Time to tie up some loose ends and get some answers on The Walking Dead: Dead City. In “Doma Smo,” tensions rise as Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) journey comes to an end.
In the last episode, Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) let Maggie know that she knows that Maggie lied about the Croat (Zeljko Ivanek) raiding her community. She shot off a flare so Negan can find her. Negan saw it after he tried his best to escape Marshal Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles). What he doesn’t know is that the Croat went to Maggie to find Negan. And he took Hershel (Logan Kim) as collateral. And we found out that the Croat is actually working for a woman called the Dama (Lisa Emery).
Negan and Armstrong saw the flare and went running, thinking it was Maggie. Maggie saw it too as soon as she got out of the sewers. When they all find Ginny, she actually speaks. She tries to warn Negan about Maggie, but Negan is upset that she’s even there. He sent her to a safe place because his mission was too dangerous. He says she can’t be there with him. Armstrong offers to take Ginny back to the Bricks, but she doesn’t want to leave Negan.
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Negan has to tell her a hard truth. He’s a wanted man for killing five men and one of them was her father. He says he sought her out because he knew she didn’t have anyone. She’s nothing but a debt. Ginny gets upset and runs away with Armstrong following her. Armstrong drives her back to the Brick safely.
Maggie and Negan continue on their search for Hershel. They see a car that leads them to the docks. There is smoke coming out of the building. Earlier Maggie made a comment that the building with smoke was probably where they needed to go. Now Negan is suspicious. And Maggie knows it. That’s why she pulls a knife on him and they fight.
Negan tries to run away, but Maggie is relentless. They end up by the water as Negan puts the pieces together. He’s a bit disappointed because he thinks they make a badass team. They definitely could have saved Hershel and got away. But Maggie can’t get over what Negan did and she shouldn’t. No matter how many times he apologizes. And it’s too late, The Croat arrives to claim his prize. Maggie goes with the Croat, holding a knife to Negan’s throat. The Croat talks about how he found Maggie and used her to find Negan. And she brought him home. He also mentions that when he saw Negan, he thought he could keep both Negan and Hershel. That worries Maggie.
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They stop at a bank, where Hershel is being held. While Maggie waits to see her son, Negan asks her to look after Ginny. When Hershel comes out, everyone freezes. Eventually Negan walks to the Croat and Hershel walks toward his mother. As they pass each other, Negan says it’s good to see the kid. Negan disappears into the vault. Maggie hugs her son, but he doesn’t hug her back.
Armstrong returns to New Babylon and gives a report about NYC. He lies and says he was forced to shoot Negan, killing him. The New Babylon Leader (Jasmin Walker) is disappointed that Armstrong wasn’t able to bring Negan in. She wanted to display his walker body at the Babylon gates. The leader offers Armstrong a cigar and says it takes a lot of central heat to cure the tobacco leaves. They are using ethanol from corn right now, but that takes up a lot of acres of fields. The leader tells Armstrong to tell his story again, but this time, she wants to know more about the methane.
Maggie and Hershel make it to the other side of the river and sit in the truck. She tries to mother him, telling him to eat something. He gets frustrated with her, making her tear up. He gets really annoyed when he finds the ball cap. Maggie tries not to cry and says she is glad he is safe. Herschel doesn’t believe her. He says she doesn’t see him because all she can see is her revenge. She’s always been more preoccupied, looking for Negan instead of seeing Hershel. They both look away from each other and start crying before leaving.
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The Croat takes Negan to the theater. He talks the entire way about the past and how Negan taught him to kill people. He also understands what happened between them. The Croat says he shouldn’t have disobeyed Negan and it will never happen again.
Maggie checks on Ginny and puts her dinosaur in her bed while she sleeps. Then she checks on Hershel who’s sitting at his desk. She thought about what he said earlier and is going to work on finishing this thing with Negan so she can let it go.
The Croat says his experiences at the Sanctuary prepared him for the war to come. Once they gain control of the island, Dama thinks they are in for a clash of civilizations. The Croat told Dama all about Negan and she believes Negan is the missing piece to their dominance. The Croat formally introduces Dama to Negan and then Dama dismisses the Croat. Dama tries to be pleasant and offers him a drink. She says it’s a delight to meet him. She heard about his performance at the bank. He refuses her drink and stands close to the door.
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Dama shows Negan the marshal’s badge. She’s not afraid of the police, but the forces behind them. Wherever there’s a natural resource, they will come for it. The island needs a confident leader. Someone with fearlessness, charisma and a special political talent. Negan sits down and asks why he should help her. She says there are others, as far as Harlem. Together they would be indomitable. It can all be Negan’s.Dama offers Negan the keys to the kingdom. First she asks how she can be sure. What if he’s not the man he used to be? She gives him the keys anyway and sits a small box in front of him. He opens the box and there is a toe inside. The scene changes to Hershel, who’s pinky toe is missing.
Dama says she had a lot of talks with her former guest. Hershel told her a story about a man who murdered his father in front of his mother and him, an unborn baby. We watch Hershel play a guitar while Maggie changes the sheets on his bed. Dama could sense in the story what Hershel couldn’t. His father’s killer might feel remorseful or responsible for the boy’s family he destroyed. She says Hershel only told her all of this once he felt safe with her.
Maggie finds drawings of New York City that Hershel drew. One of the drawings is of Dama. She realizes there’s more to the story that anyone told her. Meanwhile, Dama says Negan came all this way to save Hershel. She let Hershel go in exchange for Negan, but she kept a little piece of him. And she can always go back for more. She tells Negan to make his drink last. They have a lot to plan for.
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