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Who is the good/bad guy? Far from being friends, Maggie Rhee & Negan bind their fates - by way of mutually assured destruction - in order to rescue Hershel Rhee from the clutches of The Croat, whilst Marshal Pearlie Armstrong of The New Babylon Federation wreak Tranquilitas Ordinis along the way.

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David Cameo:
Rachael Burt:
Sherrandy Swift:
Bridget Mason-Gray:

Rachael's impression: feels a little different, but a lot like watching The Walking Dead. Dramatic difference in writing from what we've been getting on Fear The Walking Dead. Apologizes for liking it and, yes, turned away when flashing back to Glenn Rhee's death during the line-up. Feels a lot more for Maggie Rhee in this series, right off the bat. On the note of writing, the time jump is far less dramatic than on FearTWD and we have a better grip on the passage of time (about two years from the very end of TWD).
Bridget's impression: Loved the interesting color-grading and super psyched to see more of post-apocalyptic NYC (rats, cockroaches, and Dave).
Sherrandy's impression: Also liked the color-grading, NYC, the cinematography, and even Maggie's bad-ass look. Perhaps The Walking Dead: Dead City is better than FearTWD? ...at least right now.
Dave provides the definition of The Croat's Croatian, like ak steta (what a shame) and Buraz (brother) vs Brat (bro), before his impression of this episode: loves the amount of unanswered, important questions that will hopefully reveal themselves over time and how the episode does a hell of a lot more show, don't tell than FearTWD, at the moment.
Dave shows the gang a map of the Two Bridges neighborhood in Manhattan containing the general address found on Loel Armstrong(?)'s letter Marshal Pearlie Armstrong is clutching in the car.
Speaking of one-way streets, like Oliver Street, Dave points out the herd mentality of the walkers encircling the Isle of the Dead and Sherrandy notes the presence of The Fat Lady herding them around the city, a tactic of The Saviors in TWD's 8th season. Maybe it prevents people outside Manhattan from invading their shores?
Could these tactics - most-likely implemented by The Croat's New Saviors - have been preventing The New Babylon Federation from expanding into NYC? Sherrandy says they probably haven't bothered due to the lack of resources, which gives Dave an opening to talk about NBF's modus operendi: Tranquillitas Ordinis. It's not resources they seek but a restoration of general order and world peace under a moral framework, which permits the use of war and barbarism to achieve that aim. Sherrandy says NBF could use Manhattan as a penal colony. One thing seems certain and it's something Negan says to Maggie before they reach Manhattan's shores: Maybe everyone is [the bad guy].
After boring everyone with Tranquillitas Ordinis, the gang shifts their focus to the bar-keep, brutally murdered by Armstrong, played by Michelle Hurd, who is married to Garret Dillahunt (AKA FearTWD's John Dorie). Michelle is immensely talented in her own right, with prominent roles as Raffaela "Raffi" Musiker on Star Trek: Picard, Katya on an episode of Charmed (wretch) called Little Box of Horrors, and Monique Jeffries on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, among many other guest roles on procedural television series.
After the ladies obsess over Maggie's (treacherous in the real world) boot-knives, Dave poses a leading question to demonstrate how we almost automatically trust/believe Negan because he's now considered, until proven otherwise, our protagonist. Even if he actually had killed a NBF Magistrate and his buddies, we automatically assume he was justified in doing so. Rachael emphasizes that Negan is a whole lot of things, but he's not a liar. Sherrandy adds that it would be hard for him to go back to the way he used to be after changing so much, but also that he doesn't have the position of power he once assumed, either.
NBF's splendor can't be what it's cracked up to be if they are using cruel and unusual punishment to inspire order, especially Negan's assigned punishment of being sawed in half, lengthwise, from groin to neck. If the show continues to challenge our perceptions of who the good guys and bad guys are, might The Croat's New Saviors be as bad as we automatically think they are? Either way, thus far, we're really digging Željko Ivanek's portrayal of The Croat. Dave sees many similarities in behavior between he and All Out War Negan.
Dave made available a Google Maps image of the exterior (and perhaps interior) of where the bar scenes were filmed.
We all loved the title sequence, which told the story of the fall of Manhattan. We noticed some great elements they modified from the original series later title sequence that were choice cuts. We were wondering about the deer roaming around Manhattan, but decided that they may have broken out of The Central Park Zoo, rather than found a way across the water from Upstate New York or New Jersey.
Some impressive walker work with the chomper that had a dry-cleaning bag over its head (presumably suffocated in life) and the one shown immediately afterwards with a rat peeking out of its mouth (presumably burrowing into the groaner's innards). Executive Producer and Show-Runner, Eli Jorné, had mentioned that without human preventative maintenance, pests like these rats and cockroaches would achieve a level of supremacy.
Dave takes a step back to appreciate the fact that this series is set in New York City, his home. It reminds him of the few times in the city's history when they've had a massive, city-wide blackout (power outage) and how the city mostly pulled together, rather than unraveled, which is something The Croat said to Hershel Rhee in passing.
We loved the look of NBF's wanted poster for Negan, especially how accurate they were in describing him. The question really remains, how do they know so much about him? We talk about Ginny's origin, briefly (to get a sense of the timeline of events), and how Negan took her with him on the run after her father was horrifically murdered. Sherrandy points out that it might've been dark and The NBF Marshals they might've thought her father was Negan and executed him exactly like Armstrong described in this episode (no wonder why she's gone mute).
Sherrandy compares Armstrong's mannerisms to Emile Laroux's (from the Season Premiere of Season 6). Dave had a passing thought that maybe Emile was an NBF marshal gone rogue? We know it's thin speculation - especially due to both the time and geography discrepancy - but the look is very similar.
We think the bracelet Maggie nods to that Negan is wearing belongs to Annie Smith and that she and her baby suffered a terrible fate, given the fact that Negan isn't concerned about getting back to them and tells Maggie on the boat that he's paid for what he's done. Sherrandy even says maybe The Croat did to Negan exactly what he had done to Glenn and Abraham: killed two Smiths with one bat. Dave takes this a tiny step further: what if the line-up Armstrong describes in the bar wasn't Maggie's experience but Negan's and it's being twisted into additional evidence of Negan's cruelty (as perpetrator, rather than victim - The Croat, after all, used to call himself Negan)?
Dave brings up the long since ignored question of The Original Saviors' fate on the main series, since we canonically never received an answer. Some of us concede that, rather than immediately shacking-up with The Whisperers (which we learned about from one of the background actors on the show, years ago), at least some must've linked up with their old buddy, The Croat. Between the remainder of The Original Saviors and those who weren't down with the Tranquillitas Oridinis of NBF, they quickly rose in strength and numbers over the years.
Either way, the permanent stain of the line-up event is a lot like when you speak ill of someone in public: you can apologize all you want to the people you wronged and, even if they somehow end up forgiving you, it can never be erased from the minds who witnessed it (and even supported it). This might answer both the question of the warrant for Negan's arrest and what happened to The Saviors.
After noticing how The Croat's ear appeared blown off in the scene with Hershel, we explore what he might've meant when he said to him, You're gonna like it here. Could this be the impetus of the dirtbag Hershel from the comic books and that he ends up being The Croat's Dwight?
Shaunna, in the chat, asks whether Maggie might've already arranged with The Croat for Negan to be exchanged for Hershel? Either way, it appears as though Negan acknowledges that he's not coming back and resigns himself to whatever fate Maggie has in store for him, as he steps off the boat on Manhattan's shores. Maggie even emphasizes this to Armstrong as they tussle in the dry-cleaners, I need him. We take this out of context to break out into #Neggie #HateBang chatter (after discussing all this intensity).
We take a moment to discuss Armstrong's decision to continue to strangle Maggie after she pleads with him to spare her and Negan so that they can save her son. Bridget says it best: NBF is all about moral absolutism and there is no room for grey areas when it comes to aiding and abetting a wanted criminal. Like he said to marshal in training, Jano, after killing the bar-keep, "What I did back there? It wasn't because I wanted to. It had to be done." Sherrandy mentions how, after all, Maggie has been leaving a trail of victims with broken-bones behind her, anyway, so they're definitely looking to punish her, too.
Lois mentions that Steven Ogg was tapped to return as Simon for an episode of Dead City, presumably to retcon a flashback of The Croat's time with The Saviors. Dave asks the question: as a Savior, who you would follow if it came down to The Croat or Simon? Stephen and Monica Sweet (of Clip it Up with The Sweets) show up in the chat for this livestream and we ask whether he'll be background acting for The New Saviors on Dead City. We highlight his slightly more prominent role on Tales of The Walking Dead's 5th episode, Davon.
Dave takes a moment to discuss what the Dawn. Lincoln Center. Come Kill With Us. sign might've meant. Is it like the graffiti we saw in Season 1 of TWD? Is it a bulletin board? Sherrandy likens it to the Banksy-esque mural Daryl Dixon finds in TWD 11x02, Acheron: Part 2. It reminded Bridget of the movie The Warriors. At the end of the day, everyone mostly thinks this won't ultimately amount to anything.
Sherrandy has a hard time figuring out who or what the trap Maggie almost stepped in was meant to catch. We had a very fun time extrapolating the (fake) possibilities. The bigger take-away is that Negan probably recognized it from his time leading The Saviors. The liquid bubbling near the storm drain is still a little bit of a mystery, though.
Everyone really loved it when walkers started falling out of the sky, but it necessitated a little bit of clarification on how they even got there. Rachael assumed that it was The Croat's Saviors who were responsible, but most realized that these were walkers in tall buildings and skyscrapers banging against and crashing through windows after hearing the noise they made on the streets. The latter explanation sounds a lot sadder when you reflect on NYC's demise during the fall. Rachael needed a little clarification on the noises emanating from Delmonaco's, a restaurant in the financial district that is, at present, temporarily closed. Sherrandy explains that it was the pots and pans coming from the kitchen.
Because of an interview with Eli Jorné (can't find the original source), Dave tells everyone to pay closer attention to the outfits the walkers wear throughout the series, which illustrates the strata of fashion typically worn on a given NYC weekday that you won't often see on any of the other TWDU series. This does give Dave the opportunity to explain what it feels like to walk around Manhattan and invariably find many people wearing anything from high fashion and shabby-sheik outfits to sweats, hoodies, and track suits.
What surprised and pleased Bridget was how quiet the streets of Manhattan were, as they first start wandering around, which reminded her of her the ominous atmosphere she felt during her first watch of the main series and 28 Days Later. Dave added how much he loved the depiction of the dilapidated subway tunnel in the title sequence, seemingly during winter, which evoked a passage of time and the present desolation of this previously bustling city. Bridget recalls a similar feeling we had during the second episode of The Last of Us.
Sherrandy takes a moment to point out the significance of Pearlie picking up the book of maps Maggie had left behind earlier in the day: one of the index entries was Macon, GA, which is the approximate location of Terminus and where Telltale's The Walking Dead video game takes place.
Dave takes a minute to describe how much the argument between Maggie and Negan over what to do with Jano reminded him of a similar argument between Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh on what to do with Randall Culver (and how the actor, Michael Zegen, went on to depict Joel Maisel on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). Sherrandy wanders to the crazy amount of floating (walker) bodies in The Hudson River and how Negan proposed Jano doggy paddle back to New Jersey. The Hudson is gross enough without walker bodies floating in it.
Even after discussing it, we're still confused over the state of The Hilltop settlement and why its depicted in a new location after seeing it rebuilt at the very end of The Walking Dead. Did they relocate as a result of The Croat's attack? Is it still located in Virginia? Either way, they definitely gave up on their original settlement and may have even moved closer to The Commonwealth.
While talking about the better depiction of the passage of time and having a better sense of geography (than FearTWD), yet still confused about Hilltop's whereabouts, Shaunna also notes the way Maggie tries to frequently shut Negan out when he is taking care of Ginny and generally exhibiting kindness, which makes us think that she's preparing herself to sacrifice Negan on The Croat's altar. It makes Dave wonder what Negan is truly living for anymore, similar to the question that was asked of June Dorie by Adrian in FearTWD 8x02. Even if his purpose is taking out The Croat, could that make room for NBF to take over in the wake of their downfall?
We loved the introduction of Beetlejuice Hair (what we're calling her, for now): the woman with the crazy teased white hair we first see crawling around on the rooftops above when Maggie, Negan, and Jano are desperately trying to avoid falling walkers. Sherrandy loved the jumpscare we received when she suddenly appears from the darkness under Negan's matchlight. We don't think she's an adversary, however creepy as shit she seemed. Bridget thinks she could be a lot like the people in the movie Escape from New York, similar to The Ferals in TWD 11x06, On The Inside.
I think we can all agree that we all want to watch The Walking Dead: Morgan Takes Manhattan.