Many wrote Alicia Clark off within the first season as the typical whiny teenage brat—until she proved everyone one wrong, namely in ‘Captive’.
Alicia Clark was a polished high-school student with a boyfriend and a track to Berkeley. No, she wasn’t the decapitating type, but did anybody expect her to be? Straight away?
As Alicia’s family crumbled, her drug-addicted brother Nick (Frank Dillane) re-entered her life. Debnam-Carey’s subtle show of helplessness was superb. She was helpless to the love she felt for Nick. Helpless as she lamented her youth and goals, sapped away. And it was Debnam-Carey’s delicacy with Alicia’s character that made her so relatable.
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In season two, Debnam-Carey flexed her acting muscles a little more. Easily, Alicia could’ve been an unlikable brat. Yet there’s something believably human that keeps us rooting for her. We get the impression we’ll remain so as she grows.
A teen who got manipulated into pitting her family and friends as targets, Alicia manipulated them right back. Her sneaky deceit shone in ‘Captive’. Devastated by her captor’s betrayal, Debnam-Carey’s vengeance and determination to save Travis (Cliff Curtis) was searing. A lot can be conveyed via an angry smack over the head with a clipboard. Equally, with Debnam-Carey’s emotive eyes. This was show-cased in Season 2A, in which Nick left. Grief doesn’t have to be noisy. It just had to be in Debnam-Carey’s eyes, and that was enough.
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Is it cheating if I put Debnam-Carey as the scene-stealer for two shows? No, for she is the scene-stealer in ‘Fear the Walking Dead’, and the show-carrier for ‘The 100’.
Firstly, with a giant nod to Eliza Taylor, the duo made an unwatchable show bearable (props to Lindsey Morgan too). Rather, Debnam-Carey’s sizzling Lexa was exceedingly different to Alicia Clark. And that’s not just because Alicia can’t wield two swords simultaneously.
Youthful and slim-built, it was breath-taking to see her ruthlessly command audiences in real-life and subjects on-screen. For example, a flicker of her hand. A firm “leave us”. The gnarly ‘Trigedasleng‘ language of the Grounders. The impeccable (99.9% of the time) American accent.
Debnam-Carey parried with Henry Ian Cusick, Adina Porter, Brenda Strong and Zach McGowan. Not once did she falter. Not once was she outperformed by such renowned names. Actually, her performance lifted. Consequently, it’s no lie to say that ‘The 100‘ had not faced much, if any, critical acclaim until Debnam-Carey’s arrival as Lexa.
Moreover, she was stoic, but not flat. Powerful yet tender. Harsh but so loving. Gracefully, Debnam-Carey portrayed a stormy paradox of a commander. As a result, a myriad of emotions too. She was Pandora’s Box. Once opened, never to be shut again, thus forever her legacy will live on. Never has a show been so blatantly stolen by a recurring star, and that’s exactly what Debnam-Carey did.
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Debnam-Carey is young but she’s impossibly talented. She could be showier, to give a loud and emotive performance—but her nuances and subtle nature are sublime.
Admittedly, showier performances entrance the audience straight away. Yet, Debnam-Carey kept a standard of calm as Alicia’s world collapsed. She leapt from the eye-rolling teen to a forlorn soul. It was that loneliness she embraced elegantly as Alicia got ‘catfished’. Subsequently, Debnam-Carey painted a young girl, silently searching for a kindred spirit.
Furthermore, her ability to match the caliber of Kim Dickens, Colman Domingo and Cliff Curtis was admirable. But it was the relationship between her and Nick that bowled us over. Debnam-Carey played it warily. Too clever for his tricks, and too loving to leave. Thus, when Nick left in the mid-season finale, Alicia’s eyes held a world of heartbreak as her face kept stoic.
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Additionally, it’s better when you have another juicy role to compare to. In contrast, as Commander Lexa, her nuances were even finer. Her posture was stiff and formal around her subjects, hands clasped at the front. Conversely, around Clarke, she would relax, affectionate eyes softening. Her tone of voice could be harsh, or with Clarke, tender and intimate. Lexa was never monotone. She was precise, and often pensive. But Debnam-Carey’s dynamic, expert craft of the character made Lexa iconic.
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Hot. Property.
There must not be a single show-runner who doesn’t want Alycia Debnam-Carey. It’s a good job she’s on one of the most successful spin-offs on cable television. The season one premiere of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ smashed all previous records. Jason Rothenberg must be smacking himself, though Debnam-Carey’s talent soars far beyond ‘The 100’. She’s meant for the top, and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ is just what ‘The 100’ is not.
‘Fear the Walking Dead’ 2B looks set for Debnam-Carey to sink her talented teeth into. San Diego Comic Con’s trailer teased some exciting development for her. And we’re lucky. There aren’t many young actresses with her fine-tuning. Luckily, television struck a pot of gold in her. Debnam-Carey’s a natural charmer. A young, earnest beacon of light on our screens. She’s a chameleon. She could literally play any part in any story and we’d be convinced.
(Do you have any suggestions for us? How about a young, female Indiana Jones, complete with the hat and whip…)
jason’s a dumbest person ever excisted
You hit the nail on the head! Alycia Debnam-Carey is poised for greatness. I don’t know what the future holds for this amazing talent, but I do know that she has a fan for life in me!
Thank you very much! There could’ve really only been Ruben and Alycia, maybe Lorenzo sometimes, for me – I like Frank, Kim and Cliff and Colman though I find they’re less of a “scene stealer”. But i agree, someone below mentioned how young she was so hopefully she’ll climb for sure! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Never read a better article about Alycia Debnam Carey. Evrything said above is 100% true. Couldn’t have said it better. Well done.
Wow – thank you for your high, high praise – and taking the time to comment! 🙂
perfect!
Thanks!
She’s only 23, if she plays her cards right she has an amazing career ahead of her. Not only on tv. Fear the Walking Dead was a big first step up from The 100 (if I were in charge of that show, I’d forever kick myself for not giving her a regular contract) and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her star rising even further soon.
I think her age factored a lot into it because sometimes I forget shes only 23. To land a good role on something like Fear, and to have been Lexa (though arguably the character is probably bigger than the show) is quite marvellous. I hope so! For now I hope 2B we get to see more of her range, too, as was on ‘The 100’ and I think we probably will!
Indeed alycia debnam carey playing commander lexa on the 100 made watchable the show. Her and her amazing chemistry with eliza taylor.
She is amazing and super talented.
She is going to the top.
Im waiting for ftwd 2b so i keep enjoy her acting.
Yes, unfortunately S3 was that bad I had to stop even when she was still alive. But oh well. I do agree with you indeed, and am excited for 2B! It looks action packed and the SDCC panel was very encouraging. Thanks!
This is Alycia-Debnam Carey’s world, we just live in it. Rise Alycia, rise!
It is indeed very encouraging to see someone so young already be quite so established. Thanks for commenting!
This is probably the stupidest review I’ve seen have you watch a single episode of hers on FTWD it’s the same facial expression over and over again, if she’s that great of an actress wouldn’t be she the one the Emmy people taking notice of instead of the asian girl in the ftwd webseries. I like Alycia but I think you’re shooting it off quite a bit off there buddy like waaay off!
Alas it is not a review but an opinion article thus subjective – so thank you for your criticism and disagreement, and i did certainly anticipate not everyone would see what i saw. Yes, i’ve seen FTWD & covered it for this website. Watched it from the start. Excellent candidate would’ve been Ruben Blades for my number 2. The ‘Asian girl’ is Michelle Ang and yes, I agree, she was wonderful, but barely featured in 2A and did not stand out much for me. She was quite good in ‘Captive’. It’s nice to hear some disagreement (I know not even us TVAD staff agree!) but it’s one writer for one opinion article – whereas other sites may either choose the same or different, if they had a featured article as such. But thanks for your time!
Good job, agree with everything you said, Alycia is heading for the top and Jason is a dumbass and will regret his actions.
Nice article! I love it. I hope she reads this. You captured everything that I like (or we like) about alycia debnam carey. Great article!
I’ll echo the other comments: so true, all of it. She stands alone in Hollywood. I can’t wait to see literally everything she does.