Twigs - The Walking Dead: Dead City Episode 1

Turning on the video game console.

[Warning: This essay will contain spoilers for The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: Dead City through episode 1.]

The Walking Dead: Dead City was an imperfect yet refreshing new entry in The Walking Dead franchise.

The scenario is as simple as it is complex. Taking place a handful of years (seemingly 2-3) after The Walking Dead, Dead City follows Maggie on a mission to rescue her son Hershel from a mysterious new villain. Due to circumstances that aren’t entirely explained, Maggie has moved the Hilltop all the way from Virginia to somewhere closer to New York City (it seems). However, this has resulted in the group being raided by The Croat, a mysterious new villain who uses tactics similar to Negan’s Saviors from The Walking Dead seasons 6-8. The Croat demands supplies and takes Hershel as collateral. Not willing to lose anyone else she loves, Maggie decides to travel to Manhattan—where The Croat operates out of—to find him, kill him, and rescue Hershel.

However, she decides not to go alone. Maggie soon hunts down Negan, whose help she decides to enlist because of his past with The Croat. However, Negan is also being hunted by someone else: The Marshals. A mysterious law enforcement group within another new location, New Babylon, the group of Marshals hunting Negan are led by Perlie Armstrong. Negan is wanted for killing four men, though Negan insists things are more complex than Perlie and his men are making them out to be. Other mysteries include the fate of Negan’s wife Annie and their child, as well as how The Croat knows of Maggie and Negan’s connection (as revealed at the end of this episode).

Despite many praising Dead City for breathing new life into The Walking Dead universe, the premiere was not a perfect start to an otherwise interesting new series. I feel like Dead City’s first episode contained many quality issues the franchise has struggled with for some time. There are big, important events that are glossed over and left unexplained, such as why Maggie moved Hilltop so far north compared to Alexandria and what New Babylon is even supposed to be. However, the show does fill us in on smaller elements, such as Manhattan being cut off from the rest of the world since the start of the apocalypse, and the origins of Negan’s seemingly surrogate daughter Ginny who is whisked away to not-Hilltop by someone who comes out of nowhere in the middle of the episode. It feels like Dead City wants to rush right into the action of the series without explaining the context. While I appreciate how different the feel of the show is to The Walking Dead, it would still be nice to learn a bit more background surrounding Hilltop’s fate and the Marshals.

Dead City also rehashes many old plot elements of The Walking Dead when it comes to Maggie and Negan’s relationship. Despite the bittersweet reckoning the pair had at the end of The Walking Dead—with Maggie telling Negan she accepted he’d redeemed himself but that she wouldn’t be able to forgive him—the duo seem to be back to square one in the Dead City premiere. However, the way their conflict is handled in Dead City did feel slightly refreshing. This is especially true when Negan asks Maggie to reflect on her own actions, questioning how many husbands and fathers she’s killed during the apocalypse. His words cut deep, evident by how she decides to spare Perlie when he corners her and Negan in a laundromat. Perlie talks about his wife and children, causing Maggie to spare him when she has the chance to take him out. It’s a little generic, but it’s the most layered Maggie and Negan’s relationship has been since The Walking Dead season 9.

I’m also not entirely sold on the premise of the show just yet either. However, I think it has potential despite a few presentation issues. It seems that, while Maggie’s mission will be centered around rescuing Hershel from The Croat, her and Negan will soon discover just how much power The Croat has over Manhattan. This will likely result in the pair teaming up with the freedom fighter group teased in Dead City’s trailer, taking out the parts of Manhattan The Croat controls. It feels a little video gamey to me. Almost like a Far Cry game. There’s a larger goal at play involving the hero fighting the villain, but taking control of the villain’s outposts and slowly encroaching on their territory is how the ultimate goal will be reached. I think that, with the right presentation, this could work in a TV series. And with a setting like New York City, Dead City could play with the idea of The Croat’s control in all sorts of fun ways.

Speaking of fun, I think the strongest part of Dead City by far is the worldbuilding. Manhattan is entirely cut off from the rest of the world, save by boat through Walker-infested waters. The city is mostly empty, with Walkers falling from buildings even after over a decade of rotting away. There are herds that are being corralled for unknown reasons, but whose sizes are so massive, it’s safer for the city’s survivors to use zip-lines to travel. All the little pieces are there for an interesting portrayal of an apocalyptic Manhattan as Dead City continues. I’m interested to see how things shape up, especially in regards to the “come kill with us” graffiti seen on one of the buildings.

Because I still love The Walking Dead franchise despite its flaws, I want to maintain some cautious optimism about Dead City. It was a very bumpy pilot with information presented in odd ways, incomplete elements we don’t yet understand, and a lot of “been there, done that” feelings with Maggie and Negan’s relationship. Even so, the worldbuilding is interesting, as is the concept of The Croat’s control over Manhattan. I think that, despite a rough start, Dead City has potential to be interesting. I want to believe The Walking Dead’s decision to split its universe into different spinoffs is a creative one that will help the franchise thrive once again. So, I’m going to keep giving Dead City a chance.

While it may have been an imperfect start to the next chapter of The Walking Dead’s universe, at least Dead City feels like something new.

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