Few franchises are as relentless and cold as The Walking Dead. Many iconic characters have bitten the dust in the most gruesome ways possible, breaking thousands of hearts along the way. What makes these moments all the more devastating is the fact that death is permanent in this world, completely closing the door on major returns down the line. After all, the show can't rely on magic or time travel to undo these events. However, rules are made to be broken, and that's exactly what happened here.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 is nearing its end, but before the curtains close, the spin-off show decided to give us a glimpse of what the world could've been like had the dead never walked. Audiences explored a parallel universe in which Maggie and Negan get to live a normal life and work normal jobs instead of constantly fighting walkers for survival. Better yet, this scenario presented the perfect opportunity for a beloved The Walking Dead character to return to the small screen, even though we witnessed her death over a decade ago.
Beth returned in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3
It feels like she never left. Emily Kinney reprised her role as Beth in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, episode 6, titled "Genesis." Thanks to the alternate-reality narrative, we saw what her life would've been like had the world not ended all of a sudden. To no one's surprise, Beth made it as a musician with two jobs in Manhattan, and we actually get to see her perform in a bar.
Beth doesn't get much screen time in "Genesis," as the episode mostly revolves around how the relationship between Maggie and Negan would've played out under normal circumstances (and it's far less complicated than where it currently stands in the mainline TWD universe). However, we do learn that Beth walked away from the farm after Hershel's death, and she's been trying to convince Maggie to do the same and chase a dream of her own. On the other side of the coin, Maggie is doing everything in her power to hold onto the farm to keep her family's legacy alive.
Beth only appears at the opening of The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, episode 6, and at the end. Aside from her, no other TWD character had a surprise cameo in this alternate-reality episode, which could have been disappointing for some fans. On the upside, we were able to spend a lot of time with "normal" Maggie, who is surprisingly similar to her post-apocalyptic counterpart.
Maggie was married to a guy named Danny, which means she never met Glenn. Furthermore, she had plans to lease different parcels of the family's farm to different tenants, allowing her to create a community along the way. If this plan sounds familiar, it is because Maggie is also fighting to build up a community of her own in the main reality that's filled with walkers.
When it comes to the "normal" version of Negan, he also retains most of his defining traits. Interestingly enough, we learn he taught Physical Education, and there's a whole sequence in which we see him in a batting cage. Regardless of the universe, it seems he's pretty good at swinging bats. Furthermore, he retains his more "violent" tendencies, as he was sent to jail for assaulting someone (although, without going into too many spoilers, that person deserved it).
Overall, "Genesis" was a fun way of exploring what these beloved characters would've lived like under normal circumstances. Hopefully, The Walking Dead will keep exploring more ideas like these, opening the door to even more legendary comebacks.
New episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City air every Sunday on AMC and AMC+.
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