The Walking Dead: Dead City review, Episode 2, “Who’s There?”

The Walking Dead: Dead City is back! With Maggie and Negan now in Manhattan, it’s time to meet the locals. Plus, we get one of the best Negan moments of all time!

Something I’m really loving about this series is the dialogue shared between the two main characters. Maggie and Negan have a long history, starting with that time he brutally killed her husband through the years of terror he inflicted on her community and beyond. When they’re together, we get a super-interesting glimpse into Negan’s psyche. He explains to Maggie that he doesn’t consider himself a monster through and through; rather, he says he was only a monster when he had to be, and that he needed to “put on a show” to display his authority. Obviously, his most iconic show was the infamous “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe” scene in The Walking Dead.

We also learn more about Negan’s backstory with the Croat, the central villain of the series. Turns out the Croat was a long-time member of the Saviors and a trusted servant to Negan. That is until they turned against each other during a skirmish at the Kingdom and now he wants Negan dead. Negan isn’t just going on this quest to help Maggie; he’s got a personal vendetta against the Croat. I like that they added this bit of backstory; I had a hard time believing that owing Maggie was the only reason he decided to go.

That said, Negan’s history with the Croat is a little too obvious of a plot device. The writers could’ve come up with something a bit more clever. Maybe the Croat could be someone Negan knew from back when he was a gym teacher? That way we could see a wider breadth in Negan’s character. But no; he’s just a former Savior.

Negan embraces his dark side and it’s awesome

As Maggie and Negan move around Manhattan, they run into a new group of people living on the rooftops. This group appears to also be at war with the Croat’s people, and will no doubt become allies of Maggie and Negan as time goes on. Their means of survival are pretty cool. I’m a big fan of the zip lines used to fly between buildings!

As the Croat’s people (they call themselves the Buvati) moves to attack this group, Maggie, Negan and the others flee to a rooftop to escape. One of the Croat’s goons takes hold of an innocent elderly lady named Esther — Negan calls her ‘Pigeon lady’ — and kills her. This means war. And no one knows how to make war like Negan, who marches the murderer to a balcony with the Croat’s men standing beneath and proceeds to smash his face through four panes of glass before slicing his neck open and letting his blood rain down below. This is very much Negan returning to his old habits and putting on a show! This might be the most epic, badass, savage, quintessential Negan scene of all time, and I absolutely loved it!

At this point, Maggie and Negan have now seemingly earned the trust of a powerful faction within Manhattan. They’re one step closer to retrieving Hershel.

Meanwhile…

As for Perlie, the bounty hunter chasing Maggie and Negan, he’s now making his way around the desolate streets of Manhattan alone, revisiting past traumas. Eventually, he gets caught up in one of the Croat’s traps and is visited by the man himself. I think it’s reasonable to assume that Perlie will join the Croat’s ranks. I could also see the two fighting. Either way, he’ll first become a prisoner. We must bear in mind that, at this point, the Croat is unaware that Negan is in Manhattan.

We also catch up with Negan’s surrogate daughter Ginny, now safe and trying to fit into Maggie’s community. She takes part in their school lessons, but since she doesn’t speak, it’s hard for her to make friends. I’m intrigued to see how her story continues to develop. I can’t see her staying there for long, she gives off the vibes of a secret badass who’s gonna head to Manhattan to join back up with Negan, but we’ll see.

Verdict

Overall, I’d say this was a pretty solid episode. The pacing was great throughout. At a trim 38 minutes, the episode doesn’t have any fat on it. We had plenty of exposition and some great character moments. Negan stole the show with his big scene, which will no doubt go down in The Walking Dead history. Negan fans are in for a treat!

Episode Grade: B

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