If you were watching The Walking Dead back in 2019, specifically during that gut-wrenching Season 9 penultimate episode, you probably remember the pikes. It was one of those moments that redefined the word "grim." Among the ten heads on stakes—nestled between more prominent characters like Enid and Tara—was a face you recognized but maybe couldn't quite place immediately. That was Frankie.
Honestly, Frankie is one of those characters who didn't get nearly enough screen time for how much she actually represented the show's shifting moral compass. She wasn't just another background survivor. She was a bridge between the era of Negan’s brutal Sanctuary and the attempted peace of Alexandria.
Who Was Frankie in The Walking Dead?
Frankie, played by the talented Elyse DuFour, first popped up in Season 7. We met her at the Sanctuary, where she was introduced as one of Negan’s "wives." This wasn't exactly a romantic arrangement. It was a survival tactic. In the world of the Saviors, you either worked for points—which often meant starving or living in squalor—or you "volunteered" for Negan’s harem to secure a better life for yourself or your family.
Before the world went to hell, Frankie was a licensed massage therapist living in San Francisco. How she made it all the way to Virginia is anyone's guess, but by the time we see her, she’s hardened. She wasn't a passive victim, though. Remember when she and Tanya tried to trick Eugene into making poison pills? They told him it was for a suicide pact, but it was pretty clearly an assassination plot against Negan. She had fire in her.
📖 Related: Gwendoline Butler Dead in a Row: Why This 1957 Mystery Still Packs a Punch
The Alexandria Rebirth
One of the most interesting things about Frankie The Walking Dead fans often overlook is her life after the war. Most of the Saviors just sort of faded away or died when the Sanctuary collapsed. Not Frankie.
She actually made the jump to Alexandria.
During the six-year time jump following Rick Grimes' "death," Frankie didn't just survive; she thrived as a productive member of the community. She even adopted a daughter named Alice. This is a huge deal for a character who started as a symbol of Negan’s oppression. It showed that the show believed in redemption, not just for the big villains, but for the people who were forced to do whatever it took to stay alive under them.
👉 See also: Why ASAP Rocky F kin Problems Still Runs the Club Over a Decade Later
Why Frankie Had to Die (The Narrative Truth)
So, why kill her off on the pikes in "The Calm Before"?
There’s a lot of chatter in the fandom—especially on places like Reddit—about the "convenience" of her death. Some people think the writers needed to clear the board of Negan’s former wives to make his redemption arc "cleaner." If Frankie is alive in Alexandria, she’s a walking, talking reminder of Negan’s worst sins. By having Alpha take her out, the show removed a potentially awkward social dynamic for Negan’s eventual integration into the group.
It’s a bit cynical, sure. But in a show with a cast as massive as The Walking Dead, minor characters often become "emotional fodder" for the big mid-season or finale shocks.
✨ Don't miss: Ashley My 600 Pound Life Now: What Really Happened to the Show’s Most Memorable Ashleys
Key Facts About Frankie
- First Appearance: Season 7, Episode 7 ("Sing Me a Song").
- Final Appearance: Season 9, Episode 15 ("The Calm Before").
- Comic Counterpart: Non-existent. Frankie was a show-original character, though she shared traits with some of the unnamed wives in the source material.
- The Actress: Elyse DuFour has since appeared in projects like The Night Sitter and Nashville.
What You Can Take Away From Frankie’s Journey
Frankie represents the "middle class" of the apocalypse. She wasn't a leader like Michonne or a warrior like Carol, but she was a survivor who successfully transitioned from a cult-like dictatorship to a functioning democracy. Her death wasn't just a shock tactic; it was the loss of a mother and a productive citizen.
If you’re rewatching the series, keep an eye on the background of the Kingdom's fair in Season 9. You’ll see her there with Alice, looking genuinely happy. It makes the eventual reveal on the hill hurt just a little bit more.
To really understand the weight of that Season 9 massacre, you have to look past the "big" deaths and realize that people like Frankie were finally starting to build something real before the Whisperers tore it down.
To get the full picture of how the show handled the transition from the Savior war to the Whisperer era, pay close attention to the background characters in Alexandria during the Season 9 time jump episodes. You'll notice several former Saviors who, like Frankie, were trying to find a new path, offering a much deeper perspective on the "New World" Rick Grimes dreamed of building.