Lauren Cohan knocks her directorial debut episode out of the park in Dead City

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Finally, an episode of Dead City I found genuinely good. I didn’t have high hopes coming in; however, Lauren Cohan knocked it out of the park in her highly anticipated directorial debut. The writing had its odd moments per usual, but Cohan was able to remind me of why I fell in love with The Walking Dead in the first place. The horror. She brought it back in a big way and was able to convey the ominous aspect the main series is famous for. Throughout this spinoff, there’s been so much plot armor that’s made these arcs predictable but with the bear scene, I truly didn’t know what was going to happen. We knew Maggie would survive obviously, yet it didn’t take away the frightening element whatsoever. Kudos.

Let’s get right into it. Bruegel (Kim Coates) stays busy in this episode working on his next power play move. Now that the boat house crew is a lost cause he takes the opportunity to attempt a brand-new alliance with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Perlie (Gaius Charles). Bruegel is very impressed by the successful colonization in New Babylon. He offers to rob for the methane and then he will kill Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and The Croat (Zeljko Ivanek) along with all their minions. It’s a plan that does intrigue Perlie Armstrong. A swift move that would allow him to take the methane back home and also allow Maggie to be free of Negan once and for all. A win-win perhaps still Maggie makes a great point that they can’t trust Bruegel as far as they can throw him. He just made an alliance deal with Negan; there’s no reason to think he won’t continue making shady actions for control of Manhattan.

 

The Croat Needs Some Therapy

The Croat is simply a hot mess. It took a toll on him to have to take The Dama’s (Lisa Emery) life. He explains to Negan the events surrounding her death and spots the flattened rat on the floor. He’s not immediately clued into what happened. That comes later. With The Dama out of the way, Negan knows this is his chance and asks The Croat what becomes of him now. He did live up to his word, even if he did so out of fear. Croat has no problem letting Negan go be with his family, but you can sense this a man at his breaking point. He’s lost everyone and everything valuable to him. What good is an empire without someone to share the glory with?

In a perfect world, The Croat’s dream would be to go home to Croatia. His odds of success in getting back would be greater if Negan went with him. I think this is his way of asking because the man doesn’t want to be alone. He admires Negan and knows together they are a nearly unstoppable force. But alas, Negan cannot. I don’t think he even likes The Croat. He reminds him of a time when he was his worst self. That again is Negan’s fault. Nobody made him the way he was but him.

On a side note, it would be incredibly interesting to see Maggie and Negan ship off to Europe for a chance at bumping into Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus).

“You wanted Negan dead once, now you want to save his life?”-Perlie Armstrong

That is the million-dollar question everybody keeps asking Maggie. And she never really has a good answer. I don’t think she even knows why. She could have pulled the trigger years ago when Michonne (Danai Gurira) gave her the go-ahead. Maggie even admitted to a mute Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) that she should have killed at the start. Killing is easy but it’s what’s on the other side of it that scares her. What if she kills him and things don’t get better? The one thing she knows is it’s cost her a lot. Yes, she should have just done it years ago, but it all comes back to plot armor. The Walking Dead franchise was not ready to see Negan go even if it made the most sense for the story.

The Love Story Is Over

After battling through his anxiety, The Croat figures Negan out and their “friendship” comes to a crashing halt. Now he knows Negan put the rat in his head to push him at odds with The Dama. Killing the rat was the topping on the cake that would push both of them over the edge to land on each other’s throats. In a moment of disappointment and rage, The Croat takes Lucille and gets a few great shots at his former leader. This scene was immensely satisfying for any Negan haters out there and quite comical to watch.

The Croat felt used, lied to, and betrayed by someone who once inspired him. He sees Negan as a brother while Negan only sees him as a tool. Always has, and when that tool got too reckless, he cut it loose. Regardless, Negan is convinced he saved him from The Dama, and he should be on his knees thanking him. A little arrogant and I think a thank you would suffice.

Even though The Croat knows it’s true Negan made him who he was, and I think that’s the moment Negan realizes this is another life he ruined for the worse. Now he’s going to take over the city on his terms and no longer entrap Croat in this sadistic society. I understand the writing is supposed to push us to feel sorry for Negan, but I can’t. This was the storm he created.

Wrong Choices Are Always Made

No matter how it’s happened Negan has become Negan again. This was a choice. He could have waited and left with his family. He could have wished The Croat well and taken his leave. Negan being Negan once again makes the wrong choice. I know some fan connections claim that Negan and Rick do everything for their families, but it doesn’t feel like Negan’s family is his driving force.

Meanwhile, Negan finds Ben (Keir Gilchrist) locked up in a cell for embarrassing The Dama. And if poor Ben wasn’t tortured enough, he has to sit there and listen to Negan’s woe is me story. On one hand, it’s growth that Negan has obtained the knowledge that maybe his people at the Sanctuary needed to be saved from him. He did well to take care of his people and keep them alive, still there was always a cost. He did his little theatrical act and executed people who crossed the line. In the process, he left his people twisted up and broken. I’m not sure if I’m buying all these lines of this pity me Negan arc. It’s hard to have empathy just because he’s finally grasped that he caused ever-lasting mental and emotional damage.

Welcome To The Winners Circle

If you wanted Hershel (Logan Kim) to be any less problematic you’re out of luck. He goes as far as to try and poison the drinking water after collecting the walker blood. Something he learned from The Dama. To him, his life feels like a giant hole at the center of everything. He doesn’t feel like Maggie has ever really been there. All he wants to do now is run to The Dama and push Maggie away. Literally push away. When Maggie tried to gently grab her son, he forcefully shoved her with a little too much strength for my taste.

And then came the best scene of the series in my opinion. I’m so glad that Lauren Cohan got to direct this one. We saw the bear scene in the trailer before the season started, but it did the scene no justice. Maggie and Hershel run through the halls of the museum together to flee from the bear. They must work together in their estranged predicament in a mad situation. There’s a line of chained walkers that Maggie frees to get at the bear, but it does her no good. The close-up scene of this animal is horrifying. Hats off to everyone involved in this that made it look so practical.

While watching I nearly expected her to magically defeat the bear in a wildly unbelievable fashion until Cohan made it realistic. The fear was there on her end which matched mine. A true game of cat and mouse. The bear just pummels through walkers and then there’s an instance where Maggie’s backing up with the bear less than a foot away from her. It was dark, scary, and also a bit confusing. I wasn’t sure what Maggie’s game plan was there, but Hershel arrived at her aid just in time and finally made a successful knife throw under pressure. It did pierce him but all it accomplished was pissing off the beast. That was until Maggie was able to make it fall against the gate of the battle cage. An intense battle against a true Mama Bear.

Who Do You Think You Are?

Maggie and Negan have yet another awkwardly tense meeting. He tells her that The Dama is dead and to not beat herself up for Hershel’s actions. She has a way of getting inside people’s minds. And because Negan told Maggie where Hershel could be in search of her she warns him that Bruegel is coming for them. Saving him once again. 

Negan knows he’s had a habit of messing up his family’s life and asks Maggie for advice. It’s pretty bold of him, even so he asks what he should do about his family’s impending visit. If they should stay or go. His largest fear is that all this will happen again, and he won’t be able to protect them. But Maggie just glares. I don’t know why Negan talks to Maggie like they are old college buddies discussing the good old days. As if he’s not the reason Maggie’s life fell apart. Why should Maggie be one to care about the man who stole her future by killing Glenn? Maggie stays civil but stern and doesn’t react to a word. She plainly walks away like the queen she is.

The Worst Part of Dead City Season 2 Episode 6

Negan’s family has arrived but there’s zero reunion. It was great to see Annie (Medina Senghore) and Joshua even if it was for 5 seconds. Negan proceeds to look down at them on top of his throne, so to speak. But he tells his minions to make them go back. I can’t see a strong intelligent woman like Annie doing that after such a long voyage. Especially with the hardships that puts on a child. What annoys me the most is he could tell them himself and explain the situation. It just makes him look like a terrible father and husband even if he is trying to protect them from the dangers and himself. It’s a cowardly move. And I think Annie has earned the right to an explanation. She’s a great mother from the small glimpse we got of them and would make the right decision for her child. I wish this franchise would start treating female characters with more consideration. Annie is too good of a character for this back-burner abandonment storyline.

Ginny Is on The Brink of Death

Ginny makes one last ditch effort to avenge her father and appears to Negan pointing a gun at his face. She’s weak and Negan stands there with his sad little puppy dog what did I do face. In her state, she collapses in his arms before she’s able to get the shot off. It’s not until he lies her down that he sees the gigantic, infected gash on her back. Negan honestly seems to have more care and compassion for Ginny than his child. His guilt is assuredly his main driving force.

In every episode, somebody wants to kill Negan. It does make you wonder how long this character is going to last. He’s either going to be killed by Hershel one day or go off with his family to live out his days. We know he’s not dying yet so these storylines are fully exhausting. Maggie is lost in a cloud of hopelessness and still must witness Negan having his family intact. I sincerely hope the season 3 show-runner will focus on a story that makes sense for these characters and not lean on recycled content. Almost killing Negan every episode and the awkward tension between these leads isn’t cutting it for this universe anymore.

Despite the writing faults this a wonderfully directed episode for Lauren Cohan. She deserves all the flowers. They could have dialed it back on the Negan man pain. The Croat’s pain is at least reasonable. They could also dial back on constantly torturing Maggie. It does feel like she’s fighting a losing battle. She will do anything for her child, even if he hates her. The writing is a little too intense in that area. In the main show, Hershel comes across as a sweet adventurous kid who adores his mother. I’m just not comprehending how Hershel can despise Maggie because she doesn’t know how to channel her anger against the man who murdered the love of her life. That’s his pain too so of course it’s going to be complicated.

Who will try to kill Negan next? Find out next week 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