Dead City Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Kim Coates steals the show in Rat City

In Dead City season 2 episode 4 the New Babylon threat is far from over and The Dama knows it. They must take it one step at a time to gain control of Manhattan. First and foremost The Dama, Negan, and The Croat must win over Bruegel and his group to join their alliance. The members of New Babylon will be back to continue their fight against the war on methane. They need an army to be prepared for the next threat that will occur and Bruegel is a huge asset that’s vital to their cause.

This post contains spoilers from The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Episode 4, “Feisty Friendly.”

The Meeting With Bruegel

Let’s dive into the most fascinating part of the episode at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s just like Bruegel (Kim Coates) to pick such an eccentric place to live and his hospitality does not disappoint. The Dama(Lisa Emery) comes across as a bit of an ass-kisser while The Croat (Zeljko Ivanek) plays the role of the pessimistic untrusting leader. Bruegel is such a lively and sarcastic character with a vivacious soul. Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) would rather be anywhere else in the world, but The Dama is holding the well-being of his family over his head to keep him in line.

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Kim Coates as The Bruegel – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

“I imagine your family must be crossing the Appalachians by now.”-The Dama

The Dama is playing mind games with him so he will keep The Croat in check. She has to remind him who the boss is while keeping him on his toes. One misstep could be the end of the road for Joshua and Annie if he doesn’t comply.

Art Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Bruegel’s favorite piece of art in the museum is the iconic “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” by Emanuel Leutze. It was Christmas Night, 1776 when the general planned a surprise attack on Trenton. The odds were against Washington, but he was hoping to change all that dramatically, in hopes of capturing two-thirds of England’s forces and turning the war around.

RELATED: DEAD CITY SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 REVIEW

The Croat was right about one thing, he can read people like a fiddle. A lot of curiosity strikes when The Croat reveals Bruegel’s monster has won 26 battles in a row. It’s an oddly persistent victorious walker Croat reiterates. He knows that he’s onto something because of his quick-witted intuitive nature and accuses Bruegel of cheating or amping up his walkers with drugs to win fights. By then Bruegel was appalled by the accusation and wanted them to leave.

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Zeljko Ivanek as The Croat – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

Negan knows The Croat is stepping out of line and he has Annie weighing heavily on his mind. He has to take control of the mess his former ally is creating and makes Bruegel an offer that if Frankenstein wins the next fight he can have all the methane he wants. But if he loses then he joins the alliance with no addendums.

Negan and Maggie Meet For The First Time in Season 2 of Dead City

Inside the museum, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) uses the infamous savior whistle to get Negan’s attention without anyone knowing. He’s almost happily surprised to see she came back. However, Maggie is quite annoyed that the man she put behind bars in the trade for Hershel(Logan Kim) seems to be doing just fine. Which makes me think she has felt guilt over it. She and Perlie both plead for their methane location so they can get home. Negan knows that intel could put Josh and Annie in jeopardy. Even though it is a risk he still tells her it’s at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

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Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

Why does he tell her knowing the danger? It probably all goes back to guilt. I don’t think there’s much Negan would say no to regarding Maggie. But I also don’t think there’s anything he could do that would allow Maggie to forgive him. It’s the never-ending perpetual cycle of Maggie and Negan.

Before Maggie escapes Negan tells her that she can’t trust Hershel. He’s the one who sent the smoke signals to get The Dama’s attention. Whatever his situation was Negan knows they got to him. Hershel and The Dama run into each other. He was purposely looking for her in the museum and has some sort of sick Stockholm hold on the woman.

It’s All One Big Game Of Luck

Maggie is still stuck atop the second floor of the museum so Negan generates a diversion by pouring oil all over his underdog walker. It also helps him from becoming dead dead meat too quickly. He even goes as far as jumping into the cage to keep their eyes averted from overhead. Once Negan jumps out of the cage he has a hold of Bruegel’s warrior and notices something very telling about his eyes. When Negan whispers something to him, Bruegel flips the script and decides to take the alliance over the methane after the victory. I imagine Negan had some friendly words of blackmail for the charismatic leader.

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Kim Coates as The Bruegel – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

Bruegels Walker does win his 27th fight but unfortunately, that is the last fight Tony will ever win. Bruegel was nice enough to let him finish one last meal(a rat) before slicing his former bodyguard across the throat. The murder did seem a little nonsensical since Negan already knew the truth of the matter.

Who’s The Golden Boy Now?

As the story progresses The Dama is losing more and more faith in The Croat as Negan’s star power is on the rise. The Croat is too emotional and doesn’t have a strong gift for staying two steps ahead. It was plain to see his uneasiness when The Dama leaned on and praised Negan. It’s a strange chess game that Negan wants to be free from.

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Lisa Emery as The Dama – The Walking Dead: Dead City _ Season 2, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Robert Clark/AMC

What We Have Learned and Thoughts on “Feisty Friendly”

• The Croat is a very wise and instinctive man, but The Dama doesn’t have an appreciation for it. It’s a valuable tool to have in an apocalypse. The situation with those two feels like two parents in the midst of a divorce. Just awkward all the time.
• A breakfast sandwich is a meal Perlie Armstrong misses the most. For Maggie, it is jelly donuts and of course Kit Kat’s. Maggie tells Perlie and Hershel a heartwarming story of how Glenn surprised her with a Kit Kat for her birthday one year. It’s hard for Maggie to even say his name and Hershel didn’t appear too sympathetic to the nostalgic moment. 
• Hershel doesn’t see why they want to bring back the old world. It only leads to greed for power and people fighting and killing each other for resources. The more people that try to bring it back the worse off the world gets. He’s not wrong, but all life needs some kind of stability.
• Poor Benjamin the historian did a giant reveal on The Dama. He confessed she used to be a theater critic and could make or break careers. She’s a woman who pretty much ran the city until the day she got in a fight with a writer who wrote a hit play called “The Little Empress.” Now it makes sense why she wants to take back New York City and why she is so critical of everyone around her. It’s not just to be right, but to make everyone want to perform at their best.
• The Dama confesses Hershel is the one who sent the smoke signal. Negan becomes really edgy at the mention of his name.
• Armstrong admits after the events of season one he wanted to take his family away from New Babylon. But where would he go? He’s fighting for a world his family has never known. Now he’s wondering if what he’s fighting for is for him or them. It’s a good question. I also think it’s natural for people to want some familiarity. The next generation is already accustomed to the way the world is now. So kids like Hershel do not want to go back.
• Ginny’s plan all along was to take Lucia’s gun and kill Negan. The two share a moment of understanding because Lucia can comprehend the need to seek justice. She fully believes in upholding the law for those who commit the most heinous of crimes. Lucia in turn gives her gun back to Ginny and part of her already knows it’s for Negan. Perlie has not yet said out loud he’s alive, nor has Lucia seen him yet.
• Hershel once used to be a sweet child believe it or not. On the road, he found ways to cheer Maggie up when she was depressed. Will we see glimpses of that Hershel again? Signs point to probably not.
• Tony was Bruegel’s bodyguard before the fall and became his meal ticket after. He selfishly rose to power by using his friend as a “walker” shield and became a con artist for survival.
• It was great to finally see Negan and Maggie back on the screen together. I do like the way Negan protected Maggie and Hershel. There’s a lot of care there because of their history(and nothing more).
• Kim Coates is such a vibe. I don’t care what anyone says nobody could have come in and played the role of Bruegel the way he does. He has such an effervescent aura about him. It’s so different from what we saw of him in Sons Of Anarchy which only solidifies his extreme depth of talent. I hope he’s with us for a long time, but we all know the fate of villains.
• New York City and the Arts you can’t have one without the other. I love how that aspect is incorporated into the show with the museums and theaters. We can’t forget the amazing music. No, we have not gotten over the death of Victor and never will.
• Enough Ginny, enough angry Hershel, enough of the repetitive Maggie and Negan tension. Definitely enough Lucia. This season would work a lot better if Maggie and Negan were fighting for the same cause instead of opposite sides.
• New episodes of Dead City Season 2 are released every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC Plus.

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About the author: Shay has been writing as a journalist professionally for years. Her most common topics to cover are drama and horror but she looks forward to getting her feet wet with new and exciting genres and projects. @ShaySleighs