Season 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City premiered on May 4th of this year. As of this write-up, the first six episodes are now available to watch on AMC & AMC+ with the final episode premiering on June 22. The season stars Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dead Morgan, Caius Charles, Željko Ivanek, Mahina Napoleon, Lisa Emery, Logan Kim, Dascha Polanco, and Keir Gilchrist. In this season, Maggie and Negan find themselves embroiled in a war for control of a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, with each on opposing sides.
My relationship with The Walking Dead has been interesting over the years. The series has certainly gone through its highs and lows, and at this point, I am just sticking it out since I like to complete everything. Based off the first episode I saw, I reached out to AMC to see if it was possible to watch and review the rest of the season early since I did like the direction of the first episode. I was initially given access to the first six out of the eight episodes, so I initially started reviewing each episode individually. That was until the rest of the season magically showed up in my account. Out of curiosity, I watched the rest of the season. After how the finale ended, I am deciding to review the whole season instead of each individual episode. The show is mostly strong, but that finale… phew.
One of the reasons I like the direction of this spinoff compared to the rest is that it feels like its working towards something. It feels like there is an endgame in plan. Some writing decisions require disbelief. Between the dialogue and the high stakes though, it feels like this is the spinoff to watch. It felt like it also wasn’t just banking on two legacy characters between Maggie & Negan as most of the season has the two separated. I think fans of the show will likely agree with how these two characters operate and never skip a beat. Maggie carries an emotional presence that brings humanity to the show, while Negan struggles with not going back to his villainous ways.
Having the two characters separated is what really makes this season work. The two joining forces, or whenever they are together, is really when you have to suspend disbelief. It has been near a decade since Negan took Maggie’s husband, Glen. Seeing that banter going back and forth with them at odds is getting old. This season has some of that, but it’s nowhere near as unbearable as the first season. By having the two back at odds as they attempt to work towards a better future keeps the momentum going.
Perhaps my favorite component of this season is how it leans into the dialogue and drama. The dialogue reminds me a lot of the early days of The Walking Dead. It creates tension and adds more to the storytelling that keeps the show interesting. The drama also provides plenty of twists and turns through, but it can also feel a little undervalued at times when those twist and turns end up becoming undone.
The stakes this season carries reminded me a lot of the early days of Fear the Walking Dead where anything could happen. It works until it doesn’t in the finale. One twist I really liked involving a character halfway through adds another twist towards the end that just doesn’t work. The finale also diminishes the quality of this season. You can feel where the show wants to move forward, but is held back by other demands. I genuinely thought the show was going to go through one decision that would have changed the landscape of the show going forward. Instead, they played it safe like usual these days. At this point, Glenn would be rolling in his grave by the decisions being made today. It lowkey feels disrespectful.
By playing it safe, there are moments throughout where characters make decisions that are unbelievable than a horde of zombies. Negan’s arc shows just how manipulated he can be to be a villain again. Just when he has an out, he shuts it down. Why? Who knows. To keep the show going? Probably. That’s the season’s biggest issue is that it creates drama to keep it going. It doesn’t really always know how to resolve it so it results in characters making decisions that are out of character. Even though I do like this season, the repetitiveness does make me wish they wrapped this show up with The Ones Who Live. Better yet, those six episodes could have been a good prologue until a final six episodes to wrap up the main show.
As for a few other issues I had with the season were the effects. It’s clear whenever certain scenes are using soundstages instead of authentic locations. With these season reminding me of the strongest seasons in the franchise, I wish there was more consistency to get that part done. The CGI can also be a little overdone, which may require disbelief when the job does a good job at executing the drama and the realism.
Overall, Season 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City offers a lot of strengths that makes it one of the better spinoff’s lately, but it still doesn’t feel like enough. The season shows promise of wanting to raise the stakes with plot twists only to undermine them by keep things safe. Based on where this season ends, I can only hope the show works on their weaknesses. The concept & planning are both there. The execution just needs more work.
VERDICT: 3/5 (Good)
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