The Walking Dead: Dead City
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Well, at least Hershel got a souvenir from his trip to Manhattan.
This is howThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityends?
I hate when things finally get interesting at the last possible second.
Negan is upset that Ginny followed him to Manhattan.
The metaphor fits pretty well, actually.
Negan reveals to Ginny that hes the one who killed her father.
Presumably, the girls dad was one of the men who attacked his wife.
Not only that, but he tracked Ginny down because he knew she was alone and fatherless.
Im not who you think I am, he says.
All these months, andnowyou wanna chat, he says.
Ill do you one better, Negan:Nowyou wanna interrupt her??
Later, he asked Maggie what she thought the girl was trying to tell him.
I dont know; maybe you should have let her finish!
On this, the weekend ofBarbie, I cant with men.
Alone again, Maggie and Negan go to the smoke pillar that the widow identified.
There, with no warning beyond a slightly guilty look passed between them, they start to fight.
Its a compelling fight because Negan doesnt want to fight back.
I like that kind of dramatic tension in a fight.
It reminds me ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldier.Theres just one major difference.
Negan aint Steve Rogers.
He doesnt have that moral center.
Im not really moved by him pulling punches.
Its so unimpressive that Negan refuses to fight Maggie back that it almost feels sexist.
He also figures out what Maggie is up to way too easily.
It probably wasnt hard to figure out that her real plan was a hostage exchange: him for Hershel.
Thats such a random piece of information that doesnt really affect him.
After dropping Ginny off, Perlie Armstrong drives back to New Babylon.
There, his superior entertains his fabricated story about killing Negan for a minute.
She then starts monologuing about cigarettes.
Why … so that New Babylon can process dead bodies into gas too?
Or so that they can go to war with the Burazi?
We do not find out.
Thats the last we see of Perlie.
He thinks that his mother doesnt see him and is always looking over his shoulder.
Thats fair and probably true for a lot of these kids in the apocalypse.
Safety is so important that families dont get to bond the way they once did.
Whats your point, Hershel?
But then he says that she cares more about getting revenge on Negan than him, which is rich.
Everyone on this show seems really eager for Maggie to get over Negan killing Glenn.
Or at least they love bringing up how she isnt past it.
Theyre all pretty annoyed that she isnt over it.
Negan really seems to want her to give in and accept that they make a good team.
I find that really distasteful.
I understand that it has been over ten years, but I dont think thats fair.
Dont resent a woman for not compartmentalizing her trauma and emotions.
They call a truce.
They find a common enemy.
Its an old trope!
Were all familiar with it!
He apologizes for disobeying Negan all those years ago.
This is the lesson that hes learned in the time they were apart.
Not that he shouldnt have killed a young girl, but that he shouldnt have disobeyed his leader.
At the theater, Negan finally meets the woman behind the curtain we met in the previous episode.
The Croat takes an unexpected page out of Stan Twitters book and calls them Mommy and Daddy.
What is politics if not performance, the Dama asks.
Theres that word again:performance.
This idea that Negan has been playing the monster has come up several times this season and this episode.
The Croat compares him to a rock star.
Thats their justification for making a villain a main character.
Personally, I dont think thats something they needed to justify.
But it continues to not sit well with me.
To a certain degree, we are all performing.
However, killing people is not a performance.
They dont get to stand back up at the end and take a bow.
She wants him to be their de facto leader.
Then the music ramps up, indicating that a big reveal is coming.
That she cut off Hershels toe and is willing to take more flesh if Negan disobeys.
Also that the Dama and Hershel talked at length while he was kidnapped and may have bonded.
Shes forcing him to be a Big Bad.
Maggie and Negan are, through circumstances beyond their control, enemies once again.
Oh, and right before this happened, Maggie apologized to her son.
I dont know how, but this thing with Negan, she tells Hershel.
Im gonna finish it so that I can just let him go.
Does she mean finish it like … emotionally?
Or finish it as in killing him?
She did not specify.
It feels late in the game to ask this, but: What does Negan want?
Does he want to just mope around and help the kids whose parents he killed?
Does he want to try his hand at an honest leadership position?
Does he want to get back to his wife and child?
Does hewantto team up with Maggie?
I feel like this show is begging for a season two (which its been granted!)
given the unanswered questions and larger universe implications.
Ultimately, I did enjoyDead Cityas a character and world-building experiment.
In particular, I enjoyed Lauren Cohans performance.
But enjoy is kind of where it starts and ends.
Youre trying to tell me that New York City is out of rooms and/or beds somehow?
The episode title means We are home in Croatian.
I cannot stress enough how much Jerome is not a character inThe Walking Dead.
I do not know who the fuck Jerome is.
Did my Beth Greene heads catch Hershel playing guitar at the end of the episode?
Theyre so similar, and Im devastated the show never pointed that out.
Other communities have armies!
Silly, silly New Yorkers.
Always making things about ourselves.
