Once the most powerful show in all of Television, “The Walking Dead” has been off the air for close to 3 years, but it’s spin-offs continue to carry the torch for AMC’s flagship franchise. With an acute drop in both ratings and RT scores, it was unclear whether or not AMC would give another season to the most awkward series in the apocalypse, ‘Dead City’, which keeps Negan and Maggie in a twisted sort of Groundhog Day where neither character and their plot armor can ever be free of the other.
Sometime after the season finale aired and lots of people had time to sweat out their future job prospects, AMC Networks announced that ‘Dead City’ will return for a third season with Seth Hoffman from “House”, “Prison Break” and as a writer for some of the highest fan rated episode from the original ‘TWD’ serving as Showrunner. Eli Jorné will be stepping down as the Showrunner as he is moving over to the massively popular Apple+ series “Severance” as a Co-Showrunner with Mary Laws and series creator Dan Erickson. The split seems amiable and the fact that an OG Writer (who also spent 3 years as a Co-EP) from the original series is now at the helm, ‘Dead City’ may still have some exciting places to take us. Production of the series is expected to being in Boston, MA in the fall.
With an acute drop in both ratings and RT scores, it was unclear whether or not AMC would give another season to the most awkward series in the apocalypse.”
Dan McDermott, President of Original Programming and Co-President of AMC Studios, made a statement regarding the show’s renewal: “We’re thankful to Eli Jorné for two seasons of Dead City that took the story of these iconic characters in exciting new directions and broadened this thriving Universe by introducing a new corner of the walker apocalypse…As we continue to create new stories for a passionate TWD fanbase, we’re delighted t o have a seasoned Walking Dead veteran like Seth Hoffman at the helm of a new season, alongside the remarkable Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, that will bring new adversaries and alliances and push the boundaries of Maggie and Negan’s conflicted relationship.”
Hoffman also commented on the renewal news: “I’m excited to have the chance to dive back into The Walking Dead Universe and work to deliver another dynamic season’s worth of stories to this epic franchise. It’s a true honor to chart out the next chapter for Maggie and Negan’s iconic adventures in Dead City… Lauren, Jeffrey and Scott [Gimple] are incredible creative partners and I’m thrilled to collaborate with them to bring this story to life.” The rough synopsis sates that Negan and Maggie will be putting aside their differences to build the first thriving community in Manhattan since the fall of civilization. The description also mentions the duo’s dark past and whether or not they can cause doom for the entire city – our money is on doom. Death seems to follow this pair wherever they go as their plot armor is completely callused over at this point.
As far as the other active TWD series, ‘Daryl Dixon’, which has a season 3 premiere on September 7th, also has announced that the fourth season will be their final one. From what we know about the ‘Daryl’ series, Daryl and Carol are trying to make their way home. The couple take a trip through the U.K. And end up detoured in Spain with comedic legend Stephen Merchant, but it appears they will be stuck in Spain for at least part of the next season as well.
Production has started back up for the series, with Reedus sharing a still from the first day on IG. The series started off shooting in Seplveda, Spain, a location used more often than most in season 3. In a behind the scenes feature the, Merchant revealed his character is the last living person in England, which tells us that Daryl and Carol must not stay there long. It appears the group gets stranded in Spain while trying to sail to America, but how long will they be trapped in Spain? If season 4 is in fact the end, what is the Endgame?
The whole series is based off of a mission that was as complete failure and took Carol away from the community as well. Season 4 needs to find a way to make Daryl’s trip worthwhile and not a meaningless. detour. Could season 4 be setting up some type of Armageddon endgame for TWD? Will ‘Dead City’ ever intersect with ‘Daryl’? As these two series are the only ones still active, it’s tough to say, but Gimple doesn’t currently seem to have a wining formula for todays audience who isn’t as likely to consume anything a streamer or network puts out as long as it’s in a particular universe.
What do you think? Will TWD ever come close to the former gory glory it once commanded? Will Rick Grimes ever return to the universe for one last incredible team-up? Will we get to see another version of Dog back in Alexandria? Will Ezekiel and the rest of the communities still be in tact after the events of ‘Dead City’ and ‘Daryl Dixon’? Will Negan and Maggie ever just do the right thing and leave each other’s lives? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
