This post contains spoilers from The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 episode 4.
Believing New Babylon has been thwarted, Dama still wants an army for when they return. In The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 episode 4, "Feisty Friendly," they meet with Bruegel, a new villain for the series.
Meanwhile, Perlie and Maggie want to cut to the chase, asking Negan directly where the methane is so they can retrieve it and go home. But is their biggest enemy someone already close to home?
Bringing back the old world
Realizing that Negan is alive and nearby, Perlie and Maggie decide the best course of action is to ask him directly where to find the methane. Perlie is able to convince Lucia of their mission, ensuring that their people have at least one more day under the protection of the survivors living in Central Park.
Taking Hershel with them, Perlie and Maggie begin to talk about their lives before the apocalypse, sharing what they miss the most, which for Maggie rehashes an old memory with Glenn. Hershel, however, doesn't understand why life before the apocalypse was so great, believing that life after the apocalypse has more promise.
The interaction causes Perlie to ponder if bringing the old world back is really for their children's benefit or their own. Unfortunately for them, leaving Ginny behind means an opportunity for things to go awry.
Lucia discovers that Ginny had taken a gun from one of the New Babylon soldiers, but surprisingly, isn't angry about it. She shares a story about how the now deceased pre-Governor Byrd had taken her under her wing, teaching her the value of upholding the law.
Finding Lucia less threatening, Ginny confesses that she took the gun with the hopes of killing the man who killed her dad. Lucia allows her to keep the gun, correctly assuming the man is Negan and that he's still alive.
The meeting with Bruegel
Meanwhile, The Dama arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Negan and The Croat in tow and poor Benjmain Pierce in the trunk. The museum is Bruegel's home, someone we haven't gotten to know that well as of yet, outside of his penchant for a sophisticated, old world style of clothes and walker cage fighting.
Audiences get a taste of his personality while he talks to and feeds someone or something behind a curtain a live rat. Is this the walker champion?
Before the meeting can commence, Dama instructs Negan not to allow The Croat to mess everything up, while reminding him how his family shouldn't be far. Bruegel is a showman who loves art and loves hearing himself talk.
The Croat dislikes him completely and throughout the meeting constantly interrupts, only for Negan to recover and save face. The real problems begin when the group sits together to watch two walkers fight each other.
We learn first and foremost, thanks to Benjamin, that Dama used to be a theater critic, known for attacking a playwright she critiqued. The story interests Negan, who will somehow use this information later.
We also learn that it is Bruegel's champion walker that won him this location from another leader. While watching the battle, The Croat makes an observation.
Just as Bruegel has agreed to an alliance, suggesting a secondary methane location in the museum, The Croat accuses him of cheating, claiming his walker is faster and stronger than the other, believing he's injecting the walker with chemicals. Bruegel does not take the accusation lightly and is ready to throw the alliance away.
Negan, always thinking on his feet, has a better idea. Bruegel would have his champion face a walker of Negan's choice. If Negan wins, they get the alliance no strings attached. If Bruegel wins, they get the alliance and a second methane production location. Taking the walker from inside a tow truck Negan spotted that morning, he grabs oil from the truck as an extra measure.
Maggie and Negan reunite
Before the fight could begin, Perlie and Maggie find the perfect opportunity to see Negan, sneaking into the museum undetected. Thankfully, when Maggie and Negan face each other, it's calm and collected, for the most part.
Maggie makes her point clear that she and Hershel got dragged into the methane mess and just want the location so they can go home. Negan confesses he can't help because he's protecting his own. Maggie realizes he's speaking of Annie and Joshua and instantly feels remorse for him. Negan does provide her with the address for St. Patrick's Cathedral, but also with a warning that she can't trust Hershel.
He's the one who set the fire, alerting Dama to their location. Negan doesn't understand what connection they have, but it's a dangerous one. Angered that Negan would accuse her son of being a traitor, she leaves. At the same time, Hershel does reunite with Dama, although we do not know what information was exchanged.
The battle is about to begin, but Maggie is stuck in the same room, above the arena. Dosing his walker in the oil, he's too slippery for Bruegel's walker to dominate. Allowing Maggie time to escape and for his walker to win, Negan jumps into the arena. However, Dama notices Maggie leaving.
The battle isn't over
When Negan manages to escape the arena, he gets close to Bruegel's walker, finding that it's actually a human disguised as a walker. He kills Negan's walker, but Bruegel's victory is short-lived. Negan whispers something to Bruegel that we do not hear, essentially forcing Bruegel to keep the alliance and not ask for a second methane location.
Dama is so impressed with Negan, she asks that he sit in the back of the car with her. And Ben is thrown back into the trunk. Although he lost, Bruegel is still confident he can win. His walker champion was once his bodyguard Tony, so he had degraded to such a state the man is eating live rats to survive.
Because Negan figured out his secret, he kills Tony. Maggie and Perlie successfully escape but Hershel is the last to arrive. Maggie wants to question what took him so long, but doesn't. It's only a matter of time before she realizes Negan is right.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 episode 4 review
Thus far, this has been my favorite episode of season 2 for a multitude of reasons, including Bruegel's introduction, Maggie and Negan's reunion, and the reveal of Hershel's betrayal. While I had hoped Hershel wouldn't betray his own mother, Dama was able to control him more than I realized, truly homing in on the Stockholm syndrome aspect of their relationship.
And when we don't have Hershel messing things up, we have Ginny, who may be the reason Negan doesn't survive until the end of the series. They are certainly setting it up like he is going to go down protecting Maggie, Hershel, Ginny, or someone important to him.
Realistically, would Ginny be able to kill him? Would that be the moment he confesses he didn't kill her dad and used it as a means to keep her safe?
I am loving Negan's subtle attempts to split Dama and The Croat apart, playing the long game but knowing Annie and Joshua's arrival is imminent. I'll have the popcorn ready for when that happens.
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 releases new episodes Sundays on AMC.