The Walking Dead: Dead City S01E04 Review: What’s Past Is Prologue

Posted in: AMC, Review, TV, Walking Dead | Tagged: amc, dead city, Episode 4, Review, Season 1, The Walking Dead

The past is a very deadly prologue in this week’s episode of AMC’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan & Lauren Cohan-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Heading into the second half of what we’re assuming will be the first season of AMC’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) & Lauren Cohan (Maggie Rhee)-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City, we’ve got a lot of very fragile plates spinning at the same time. The growing animosity between Negan and Luther (Michael Anthony) came to a head – with Luther coming out on the losing end in a very big way. Meanwhile, Maggie found herself at a moral crossroads between doing what’s right and doing what she needs to do to get her son back – with Mahina Napoleon‘s Ginny more than curious about what Maggie’s up to with her stuffed dinosaur. And then there’s The Croat’s (Željko Ivanek) revelation that he and Armstrong (Gaius Charles) have a common enemy – guess who? That’s where things stand heading into this weekend’s S01E04 “Everybody Wins a Prize” (directed by Kevin Dowling and written by Eli Jorné), as Maggie, Negan, and their new allies prepare for an assault on The Croat’s compound – all while Armstrong and Ginny have some interesting interactions in their respective journeys. With that in mind, I’m throwing on the “MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!” sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer before jumping head-first into our look at how things stand at the spinoff series’ midpoint. And with two episodes remaining, things couldn’t be better (maybe not so much for Maggie and Negan, though).

The Walking Dead: Dead City S01E04 “Everybody Wins a Prize” Thoughts

Once again, we were treated to a hard & fast episode that didn’t feel padded out, giving us the essentials that we needs at this point in the story – and then some. Like that opening flashback, where Morgan and the guest-starring Steven Ogg (Simon) hit us with some serious “timey-wimey” vibes with a chemistry that hasn’t missed a beat. Just the fact that Simon (not exactly the kindest person in the Saviors) and Negan were on the same page about him speaks volumes about just how twisted The Croat is. And the look on present-day Negan’s face was the punctuating mark on all of that.

In the following scene, Maggie & Negan share a rare moment where they open up to each other. Serious props to both Cohan and Morgan for slowly evolving the relationship dynamic between the two – that “two steps forward, one step back” approach. These little slices of vulnerability in a world where that’s just as dangerous as ever. What makes this scene even more impactful is that we don’t know how to read Maggie’s face when Luther being MIA is brought up – and what about the dinosaur?

It doesn’t matter which series in the franchise that we’re talking about, “The Walking Dead” universe’s effects team has never ceased at being excellent at delivering some seriously creepy “dark & closed-quarters” moments – with the sewer scene yet another example of that.

There are about a dozen “New York Comic Con” jokes I want to make about that overhead shot of the walkers, but I’ll refrain.

I know I’m going to sound like a broken record, but Cohan’s ability to convey how seconds could feel like hours of dread with just her facial expressions is another reason why it’s great to have her back in the franchise. And then, seeing Maggie using what she found in Negan’s bag as a reason to not tell him the truth about whatever happened with the stuffed dinosaur brought us right back to that foundational rage that still divides them.

Ivanek does an amazing job of coming across as such a loving mentor that you almost (almost) forget that he’s a raging psychopath with serious delusions of grandeur – and that’s what makes Ivanek so amazing here. He shows us the kindness beneath the surface, but it’s a false “kindness” that makes his cruelty even more disturbing.

Maggie behind the wheel of that cab was pretty cool, btw – but it’s clear that Ginny wants nothing to do with her. Hmmm…

Well, it’s not like we didn’t suspect that The Croat would have an escape plan. And Madison Square Garden is scary enough when living people come crowding in for a concert (or another place for a great New York Comic Con joke). Once again, another great TWD “How will they get out of this?” moment that you know is going to require them to take flight. Meanwhile, we’re getting an effective slow-build to a face-off between Negan and The Croat – as it should be…

Serious props to Dowling and the DoP for the way they blended the stealth cat-and-mouse between Negan and The Croat & his men with the full-on, brutal smackdown that Maggie, Ginny, and the other finds themselves in. And whoever thought of using the octagon side pads to defend from walkers deserves serious bonus points.

Negan answering that Lucille was “gone” hit on so many levels – and that’s exactly what The Croat was trying to do. That said, I’m fascinated by The Croat’s willingness to let the waters flow under the bridge when it comes to Negan attempting to assassinate him. And that makes him even more disturbing because it shows an insane level of commitment to his cause. Having Armstrong be in the middle of a literal tug-o-war between The Croat and Negan was an intensely brutal metaphor for Negan’s moral conflicts and the decisions that he makes. And we’re learning more and more that Armstrong can take some serious pain – and that Negan now wishes he had let him fall (okay, probably not really…). Meanwhile, the episode ends as Maggie and the others escape through the sewers… as it appears the real “Big Bad” in all of this is about to make her presence known.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 1 Episode 4 “Everybody Wins a Prize”

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Review by Ray Flook

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9/10

Heading into the second half of what we’re assuming will be the first season of AMC’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) & Lauren Cohan (Maggie Rhee)-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City, we’ve got a lot of very fragile plates spinning at the same time. The growing animosity between Negan and Luther (Michael Anthony) came to a head – with Luther coming out on the losing end in a very big way. Meanwhile, Maggie found herself at a moral crossroads between doing what’s right and doing what she needs to do to get her son back – with Mahina Napoleon’s Ginny more than curious about what Maggie’s up to with her stuffed dinosaur. And then there’s The Croat’s (Željko Ivanek) revelation that he and Armstrong (Gaius Charles) have a common enemy – guess who? That’s where things stand heading into this weekend’s S01E04 “Everybody Wins a Prize” (directed by Kevin Dowling and written by Eli Jorné), as Maggie, Negan, and their new allies prepare for an assault on The Croat’s compound – all while Armstrong and Ginny have some interesting interactions in their respective journeys. With that in mind, I’m throwing on the “MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!” sign before jumping head-first into our look at how things stand at the spinoff series’ midpoint. And with two episodes remaining, things couldn’t be better (maybe not so much for Maggie and Negan, though).

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