia finds her boyfriend Matt ill in his disheveled house. Travis arrives and sees a bite on Matt, who convinces Alicia to leave. The group returns to Madison's home to gather supplies. Travis tells Madison to take the kids to the desert without him; he will catch up. Alicia witnesses her infected neighbor, Mr. Dawson, attacking Mrs. Cruz across the street, but Madison prevents her from intervening. The Manawas and Salazars flee the chaos in the streets. The group reaches Travis' truck and escapes, but Daniel Salazar's wife Griselda is injured by a collapsing scaffold. Unable to reach a hospital, the group drives to Madison's house, from which Alicia, Madison and Nick temporarily flee when Mr. Dawson enters, attracted by the barking dog Nick had let in.

Nick leads Madison and Alicia to the house next door, where they take a shotgun. All three families stay the night and evacuate in the morning. As the Clarks and Manawas start driving away, the National Guard arrives and quarantines the neighborhood into a Safe Zone. Later, Chris shows a video to Travis and Madison of a light signaling from the Dead Zone. Madison exchanges signals with the flashing light in the Dead Zone. She sneaks outside to investigate and finds evidence that the guardsmen killed civilians, including the uninfected. Soldiers take Griselda and Nick to a military hospital while Nick's family attempts to block his departure. Liza agrees to go assist the medical team, despite not wanting to leave Chris. Travis retreats to the roof and sees the signal from the Dead Zone. In the abandoned home of a wealthy family, Alicia and Chris get drunk, play luxury dress-up, and vandalize the home. In a military cell, Victor Strand bribes a guardsman to save a feverish Nick from being moved, and recruits Nick for an escape plot.

The group drives to the National Guard's headquarters to rescue Nick, Liza, and Griselda. Officer Adams agrees to be their guide when let go by Travis. The group infiltrates the base, and Travis, Madison, Daniel and his daughter Ofelia go inside, while Alicia and Chris stay behind. The infected breach the perimeter defenses and swarm the base. Alicia and Chris are threatened by soldiers who want to take their vehicle. Travis' group reach the holding cells and set the detainees free before reuniting with Nick, Liza, and Strand. They try to escape through the medical ward, where Dr. Exner tells them of an escape route, but stays behind. Before they can escape, the group encounters Adams, who shoots Ofelia in the arm. Enraged, Travis brutally beats Adams and leaves him for dead. Strand leads the group to his oceanside mansion, where he tells Nick that he owns a yacht on which they can escape. On the beach, Liza reveals to Madison that she was bitten during the escape. Liza pleads with Madison and Travis to kill her before she turns.

Season 2

The city of Los Angeles is bombed by the military. Madison, Alicia, Nick and the others board Strand's yacht, the Abigail, and escape the bombing. Strand refuses to pick up survivors they come across at sea. Strand informs the group they are heading to San Diego. Alicia mans the radio, hears distress calls, and strikes up a conversation with another seaborne survivor named Jack. Alicia learns from Jack that his boat is sinking, and he asks for help. Strand rejects her plan to help Jack and threatens to throw overboard anyone who disobeys him.

The group arrives at a small island where they find a family who inform them that all the cities on the west coast have been bombed, and the borders have been closed. The group is later unable to save the family from the father's suicide plan. Nick, Alicia, Chris, and Daniel scavenge supplies from a plane crash. A herd of walkers attacks them, and the group make their escape with two plane survivors. After debating whether or not to take the new survivors aboard, they decide to tow the survivors in their life raft – until Strand severs the tow line. The group heads to Mexico, the true destination where Strand is headed.

Nick goes ashore to find Strand's contact in Mexico. The group on the yacht is deceived by two people in distress needing to board, and they turn out to be allied with Jack, the man Alicia had communicated with on the radio. The newcomers end up taking over the yacht. When their leader arrives, he takes Alicia and Travis with him and brings the yacht to shore. Nick and Luis, Strand's contact, head back to the Abigail, and help free those on the yacht. They take one hostage to get back Alicia and Travis. Alicia attempts to befriend Jack and find her way back to the yacht on her own, while Travis is locked in a cell. Madison obtains Travis' release by trading him for the infected brother of the leader, and they escape in the mayhem. Alicia breaks free from Jack, and goes with Travis and Madison back to the yacht.

The group arrives in Mexico. While walking to a compound, they are attacked by walkers and Madison is knocked to the ground while Chris stands by watching. Alicia sees this and kills Madison's attacker. The group arrives at the compound, where Luis' mother Celia tells them they can stay but must leave their weapons outside. Alicia tells Chris that she saw him do nothing about Madison's attack. Madison, now aware of what Chris did, tells Travis she thinks he isn't well. Daniel discovers that Celia is keeping the compound's dead family members in the cellar. Madison sleeps with Alicia that night to provide comfort and they are woken by a gunshot to find Chris standing over them holding a knife.

Season 3

After encountering a military patrol on their way to the border, Alicia and her family are captured and taken to the military installations, where they were separated from Travis. Alicia and Madison meet a militia leader named Troy Otto, who assures them that they would release them once they passed the test. Looking for a way to escape, Alicia lends her balisong to her mother and together devise a plan to escape. Madison assures Alicia that she will not kill again, and Alicia carries out her mother's plan. Madison holds Troy hostage until his brother Jake arrives, who asks Madison to release Troy and takes Alicia and her family to their community. While traveling in a helicopter in the middle of the night, the helicopter is attacked and Travis is fatally wounded. Setting up a small camp for the night, Alicia and an unconscious Luciana stay with Jake. Once they reach Jake's ranch, Alicia informs her mother of Travis' death and Nick threatens Troy with his weapon with the intention of protecting Luciana.

At the ranch, Alicia befriends Gretchen who invites Alicia to join her "Bible study". Later, Alicia, Gretchen, and four other teens meet underground, where they drink, smoke from a bong, and chat. Alicia later begins a sexual relationship with Jake and gradually gains the trust of the ranch community. Madison manages to make peace with the community and convinces their militia to go extract Alicia from the reservation of Qaletaqa, leader of the Native Americans with whom the ranch's leader, Jeremiah Otto, has been in conflict. Alicia later questions her mother's decisions, after which Madison informs her and Nick of her dark past.

The problems in the ranch worsen and they are forced to sacrifice cattle to save water. When Jake asks Alicia to flee with him to start a new life, Alicia declines. Jake accuses Alicia of manipulating him in the way that he thinks Madison and Nick have done to his relatives. Nick informs them that a horde of infected, attracted by Troy (whom Nick covers for), are heading to the ranch. Jake and Nick leave to find Troy, leaving Alicia as the sole leader of the place. Determined to prevent the ranch from being destroyed, Alicia alerts the community of the situation, and they create motorhome barriers in an attempt to prevent the infected from crossing the ranch.

The horde brakes through the barrier, and Alicia and the ranchers fight the walkers until Alicia leads them to a pantry, after mercy killing one of her companions. As the walkers overtake the ranch, Alicia locks herself with Ofelia, Lee, and the remaining residents in the pantry. A number of the residents were bitten, and there is not enough air in the pantry for them to survive for long. While Ofelia and Lee attempt to fix the jammed air vent, Alicia kills the people bitten and others begin to turn into walkers. While fighting for her life Alicia goes unconscious. Ofelia and Lee manage to unblock the vent and Alicia wakes. Alicia becomes the only survivor in the pantry, and is rescued by Madison and her group. Alicia is informed that Jake died and the group has decided to leave for a nearby dam due to the destruction of the ranch. She refuses to go, wanting to visit the place that Jake had told her about, and find her own way.

Season 4

Years after the dam explosion, Alicia has taken refuge with Nick, Strand, Luciana and a new girl, Charlie, in a community established by Madison at a baseball stadium in Round Rock, Texas. While out looking for Charlie's missing parents, Alicia and Madison meet Laura, a former nurse on the run.

Charlie is revealed to be a spy for The Vultures, a group led by Melvin and Ennis, both of whom serve as Charlie's guardians. Mel continuously harasses Madison and her family, waiting until they exhaust all of their resources and leave to find a new home so the Vultures can take stadium and their leftover supplies. Madison decides to stay, especially after Alicia and Laura conceive the idea to build a medical facility at the stadium. Nick and Luciana find fresh soil and produce to grow new crops, after Charlie secretly destroyed their previous vegetables with pests. Melvin accepts that Madison and the community in the stadium will continue to thrive and leaves. However, Ennis is bent on seizing the stadium and unleashes a horde of walkers doused in oil toward the stadium. To save Alicia, Nick, and the other members of the community, Madison herds the walkers inside of the stadium using a flare; she locks herself inside with the walkers and immolates them with the flare, causing an explosion and sacrificing herself in the process.

Months later, Alicia, Nick, Strand and Luciana, determined to get revenge on the Vultures for causing Madison's death, cross paths with Althea, John Dorie and Morgan Jones. Nick finds Ennis and kills him. Nick is subsequently killed by Charlie, and dies surrounded by Alicia, Luciana and Strand.

Alicia finds and confronts Melvin, and it is revealed that Laura joined Melvin's group after the destruction of the stadium. Enraged at this discovery, Alicia pivots and aims her gun at Laura, but instead, shoots John in the abdomen after John steps in front of Laura to protect her. A gunfight ensues, which ends with Alicia killing Melvin with her sharpened barrel shroud. Alicia makes it her mission to kill Laura and prevent her from saving John, as she believes Laura was with the Vultures from the beginning and thus had a hand in Madison's demise. Morgan convinces Alicia to stand down, reminding her that Madison would not have wanted her to become a killer and that killing Laura won't solve anything and will only cause an innocent man (John) to die. Alicia breaks down crying and leaves with Morgan. Laura reveals her real name to be June. After burying Nick, Alicia, Strand and Luciana part ways with Morgan's newfound group.

Season 5

Prior to the events of the fifth season, Alicia and her friends spend weeks searching for people to help, with little success. They are contacted by a man named Logan, who says he is in need of assistance. Alicia and the group board a plane, provided by Daniel Salazar, to travel to Logan's location. The plane malfunctions and crashes in a forest. Alicia emerges from the crash site and meets young brothers, Max and Dylan. She discovers that the area they have crash-landed in is potentially radioactive. Surrounded by walkers, Alicia and her group are rescued by Max and Dylan's older sister, Annie. It is revealed that Logan was lying about being in trouble in order to have Morgan's group leave the factory they were using as a home, so that he could take it back.

Alicia and Morgan meet Grace, a former employee of a nearby nuclear power plant. The nuclear power plant suffered a meltdown shortly after the apocalypse began and everyone in the surrounding area died from radiation. Grace survived but she believes she is infected and will soon show symptoms, although she is not entirely sure. Grace warns Alicia and Morgan not to go near walkers that show signs of radioactive poisoning.

Alicia is determined to help Annie and her brothers. Annie reveals to Alicia that her parents died from radioactive exposure after the first meltdown of the nuclear power plant. Annie is convinced that the only way to keep her brothers safe is for them to stay where they are. However, Alicia tells them that they will not survive for long if they stay alone and reject help from others. Annie refuses to join Alicia, and believes that Alicia only wants to help them because she is trying to relieve her own conscience after all of the wrongful actions she committed in her past. While trying to protect Annie, her brothers and the other children in Annie's care from a horde of walkers, Alicia is splashed with the blood of a radioactive walker after she stabs one. Alicia is worried that she may be infected and asks Grace for help. Grace decontaminates her, but Alicia decides to stop using her weapon and takes a hiatus from killing any more walkers.

Grace tries to keep the power plant running, but eventually, another meltdown is triggered and it becomes imperative that everyone leave the area. The group begins repairing the crashed plane using parts from another plane, also owned by Daniel. Meanwhile, John Dorie and June cross paths with Dwight, who has been looking for his wife, Sherry. The three of them reunite with Alicia and the group. The plane is successfully repaired and the group flies out just as the power plant completely melts down. When the plane lands in another city, Alicia is joyfully reunited with Daniel, who is ready for a fresh start after living alone.

Season 6

Alicia is stationed with Strand at Lawton, the main hub of Virginia's network of communities in Texas. While at Lawton, Alicia meets Dakota, who reveals herself to be Virginia's younger sister.

After Strand assaults one of Virginia's rangers, Virginia sentences Alicia and Strand to work at an abandoned factory, and orders them to clear out walkers standing in the way of a "weapon" she wants to obtain and utilize against a doomsday cult that is spray-painting the threatening message, "THE END IS THE BEGINNING" throughout her settlements. Alicia is later reunited with Charlie. Alicia discovers that Dakota had come in the vehicle that took her and Strand to the factory. They all work together to defeat the walkers. Unbeknownst to Alicia, Strand murders one of the workers by using him as bait to lure the walkers away from her and the others so that they could kill them.

When Virginia arrives, she reveals that there never was any weapon and that killing the walkers was a test to prove that they were capable of fighting. Virginia promotes Strand to a leadership position and asks him to create an army of soldiers for her. Knowing that he is going to have to do more reprehensible things in order to win Virginia over, Strand sends Alicia to a different community far away from him. Having grown close to Alicia, Strand tells her he cares about how she views him and cannot bear for her to forget the goodness in him.

Alicia is stationed with Charlie and is bitter over Strand sending her away. When Dakota goes missing, Strand enlists the help of Alicia to find her. Knowing that there will be consequences for herself and her friends if Dakota is not found, Alicia goes with Charlie to locate her. They eventually find Dakota taking shelter inside of a cabin owned by a former taxidermist, Ed. Dakota reveals that she fled to get away from Virginia, and says that Virginia murdered their parents. Ed tries to keep Alicia, Charlie and Dakota trapped inside the house. He then plays music on a loud stereo to draw in walkers. Ed dies, and they are saved from the walkers breaking into the cabin by Morgan. Alicia is shocked, but glad, to see that Morgan is alive.

When Morgan suggests trading Dakota for their friends, Alicia is tells him that was her initial plan, but she now disagrees. Morgan relents and agrees to take Dakota with them back to the stronghold he is in the process of building. When Strand arrives to collect Dakota, Alicia refuses to give her up. Strand points a gun at Alicia and she holds her defense with her weapon. Her trust in him has declined due to his history of betraying people and altering his position on matters as it suits his needs. Strand lowers his weapon, but claims that his allegiance to Virginia will get them out. Alicia later contemplates returning to the baseball stadium and rebuilding it into her own community, like her mother did.

Season 7

As shown in flashbacks, following the events of season six, Alicia fails to escape the bunker. She meets Will, a survivor who has been in the bunker since the start of the apocalypse, and a former aide of Senator Elias Vazquez. Teddy's followers, led by Arno, found the bunker and killed everyone inside, including Vazquez, while Will hid. Alicia meets Arno, who was told by Teddy that she was the new leader.

Alicia finds files of a secret government-established settlement called PADRE, of which only Vazquez knew the location. Alicia hopes with Will that Vazquez's reanimated corpse can subconsciously remember the location of PADRE and help lead them there. Alicia and Will try to find a way out of the bunker through its tunnels, taking Vazquez's body with them. As Teddy launches the nuclear missile, the tunnel collapses and Alicia becomes trapped with Vazquez. Vazquez bites Alicia on the arm, and after making Will promise that he kill her if she shows signs of not healing, she despairingly amputates her arm. Will breaks his promise because he has fallen in love with her. Alicia is angered at this, and spends the next few days in isolation. Will leaves the bunker. In present time, Alicia is still running a fever that does not subside. She fears that she did not amputate her arm in time and will soon succumb to her sickness.

Alicia and Teddy's followers leave the bunker and search for PADRE, using Vazquez as a guide. A number of them die due to the unsafe conditions of the fallout. Arno blames Alicia for their deaths and he and few other members of Teddy's cult split from Alicia and form their own crew, "The Stalkers". Dwight and Sherry are found by Alicia's group and are taken in. Dwight fills Alicia in on what happened since she's been gone, including Strand's attempt to kill Morgan in order to be seen as a hero. Strand has found and built a stronghold that he is running as a totalitarian dictator, holding some of Morgan's group while rejecting shelter for others.

Alicia is disgusted with Strand's actions and no longer wants anything to do with him. Their search for PADRE proves unsuccessful when Alicia mistakes Strand's Tower for the settlement. There, Alicia discovers Will's corpse. Strand admits to killing him because Will said he loved Alicia, and Strand needed to create distance between him and Alicia in order to be a ruthless leader, which he cannot do with Alicia near him. This proves to be the final straw for Alicia, who declares war on Strand, vowing to take the tower from him, and knowing that Morgan and their friends won't survive long in the beached-submarine they've been sheltering in.

Season 8

Alicia's prosthetic arm is shown in the possession of an unknown survivor. Troy Otto, who is revealed to have survived, claims that he had killed Alicia and left her as a walker, giving Madison her daughter's prosthetic arm as proof.

Madison subsequently searches for Alicia to lay her to rest, but Troy cuts off the arms of a number of walkers and releases them to make it harder for Madison to find Alicia. Troy's daughter Tracy, who is shown to be wearing Alicia's medallion necklace, later claims that Alicia was killed in a mansion near Fort Worth, Texas. Strand encounters a group of survivors who were all saved by Alicia in one way or another and are keeping her alive for people. The group explains that, after everyone left, Alicia rescued dozens of survivors who had heard her message and escaped Texas with them in Al's SWAT van using fuel from the Tower. Alicia had then traveled around helping survivor groups until Troy had apparently killed her. Troy later reveals that, when his wife Serena was pregnant, she got bit and Alicia responded to their distress call. Despite her tumultuous history with Troy, Alicia had saved Serena by amputating her arm, inspiring Serena to follow in Alicia's path and help others in turn. However, while answering a distress call, Serena was robbed and killed, something that the grief-stricken Troy had blamed Madison and Alicia for.

Madison later kills Troy by fatally impaling him with Alicia's prosthetic arm, believing that Alicia giving Troy a second chance had led to her daughter's death. Before dying, Troy claims that his daughter Tracy is actually Alicia's and that Troy had kidnapped her from Alicia. Troy's second-in-command Russell later reveals that Alicia might actually still be alive: Alicia and Troy had gotten into a fight that had left them both seriously wounded, and Troy stabbed with Alicia's arm which is how he had gotten it. When Russell went to check on Alicia, he had only found the knife that Troy had used to stab her, a bloody mattress and bloody footprints, suggesting that Alicia had survived and escaped. Russell had then gone on to lie to Troy that Alicia had died and turned, telling Troy what he had wanted to hear.

After the destruction of PADRE, a still alive Alicia is finally reunited with Madison, having heard the story of her mother seemingly sacrificing herself again to save everyone. Alicia reveals that she's not Tracy's mother, although she did know Serena when Tracy was just a baby. Troy had lied to Madison in order to ensure that Madison would take care of his daughter. Alicia discreetly returns Daniel's long-lost cat Skidmark to him, having found the cat on her travels and she and Madison reveal their survival to Strand. However, having both seen how they had inspired others with their sacrifice, Madison and Alicia decide to let everyone think that they had died and to return to Los Angeles with Tracy to help rebuild their old home.

Development

At the start of the series, Alicia is an "ambitious teen and model student" who is wanting to leave home to get away from her dysfunctional family and start college. Co-creator Robert Kirkman described her as an "atypical teenager", excelling at school and being self-sufficient and self-reliant; "she's kind of the model child". Showrunner Dave Erickson said Alicia "had a really specific, defined idea of who she was and where she was going", and being more "fatalistic" in her thinking, she "has to work through that and process it".

Alicia is the antithesis of her brother Nick, with whom she is at odds. For Nick, who is "a parent's worst nightmare", Kirkman said, "it's exacerbated [things] to be next to this perfect sister who seemingly doesn't have anything going on in her life that is negative. But that's not really the case, that's just his perception." Debnam-Carey said that Alicia and her brother had a close connection as kids, but the loss of their father and their new situation "takes them on very different paths." Their relationship is "fractured" and "it's going to take time to rebuild", she noted. "Because Nick has gone off, she's had to be very self-sufficient ... and that goes against [her] in some way". Her brother "gets all the attention because he's the one that's screwing up", while she is also "saddled with caring for him".

Alicia starts "in a difficult place" as well as "a much more hopeful place", Debnam-Carey said. She is "the only one who has ambitions and goals", and had to "compensate" for her brother. She felt emotionally "cut off" from her family, so she tried to protect herself from that and "decided to make a choice for herself". Maureen Ryan in HuffPost said that the character's "dreams were her lifeline to get out of a difficult situation". Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies wrote, "Alicia lost a parent, had an addicted brother that monopolized much of her mother's time and concern, and saw everything she had worked towards for her future being ripped away." When everything falls apart, she "has the most to lose, and she's roped back into this situation she's really trying to escape from."

The character is initially very skeptical about the events occurring in the city. Debnam-Carey said that most people in that situation would attempt to rationalize everything and make "logic out of something absurd". There is a lot of "uncertainty in the beginning", she noted, and people think that those infected are merely sick and the situation may be temporary. Alicia is "kept in the dark more than everyone else" and her family "wants to keep at least someone safe and innocent and protected." Erik Kain of Forbes called Alicia early on in the first season, "the optimist, the type of character who will go out of her way to help another, in spite of her cold exterior." For the character, it becomes about "her figuring out this world, and it will also coincide with her recognizing her place, within herself, and knowing then, what she's going to do about it", Debnam-Carey said.

Reception

Alicia became a fan favorite character as viewers have "watched her grow from a callow young woman to a confident and strong force of nature." Alicia and her brother Nick were the series' emotional anchors from the beginning, Vanity Fair's Laura Bradley wrote, "especially Alicia, whose insistently open heart was a welcome presence in this cruel world". Debnam-Carey's performance in the series has received acclaim, especially for the third season episode "This Land Is Your Land" and fourth season episode "Close Your Eyes". E.A. Hanks of The New York Times declared the "most moving aspect" of season two to be "the relationship between Madison and Alicia, particularly after the fall of the Abigail compound". [Dickens and] Debnam-Carey, "whose thoughtful performance continues to deepen, are completely honest as mother and daughter." The TV Junkies's Bridget Lissewski said the second season benefited from Alicia's more central role and character growth, appreciating that her storyline has evolved "without the services of any sort of romantic relationship".

David Zapanta of Den of Geek regarded Alicia as one of the "more fully realized characters" of the third season. Emily Hannemann of TV Insider considered the "Bible study" meeting in the episode "TEOTWAWKI" "one of Alicia's most profound and chilling moments on the series." Reviewing "This Land is Your Land", Paul Tassi of Forbes wrote, "The entire sequence with Alicia in the bunker is one of the best pieces of zombie fiction I've seen in years." Zapanta said the episode is one of the strongest of the series, crediting Debnam-Carey's performance for anchoring a "transformative" hour of television. Digital Spy's Ben Lee felt the character "truly excelled in the episode." Hannemann called the episode a "love letter to Alicia's development throughout the first three seasons", with Alicia showing she has what it takes to lead. IGN's Matt Fowler said the episode "had an amazing, harrowing Alicia-centric story inside of it - one that really helped shape her character". Writing for Forbes, Erik Kain said Debnam-Carey's performance "elevated the show beyond anything it had been before."

Bradley of Vanity Fair regarded season four's "Close Your Eyes" as Debnam-Carey's "most powerful performance yet, one that proved Alicia still has a lot of story left", naming Alicia the series' "strongest throughline" who "can also still be the most fascinating to watch." Tassi considered it a "fantastic" episode anchored by the actress, stating that "in Alicia she's created one of the most impressive, memorable characters in the entire Walking Dead universe across either show." CarterMatt.com said "Close Your Eyes" provided "a chance to dive into Alicia's head like never before as she continued much of her isolation from the world", while Debnam-Carey gave an "outstanding" performance. Kain said the episode is one of the series' best and it reinforced his view that Alicia "should become the central protagonist of the show". ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis felt the actress "brilliantly delivered on an intensely heartfelt script", with a performance as strong as her "This Land is Your Land" work. Zapanta said Alicia is "a house divided against herself" in the "powerful" episode, with "arguably a career-defining performance from Debnam-Carey". Ray Flook of Bleeding Cool considered it a "very important" episode for the character to move forward, navigating an "impressive" arc and cycle of duality and inner conflict. Praising Debnam-Carey's portrayal, Flook credited her for "almost single-handedly renewing [his] faith in where [the season] was going". Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy called the episode a "gripping showcase" for the actress, who makes "the sudden shifts [in sentiments] work", noting that the show "soars" when it gives focus to Alicia.