The Walking Dead: Dead City – Doma Smo

By: Dawn Inchaurregui-Miller

We follows the flare that Ginny had shot into the night sky after leaving Maggie (Lauren Cohan) down in the sewer with the word “LIAR” written across the tunnel entrance in walker blood. The flare is the only thing on the screen until Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) runs out into the street, quietly calling out to Maggie still having no idea that Ginny is even on the island. The marshal, Perlie (Gaius Charles), limps behind him to keep up as Negan hears a familiar whistle from amongst the cars and turns to see Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) emerge from them. They look at each other for a moment before Negan runs over to hug her, though shortly after wants to know why she is there. From behind them Maggie catches up, calling Ginny’s name. Negan asks if Maggie knew she was there, but she tells him that Ginny had turned up at the arena just before the walkers came. He turns his attention back to her, telling her that she can’t be there. Maggie explains that Ginny just wants to be with him, so he tells Ginny that she has to go and he can’t look after her while he helps Maggie. He tells her the deal was to help find Hershel, so Maggie’s people would take Ginny in. Perlie speaks up, offering to take her back and tells Negan to finish what he and Maggie started. Ginny makes her feelings on this known when she reaches forward to wrap her arms around him. Negan forcefully explains that she has to go and that Perlie will keep her safe as he is a good person but that he, himself, is not the man she thinks. Ginny steps back, looking up at him and, for the first time ever, he hears her voice as she tries to tell him she wants to stay with him. He cuts her off, annoyed that she has waited all these months together to finally talk to him at this moment as they have to say goodbye. She hugs him again, so with a pained confession given to keep her alive, he admits to being her fathers killer, though neglecting to tell her the truth about why he had killed him. A look of shock flicks across Maggie’s face but the devastation in Ginny’s is one he had clearly hoped never to see. To get her to go he tells Ginny that she was just a debt he felt he had to pay to a man he had killed and that she was nothing more. Ginny steps back and runs to Perlie who leads her away, leaving a heartbroken Negan in the wake of his own words. Maggie watches him, her face full for the first time, with an empathy she had been trying to avoid and then the two of them move on to continue their mission.

Back on the shore Perlie pulls the raft he and Ginny had used to cross up onto land and turns to her, telling her they need to go. She lingers for a moment, lost in silent thought as the sun begins to rise and then turns to follow Perlie.

Negan and Maggie stand at the window overlooking the arena, but her attention drifts over to Negan. She can’t help but feel sorry for him knowing the story behind why he had killed Ginny’s dad and the other men from New Babylon after attacking his wife. She tells him he should get some rest, but he declines, opting instead to keep a second set of eyes on the arena. She asks him if their plan will work, to which he tells her that The Croat (Željko Ivanek) was surprisingly happy to have seen him and had told him it was water under the bridge. Negan gives a grin and, whether he believes it or not, tells her that with their history and the brotherhood that The Croat still seems to think they have he is sure they can work something out. Referencing a conversation Negan had started with her in the first episode, Maggie tells Negan her own story of wanting to visit Manhattan. When she was young and her mother was sick she would tell a young Maggie that Santa would sometimes come down from the North Pole and visit the Macy’s store. She’d dream about meeting him one day, becoming his best friend and that he’d fix or replace all of her lost or broken toys. She touches her finger to the glass in the window and breathes out the words “and there it is.” Down in the street the empty store stands with windows smashed onto the street, shrubbery overgrowing and well over a decade of dirt and grime covering the entirety of the building. While lost in the moment, a car moves fast in front of the store shaking a teary eyed Maggie from her thoughts and they both grab their belongings and rush to the rooftop.

As they move through the street Maggie has a look on her face as she watches Negan, steeling herself for whatever it is that she has planned. Eventually they find themselves at the building where Maggie had watched smoke rise to the sky twice a day everyday since before she found Negan. He remarks about how the smoke really was coming from a building and wasn’t just a random fire and seems to sense that something is off. He asks her what she thinks Ginny was trying to tell him when she got out of the sewers and Maggie stumbles over half an answer saying that maybe she knew he would be mad that she was there and wanted to explain herself. The two of them stop at the top of a stairwell, Negan watching Maggie. However, she awkwardly tries to avoid his gaze. When she eventually looks at him the guilt is written all over her face and a split second later she pulls out a knife, realizing he’s figured out that she has set him up. He begins to fight her off, knocking blades from her hands and pushing her to the ground before running away. He makes it through double doors and out onto a ledge, but doubles back slightly to kill three walkers that Maggie would have walked headlong into, before he steps over the ledge of the balcony and begins walking across beams with her now following after him. As they find themselves squared off against each other in the middle of the beams with walkers below, he tells her that they don’t need to do this. Regardless, she attempts to lunge at him with her knife, eventually falling to the edges of the beams. He waits for her to pull herself black up and shouts for her to stop before she takes another chance and manages to get the knife into his shoulder this time. He kicks her over the edge onto boxes below as he pulls the knife out of his chest before jumping onto the boxes with her. She tries to pull her other knife on him, but he blocks her and uses the one he had pulled from himself to hold against her throat, telling her to drop it. When she does he steps back from her and eventually throws the other knife to the ground. He relays what he believes happened – that The Croat had arrived and took Hershel, not grain, or he be coming back for their next harvest. It was all for the purpose of making Maggie trade Negan to get him back. He says whatever it is that The Croat wants him for it obviously won’t be good, but the shame is that their plan would have worked and they could have gotten him. He tells her that they make a good team and that is exactly why she is willing to trade him, as she was never going to forgive him and probably always wanted it to end this way. He says no amount of apologies from him is ever going to help her forget and, after a long pause, he tells her that she shouldn’t. This causes Maggie to look up at him. These aren’t the words she expected to hear and she is shaken by the internal struggle her conscience has been trying to keep at bay and is now flooding her with self doubt.

Behind them The Croat walks out on the balcony with his men all covered by bike helmets with blades on. Maggie, having reached for one of the blades from the floor, now holds it in place against Negan’s throat. The Croat smiles as he looks down on the two of them.

Perlie drops Ginny back off at the gates of Maggie’s community now located within a walled community they call The Bricks. Ginny climbs out and makes her way to the gate, but Perlie, noticing she has left Negan’s shirt in the back of his car, grabs it and calls out to her while holding it in the air. She turns to look at him but seeing the shirt she faces away and keeps walking.

Sat in the back of the ambulance that The Croat uses for transporting prisoners, Maggie keeps her knife to Negan’s throat. The Croat tells them that he had spent months trying to find him and talks of how run down and sad The Sanctuary was after all these years since he was last there. He goes on to tell them that he ran into another character from their past, Jerome, who told The Croat about the war between all of the communities against Negan’s own The Saviors. What he had found most interesting was the part about Maggie, who back then they called “The Widow” after Negan had beaten her husband to death with a baseball bat. He knew that she was strong and smart and she would be able to find him. So, through using her son as a bargaining chip it would be the push he needed to give her and she would also have her own incentives to get the job done. He says that when he saw Negan alone above the stadium he thought he would get to have Negan and to keep the child, causing a look of panic and anger to cross Maggie’s face. However, The Croat tells her it’s ok and brushes it off as a passing thought, nodding towards Negan and saying “he’s enough.” They reach their destination, an old bank where they appear to be using the vault as cells. As The Croat and his men enter they leave Maggie alone with Negan, still holding a knife to his throat. He turns to her, seeing the turmoil in Maggie’s face, and asks her for one thing – just to look after Ginny. Ahead of her she sees The Croat again but her gaze immediately falls onto her son Hershel (Logan Kim) standing just beyond him. He goes to mouth the word mom but stops, his expression changing slightly when he sees his mother holding a knife to Negan’s throat. She asks how they make the exchange and The Croat says they both want the same thing. Maggie looks distraught as she wrestles with the reality of genuinely having to give Negan over and seeing her distress he raises his hand to hers and lowers the knife for her, choosing to make the exchange himself, as though to help alleviate some of the guilt she was feeling. As he steps forward The Croat gestures for Hershel to go to his mother and as Negan passes by him he tells Hershel it’s good to see him. Negan, now beyond him, gives one last lingering look at her before they round the corner and Maggie moves to Hershel and puts her arms around him.

On his way back to New Babylon Perlie is now in the throes of his own moral dilemma as he is not the same marshal that he was before he made his way across the water to Manhattan. He stares at the swinging bodies of rule breakers now reanimated. They are never-ending reminders of punishment given in the name of people who are free to commit crimes worse than those that swing ever could. A look of shame and resentment on his face, he begins to drive again back to his community – the New Babylon.

Inside a room surrounded by his community’s leaders Perlie tells a tale of how he had pinned Negan against a wall with a weapon on him and after a struggle was forced to shoot and kill the man. The men in the room cheer, happy to hear the news, but a lady who appears to be in charge quiets them and asks him to finish. He tells her there’s not much more to tell as his car was in the same place so he took his boat back and came home. She says it’s a shame he killed Negan as it would have been good to put him on display and send a message. She offers him a cigar, to which he declines. She begins to inquire after his three girls, naming them individually, and claiming to have looked after them in his absence. She shares that she should visit his house to tell them of their dad’s heroics, but her tone is almost threatening as she continues on. She continues by telling him how hard he works to protect their politics. Pausing, she turns and passes him a cigar again, but this time feeling as though he has no choice he takes it. She goes on to explain the process involved in making the cigars, how hot the leaves have to be in order to cure them. She says that ethanol comes from corn, which takes thousands of acres of land. Therefore, she wants him to tell his story again, but this time to tell her about the methane.

Back in her car and finally free from the island, Maggie tries to talk to Hershel, but he shuts her down, saying he is fine and that all they do back at home is to wait for the next bad thing. Her face drops when he says that if anything he felt safer on the island. She is shocked and doesn’t know how to respond, finally settling on telling him he should eat, but he isn’t hungry. They argue for a moment before he finally agrees, but when he goes into her bag he pulls the NYC baseball cap. He guesses it was for him and she stumbles over trying to tell him it was a gift, to which he sarcastically thanks her for giving him a souvenir from being kidnapped. She says it’s like the one he used to wear, but after receiving no response she tells him to do what he wants with it. He continues looking away from her, out of the window, as she begins to tell him what it means to have him back. Unfortunately, he doesn’t believe her, saying she cares more about revenge on Negan. She tries to understand what he is saying, but he tells her that his whole life she has been looking over his shoulder without actually seeing him. With that he says it doesn’t matter, casting the baseball cap over his shoulder and brushing his hand over his face. Maggie is broken and exhausted, sitting in the silence between them and realizing in that moment that he is right. She looks up at the crumbling remnants of the once proud Statue Of Liberty that Negn had spent his youth dreaming of visiting before starting the car and heading for home.

Inside an armored van The Croat talks to Negan, reminiscing about their visits to Occeanside, one of the communities that eventually went on to join the war against Negan and his people The Saviors. He talks of how peaceful the first visit was, but that during the second when they refused to provide for The Saviors he took out his famous baseball bat, Lucile, to send a message. The Croat fondly remembers that although he was new at the time, broken, Negan handed the bat to him as he knew what The Croat could become. He reminds Negan how the first time he completely missed the man’s head, but then on the second attempt hit him way too hard, leaving him barely breathing. He smiles as he continues the story stating that Negan was patient with him as he showed him how to do it right, leaving the man’s head as nothing more than a puddle on the ground. Negan momentarily closes his eyes, not wanting to remember this, but The Croat continues on saying that he saw exactly what Negan had told him he would… complete and total submission. He begins to tear up as he says that he realized no one could ever take anything from them again and asks if Negan remembers. He tells him that he does and a lump catches in The Croat’s voice when he states that the experience was beautiful. Negan slowly responds that it was. The Croat tells him that it took him years to understand what he had done wrong, that he shouldn’t have killed the girl or disobeyed him and understood that he became the threat that had to be handled. Then, he makes sure to say that it will never happen again.

It’s night time back at The Bricks as Maggie looks in on a sleeping Ginny, placing her dinosaur teddy beside her on the bed. She then goes to Hershel’s room, knocks before entering and moves into the room taking a seat upon his bed as he draws in the corner. She tells her son that she has been thinking about what he said and goes on to explain how for years the world had kept taking from her and she hoped if she fought hard enough that she could get some of it back. She acknowledges the lesson, that the world doesn’t work that way and you end up losing what you have, which she doesn’t want to do anymore. She tells him that she doesn’t know how, but she has to finish this thing with Negan so that she can finally let it go. The candlelight from his desk dances on the young man’s face as he nods at his mother, understanding her choice. She smiles back at him in a quiet moment of respect between the two that shows him that his mother has finally begun to see him and to hear his words.

The Croat walks Negan into the theater as two dozen men or so sleep in the comfortable seating at the front of the stage. He tells Negan that the clashes with the tribe, as he calls them, were just practice for the war that will inevitably be to come. When they seize control of the island The Dama has told him that a clash of civilisations will be inevitable. The Croat had put Negan’s name forward, telling her about all the people he had saved, genuinely believing his words to be true. Turning to Negan, he points a finger to his chest, telling him that she believes Negan to be the missing piece. They walk through the corridors beyond the stage until they reach The Dama’s room. Before he knocks on the door he tells Negan that he never expected to find another home with someone and becomes excited when she says he can’t wait for Negan to meet her, comparing them to “Mommy and Daddy.”

When they enter the room The Croat attempts to introduce Negan to The Dama (Lisa Emery), but she cuts him short ensuring he knows he is not welcome in the meeting when he tries to awkwardly suggest they begin the meeting. She coldly thanks him for the introduction, but reiterates that she wants to talk to their “guest” alone. The Croat sadly bows his head, repeating “of course” as he exits the room, leaving the two of them together. The Dama calls him a sponge when the door has closed behind himand then turns her attention to Negan telling him to sit. He responds that he will remain standing as he has a cramp in his leg, not wanting to get penned in. Ignoring his obvious lie, she tells him brandy is good for cramps and moves across the room to pour them both some. He tells her he is more of a gin man. She turns to face him, telling him it’s a delight to finally meet him and that she’s happy he actually exists and isn’t just the product of The Croats psychosis. She goes on to speak complimentary about his actions at the bank, describing it almost as though it were a performance piece and Negan was its charismatic star. She says bravo after approving of his “extra, but absolutely necessary pinch of gruesomeness.” She then offers him the second glass of brandy, an offended look moves over her face when he repeats that he told her he is a gin man. She moves to grab a small object from a purse behind her, the marshals badge that The Croat had taken from Perlie. Negan mocks her for being afraid of the police. She isn’t concerned with them; however, it is the people who lead the marshals community. She explains that people like them will always come for a natural resource. Her suspicions were correct as earlier that day in New Babylon Perlie had been asked about the methane. She wants him to lead the island as she needs someone fearless and charismatic, with political talent, that she likens again to performance. Negan gently laughs before taking a seat, crossing his legs and asks why he would help her. Her eyes light up as she tells him that there are communities as far north as Harlem and if they were to be united, they would be unstoppable, telling him that they can all be his and showing him a set of keys. She stands moving these towards him and says they are the keys to the kingdom, but as he chuckles and reaches for them, she snatches them back. She asks him how she can be sure about him, that maybe he isn’t the man he used to be, or never was, to which he grins and repeats the word maybe. The Dama swings the keys around, until she has the smallest one in her fingers and offers the set to him, by that individual key. She then brings a small ornate box and taps for him to place the key into the lock. He considers this, twisting the key in his hand, a knowing look on his face that he will not like the contents, but he leans forward, places the key into it and opens the box anyway, exposing a toe inside. Trying to conceal his shock, he asks what it is and with a look of joy, The Dama tells him, she and her “former guest,’ Hershel, had many talks in his time there. As she talks to Negan, across the waters and the land on the other side of it, Hershel sits with his bare foot up, minus a toe, as he plays guitar by himself. Her voice carries over, that Hershel spoke of a man that killed his father in front of his mother, while she was pregnant with him and says she realised while he told the story that Negan felt remorse and responsibility for him, as the destroyer of his family. Over in The Bricks again, Maggie finds drawings under Hershels bed of the stages of being kidnapped, the city of New York with a sunken boat, the inside of the bank vault and a woman with a dark smile that she had never seen before. The Dama continues to tell Negan that the story came out as Hershel had begun to feel safe with her and here Negan is, having come all this way to save him. She says that though she let him go in exchange for Negan, she kept a little piece of him. At this point her creepy smile fades and her face darkens as she tells him she can always go back for more. The tension in that moment builds as he realises the deal he has no choice but to make and the dreadful consequences that saying no would bring. At the same time, miles away at The Bricks, Maggie realises there was more to the story than she had thought, more players involved and possibly a much darker reason for her son having been taken.

The two of their faces merge, side by side with the same resolute expression… This, isn’t over.