Alicia’s theory in Fear the Walking Dead may sound far-fetched, but evidence for it being true goes all the way back to The Walking Dead’s very first zombie. In Fear the Walking Dead season 7’s midseason finale, Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) outlined a theory that her fellow survivors – and the viewers – have had trouble believing. She thinks that zombies retain "echoes" of who they were before within their minds.
For most of the episode, Alicia spent her time following a zombified senator, convinced that the walker was the key to unlocking the mystery of PADRE. Alicia told Morgan (Lennie James) that she had come to the conclusion that zombies somehow retain their human memories. This theory, which Morgan was quick to reject, served as the basis of Alicia’s mission in the episode, as it was her opinion that since the senator supposedly knew where PADRE was, his zombie would be able to take her to it. Much to her disappointment, Alicia’s plan was ultimately a failure. Instead of taking her where she wanted to go, the senator’s zombie led her straight to Strand’s tower.
Alicia not getting the results she hoped for was a development that was easy to see coming, especially since most agree with Morgan’s viewpoint. However, it’s worth noting that there have been various moments in the Walking Dead shows that have supported her ideas. In fact, evidence for her theory dates all the way back to The Walking Dead pilot episode. The franchise’s first zombie – a child – was walking down the street until her gaze fell on a stuffed rabbit. Strangely, she bent down and picked it up. There is no real reason for the zombie to do this – unless Alicia is actually right about how the zombie brain works.
As mindless, undead creatures whose only impulse is to feed on meat, it doesn’t make sense for a zombie to interact with an inanimate object or express any sense of curiosity in the slightest. The zombie picking up the stuffed rabbit is indicative of the walker displaying child-like traits or acting on a memory from the person’s past. Regardless, either explanation doesn’t fit with The Walking Dead’s established mythology and rules. Though some characters in the Walking Dead shows have struggled to come to terms with this on occasion, experience has taught most of them that a person dies completely when they turn.
While many believe that the franchise has moved on from The Walking Dead season 1’s hints about zombies keeping their memories, it doesn’t change the fact that these events did happen in-universe, thus providing some degree of weight to Alicia’s otherwise baseless theory. Of course, her ideas in Fear the Walking Dead season 7 could very well still be wrong, but the franchise's first walker and other moments in The Walking Dead's history will allow this zombie mystery to linger on. A definitive answer may never be offered.
