The Walking Dead: Dead City Review - New York Same Mistakes

The Walking Dead: Dead City Review - New York, Same Mistakes https://ift.tt/bs3WYfo

The Walking Dead is over, after 11 seasons and more than 100 episodes. That's old news, of course. But in its place, AMC is expanding what it calls The Walking Dead Universe (TWDU), following a Marvel-like roadmap of interlinked storylines and characters so that those who are in for a penny may be in for a pound. But as the first of these post-mainline projects, Dead City makes some of the same mistakes the main show committed too often. What could've been an interesting coda for Maggie and Negan is instead an overt ploy to keep TWD fans subscribed to AMC's subscription service.

Cynically, one could argue all content is just that. My favorite Onion article says as much. But some artistic enterprises hide it better than others. As a six-episode first season, my hope was Dead City would serve as a way to hone in on two characters I still find very compelling. But the season meanders between its first and last episodes--a TWD staple--spending too much time on characters we only just met and who feel inauthentic and unnteresting. I ought not slight the endeavor for not serving as an epilogue. I should critique what it is, not what I want it to be. But even as the first chapter of what is clearly designed to go on longer, it just doesn't work, despite some occasional moments that pull on my deep appreciation for its main duo.

In Dead City, a few years have passed since the mainline finale. Maggie has tracked down Negan to the outskirts of Manhattan after a former disciple of his nicknamed The Croat--who is retconned to have left Sanctuary before the events of The Walking Dead--has kidnapped Hershel using similar methods that Negan used to employ when the Saviors were bullying everyone just south of the Mason-Dixon Line. To Maggie, Negan's familiarity with the villain and his undeniable craftiness make him a necessary accomplice in her trek to save her son. For Negan, Maggie offers his new ward, a voluntarily mute young girl named Ginny, a safe haven at The Bricks, which is basically Hilltop North.

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