‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Season 2 Episode 2 review: “Another Shitty Lesson”

After the solid premiere of the second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City, this week’s episode blasts out of the cannon (literally) and gets the story moving in an intense way. There are some quiet and thoughtful character moments, a devastating loss for Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and one of the most abstract and strange sequences in The Walking Dead universe. And with an episode title like “Another Shitty Lesson,” this might be one of the best episodes of the series.

We meet up with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) in The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Episode 2, who are in the convoy with the rest of the New Babylon group on their way to Manhattan. Maggie is butting heads with the New Babylon leaders while unable to get Ginny to listen to her. And if it couldn’t get any worse, Hershel shows up and reveals that he tracked them down and has no plans of going home. Maggie decides enough is enough and gets her and Hershel locked up below deck in the boat that New Babylon is using to get to Manhattan.

Negan sits alone and and deals with the difficulty of reverting to his old ways. He has a soft moment with Victor, the one person Negan could talk to while in captivity. Victor told him the story of his childhood and how he learned to play the violin. But the moment is short-lived as the Croat comes for Negan, getting him ready for the impending arrival of the New Babylon crew. After more threats by the Dama, Negan and the Croats set up a hilariously intricate defense system atop a building that overlooks the harbor. This system includes both methane-filled bombs floating in the harbor that the boat hits and a cannon that fires methane-filled walkers through the air at the boat.

As Negan commands the attack on the boat, he’s conflicted when he notices Hershel among the passengers and delays the next attack. The Croat notices this move, which leads to a brutal scene. The Dama calls the Croat and Negan to the church; to Negan’s surprise, Victor is also there. The Dama asks him to play his violin. Negan soon realizes what’s happening, and by the time he tries to stop it, the Dama slits Victor’s throat in front of him. The New Babylon group, who survived the boat attack and made it to shore, regrouped and began their trek into Central Park.

Negan suffers a significant blow in The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Episode 2.

Two truly brilliant elements of this episode made it feel much better than anything before it. The first is the character moments, mainly the ones involving Victor. Victor was the only light left for Negan to cling to in captivity. He plays his violin and tells Negan stories to keep him sane during this dark time.

Negan feels clear conflict and regret as he succumbs to his old ways. The Croat sees this relationship and immediately sees how to hurt Negan the most by taking away his hope. Regardless of your feelings for Negan, Victor allowed Negan to grow.

The other notable aspect of this episode was the creative choice of a defense system that the Croat and Negan concocted. Last season,  the Croats were disgusting by using dead bodies to harness the methane in their bodies as both a drug and a power source. This season, the walkers are can be explosives and missiles. I know to some, this seems silly and doesn’t fit the overall tone of the series. Still, I think it perfectly fits the direction these spinoff shows have taken, and I love them embracing their imagination in this post-apocalyptic wasteland.

With some great Negan moments, an unfortunate death, and a wild game of battleship with walker missiles, The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Episode 2 ups the excitement while leaving us hopeful for where the season is headed. Maggie is on a mission to keep her son and Ginny safe. Negan is regretfully becoming the version he thought was dead. And most importantly, the two are on a collision course yet again. But this time, they have all the other enemies in the city to deal with.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Episode 2 is now on AMC.

Images courtesy of AMC. 

Tyler Carlsen

From a young age, Tyler has been amazed by filmmaking and writing. When he’s not watching movies in theaters, he also enjoys playing video games and binging one of the numerous shows he’s watching at any given moment. Working with The Young Folks was a highlight of his writing career and he is looking forward to this new adventure with In Between Drafts!