‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Recap – ‘Who’s There?’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Maggie Rhee and Negan in Episode 102 of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ – ‘Who’s There?’ (Photo Courtesy of Peter Kramer/AMC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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There are a great many storytelling elements that The Walking Dead Universe excels at. For instance, it is indeed a phenomenal horror story through and through, one that breathed new life into the living dead and made them arguably one of the most popular monsters in modern television history. Not to mention, it features rich writing and wonderful character development, and great actors to bring that to life. But one of the things it does best from a storytelling standpoint… is world-building. For we rarely have questions about what we are walking into from a danger or location perspective, because the show prepares us for all that, and if by chance we do have questions… it is only a matter of time before the show takes the time to answer them. 
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All of which allows for us to just immerse ourselves into the world of the dead and that allowed for The Walking Dead to truly paint a picture of what the world had become in the wake of a zombie invasion, and its sister series, Fear the Walking Dead, truly has done a fine job of exploring the struggles immediately following the end of the world and beyond, in a dynamic manner. Not to mention, Tales of the Walking Dead expanded our understanding of the impact of the end of the world further and of course The Walking Dead: World Beyond, did an incredible job of showing us a world where totalitarians had taken over and what life might look like under the rule of evil that presents itself as a hero. And thankfully, this proud tradition of establishing the world in question is being extended to the latest chapter in the saga, The Walking Dead: Dead City.

For ‘Who’s There?’ is a story that dug deep into the early rebuilding phase that part of the world is working toward, alongside what survival looks like in parts of the world that aren’t going to find salvation anytime soon, and that led to a fascinating tale. One that accomplished such feats by way of two key storylines, one of which… involved Ginny. For we caught up with her and Nina in this tale at their final destination in New Babylon, or New Hilltop perhaps. Wherein we came to learn that despite finding community and safety, and even a sense of peace and joy, which Nina expressed here in spades with her positive and chipper, and downright hopeful attitude, there was still fear… to be found. For this world has yet to truly find balance and evil still has a foothold and that really has put people in neutral and in a distrustful place, as evidenced by Ginny’s decision… to run. 

As for the second half of that world building, well that was handled by Maggie and Negan’s continued push deeper into the heart of Manhattan. Because that strange lady they met at the end of last week, had their stuff and the only way to retrieve it, was to follow her. Which brought about a fine understanding of how people have come to survive in a city filled to the brim with living death. Which as it turned out, revolved around the use of ziplines to avoid the dead on the streets and living on levels or areas with clear lines of sight, to offer warning and time to escape if the dead broke in. Which was fascinating to see and spoke to the wonder of human ingenuity for certain, since the group that lady belonged to did indeed have their lives and a chance at tomorrow in this abandoned wasteland of living death. 

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in Episode 102 of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ – ‘Who’s There?’ (Photo Courtesy of Peter Kramer/AMC)

But while it was amazing to world build and immerse ourselves in this universe as only this saga can, this was in many ways, a greatest hits episode of sorts. One that took the time to offer up those quality character moments we know and love, the kind that offer depth and understanding. Which was achieved several ways in this tale, one of which… involved Armstrong. Who, whilst in the Big Apple, opted to visit an old family member’s address and see if by chance they had managed to survive the end of everything this long. Which brought forth a silent and artful and oddly emotional sequence of events, wherein we learned about what family means to Armstrong and that his family was gone… and this was just powerful and fascinating to watch, and it was wonderfully bookended by way of the character depth we enjoyed regarding Negan. 
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Because he and Maggie’s new friends were also their captors for a time, because survival or no, trust is a premium in this world, and they had not earned that yet. So… they sat in their bathroom cell for a time and spoke with one another and that chat led to an understanding of the Croat and his lethal and twisted ways… and for the first time really, Negan and Maggie addressed what happened that fateful day in an honest and raw manner. Wherein Negan made it clear that the man he once was… was a construct of sorts. One designed to instill fear and awe and to take control of a situation as needed, when in reality, there was a man behind Lucille and that leather-clad façade. One that had to live with such actions and that gave Maggie the same insight we learned during ‘Here’s Negan’ and she even was able to understand how this back and forth worked, firsthand. 

For eventually… the Croat’s forces breached the perimeter of the safe space they were hiding within, and that meant evacuation was in order and sadly… since the Croat’s forces are as ruthless as him, there were losses and sorrow and a need for Negan… to be NEGAN. Which is why he took one of the Croat’s men hostage, and offered up some of that vintage vitriol and violence in front of the Croat’s lieutenants. To instill the very fear, he did into the heart of Maggie Rhee and her friends/family in ‘The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be’ and it did indeed work. For the message was sent, everyone was able to escape to their new fallback location and there was trust at last, and honesty, between Maggie and Negan and this group of intrepid survivors. But of course, there may be a cost… since Maggie and her deep trauma regarding Glenn’s loss left her scared of Negan once again after seeing his dark persona return, even if for the right reasons.

In the end however, this was just… a brilliant episode when all is said and done. Because it explored all of those elements in the course of under an hour and it did so in a manner so smooth and so engaging that you simply want more. More of this world, more of this new dynamic between two old frenemies and of course… now that we know what we need to know about the Croat… we want to see him pay. Pay for harming Maggie and pay for some serious crimes. But before we get there, we can celebrate this amazing tale. One that once again featured some amazing performances. For Gaius Charles (Armstrong) did an incredible job selling a range of emotions in utter silence, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan are turning in some of their best work as Negan and Maggie, respectively, and that’s saying something. Since they stole scenes often in TWD, and well… now that we’ve reached the end of this chapter, the countdown is on until next Sunday, when we can finally enjoy more of this engaging and refreshing new chapter in The Walking Dead Universe. Until next time.  

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