Warning! This review contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 1.As a longtime fan of The Walking Dead and Negan and Maggie, I was excited to be able to dive back in with the characters, and The Walking Dead universe, and season 2 is off to a great start.
We don't get to see Maggie and Negan together just yet, but the show is already setting up how their paths will cross again. Season 2's premiere sets up a major war to play out over its seven remaining episodes, as the New Babylon Federation — which Maggie's Bricks community is a part of — wants to take back Manhattan so it can acquire the Methane operation established on the island. While Maggie is conscripted to the fight, Negan is forced to help the Croat and the Dama prepare for the attack, putting them on opposing sides.
Negan Is Forced To Become His Darker Version Again
Jeffrey Dean Morgan Perfectly Falls Back Into His Past Performances
The highlight of Dead City season 2's premiere is that we get to see Negan return to his villain persona, and I felt like I was watching the Saviors-era version of TWD again. However, Negan is a very different man this time around. We have seen how much he has changed throughout the years, with Negan's interactions with characters like Judith in The Walking Dead, as well as Maggie and Ginny in Dead City, showing how he is no longer the man who would murder many without blinking.
It's clear Negan was fighting his past when he picked up the new Lucille the Croat made for him and gave one of his traditional speeches.
However, that is the man he is forced to become in the Dead City season 2 premiere. The Dama and the Croat can't get all the wild factions who rule New York City to fall in line and work together to fight the impending invasion. As such, Negan, who has plenty of experience getting others to follow him by any means necessary, must put on a show. It's clear Negan was fighting his past when he picked up the new Lucille the Croat made for him and gave one of his traditional speeches.
The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Review - I Love How Weird Maggie & Negan’s Spinoff Has Become & It’s All The Better For It
The Walking Dead: Dead City goes weirder in season 2, with more eccentric groups, all the while continuing its introspective look at Maggie and Negan.
That is not who he is anymore — or is it? One of the most interesting elements of season 2 will be watching Negan walk that fine line between pretending to be his old self and actually falling back into his villainous ways. Sure, he only accepted to do the Dama's bidding after she threatened his wife and son, who are en route to New York. But I felt Negan was enjoying himself a little too much when Christos stood up against him and was subsequently zapped by the improved Lucille.
Maggie Must Make A Difficult Decision To Keep Hershel Safe
Ginny Becomes A Wild Card For Season 2
While Negan had to go back to his villain persona, Maggie was in full-on hero mode. In Dead City's first season, Maggie's goal was to save her son, Logan Kim's Hershel, by any means necessary. It's the same reason she decides to New Babylon's expedition to Manhattan in the season 2 premiere. I was interested in how ruthless New Babylon is and how it even caught Maggie off guard. Maggie goes to New York to keep Hershel and her community safe, acting like a true leader and a loving mother.
In season 1, Negan told Ginny that he was the man who killed her father, which was the only thing that got her to leave him behind and flee New York City.
The major action sequence comes from Maggie. When I heard there would be a test to reveal if Maggie was worth more than 20 soldiers for the New Babylon expedition, I knew she would it with flying colors. What I did not anticipate was that Ginny would throw herself into the corral filled with walkers alongside Maggie to the army. In season 1, Negan told Ginny that he was the man who killed her father, which was the only thing that got her to leave him behind and flee New York City.
I'm interested in her motives for going back and how Maggie will react to having her tag along for the trip, given how she promised Negan she would keep Ginny safe. While Maggie's actions in the first episode are done to keep Hershel safe, he does not appreciate them — he wants to go back to New York. I enjoyed the emotional conversation we had between the mother-son duo before Maggie left, and judging by how the city and the Dama appear to have a pull over Hershel, Maggie will likely be reunited with her son rather soon.
The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 episodes air on AMC and AMC+ weekly every Sunday.
A spin-off/sequel of the dramatic horror series, The Walking Dead: Dead City follows two significant characters from the main series - Maggie and Negan. The show sees the two unlikely allies partnering up and heading into the heart of Manhattan proper to rescue Maggie and her late husband's son, Hershel, where they'll face off with hordes of the undead and even more dangerous humans.
- Network
- AMC
- Cast
- Michelle Hurd, Eleanor Reissa, Charlie Solis, David Chen, Alex Borlo, Jesse Reid, Bobby Beckles, Bryce Biederman, Logan Kim, Jonathan Higginbotham, Karina Ortiz, John Wu, Matthew R. Staley, Hedley Harlan, Aixa Kendrick
- Negan falling back into his old self makes for thrilling TV.
- Seeing more of Maggie's community and her relationship with Hershel adds depth to her story.
- The war between New Babylon and the New York City factions promises to be an excting arc for season 2.
