Dead City Season 2 Finale: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Here we are. The Dead City finale. We’ve made it and what has changed between season one and two? Well with the lack of Negan and Maggie scenes this season, not a whole lot. We have gotten to see both Negan and Maggie’s trauma. More of Maggie’s, while we’ve been witnesses to Negan’s guilt and depression.

The Sorrowful Widow

Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) sorrow has at least made sense. She has a teenage son who hates her and is doing everything in her power to ensure his survival, even if it happens to fall on deaf ears. Not only that but just being around this side of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) dredges up post-traumatic stress from Negan’s actions of the past. Negan might feel some guilt for that, but is he honestly sorry? I don’t think so. He once said in the mothership that if he had to do it all over again he would have killed more of Rick’s people. That means he doesn’t regret killing Glenn and putting Maggie in this tailspin for the rest of her days. That alone has had a detrimental effect on her relationship with Hershel.

Misery In Manhattan

A lot is going on this second season. And it’s been pure misery for The Croat (Zeljko Ivanek) whom I strangely began feeling sorry for. He’s like a sad puppy who has lost his way once the power was ripped away. Negan helped turn him into the ruthless leader he is before us. For that, he finally sees the long-lasting impact that his choices created.

What Growth Has Actually Happened In Dead City?

The powers that be at New Babylon were plucked off by this methane mission. That has been good for Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles). And I think he’s learned a lot of leadership values from Maggie. She’s the type of leader who uses her brains and then thinks about the well-being of the people she’s in charge of. New Babylon leaders have a ruthless mindset. That’s something Perlie is now striving to overcome. Now that he’s in charge, we could be seeing a rise in power back in New Jersey that radiates a new moral compass.

Hershel (Logan Kim) has achieved the opposite of growth. Sure he’s a teenager filled with angst, but it’s overkill. He cannot stand the fact that Maggie is obsessed with what Negan did. Hershel knows she’ll never get past it so that puts a toxic strain on their relationship. He doesn’t want to be burdened by memories of the past like Maggie is. It makes sense because Hershel never met Glenn. The Dama (Lisa Emery) has given him the tools to help build a future with her. And that’s something that gives him hope. Going back and pretending things are fine with Maggie is never going to bring him happiness.

Let The Games Begin

Diving right in Maggie is still being held captive by The Dama. She’s thrilled to have the infamous woman in her presence but she’s not there to hurt Maggie. She knows they can assist each other to achieve their main objective.

The Dama’s motive is to create a better world, the world that Hershel dreamed up. Not only does she want Maggie to be a part of that society, she wants her to run it. Knowing what Negan had done to her she figured Maggie would jump at the chance to rid Negan from the universe once and for all.

The Dama’s Intuition

“I understand, when Negan is up you feel the need to knock him down, and when he’s down, you have to prop him back up. You’re stuck in a loop.”-The Dama(Lisa Emery)

Somebody finally says what fans have been playing on repeat. Maggie is stuck in this perpetual circle. She reminds Maggie about all the losses—her mother, father, siblings, even Beth, and then followed by the gruesome murder of her husband that she was forced to watch.

“He needed you, but how could you be there for him when you couldn’t be there for yourself?”

The Dama is masterful at seeing into the depths of someone’s soul. In that moment Maggie breaks down. Dama isn’t judging her or being crass in any way. She is validating her. Dama and Maggie both know deep down they have to set themselves free from Negan if they want any taste at a future. And what good is it to let a man live gleefully who makes widows and orphans children?

Negan vs. Bruegel

The big meeting between Bruegel (Kim Coates) and Negan doesn’t go off without any hitches. Negan offers them a feast for discussions to begin, and suspicion greatly arises from Perlie. He knows something is amiss and doesn’t hesitate to warn Bruegel. And he’s right. Negan flips over the dinner table that was housing a group of walkers to go after Perlie and Bruegel’s men. His new crew uses flamethrowers to create a barrier between them in their biggest showdown yet. P.S. it’s really odd these men go from one leader to the next without any question. 

Negan chomps on an apple watching the battle like he’s got no care in the world. However, Bruegel is a much better fighter than he gave himself credit for. Perlie knocks down the Spanish statue on his command and tosses the old-fashioned weapons to finish off the walkers.That forces Negan to retreat for the time being.

Maggie Reveals Her Truth

Maggie finally reveals she needs to let this toxic obsession with Negan go. Try as she might she can’t let it go. Thoughts of what Negan has done consume her. Hershel tells his mother he knows that she tries, but it’s not working. He wants to move on and be a family, but they can’t be one like this. Always stuck in limbo worrying about the man who stole everything.

Hershel admits there’s only one way they can start over, if Negan is dead. And Maggie has to do it. To finish it once and for all. The Dama may have had ulterior motives, but Hershel is right. This cloud of darkness is not only annoying for him but it’s twice as annoying for fans to watch this endless back-and-forth journey. At some point, Maggie has got to have some growth in that area. Even though we are two seasons in it doesn’t feel like that needle has moved an inch.

“I’ll Finish Him, Then I’ll Come Back For You.”

The marshal and Bruegel are forced to their knees by Negan. It’s a scene that most fans of The Walking Dead have PTSD from as Negan recites the infamous line, “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe.” And before he gets into “Ruthless Negan Mode” a slow and unsettling grin appears on his face. Is it a show or is he enjoying this? You be the judge. 

Because of Bruegel’s intense obsession with the methane, Negan takes the gas and forces it down his throat. Only to set his throat ablaze with magma Lucille. It’s one of the more disturbing deaths I’ve seen in the franchise. Regardless, Negan has not won. After hearing those words uttered from Negan Maggie had to relive all her past trauma yet again. For Hershel, it was just the thing needed to tip his mother over the edge and free them from his tyranny.

Writers vs. Maggie

For fans, it was devastating to see all that hurt wash over Maggie’s face. The show keeps bringing back nostalgia, but it’s not helping the ratings in any way. We don’t need reused material we need fresh, new storylines.

Maggie didn’t just bear witness to the inferno demise of Bruegel, it was what Negan did after that that tortured her even more. He took Lucille and used all his strength to split Bruegel’s head open. It came off as excessive especially with Maggie right there watching. You could visibly see the flashbacks in her mind of Negan doing that to Glenn and Abraham. Fortunately, Perlie gets out of Negan’s men’s clutches before they’re able to do it to him.

It’s Time For Negan To Pay The Price…Or Is It?

Negan can’t let Perlie slip through his fingers that easily. Whatever happened between him and Bruegel was still betrayal. He fought on opposite sides of Negan. And even when he confesses he did it to protect Ginny (Mahina Napoleon), he still doesn’t budge. He wants to kill. So I have to ask what happened to all of this Negan redemption and growth? There are only so many times you can say he’s just playing a part. There was was joy and a euphoric pleasure to it.

The Sweet Taste Of Revenge.

Maggie is always going to be that badass. While Negan went after Armstrong, Maggie uses her knife and took down three of his soldiers. Two of them were taken down in one fearless back-handed swing. Serena Williams would be impressed. Afterwards, she sneaks up behind Negan who is towering over Perlie lying on the ground. He lifts his bat into the air, but before he can pummel the barbed wires into him Maggie thrusts the knife into his back. Not only to save Perlie who has become like a friend, but to free her family.

In that instance when Negan is succumbing to his injury Maggie picks up Lucille and seriously thinks about finishing this job. Negan does attempt to trot away, which seems very unlikely given the area of the back he was stabbed in. I guess we can chalk it up to adrenaline. Nonetheless, Maggie walks up to him, bat in hand, and chokes up on the barrel of the bat ready to swing away at the slithering Negan.

Close But No Cigar

The only reason Maggie stops is because they can hear the growling sounds of the newly turned walker Ginny reaching out from the cell door. It’s heartbreaking for Negan and even Maggie has compassion enough to sympathize. So here we are once again in this infinite loop of Maggie wanting to kill Negan and then changing her mind at the last second. And boy are we tired. The writers either need to let her kill him or give them some actual growth if they are to be in the same vicinity.

Maggie Goes Back To Face The Music

Maggie heads back to The Dama’s cave to tell Hershel she didn’t do it. He is angry, deservedly so. She did make a promise, but Maggie knows killing Negan would only make it worse. In Maggie’s defense, it’s possible that taking his life may allow Negan to haunt her in death, worse than he haunts her in life. This is all Hershel’s emancipation from Maggie. He won’t go back with her and play this roundabout game where Negan always gets the better of them. It is pretty sad when a life with The Dama looks better than his world. Still, Maggie refuses to let go, she won’t leave the city without him. Although she promises to always be there for him, she’s now lost the last person in her life.

Where Do We Go From Here?

By the finale’s end, everyone has a choice to make. It’s the fork-in-the-road scenario. Maggie must decide if this hatred of Negan could be something different. Or she will have to accept losing the one thing that keeps her moving forward in the apocalypse. Perlie must decide what’s best for his wife and three daughters. And then there’s Negan. What could his future become after shipping his wife and son away? All three are at a crossroads that will be left up in the air until the third season commences.

The end of the finale shows how it all started ever since season one. Maggie and Negan fight each other by the truck in their reunion scene and the harsh back-and-forth journey together. They knock each other down and help each other up. And now, they must move on together. It’s all a lovely sentiment but they haven’t been able to do any of that in two seasons.

It does sound like the third season will be displaying the duo working through their issues and finding a way to move on from the past. It just doesn’t make coherent sense when Maggie has said more than once that she can never move on from it, no matter how much she tries. It is understandable for Perlie to want to stay in the city. He’s from there but I hope he sends for his family. We need at least one good father in this structure. If Negan has changed why does he want to continue to stay in New York and be Negan? From the looks of it it’s evident these three will bind together like the three musketeers and battle it out with New Babylon. Unfortunately, it’s just a story nobody feels anymore.

I am all for Maggie and Negan having some growth if it’s done in a way that makes sense. And seeing them on the same side for once will make for better television. Honestly, I have lost a lot of faith. I thoroughly enjoyed season 1. It felt like The Walking Dead days of old and I truly hope they can get back to that with a new show-runner. This season felt like one big side quest that had no development or resolution. Until the next one.

You can catch every episode of the first two seasons on 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