Dead City Season 2 Episode 3 Review: What in the Yellowjackets is going on in New York?

Dead City has opened up with a bang in its second season. While the pacing of the first two episodes has been a little on the slow side, episode 3 of the series comes out swinging for the fences. Hershel’s (Logan Kim) time in captivity with The Dama (Lisa Emery) has now been revealed. We can finally piece together his motives this season and everything he has been hiding from Maggie (Lauren Cohan). The Dama gives Hershel something that his mother can’t: a voice of concern for how he’s been treated by his mother and the entire Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) situation.

“None of this has anything to do with you, really.”-The Dama

Why Did The Mainlanders Cross The River?”

Of course, at the start, Hershel is jumpy with her. He’s unaware of what exactly she wants out of him. However, the more they talk, the calmer he becomes around the villain. And while he may be a prisoner, she carries a soft spot and kindness for the boy. A one-on-one connection that is missing from his life. She offers him warmth and bedding and holds a huge amount of empathy for his predicament. It may be a way to grease him up for her future needs, nonetheless, Hershel is welcoming to her wishes.

The Dama knows exactly what to say to Hershel to get through to him. She goes on to tell him the story of how she lost everything and couldn’t get it back. Having to pick up the pieces alone to get through it. She’s sorry for Glenn and sorry his mother can’t be what he needs. His feelings don’t seem to be allowed because all his mother sees is a toxic obsession. She reads him like a book, and Hershel cannot deny a thing.

If you remember back to the season 1 finale, when Hershel got into the truck with Maggie, he talked about her obsession with Negan and what he did. That she doesn’t see him. It’s like his whole life, his mother has always been looking over his shoulder for Negan. So much so, that he doesn’t even feel like he’s allowed to feel anything for the man who killed his father.

My question is this, why was she constantly looking over his shoulder when she knew Negan was behind bars? She didn’t know Negan was free until Carol told her. It comes across like forced fixation for plot reasons.

That Was The Fastest Turn I’ve Ever Seen

Meanwhile, in Hershel’s true reality, he’s back with his mother, getting ready to dive into New York City with what’s left of the New Babylon group. That’s no thanks to the reckless decisions of Lucia(Dascha Polanco). When they reach the ruins of Central Park, it looks like pure forestry. It only takes mere seconds for another death to occur when walkers come out of the tree line to bite Governor Charlie Byrd(Jasmin Walker). Hershel was fast-acting with his knife skills, but it was too little too late. Within seconds, she turns, and Perlie(Gaius Charles) is forced to put her down.

The Central Park Disagreements

There isn’t great leadership going on from any side. Lucia(as I roll my eyes) wants to keep going on with the mission, even though she originally told Maggie this was an exploring expedition. Maggie thinks they should go back home and regroup, especially with their low food supply and dwindling members. Perlie, meanwhile, knows of a safe zone by the lake with a cabin where they can lay low and regroup.

Perlie Has A Change Of Heart

Maggie is usually the voice of reason, even when Perlie isn’t ready to hear it. Perlie and Lucia’s biggest flaw is that they think about politics in every situation, whereas Maggie thinks about her people. Perlie confessed she is the one who stepped up to save the lives of 20 of her people. It takes any clown to see how many young lives Lucia has taken in the fight for methane. So he finally agrees to do things Maggie’s way. The right way.

On the way to the safe house, Hershel gets separated from Maggie and Ginny(Mahina Napoleon) by the protective barrier of tall fields that surround the lake zone. Walkers were able to hide inside them and come out at will for those who trespass.

I will say Lucia has to be one of the dumbest female leaders I’ve seen in any TWDU show. She instructs her people to stay calm and not to move as a crowd of walkers swarm to them. That’s not sage advice when you have no visibility to see what you are dealing with.

What Is Negan Up To In This Episode?

Negan is getting his manipulative juices flowing. While The Croat(Zeljko Ivanek) enjoys some scrumptious pheasant pate, Negan questions why The Dama treats him like a second-class citizen. It’s a great point, but it’s more Negan laying the groundwork to question The Dama rather than him being overconcerned. Every good ruler’s downfall is either greed or power.

Lakeside Chats

The New Babylonians get to the safe zone and meet a very interesting group. Maggie wants to go back for Hershel even if her urgency is not exactly high. The leader there assures her they have people already looking for him. They want it handled quietly. Word is already out that they are being hunted, and this is a group that doesn’t value attention.

RELATED: TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT’S AHEAD FOR SEASON 2 OF DEAD CITY!

They do not fear the dead. They encompass themselves around the dead for protection. Seeing them only as their friends, neighbors, and family. There’s much respect between the living and the dead. It’s pretty strange, yet they rely on each other to survive.

What In The Yellowjackets Is Going On?

Negan offers up his services to the Croat to go and find and kill what’s left of the Mainland intruders. I imagine his wish was to warn Maggie and Hershel to get out of Dodge. He can only protect them for so long. The Croat accepts his help but not without Waylen(Tom Ukah). A part of him would love to trust Negan however this isn’t the time. 

Along the way, Waylen got caught between the tunnel vines and the walkers. There was ample time for Negan to save him, even so he knew he couldn’t keep him alive and save Maggie and Hershel at the same time. Instead, the first face Negan sees is Hershel, who takes the gun of Lucia’s that Ginny stole. He shoots his shot but misses in an embarrassing fashion.

By the way, really not a fan of this scene. All these almost Negan kills are tiring. It’s the third episode, we know they aren’t going to kill him. Is it a nod to the future? Maybe, but at this point, it’s boring and we already know the outcome.

It wasn’t a meaningless adventure for Hershel. He does meet a nice girl named Joan(Christina Leonardi) who I thought could be his future girlfriend. Kim and Leonardi have effortless chemistry that the show could have cashed in on. Just like in true The Walking Dead fashion the opportunity becomes wasted. A teenage love story would be much more fascinating than Negan and Maggie glaring at each other every other episode. After a run-in with the “Big Guy” whom Negan accompanied, Maggie and Hershel have to rush Joan back to the team crazy. Perlie even offers what medical supplies they have to help, and weirdly, they decline it.

Next Time Try For Some Originality

The mainland team watches in shock in horror as their leader smashes the girl’s chest walls and rips out her heart as they chant. They feed the heart to nature, so to speak. Really, it’s to the walkers for some strange peace offering to protect their group.

A little too much like Yellowjackets in my opinion. They even dress like the cult did when they were in the woods. Even down to the leader of the pack Roksana who has similar features of Lottie. I feel like they could have attempted to save the girl. This is also Central Park, not Yellowstone. Central Park is a man-made structure, not a forest. This whole story was so out of place and felt like a cheap imitation.

The City Has A Pull On Hershel

In the final flashback of Hershel and The Dama, they fight side by side against walkers. She goes so far as to make a room of art especially for him. Her goal was to give him the tools and resources to help erase his memory and reinvent himself and his life. You can witness that The Dama lets him have a sense of hope for the future that his mother can’t give him. He feels heard by her, even respected. Nor is he burdened with the obsession over Negan.

By the end, Maggie tries to level with Hershel. She knows this city has some kind of pull on him, except when he’s asked, he subtly denies it. He understands the city that has been through so much after being left broken and abandoned. Now it can be something new and free from pain. It can reinvent itself. These are more The Dama’s words than his. She’s gotten to his head, though I do think he’s felt abandoned by Maggie in certain aspects. I can see where he’s coming from and why it was so easy for The Dama to get inside his mind.

I do wish they would stop whitewashing Negan’s history. We can all agree he has had a redemption arc. However, when the Croat said kids have always been where Negan draws the line, it feels like a lie to sugarcoat his past deeds. Negan used to be awful and once took Lucille to Carl’s head until Shiva leaped in to save the day in Season 7, “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”.

What We Have Learned

• Perlie Armstrong is from New York City and is no stranger to its zoo or Central Park. He is a knowledgeable man to have around. Though, it also begs the question of why he wanted Maggie on this mission so badly. He also knew the lay of the land.
• Lucia got 50 innocent people killed, and she’s not about to stop yet.
• The Dama thinks Negan has gone soft. The Croat thinks he’s still in there.
• The Croat crashed into Manhattan after leaving the sanctuary. One day, he arose at the theater and woke up with a blanket and candy brittle from The Dama. She may be cruel at times, but it’s only to push to see their potential.
• The Dama is a true puppet master.
• Lucia wants to take control of the Lake group. She believes it will be a great base of operations for them to attain the methane. The leader thinks they can turn them from a simple life to a powerful position.
• Hershel and Ginny have an unspoken bond between them—their desire to kill Negan. Ginny stole Lucia’s gun to do it, but she dropped her bag that Hershel later picked up. Hershel ended up taking the shot but missed wide.
• While Hershel’s almost beau was dying, Maggie and Hershel got into another blowout. It only solidified her obsession with Negan as she argued about him saving them. It’s like a switch flipped, and she plays 20 questions about Negan’s whereabouts and plan. Which, in turn, irritates Hershel. He couldn’t care less about Negan.
• The major difference between Perlie and Lucia is that Perlie has a heart. Lucia does not.
• In order to protect the new world The Dama sends Hershel home with tasks that he will have to do for her.

You can catch new episodes of Dead City every Sunday, at 9 PM 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