Maggie and Negan have been through a lot during their time in the TWD Universe. Bitter enemies forged by their disturbing history, then uneasy allies united for a common purpose. Now... friends determined to build towards a better future? At least that's a possibility that The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 tries to present us with, as the pair attempt to put their history behind them and move forward.
On paper, that might seem like the most notable change we could expect in Dead City season 3, but as the series has laid the groundwork for it multiple times in the past, it's not as unfathomable as it should be. No, there are some other, greater changes in the show's upcoming season that are more attention-grabbing than any. I am happy to report is that it's for all the right reasons.
Let's just dive right into: Dead City season 3 is easily the show's best season yet. While the spinoff has always been full of potential, it often struggled to get out of the box because of its overreliance on Maggie and Negan's tired old feud - and the perpetually grim tone resulted in the drama often staying in the same place. That's not an issue in the third season, which presses the reset button in so many ways, allowing new dynamics to flourish while also offering up a narrative that feels genuinely fresh (even if we have seen similar ones throughout the TWD Universe's 16-year run).
This is the first season under the leadership of Seth Hoffman and it shows. Hoffman worked as an executive producer on The Walking Dead during some of its strongest seasons and he has carried those strengths with him into the spinoff. There's a gravitas to the characters, particularly Maggie, that feels very true to who she is while also complementing this brave new world that she is building in Manhattan. For the first time, Dead City feels like an extension of The Walking Dead - not because it's rehashing an old feud but because of how it handles its storytelling.
You can still feel the weight of Maggie and Negan's past in every scene that the two share, but the show itself is no longer caught up in that past. By having the pair move past their history, they have forged a new dynamic - an oddly friendly one that, as jarring as it might seem to longtime TWD viewers, does admittedly let Dead City breathe more than it has been able to in the past. That history is still there but, instead of allowing themselves to get swallowed up by it, Maggie and Negan are attempting to use it to help them build a better future. Dead City is essentially doing the same thing through them.
Perhaps the biggest change in the show is its tone, and we have to credit Hoffman for that. We mentioned that the previous seasons were really quite hopeless, which made this spinoff less of an enjoyable watch when compared to Daryl Dixon or The Ones Who Live. That couldn't be further from the truth here, as season 3 takes on a life of its own very, very quickly. Although the season premiere does commit to continuing the story set out in the season 2 finale (albeit with somewhat mixed results), it finds its own path with a more light-hearted, uplifting, new direction. It's unexpected but it works, providing some much needed levity in a universe full of death and destruction.
This season is also surprisingly funny, which benefits Negan the most. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is at his very best as the one-liner-loving charismatic former villain churns out sarcastic monologues in one breath and offers up an unexpectedly inspiring expletive-filled speech in another. And considering that Negan has spent most of the spinoff with a furrowed brow, it's a marked change that really opens the door to a new chapter for him too. He gets to be good, but he doesn't have to stop being mischievous either. And that's where Morgan thrives with the character.
Dead City's reinvention is, in no small part, down to the introduction of a group of new characters. The series has had a consistent problem with building out a supporting cast because - outside of The Croat and The Dama - nobody seemed to last (or even really land with viewers), which meant that it had to repeatedly rely on Maggie, Armstrong, Hershel, and Negan to drive the story forward. But season 3 makes a real effort to change that, introducing new characters who benefit each of those aforementioned names.
Jimmi Simpson is electric as the fascinatingly odd Dillard, who becomes a genuine companion for Negan that actually allows his scenes without Maggie to be equally as interesting; he and Morgan have great quirky chemistry, which makes for an entertaining watch every time, all while setting in motion one of the season's most unique arcs.
Raúl Castillo's arrival as Luis provides another strong presence on the show, with the character undergoing a compelling arc early on, serving as a leader whom Hershel bonds with really quickly. It's a welcome change of pace and marks a refreshing change for actor Logan Kim, who is able to do so much more as Hershel now that the character isn't in a constant state of anger. I think Hershel's direction is one of my favorite things about the season, because it genuinely feels like we're moving forward with the character. And Kim does such a wonderful job in channelling Steve Yeun's remarkable performance in the original series, reminding us often that Hershel is Glenn's son.
It's Aimee Garcia, however, who is most captivating as the scrappy-yet-hopeful Renata - a character who wants to help Maggie achieve her vision of bettering Manhattan for the next generation of survivors. She has some real standout scenes and Garcia delivers every time, which ensures that Renata very quickly feels like a fully-fleshed out and well-rounded character. That's something that Dead City has been missing in the past; Renata doesn't feel overly dramatic or frustratingly thin, she feels real and would have very much been at home on The Walking Dead itself had our survivors encountered her years earlier.
That brings us to Maggie herself: Lauren Cohan is so effortlessly badass that she never fails to surprise us, and there is once again plenty of badassery here. However, Dead City season 3 finds a way to infuse Maggie's character arc with growth in a way that doesn't always require the character to be at the end of her emotional tether. She feels all of the emotions this year, but doesn't lose that sense of optimism. And it's that which really allows Cohan's beloved character to feel like the Maggie that we all fell in love with on The Walking Dead; the same Maggie that led the Hilltop with a firm but fair approach is the same one trying to do that in Manhattan today. That's pretty darn special.
Now, there are some issues here and there. The season premiere does struggle on occasion with the transition between the old and new visions for the series, but it gets there in the end. And, again, it's really odd seeing Maggie and Negan behave like friends; there's nothing wrong with the scenes themselves, which really rely on the gravitas of Cohan and Morgan's performances, but if you know the history between the pair, you'll find it hard to believe that they would ever end up here. For some viewers, that might understandably be the most outlandish thing that the TWD Universe has ever asked of them.
That being said, it does get by on the strength of the pair's performances. As frustrating as the franchise's decisions surrounding Maggie and Negan's arcs have been over the years, it isn't hard to see why the AMC saga has continued to rely on them. Rich storytelling aside, Cohan and Morgan are electric together, which continues to make the Maggie and Negan dynamic one of the most interesting in the TWD Universe today.
The Walking Dead: Dead City is just an all-around better TV show in this iteration. It feels fresh, hopeful, and genuinely like it belongs in the post-Walking Dead era of shows, offering up something that looks towards the future far more than it does look to the past. It's ambitious, larger-than-life, and downright impressive in its scale, which presents the spinoff with some of its best sights too. Post-apocalyptic New York City is visually-stunning and the show's more hopeful approach allows the characters to venture into it a little more. The show has never looked better - which is fitting because it has never been better!
All in all, Dead City season 3 is one of The Walking Dead Universe's best seasons yet. It's as compelling as it is hopeful, feeling fresh while also managing to recapture some of that Walking Dead magic. By letting go of its past, Dead City finally moves forward, allowing it to deliver in ways that it simply hasn't before. And it has fun doing it every step of the way.
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