Posted in: AMC, TV | Tagged: The Walking Dead, the walking dead: dead city

Is The Walking Dead: Dead City Planning to Kill Off Negan?

AMC's Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohen-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City S03E06: "Genesis" was so good, I'm worried about Negan.

AMC and Showrunner Seth Hoffman's Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) and Lauren Cohen (Maggie)-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City S03E06: "Genesis" is not only the best chapter of the spinoff series to date, but it's also one of the best offerings from the TWD Universe overall. Hoffman, Morgan, Cohan, the returning Emily Kinney (Beth), and the entire production team crafted an episode set outside the reality we've come to know, yet impressively hit on the core themes of our leads' on-screen alter egos. If this episode isn't given serious Emmy nomination consideration during the next awards cycle, then the debate about the awards circuit having a bias against "genre" shows is pretty much settled.

There are a hundred different ways that an alternate reality episode spotlighting the multiversal bonds that exist between two people with some serious baggage between them shouldn't work at all, let alone as well as it did. In that respect, it reminded me of the fifth episode of the second season of Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, "The Primal Theory." It was also a Halloween candy bag filled with great moments for all of the Negan-Maggie shippers ("Neggie") out there. But in bringing back those old-school "The Walking Dead" vibes, I'm beginning to fear that Negan's days might be numbered. FYI: We've got minor spoilers on the way…

Here's the thing about Hoffman and the team bringing the show back to how "The Walking Dead" used to be: that return to form comes with some powerfully emotional knockout punches. With that in mind, I couldn't help but also feel a whole lot of dread by the time the credits rolled on "Genesis,' and it came down to two moments in particular:

The Fortune Teller: On the surface, this was a very important scene thematically for Negan and Maggie, with Maggie in a kind of Karmic cycle and Negan representing someone essential in her life. Diving deeper into the meaning of the tarot cards and reading, the fortune teller speaks of relationships in which those who are bonded will continue to find each other, repeating the cycle until each learns what they need from the other. But the way that I read that, repeating the cycles isn't something meant to last forever – that the goal is to finally learn and move on. And if we're being honest, the whole "repeated cycle" thing doesn't necessarily sound like the healthiest thing, either.

Maggie & Negan Change Their Minds: Building on what the fortune teller shared, Negan helps Maggie come to terms with her true feelings about the family farm and her desire for a new life. Meanwhile, Maggie convinced Negan to stop seeking revenge and to be more of a father to his son. And yet, once apart, they both give in to their basic instincts: Maggie's self-sacrificial sense of responsibility and Negan's need to sabotage his chances at happiness. Blasted back to the brutal realities of the show's universe, we will never know if the farm failed or if Negan crossed a line he could never come back from, but I wasn't left with a sense that they've learned from one another.

Uh-Oh: Taking all of that into consideration, here's my biggest fear. Maggie is going to realize that she needs to focus more on herself and on Hershel (Logan Kim), and learn to share the responsibility for leading better. That would mean some give-and-take – and having to make "bigger picture" decisions for the great good of the community. That could mean having to turn her back on Negan, despite his good intentions – possibly putting him down. From the Negan perspective, I could see him realizing that he's become more of a burden than a benefit to Maggie, realizing that he's been his own worst enemy all along. If that comes into play, I could see Negan willing to sacrifice himself if it meant giving Maggie a real chance at a future, seeing that as fitting closure to a complicated life.

Just to be clear? I really want to be wrong on this one – especially since Morgan has been sharing how much he likes having a lot of the old Negan back (and it shows in his performance). And I look forward to writing about how wrong I was after the season finale wraps… fingers crossed.

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