Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) may not have many friends in the apocalypse, but he’s about to make a new one in the upcoming second episode ofThe Walking Dead: Dead City. Collider can exclusively reveal a new clip that sees him and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) confronting the old woman they encountered near the end of Episode 1 and “trading” with her. The unlikely duo is also looking for any information they can get as they look to get closer to The Croat who has taken her son Hershel (Logan Kim).
The clip opens with Maggie reclaiming what the woman stole from her while Negan is content to leave what little was left behind with her. Appreciative of his gesture, she offers a trade of sorts with him - a cooked pigeon in exchange for what he “gave” her. He obliges and even quite likes the meal, but when Maggie reminds him ofthe urgent matters at hand, he gets right down to business. He asks the woman if she can guide them to a smoking building in the distance. Although he can’t fully understand her, context clues indicate that she wouldn’t dare go there, leaving the two on their own.
The Walking Dead: Dead Cityis the first of several spinoffs set in the aftermath ofThe Walking Dead’s series finale. It revisitsthe complicated dynamic between Maggie and Neganas they’re forced to work together ina strange new placefor the franchise -Manhattan. In their trek through city streets and highrises, they encounter native New Yorkers,twisted new walkers, and a killer on the loose that make their problems all the more dire. Maggie, in particular, is in a race against time as she tries to find and save her son, doing anything needed in order to bring him back.
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AlthoughDead Citystill contains plenty of Walkers, what makes it stand out is the focus onNegan and Maggie’s rocky past. They’re still far from friends, especially after Negan murdered Maggie’s husband Glenn (Steven Yeun) in cold blood. It doesn’t help that Negan may be straying from the path of redemption, once again becoming the man Maggie came to despise. In an interview with Collider’s ownChristina Raddish, series showrunnerEli Jornéand co-creator and chief content officer of the franchiseScott M. Gimpleemphasized how their conflict,combined with the oppressive new setting, was their focus to bring a very human story to the forefront. Jorné explains how the goal was to make the real-life challenges of the series leads compelling even without walkers in the picture:
“To me, all the challenges that seem like they would be there between these characters in real life are the things that excite me, as a writer. Even if you strip away all the walkers and the apocalypse, even then, there’s a compelling story there. How do you work with and cooperate with, and how do you trust, if you have to work with the person who murdered the person you loved most in this life? And vice versa for Negan, how do you work with the person whose husband you murdered? Right away, to me, I was excited to get messy with that unfinished business.”
In addition to Morgan and Cohan,Dead Cityalso featuresGaius Charleswho plays the villainous New Babylon marshal Perlie Armstrong who’s hunting down Negan. Also aboard the series areJonathan Higginbotham,Mahina Napoleon,Trey Santiago-Hudson,Charlie Solis, andZeljko Ivanekamong others.
The Walking Dead: Dead CityEpisode 2 premieres on Sunday, June 25 at its usual 9 p.m. ET time slot on AMC. Check out the exclusive clip below:
