The Walking Dead: Dead City gave viewers something new in episode 206, "Bridge Partners are Hard to Come by These Days," which was directed by Lauren Cohan, who portrays Maggie Rhee.
In the Episode Insider following the episode, Cohan shared that the best scene to direct was the fight between Maggie and the bear. This was another over-the-top scene, similar to season 1's Walker King that Maggie fought in the sewers of Manhattan.
Yes, it sounds ridiculous, and it was, but not more so than the fact that Hershel (Logan Kim) thought he could bring the bear down with his tiny knives. Regardless of what people thought of the scene, it was something new!
Was the bear in Dead City a zombie?
The scene prompted viewers to question whether the animal was intended to be a zombie bear. This was clarified by executive producer Scott M. Gimple in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, stating it is “Just a regular bear. Thank you for asking that. There was a lot of concern that it might be thought of as a zombie bear.” It was disappointing to learn that it was just a plain old bear. Gimple added that while the bear did show signs of injuries, likely from walker bites, in TWD zombification rules, animals don't change into zombies.
Cohan, who directed two episodes this season, explains that she had to fake the fight with the bear, played on set by stunt performer Alex Kingi, but was added later via visual effects.
"Alex knows how to move like a bear. He came to set and he had poles that extended his arms and his head to be the actual size of the bear. So eye lines all lined up. And then we worked with two different VFX teams. But the fun part about it was designing the bear. I was on Zooms with everybody figuring out where the matting would be and how we would make the bear."Lauren Cohan
Cohan shared the bear was symbolic for Maggie and Hershel, and a test for Maggie who must face the rage and need to be seen by her son. And the fact that the bear, which was named Bobbie, wasn't a walker, didn't make it less scary.
The Walking Dead: Dead City only has two episodes remaining for season 2. Watch AMC and AMC+ for new episodes on Sundays.