Dead City Season 3 Episode 8 Review: Maggie and Negan Finally Find Their New Normal

For a show that I was struggling to watch a season ago, The Walking Dead: Dead City has really upped its game.

After watching The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 Episode 8, I feel confident saying the season stuck the landing and has me cautiously optimistic about a potential fourth season.

Who would have thought that Maggie and Negan would be able to remain on the same side for more than a handful of episodes?

Something has shifted in their relationship, and this new dynamic feels like it has lifted a huge weight from both of them.

The biggest sign of that change came when Maggie told Negan that, besides Hershel, he’s the closest thing she has to family.

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I expect her view of the world is certainly different, considering there aren’t that many living people left at this point in the apocalypse, but it was still a powerful moment for The Walking Dead: Dead City.

There’s always been this notion that if they let go of the past, they’d be able to move on, but Negan’s actions as the leader of the Saviors trump everything Maggie has done in retaliation against him.

Since the trust is now there between them, I wasn’t too concerned when Negan stabbed Maggie.

There was no chance The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 would spend so much time repairing their dynamic, only to have one of them actually kill the other.

It was obviously a painful encounter, but how else would they have escaped their predicament and managed to get the upper hand on Dillard?

The Walking Dead: Dead City Is Fantastic Right Now

Dillard was the series’ best villain to date. The way he was introduced as a harmless, eccentric man, only to become the biggest threat to Maggie’s community, was handled wonderfully.

It’s a damn shame that Jimmi Simpson’s time with the series is over, but I don’t think there was any redemption to be had if Maggie and Negan kept him alive.

They could have kept him locked up, sure, but that would have drained resources. And besides, the community would want him dead for what he did to Renata.

Across The Walking Dead franchise, so many villains have overstayed their welcome, but Dillard had ample time to tell a story that didn’t drag.

His descent into full-blown madness and anarchy was mesmerizing to watch, but it was obvious that Negan struggled with the fact that he had to die.

Negan has faced death multiple times, but perhaps the most significant was when Rick slashed his throat in The Walking Dead Season 8 and then gave him a shot at redemption by keeping him locked up beneath Alexandria.

You could see the pain on Negan’s face as Dillard slipped away. He knew it was the right move, but he probably couldn’t shake the feeling that he got a second chance while his friend was too unpredictable to get the same treatment.

Did anyone else expect Negan to find a community in the apartment building in the weeks that followed? I was stunned to see him playing video games and just being happy with where he was in life.

It’s such a different iteration of Negan, and I cannot wait to see where the show takes him next.

Negan becoming Maggie’s head of security was another big, bold swing because it puts Negan in charge of a group of people again.

He’s no doubt been thinking about how he could have done better with the Saviors, and now he can theoretically put that into practice.

That’s a pretty decent setup for The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 4.

As for Maggie, it’s so obvious we’re getting back to the character we know and love from the original series.

Maggie is a pro at building thriving communities, and her admission that she’s ready to lead again is another great setup for what’s to come.

She already has fantastic ideas for how to grow the community, and to do that, she needs to cast the net wider into New York’s other boroughs.

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There’s so much still to discover about the rest of New York, but it’s unclear whether she’ll be doing it with a new romance brewing.

Luis finding the ring Glenn gave her that she lost on The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 Episode 4 came out of left field.

Putting it away in a box for safekeeping suggests she’s at least open to the possibility of finding love again.

If that’s with Luis, I wouldn’t be mad. Their chemistry has been evident throughout the season.

Luis is an integral part of the community because he’s been training this next generation of students in medicine. It’s like an apocalyptic Grey’s Anatomy, and I’ve been loving every minute of it.

The post-The Walking Dead spinoffs have had this habit of introducing characters only to kill them off to avoid killing the OGs, so I’m glad that Luis was the exception to the rule.

Hopefully, that means there’s plenty more room for him, Maggie, and this strange new community to grow if the series is renewed.

What are your thoughts on Maggie bringing Negan in as her Head of Security?

Were you surprised that she used the word “family” in a sentence to describe their relationship?

Did you like Dillard’s descent into madness, or did the ending put you off?

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