Even though there are only two episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City left, it feels as if the moment Negan has been dreading — facing his former lieutenant and torturer, the Croat — came far too soon. This didn’t feel like a complete episode to me. The fighting is decent if you have a dark enough room and/or the settings on your television to be able to see and enjoy it. I also love this show’s commitment to using power tools as weapons. I won’t look at a Manhattan hardware store the same way again, you can guarantee that! But Maggie is only closer in proximity to rescuing her son, and Negan is in a tight spot in more ways than one. This feels like less of an episode four and more of a finale, part one of three.
It was, however, nice to see Steven Ogg make a special appearance in the episode’s opening flashback, reviving his TWD role as Simon, Negan’s right-hand man in the Saviors. The character actor, whom you may also recognize from Westworld and Better Call Saul, helps ground the story in the larger universe of The Walking Dead. The flashback offers a glimpse into the Croat’s time as a Savior, so seeing other Saviors there interacting with him was nice. The only problem is that Simon and the Croat’s scene doesn’t break any new ground storywise. Sure, it was cute to see Negan designing the Sanctuary’s defenses. However, when Simon comes to grab him to see about a problem, we’re already aware of the problem. The Croat had tortured and killed a young girl on suspicion of spying for the Kingdom. That’s the same anecdote Negan told Maggie a few episodes ago. What did we learn? That she really was that young? We’ve already been told this; we don’t need to see it. Show us something else.
The most interesting thing about Dead City bringing Simon into the larger arc of the series is how the Croat brings him up later. He criticizes Negan for choosing Simon over him, even using the reason he was exiled (not listening/obeying) as a sticking point. Those who saw The Walking Dead at least to season eight know Simon ultimately turns against Negan and dies at his hands. So this “what if†scenario is a real temptation for Negan — and exactly what he was worried about happening after reuniting with the Croat. He tells Maggie earlier in the episode that he was actually kind of nervous about hearing “a song that I don’t wanna hear no more†since the Croat knows him as a fairly different person.
Back to the bulk of the episode: Maggie, Negan, and the Tribespeople (as I’ve just learned the Manhattan survivors are called) enact their plan to sneak up on the Croat’s Madison Square Garden Sanctuary by going through Penn Station. They’re not too bothered by Luther’s absence, and Negan does a decent job of misdirecting them without calling too much attention to himself. Maggie doesn’t fall for it and calls him out before they split up.
Maggie goes to hijack a yellow cab and runs into Ginny, of all people. Things kind of go downhill from there. Not only do the survivors walk right into an ambush at MSG, but she has an extra body to worry about. How did the Croat and his Burazi know the Tribespeople were coming? We know they knew by the way they turn on the music and vacate the fighting ring especially for them. There’s a whole scene about the Croat teaching a teenager how to use a CD player and then acting weirdly paternal about how they joined his Sanctuary. Someone in the Burazi even programs show lights for added drama.
There must be a mole in the Tribespeople group. Is it the scavenger? Amaia? What if it’s Ginny? It would be nice and “clean†if it happened to be Luther since Negan already offed him, but I kind of doubt that. Maggie and her squad eventually have to turn back and escape through the sewers. I thought for sure Maggie was going to ditch them and go after Hershel herself (say that five times fast) at the last second, but she doesn’t.
That leaves the rescue mission to Negan, who pretty easily finds the Croat. His former associate leads him on a chase and then essentially offers him the Sanctuary. The Croat doesn’t seem to be holding their differences against him. “So you blew off my ear,†he says, laughing. “I have another.†This isn’t really the crocodile–and–Captain Hook showdown Negan, or anybody, really, was expecting. He heard about what happened on The Walking Dead, you see, and knows Negan lost his former fortress. No worries, he says, they can just rule the new Sanctuary together. Aww? Unfortunately for my desperate desire for this show to poke at its anti-hero, Negan doesn’t seem all that impressed or tempted by the power. He looks at the Croat with pity, even.
“I know who you want,†the Croat says incorrectly before presenting him not with Hershel Rhee but Perlie Armstrong. He tosses the New Babylon over a ledge, but Negan saves him. Then, the second they’re free from the Croat, Armstrong tries to assassinate Negan for the crimes he committed. Even Javert in Les Misérables wasn’t this much of a loser! Negan ends the episode with his hands up as Maggie vacates the premises. In the words of Bobby Kennedy, as played by Peter Sarsgaard in the seminal movie Jackie, what did we truly accomplish?
Bridges & Tunnels
• The song the Croat blasts in this episode is “Proplakat Će Zora†by the Croatian recording artist MiÅ¡o KovaÄ. Why is the Croat using his electricity to power a CD player instead of the escalators in MSG? That I cannot answer.
• I actually think it’s sweet that the Croat asks Negan about Lucille the same way you’d ask after any other friend’s loved one.
• Where is Hershel, by the way? We haven’t seen him in the present timeline since the first episode. He is alive, right? The Croat said releasing him would require “a conversation,†but given that his followers are disposable … I can’t imagine whom he has to talk to.
• Negan teases Maggie for “losing a couple of Girl Scout badges†when she tells him about taking revenge against a harmonica player in a community when Hershel was a baby. Once again, I am asking if anyone involved in this show remembers how badass Maggie is? She’s not a shrinking violet, like, at all. I get that he’s likely teasing her for acting as if she’s morally superior to him at all, but as the kids say: Be for f*cking real.
• I liked seeing that random establishing shot of postapocalyptic Central Park midway through the episode. It feels unfair that so much of this show has been confined to certain areas of the city. If you’re going to do New York, like … do New York!!
• Does Ginny know something? Why is she there? What is she hiding? Begging her to write it down.