The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 Episode 1 Gives Maggie and Negan a Fresh Start

Critic’s Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

3.5

It’s hard to believe that The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 is already upon us.

Maybe it’s because I was left bewildered by many of the storytelling choices for the show’s sophomore season, but it feels like it’s only been a few months since the series was last on the air.

Thankfully, The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 Episode 1 is a reset that introduces new and engaging characters, puts the Maggie and Negan feud to bed for good, and undoes a lot of the terrible writing for Hershel.

I’ll dive into Hershel first because what a frustrating character he has been throughout this spinoff.

Since several years passed between The Walking Dead Season 11 and The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 1, I expected Hershel to go through the typical teenage phase.

But this kid flat-out turned his back on his mother, the person who had protected him since birth in a zombie-ravaged world, and decided that he was better off living in New York with the Dama.

It was sloppy and unimaginative writing, and I figured that the character would be killed off shortly after.

So, I’m happy to report that the creative forces have remedied the situation after just one episode.

Hershel is, of course, named after his grandfather, whom we first met on The Walking Dead Season 2, so it’s fitting that we’re only now getting some similarities between the two characters.

Like his grandfather, Hershel now seems interested in medicine and is aware of how crucial it is to have someone who knows how to help people in need.

You could see the look on his face when Luis gave him a front-row seat to that world.

He’s about to leave the sins of his past behind, and honestly, I’m here for it.

Taking accountability for your actions is the best way to move forward in life, so I was pleasantly surprised by his emotionally charged apology to his mother.

The level of betrayal Maggie must have felt at the end of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 was unimaginable because she’d spent so long trying to keep him safe.

Granted, she made some mistakes along the way, but her driving force was saving her son.

Hershel’s admission that the Dama was using him and manipulating him was music to my ears because it indicated that he’s successfully broken free from her spell.

But this wicked lady already has another plan on the go, and it involves taking down Maggie and Negan thanks to New Babylon putting a bounty on the two of them.

Once upon a time, Negan was the only one with that distinction, but Maggie’s affiliation with him has not gone unnoticed, and now anyone could be coming for them.

I’m not going to lie. The biggest flaw of this entry in The Walking Dead franchise has been how these two characters are even working together.

They despise one another, but the writing keeps forcing them together.

This premiere, however, felt like it did a lot of heavy lifting to actually allow them to bury the past.

I was confused at the beginning because Maggie buried Ginny’s body, and it felt like something Negan would do since he looked out for her far more than Maggie did.

In my eyes, Negan burying her would have been the best way for him to say goodbye and get that closure.

But thinking about it after seeing the rest of the episode play out, it’s obvious that Maggie wanted to take that burden away from him because she knew he had a bond with Ginny.

Plus, Negan was still struggling with his mobility due to Maggie’s attempt on his life.

Their squabble after the burial reminded me of sibling rivalry, and it didn’t really hit me until Renata pointed out that they were like feuding siblings.

If that’s what the writers are going for to kick this series back into shape, I’m all for it.

The introduction of Renata and Luis was interesting because it was evident from the jump that there was a far bigger reason behind them stumbling upon Maggie and Negan.

Also adding to the wow factor was the explosion that brought ash, obstructed vision, and a horde of zombies into the center of the Big Apple once again.

Renata and Luis are clearly the latest characters brought in to die when the show no longer requires them, which is a shame because Aimee Garcia and Raul Castillo are very good actors.

The flashbacks of how they met the Croat and how the wicked villain upended their lives were a real gut punch, and they explained their earlier actions very well.

Their desire for revenge and the incubator undoubtedly resonated with Maggie because she hasn’t witnessed much of a sense of community since arriving in Manhattan.

It’s a whole different world from what she’s accustomed to, but she’s slowly starting to realize that there’s more to life than The Bricks, which is probably a good thing considering she’s been away from there for so long.

The franchise has this habit of making Maggie a world-building character who can kickstart communities without breaking a sweat, but she tends to move on from them rather quickly.

Obviously, she had her reasons for returning to Manhattan, but at what point can she stop being affiliated with The Bricks?

It’s hard to believe that this community is thriving in her absence.

Admittedly, it would have made far more sense to have another franchise alum spearheading The Bricks while she’s away because then we’d at least get some insight into it.

All things considered, I sat on The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 screeners for weeks because I wasn’t sure whether I’d be mad about the creative decisions.

But the premiere was a nice reset.

Killing off The Croat was a good first move.

Killing off the Dama next and making New Babylon the overarching threat would make far more sense to me and go a long way toward continuing the recalibration of the series.

For the first time in a while, The Walking Dead: Dead City feels like it has a clearer idea of what it wants to be.

And honestly, I’m here for this new chapter of Maggie and Negan’s story.

What are your thoughts on the course correcting and Maggie and Negan in a good place?

Are you digging the new direction?

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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