The Walking Dead: Dead City review, Episode 3, “People Are A Resource”

The Walking Dead: Dead City reaches its halfway point in “People Are A Resource.” We get more action-packed zombie goodness along with some much-needed backstory about Negan and his travel partner Ginny.

Here’s your weekly SPOILER warning.

Negan and Ginny’s backstory!

This episode contains a bit of backstory for Negan and Ginny. We still don’t know exactly how the pair met, but Negan is extremely caring towards the silent girl; we learn that he’s spent months by her side, looking to find a safe place for her.

She sticks by him, and when she loses her toy dinosaur, Negan is quick to help her find it, as trivial as it seems.

Fast forward to now: Ginny was kept safe in Maggie’s community, but she escapes and sails, alone, to Manhattan. I don’t think Negan is going to be happy to see her.

Maggie and Negan plan their attack on the Burazi

Back to the present, and Maggie and Negan are working for the group rebelling against the Croat and his goons. We see them working together to kill a deer for food. The VFX team hasn’t learned anything; the CGI deer is pretty laughable.

The group discuss the best means of attacking the Croat’s base. Turns out he has a boat moving about Manhattan, playing music to gather a horde of walkers. Yes, a moving musical boat; it’s exactly as bizarre as it sounds.

What I like about Negan is how self-aware he is. He sees himself in the Croat, he knows how to think like a psychopath, so he’s the perfect person to take him down.

I’ve noticed that deep conversations between Maggie and Negan are becoming a common theme now in every episode. This time, Negan finally clarifies what happened to his wife Annie and his son Joshua. Turns out they lived just outside New Babylon, and one day Annie decided to leave for supplies and was jumped: robbed and beaten. Naturally, Negan sought revenge and killed all five of the attackers. Knowing the rest of the group would retaliate, Negan put his family on a wagon train to Missouri and hasn’t seen them since. Clearly, he couldn’t trust that they’d be safe with him anymore. I’m glad that question has finally been answered!

Just as it all seems to be going well for Negan and Maggie, everything begins to crumble when Luther finds Negan’s death warrant. He approaches Negan and tells him to leave. Negan refuses and they get into a fight. It’s a pretty brutal scuffle; at one point, Negan rubs a cheese grater over Luther’s forehead. Yikes! Eventually, Negan comes out on top. Luther is dead!

The Croat and Perlie Armstrong

Meanwhile, we catch up with the Croat as he returns to his base (a small arena) with Perlie Armstrong. His base is a dimly lit, creepy lair, perfect for villainy. There’s plenty of strange things going on, too; I was particularly surprised to see a body being dissolved in acid. In the center of the arena is an octagon ring, like an MMA ring.

We learn some more about the Croat. He displays everything with precision. Perlie eats his food while classical Croation music plays in the background for atmosphere. The Croat speaks with Perlie and we learn that he was once a scientist working in alternative energy; he knows how to convert death into alternate energy, which is actually quite impressive.

He seems like a nice-ish guy, if a little eccentric…until he shows his brutal side, instantly killing one of his own men for accidentally serving him rotten meat. Like all classic Walking Dead villains, he’s massively unhinged.

As for his idea of evening “entertainment,” the Croat gathers his group into the arena before they pump Methane gas into Perlie’s lungs (making him dizzy and disoriented) and make him fight walkers while chained to a pole in the middle of the octagon ring. It’s some twisted, mad-scientist stuff.

It reminds me of the Governor’s twisted forms of entertainment in Woodbury back in the early years of The Walking Dead. Remember when he set Daryl and Merle against each other? It gives off similar vibes.

After the fight, Perlie reveals to the Croat that he’s looking for a wanted man, and drops Negan’s name. Of course, Negan and the Croat go way back. Hell, Negan shot off his ear back in the day. I’m sure he’s terrified to learn that Negan is now in Manhattan. Things just got personal!

Verdict

Another solid entry. This series is moving forward at a near breakneck pace. It could benefit from slowing down a bit, but of course, there’s only six episodes, so I can’t see it slowing anytime soon. I’m indifferent about certain characters too. Yes, Luther is dead, but did we really know him? He didn’t have much of a backstory so it’s hard to feel any kind of empathy. I’m also irritated by the lack of screen time Hershel gets. We’re left wondering what exactly he’s going through.

Episode Grade: C+

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