The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2, Episode 3 Review – I Finally Understand The Heartbreaking Reason Hershel & Maggie Are Not In A Good Place

Warning! This review contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 3.The new episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 is my least favorite so far, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad. Last week, season 2’s second episode featured a lot of action, and we got to see walkers being used like never before, becoming cannonballs that would explode New Babylon’s ferry. Due to Negan sparing Hershel and others, the Dama mercilessly slashed Victor’s throat. In the first episode, we got a glimpse at the old Negan, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character putting on a show to unite New York City’s factions.

Those events led to a solid start to the season, but episode 3 doesn’t manage to get up there with them in terms of action and shocking moments. We get a slower entry this week, and the pacing does drag at certain points throughout the hour. That said, there are still a few entertaining moments, and I enjoyed a particular sequence with walkers in Central Park. The episode was a character study of Hershel, allowing us to understand what’s going on with Logan Kim’s young survivor.

Dead City Season 2 Uses One Of New York City’s Most Iconic Locations

The Series Understands What Its Setting Offers

Before we get into the Hershel of it all, I have to talk about my favorite sequence of the episode. The coolest part of getting to explore New York City in Dead City is seeing how iconic landmarks have been completely changed by the zombie apocalypse. In episode 3, the remaining survivors of the New Babylon Federation have to go through Central Park in an effort to reach a secure boathouse and stay away from the Croat’s men. That leads to trouble.

…The concept instantly reminded me of the scene with the velociraptors in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

As expected, the park’s vegetation has overgrown. Adding to it, Central Park is crawling with walkers, and that leads to a tense sequence where the survivors have to make their way through tall grass with walkers completely surrounding them. The concept instantly reminded me of the scene with the velociraptors in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. I don’t know if the show intended to do it as a homage to the popular franchise, but I felt the sequence with the walkers slowly picking off the group, a member at a time, was similarly tense.

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Another interesting part of the episode was the group that’s been living in Central Park for a long time. I thought there was a lot of potential there, but instead of going for a wilder approach to what the group could represent, Dead City opted to make them a calmer group of characters who have a naturalistic approach to life. Sadly, while I thought there was going to be some excitement related to the group’s inclusion, I was bored by most of their scenes.

Hershel’s Relationship With The Dama Is Revealed Through Flashbacks

Maggie & Negan’s Reunion Comes Closer After A Key Moment

What Dead City season 2, episode 3, does incredibly well is make us finally understand where Hershel’s head is at. Sure, the series does so with slow pacing that drags down the episode in comparison to others, but I feel like the message delivered here is significant enough that it warrants this pit stop nearly halfway through season 2. We knew Hershel spent time with the Dama before Maggie was able to get him back. The show also made it clear that Lauren Cohan’s character and her son were not in a great spot.

Maggie’s obsession with Negan is so great that it leaves little room for her son’s feelings.

I enjoyed the explanation of why that’s happening. Negan killing Steven Yeun’s Glenn is one of the most memorable moments in The Walking Dead. It was so brutal that Maggie will never be able to forget it. Even though Negan has proved himself to be on the path of redemption many times, she can never let it go, which I understand. I found it interesting how Dead City season 2 brought a new twist to that situation through Hershel. Maggie’s obsession with Negan is so great that it leaves little room for her son’s feelings.

Hershel found out that Ginny brought a gun to New York, so her plan is no longer a secret.

At least that’s how he feels. In episode 3’s flashbacks, we discover how the Dama bonded with Hershel while he was her captive. She spoke to the artist inside of him and saw Hershel for who he was. Since Maggie had been neglecting her son in a way due to her Negan obsession, Hershel felt seen like never before by the Dama. His feelings were proven when Maggie instantly focused on Negan when Hershel told her he had saved him, and I’m interested to know just how much of the Dama’s bidding Hershel is doing behind Maggie’s back.

After all, the flashbacks end with the Dama telling Hershel that there may be some things that he will have to do when he goes home. Hershel being a double agent for the Dama, as the episode seems to hint at, would be a major development for season 2. With Negan saving Hershel and Maggie knowing about it, we also inch closer to their onscreen reunion, and I can’t wait to see what comes of it.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 episodes air on AMC and AMC+ weekly every Sunday.