Dead City Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Let your heart lead the way

The penultimate episode of Dead City has set the second season of the series up for its most ultimate showdown yet. The finale is right around the corner and that means the face-off with Bruegel is ahead. We’ve reached another episode where Negan and Maggie have zero screen time together. Do their characters shed any pain or garner any growth? Not really, but here we are. Negan and Maggie are a pair separated within their own journey to fight for who means the most to them in this current storyline, Hershel and Ginny. I can see why Showrunner Eli Jorne calls it an upside-down marriage, however, shipping fans have nothing to write home about.

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is finally showing a trace of accountability while Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) is on the edge. Her breathing is getting worse by the hour, and the only thing that could possibly save her is potent antibiotics. Something Negan doesn’t have access to. Even if he obtains it is it too little too late?

Out of everyone Ben has become his confidant in this episode. He at least gets a little more feedback than Maggie would give him. Lucille always weighs heavily on his mind especially when he sees a character on the brink of death. He opens up to the historian about how he tended to Lucille when she had cancer. The way he took care of her and ran her monitors toward her end-of-life stage. Now of course they had Benjamin Pierce (Keir Gilchrist) try to soothe his mistakes until Negan confesses, he was a selfish piece of shit. Yes, he was.

Admittedly god keeps giving Negan second chances. Most of the audience does have to wonder why along with the bat king. He was gifted Annie (Medina Senghore) as a second chance. A woman far too good for him but loves him despite the depths of his faults. 

“But god gave me a second chance with a smart, sexy, take no shit, grab you by the balls kind of girl.”-Negan

There Is One Thing You Can Do About That Negan

He proceeds to talk very warmly about his son, but he’s in a state of defeat over his failures. Perhaps instead of throwing in the towel because of his terror of destruction he could work to prove he can protect them. That’s your job as a father or as any parent. Running away didn’t work for them anyway. Negan is still a villain in the eyes of many. I don’t think Annie is naive to what she signed up for. There will people who will always want vengeance against Negan, so when he cuts and runs, he leaves them vulnerable to the threats that come back to haunt them. It doesn’t matter if they weren’t a part of that worst side of Negan, they are both a tool that can be used to weaken him. The Dama knew that and used it to her advantage. If it could be done once, it could be done again.

I still can’t get over how he just shipped his family back (if he did) to Tennessee. A journey like that is hard on a child even without an apocalypse. They were lucky to get as far as they did, but to push them back into an environment of uncertainty is not how you treat family.

Being A Mother Is Never Easy in Dead City

Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is on the hunt for Hershel and enlists the help of The Croat (Zeljko Ivanek) in a forceful way. Mama Bear Maggie isn’t going anywhere until she gets her son to go back home. The toe bandit takes Maggie to a safe house that only Hershel (Logan Kim) and The Dama (Lisa Emery) know about. It’s a long shot but if he thinks she’s alive that’s the location he could be.

The safe house The Croat guides Maggie to looks damn near impassable. And it’s lined with booby traps all the way up. They have to reach the top floors of the building which is a test in itself. Meanwhile Negan has his own rigorous challenge at Bellevue Hospital to get the medicine Ginny needs to survive. I do have to reiterate it pisses me off a little he can be a father figure to so many except for the one soul that counts, his son. If you’re a horrible parent to your own child does the rest really count for much?

In The Same Boat

Negan finds himself in a pediatric ward that is filled with children of the dead. He struggles to have the courage to take down any of them. That could be understandable at the start of the apocalypse, for now it feels like they are taking it too far with the children are off limits line that Negan always says. To the point where he comes across as weak, allowing these tiny walkers to knock him down and get the better of him.

Maggie doesn’t fare much better on the voyage to the “safe house.” There are office cubicles galore as she follows The Croat. It all has the vibe of a set up. Maggie resembles the rat in the maze and must find her way through the life like puzzle of chaos. Croat has nothing but a stoic vibe, like he’s enjoying the show Maggie is putting on.

This Is the Duo of Nightmares

There is one thing Maggie and The Croat have in common, and its loss. Maggie is on the verge of losing everything she’d had left as so many other losses in her life. Glenn, her father, her mother, and all siblings. The Croat has allowed Dama and Negan to take the last purpose he had left. Each of them is fighting their own battle of will survive. For Maggie, part of her mind is questioning if she even wants to.

I guess the scariest part of the episode was when Maggie had to cross the bridge. The Croat had already passed and was waiting on her. He could have just helped her, but I suppose that’s too simplistic. Yet another scene where Maggie is alone and vulnerable and must crawl her way out of with zero assistance. It’s heart pounding and scary but we know Maggie is not going to fall through, even when the clear glass cracks beneath her. All while The Croat is screaming at her to get up and move. I don’t know maybe throw a rope or something, tie your shirts together and toss her a lifeline at least. He pushes a ladder to her to climb onto in the last seconds. At least he’s good for something.

Nobody comes out of the apocalypse unscathed, even so Maggie does not strike me as the suicidal type. She’s not Beth, and with Hershel’s life in question that should be her main focal point. One could argue that The Croat got into her head. That maybe sometimes life isn’t worth the pain anymore. However, Maggie also isn’t a person that could be this easily manipulated. So, I’m not sure on the point of this scene.

It’s Been a Long Time Lucille

At the hospital, Negan walks through a ward of sleeping walkers to make his way through the supply room. It was pretty easy, a little to easy, but it’s the way back that put whatever muscle strength he had left to the test.

A hospital medicine marauder forces Negan to run through the halls of the hospital to chase down. Fear not it’s nothing more than a hallucination of Lucille (Hilarie Burton). I’m sure this was a scene fans will love but to put bluntly it was merely a way to lull his negligence. Lucille repeats things Negan has said in the past. How he bathed her and took care of her. She was used to clear his conscience for not doing enough.

I Knew She’d Come Back

Annie returns but not in the way I wanted. Negan has his second hallucination. It was amazing to see Medina Senghore having a real scene with actual dialogue. There’s a lot of love between them and Joshua even pokes out from behind her. He’s an adorable little baby with the cutest most michevous smile. He emotionally tells her he failed her too and asks her what to do. Lovingly she places her hands on both sides of his face and point his head to a set of chained doors a ventilator is hiding in.

I’m not sure if Annie would say or do any of this given her recent events. The loves of his life were used to help guide him and give him reassurance that he’s doing the right thing. They served no real purpose other than his own benefit. I’m curious to see Annie’s real life point of view given Negan has just turned his back on his family for the second time.

Annies Return Finally Created Buzz For All The Wrong Reasons

Fans all over social media were outraged by the way Annie and Joshua returned only to be discarded by Negan. It’s certainly not the first time a woman of color and child have been abandoned in media and gives Negan and AMC a really bad look. If they left already they were pushed into another vulnerable situation. And if by some miracle they get back to Tennessee unharmed it still doesn’t make the situation or writing any better. Fans do have a point in that aspect. Annie has already been beaten and raped off-screen in season one. Her husband is still crying over his shortcomings and abandons them when they needed him the most. All the while he’s moving heaven and earth to save Ginny’s life. I hope they can remedy this bad choice of judgement because fans are irate. As they should be. Annie deserves better.

In all truthfulness this episode could have been phoned in. I’m aware Lauren Cohan really pushed for these 8 episodes. I’m still left wondering why. This was one of the most depressing episodes I’ve seen of The Walking Dead franchise.

Why You Never Look Down

We learn that the safe house was never the safe house. After saving The Croat from jumping off the ledge, Maggie looks down and contemplates jumping herself. I really did not like this moment. It felt so out of character for Maggie. What was she going to do let The Dama finish out raising Hershel?

The Not So Dead Dama

Maggie finally finds the real safe house after an almost warm goodbye to The Croat. Hershel had been sending a light signal to her. When she finally reunites with her son his attitude has changed immensely. Maybe it’s the fact he has both his mothers at his side. That is until it quickly becomes an ambush. The Dama appears live and well, well enough to hit Maggie over the head with a blunt object.

Find out next week how The Dama survived in the season 2 finale of Dead City, airing 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