The Walking Dead: Dead City finale review, “Doma Smo”

It’s finale time, folks! So far, The Walking Dead: Dead City has had a little of everything: big battles, crazy walkers, emotional moments, and more. What does the finale have in store? Will it actually wrap up the story, or leave open the possibility of another season? Let’s get right into it!

As always, here’s your SPOILER warning!

Last we left them, Ginny and Maggie had just escaped the sewers and set off a flare. This episode continues on exactly from that moment. Negan reunites with Ginny, and while he is happy to see her, he berates her for traveling all the way into the epicenter of the battle to be with him. I like that we’re seeing a different side to Negan. He makes a good father figure. He’s strict but good.

The revelation that Negan killed Ginny’s father came as a massive surprise to me. He tells her that her father was one of the five people he killed to save Annie and his child. He even calls her a debt, saying the only reason he cared for her was the guilt of killing her father. Talk about digging a hole for yourself! Ginny leaves him almost instantly, and Perlie offers to take her home.

Now it’s just Maggie and Negan, back where they started. Everyone they met on their journey up until this point has either died or left.

Things take a turn…

And here we have the twist in the story. Up until now, we assume that the Croat just took Maggie’s kid and the grain from her community’s harvest. However, it turns out that he wanted her to capture Negan for him and took Hershel as collateral. Finally, it makes sense why Maggie desperately needed Negan to join her on the mission.

As soon as Negan learns this, the two get into a fight. It’s a pretty dynamic fight too; they’re fending off walkers while balancing on metal beams at an old construction site. Shortly after their scuffle, the Croat arrives at the scene and they drive off to his base, where Hershel is locked up inside a bank vault. The Croat’s motivations are currently unknown. What exactly does he actually want with Negan? If he wanted him dead, he could’ve done it a long time ago.

Hershel swaps places with Negan inside the cell. After all this waiting, seeing Maggie get reunited with Hershel is enough to bring a tear to your eye.

When Maggie returns home with Hershel, who is now a very grumpy teenager, he says something that I found very poignant. Maggie apologizes for everything, and he says, “All I ever do back home is wait for the next bad thing to happen,” adding that he may have felt safer locked away in the Croat’s vault. This speaks volumes about the franchise as a whole: nobody is safe, ever.

Hershel is actually really unlikable. He snaps at his mum. He’s not thankful in the slightest for Maggie risking her life to save him. After everything Maggie has been through, seeing her get treated like this by her own son is pretty hard to watch. That’s moody and know-it-all teenagers for you, I suppose.

Perlie returns home

Perlie first returns Ginny home to the Bricks safe and sound. Then he returns to his community of New Babylon. The first thing he does is tell everyone the story of how he “killed” Negan, expecting a hero’s welcome. But they have questions. They wonder why he didn’t bring Negan’s head back for display, to make a statement to other communities, and demand the real story. I would’ve liked to see him wriggle out of this one, but the finale doesn’t have time for everything and we had to say goodbye to Perlie quite quickly.

Negan gets a job offer

With Negan now under the Croat’s control, we pay a visit to the Dama in the King Francis Theatre. Turns out there is a very specific reason why the Dama wants Negan alive. She knows of his past as a leader and believes he can be a valuable asset to the new world order she wants to create within Manhattan. I mean, his track record isn’t that good — is she forgetting that he was defeated and jailed in Alexandria for years? Seems like a bit of an unaddressed elephant in the room to me.

Either way, she offers Negan the job, and while we don’t explicitly hear him accept it, there’s no doubt he does. The next time we see him, he could be back to his terrifying best. With Negan, the Croat, and the Dama all ruling together, the world needs to watch out!

Verdict

If they don’t make season 2 of this show I will be very annoyed. This season has been a great, fresh entry in The Walking Dead universe… but it only feels like it’s told half a story. There’s so much potential. Negan getting back into a leadership position? Yes, please! Grown-up Hershel taking revenge on him? Also yes! Renew it, AMC!

Episode Grade: C+

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