‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Recap – ‘People Are a Resource’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in Episode 103 of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ – ‘People Are a Resource’. (Photo Courtesy of Peter Kramer/AMC.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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There is a grand shift happening within The Walking Dead Universe. In that, this storied franchise is making every effort to inject genuine realism into its storytelling by having its many characters deal with the power of the past and the traumas they’ve faced, and, it is also working hard to flesh those characters out even further and really dive deep into what is driving them forward at this point in their lives and that is making… for some fascinating storytelling. The kind that is allowing for characters that have suffered for years to find peace and move forward in a positive light, as evidenced by the midseason finale of Fear the Walking Dead, and it is also breathing new life into classic characters, as evidenced by The Walking Dead: Dead City.

For this particular story really is delving deep into the functional makeup of Maggie Rhee and Negan Smith, and the grey area they both live within, what’s kept them there and what the traumas they faced in their travels together have done to them. Which is creating new angles for this story to explore. The kind that really are making these characters shine in a new light and it just so happens… that the universe is now looking to do this with as many characters as possible. For last night’s episode of Dead City, not only explored further the dynamic between Maggie and Negan and the various ghosts they carry with them… but we came to learn so much about the other characters that they’ve left behind or that they share the island with and that made ‘People Are a Resource’, quite the character study. 

Since we came to learn that young Ginny… is deeply broken by her trauma. Something we’ve been able to infer thanks to Negan’s explanation of what happened to her… but the extent of that trauma and what she needs at this point in her life, really wasn’t put on display until this episode. Wherein we came to learn that her time with Negan has in fact, been quite healthy for her. Because he genuinely cares for her, and he genuinely wants to see her heal. Which we learned has provided her with hope and the belief that she can come back, and she is so fixated on the way he challenges her to be more and be better, that she risked everything in this story to come to the island and slowly figure out where he may be. And it was fascinating to see someone be influenced by Negan in a positive manner and that is clearly… how he is trying to heal. 

Because while he wasn’t aware of Ginny’s presence on the island in this tale, he was continuing to try to do the right thing and bring people together instead of dividing them and he even… tried to help someone he hurt deeply. For Maggie was in a dark place in this tale, and genuinely worried about Hershel and those worries exposed how deeply damaged she still is over losing basically all of her family but her son to the apocalypse and others, including Negan. And that allowed for us to learn how far she has to go in healing and how she is indeed trying to, but it is no easy task in this universe, not when guys like the Croat are doing what they do. But all we can do is try and all we can do is accept that support when it comes, and it was wild to see Negan of all people be the one to offer it and to even see him open up about his own fresh traumas in the days following the Battle of the Commonwealth.

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Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee in Episode 103 of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ – ‘People Are a Resource’. (Photo Courtesy of Peter Kramer/AMC.)

Since he spoke to how times were tough following those salad days since Annie endured great hardship. To the point where it was obvious to Negan that she and his son needed a fresh start in the world. So, he put them on a wagon train bound for Missouri and stayed behind. To further bear the burdens of pain that he believes he deserves since he is still struggling to make peace with his own actions. Which added real depth to Negan here, and a gentleness and humanity we’ve not seen from him since his origin episode really. And it was just fascinating to see him express pain and express real kindness. But of course, there was mention of the fact that this franchise just so happens to be exploring such matters for as many characters as an hour of television will allow, and that brings us to a pair of other characters that received this fascinating treatment.
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For Armstrong found himself in a tough place in this story. Specifically, the Croat’s Arena of Terror. Wherein gladiator battles were being held a la Land of the Dead to amuse and control and that allowed for us… to learn how this world has formed Armstrong into a tough man and how he uses his pain to push forward every chance he gets. Since he survived what the Croat threw at him, and oddly enough… we even learned exactly what broke the villain of the story. For he shared a harrowing and sorrowful tale about how cannibalism brought down his entire family and well, it was obvious hearing that story, that such cruelty broke him completely and made him think little about anyone or anything but himself or his ideas… making him the perfect villain really and perhaps a cautionary tale of what Negan could have become if there hadn’t been the pushback that came forth from Maggie, and Rick and the Alliance that formed against The Saviors. 

However, while it was supremely fascinating to learn so much about everyone and gauge where they are at and garner an idea of what they want… a fight was still brewing in this story. After all, the plan was put together as to how to invade Madison Square Garden to bring Hershel home, and sympathy or no… the Croat is still a monster and darkness still happened to permeate this tale. Since Armstrong damn near lost his life trying to please the masses at the Garden and Negan, despite his best efforts to broker peace and move on from his past… he was still forced to be Negan again to save his hide and save the mission and that will have consequences for certain. The kind that could not come at a worse time since that could put a wrench in the whole rescue operation, and it will indeed be interesting to see what comes out of that decision and out of the revelation that the Croat learned. In that, his mentor is on the island.

But while we wait for all of that to move forward, we can celebrate one fine character study. One that really did add new depth to iconic characters and that’s no easy task. Since we’ve already spent a long time with Maggie and Negan. But the only way a story gets better is if its characters grow and change and these moments helped to do just that and further added to the wonder of two characters we love, and it was equally as lovely to learn more about what makes the others tick and see more of Manhattan and all of its madness and well, all of this was just a fine reminder as to why we love this franchise so. Because it has at its core, always been about people and the human experience and the ups and down we face during dark times and truly… when the saga focuses on that… its wondrous. And it will be interesting to see how everything we learned here will impact the story going forward as Maggie prepares to make a hard push to save her son. Until next time.  

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Gaius Charles and Željko Ivanek as Armstrong and the Croat in Episode 103 of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ – ‘People Are a Resource’. (Photo Courtesy of Peter Kramer/AMC.)

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