Dead City’ Episode 3 Review — Okay, You Have My Attention

So I have to grudgingly admit that The Walking Dead: Dead City is growing on me. It’s better than anything The Walking Dead gave us in its final season, and leaps and bounds better than Fear The Walking Dead or World Beyond, though I admit I never watched Season 2 of that show because life is too short.

I am a TV critic not a friggin martyr.

Anyways, I go into any new Walking Dead show with a hefty dose of skepticism. I have lost three important things when it comes to this franchise: trust, faith and interest. I expect it to be mediocre at best, and when we’re given truly great moments, I expect they’ll be ruined.

For instance, two things that really hit me hard (in a good way) in the series finale of The Walking Dead:

• The death of Rosita, which in my opinion was one of the most emotionally powerful deaths in the entire series.
• The final scene of Daryl on his motorcycle, driving off into the sunset all by his lonesome.

These were both amazing moments, and then AMC decided to end the actual episode—and the entire series!—with a teaser for the Rick and Michonne show. This kind of thing erodes my trust in AMC. The amount of times they’ve spoiled their own show—like announcing that Andrew Lincoln was leaving well in advance???—is just mind-boggling to me.

As you lose trust you lose faith and as you lose these things, slowly you lose interest. Going into Dead City just months after the main series ended, I had very few damns left to give. Think of me as Rhett Butler, and The Walking Dead as Scarlett O’Hara. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Anyways, I’m a little torn. I am enjoying Dead City, but I wonder if it’s just because my standards are too low? Have I just been trained by all this mediocrity to expect the worst, and so when it’s better than my expectations I’m happy about it? Am I in a toxic relationship with The Walking Dead?

Dead City’s third episode was pretty good, though. Negan continues to be a badass, taking down a great big dude who had both size and muscle on him with a cheese grater. I also loved the scene where he tells the rebels about the Saviors, but cleverly leaves out his role in the affair. When they ask what happened, if the good guys succeeded, Maggie says “They won.” “Hell yeah they did,” Negan replies. He’s a genuinely fascinating character and I love how they’re expanding his role here.

That includes trading stories with Maggie about her son getting kidnapped by the Croat. When it’s his turn to talk (though he promised to shut up) he finally reveals what happened to his wife and kid. Annie went to trade for supplies and was ambushed, beaten robbed and . . . worse. Negan got revenge on the men who did it, and then sent her and their child off to Missouri (in a wagon?) telling them he’d follow. I assume he didn’t because he thought they’d be safer and better off without him.

There were some other good bits in this episode as well. I’ll knock these down one by one:

• I liked seeing the two communities and their customs. The Croat’s people chant “doma smo” over and over again, which means “we are at home.” This is almost a nationalist or fascist culture. “People are a resource,” the Croat says, echoing his old boss, Negan. But he means it differently. He’s turning corpses into fuel. The rebels, meanwhile, sit about their dinner and hum a wordless prayer. They put meaningful objects on the table and carry out this little chant before digging in. Negan follows stride quicker than Maggie.
• I think they really fumbled the introduction of the Marshal in Episode 1, making him a goofy cowboy and a deeply unlikable murderer, but I enjoyed his Beyond Thunderdome moment in the cage fight against the zombies. Making him dig the key out of the first zombie’s intestines was clever, and one of the more creative uses of gore we’ve seen in quite some time.
• The flashbacks with Negan and Ginny were nice, but that moment when Ginny finds Maggie about to burn her dinosaur stuffed animal was really good. Maggie, who doesn’t want Negan to be distracted from her quest to save her son, is willing to sacrifice the girl Negan has sworn to protect. Or is she? The episode ended before she lit the flames, all while Ginny watched.
• The Croat himself is growing on me, though I am still just so sick and tired of the same recycled “good guys take down cartoon villain community” story. At least these communities feel plausible and the stakes are real. It’s not stupid PADRE with stupid Morgan seeing red. (Hush now, Pterodactyl, that show is over for now. You’re safe).

It’s not perfect. Some of the acting outside the main characters leaves a little to be desired. The actual production and direction feel a bit dated compared to some of the shows out there. But overall, I’m entertained.

I haven’t regained my trust or my faith in The Walking Dead, but Dead City has my interest, and that’s something.

What about you? What did you think of Episode 3? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.