Set about seven years after the finale of the flagship series The Walking Dead, new spin-off Dead City starring Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan reunites Maggie Rhee and Negan Smith and sets them on a rescue mission to the toxic walker-infested avenues of Manhattan.
These wilds are run by warring factions, the most powerful of them all is run by The Dama, and she is the catalyst in bringing together these embittered enemies to accomplish the common goal of rescuing Maggie's son Herschel. She wants Negan bad and she is willing to chop off body parts to get him. She enlists the help of Negan's former comrade the Croat to woo Negan to their cause and well... it doesn't go according to her plan. The problem? Negan found his soul. Season one ends with a mission partially accomplished, a son retrieved, a backstabbing betrayal, and the beginning of forgiveness for Negan's actions in the past.
Season two starts with a slow burn, something viewers can expect from TWD franchise, the world building and character backstory establishment is integral to the story and the creatives behind the shows are brilliant at it. The moths are important, the hanging of the man who refuses to be conscripted is important, and Herschel's missing toe, well to be honest aside from affecting his knife throwing, I haven't figured out its importance yet. To be fair with the scientific experiments The Dama and the Croat have going on in Manhattan, projects you could call them, maybe we can hope for a Glenn clone? Ah a person can dream but I digress. The slow burn is worth it, we see Maggie, Herschel, and Ginny back at the Bricks, settling back into the normalest of life they can have during a zombie apocalypse. The New Babylon people are up to their nonsense again in the interest of rebuilding the world and we already know they are not truly the good guys. Come on people.
Agreeing to go to the island to spare the rest of her community, Maggie joins the New Babylon Marshals and of course, Ginny follows. The girl just can't stay safe! But in Ginny's defense,
Negan is the closest thing to a father she has at this point and if anyone has earned the right to fight sided by side with Maggie it's her. Speaking of Negan, what's our favorite Ex-Savior been up to while the Rhees plus one adapt back to normal life? Cockroaches. Negan has been eating cockroaches. Locked up for months for refusing The Dama's demands, we meet up with a shaggy, insect crunching but still bold as Billy brass, Negan. Unrepentant and unwilling to bend, he tells her no for the hundredth time that he will not be her general, not for all of the best gin in all the world. Hey, remember how we were all wondering what happened to Negan's wife Annie and their unborn child? So. Negan answers the call to battle against his will and becomes The Dama's right hand man and is presented with a fancy new Lucille from the former right hand man. Awkward.
So with Maggie and the Marshals on the way to take Manhattan and Negan reluctantly building an army to repel them, episode one of "Dead City" kind of leaves us hanging but that's kind of okay. The first time back after a hiatus, it's nice to reacquaint ourselves with our TV friends and catch the recap of what happened before and for being a slower story building episode, it had some really cool Easter eggs to be on the lookout for. The only complaint I have is as much as I loved Negan's description of Maggie when the Croat proposed retaking Herschel to force her hand, I really wish Negan would have called her "The Widow", A title that started out as a derogatory term and became a legend in the end and The Widow is on her way to the island. I can't wait for her to take her share.
Dead City airs Sunday nights on AMC+.
"That Widow is Alive! "Negan Smith