The Walking Dead: Dead City's second season opener shows continued tension between Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and her son Hershel (Logan Kim). The final episodes of season 1 revealed Hershel's true feelings towards his mother which compounded the already tense relationship. In AMC's recent preview for ep. 202, Maggie locates a signal fire and close by in her son, who was supposed to remain at the brick. Did he set the fire?
Dead City season 2, episode 2, "Another Shit Lesson" was directed by Michael Satrazemis and written by Zoe Vitale. The first look photos for this episode show Maggie with members of New Babylon who forced her to side with them in the upcoming battle for Manhattan. The clip below shows Maggie investigating a tire fire on the water's edge that she believes is a signal fire, and much to her surprise, Hershel, who was to remain at the Bricks, followed her.
Things are slowly building inside Hershel. The actor, Logan Kim, previously teased that his character will take a dark turn this season. In season 1, he was abducted by the Croat (Željko Ivanek), a former member of Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) Saviors, and left in the presence of the Dama (Lisa Emery), a powerful woman in Manhattan.
Not only was Hershel abducted, but the Dama had his pinky toe cut off as a reminder of what she is capable of doing. She also uses this to convince Negan, who cares for the boy, to come alongside her to take control of the island. No other details about Hershel's interactions with the woman were given, but she profoundly affected the boy so much that he drew her likeness, which he keeps among his possessions.
He appears to have developed a strange bond with the woman and told Maggie he felt safer in NYC. It is quite evident that he longs to return to Manhattan, but why?
The fire featured in the preview was obviously started by someone, and Maggie noticed the strip of fabric used to ignite it. With Hershel popping out of nowhere so close to the fire, could it be that he set the signal fire? Perhaps the Dama told him if he ever needed her to do just that.
The official trailer for the season shows that Hershel does arrive in Manhattan and he is seen with the Dama. But this could be flashbacks during the time he was held as a captive. It is an interesting path to see Hershel travel and its great that he is getting more screentime this season.
The second episode of season 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City will premiere on AMC and AMC+ on May 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
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