Dead City Season 2's Most Frustrating Scene Confirms The Walking Dead Doesn't Care About Its Own Walker Lore Anymore

The Walking Dead: Dead City has been controversial since its premiere in 2023, but the intrigue and complex storyline concerning two major Walking Dead characters kept dedicated fans engaged. Despite the allure of the first season, however, the second season has left viewers confused about the overall purpose and intent of this spin-off. The narrative has once again placed Negan and Maggie on opposite sides of an ensuing war between two communities, but hasn't yet succeeded in convincing the audience that this will have a meaningful impact on their individual characterizations.

This post-apocalyptic franchise has been ongoing for nearly fifteen years, holding onto many of its original fanbase and developing new fans with every installment. Lately, the universe has been risking its faithful audience with too many unusual narrative choices and unclear messages. Some problematic aspects of The Walking Dead franchise, including the currently airing spin-off Dead City, have become difficult to overlook, especially when it comes to the overall concept and intention of the horror TV series.

The Walker Didn't Attack (But It Should Have)

In Dead City, Season 2, Episode 3, "Why Did the Mainlanders Cross the River?" Maggie, Hershel, and the New Babylon survivors fight off walkers inside Central Park, coming across a peaceful group inhabiting the overgrown park since the beginning of the apocalypse. One of these survivors was Joan, a kind and soft-spoken woman who helped Hershel escape long grass infested with walkers. Unfortunately, Joan was injured by one of the Croat's men accompanying Negan into the park and died of her wounds.

After a bloody and somewhat disturbing ritual performed by the Central Park group, Joan's body was placed outside their home to turn into one of the walkers that protects those inside from outside invaders. When she awakens as one of the undead, Maggie is standing outside watching her corpse rise. Though it seems like undead Joan looks right at Maggie, facing her direction when it stands, the walker turns around and follows a couple of other walkers into the brush of Central Park.

There are a couple of reasonable explanations for why this walker didn't attack Maggie, especially considering the way the scene was filmed. The vines growing around the door were relatively thick, which could convince the viewer that the zombie didn't actually see Maggie. Another justification could be that when the walker stood and faced the camera, it wasn't facing Maggie but only seemed to be turned in her direction. Despite the possible excuses for this problematic Dead City scene, it appears as if this walker turns down a meal, representing a major issue in The Walking Dead franchise.

This Isn't the Only Timid Walking Dead Zombie

There are some important themes that have carried on throughout the many Walking Dead shows, but the entire concept is reliant on the undead plague that destroyed the modern world. Many of the iconic zombies from The Walking Dead were in the first couple of seasons of the flagship series, pulling the audience in with the horror and danger of these flesh-eating villains. These creatures are largely responsible for the large audience the series developed years ago, acting as the defining structure supporting the dramatic storyline of the main characters.

One would think that the walkers in The Walking Dead franchise are a crucial aspect needed to keep the viewers engaged. Despite this, there has been a significant decline in the fright of these creatures and a lack of tension when the characters face an undead swarm, which the audience is now convinced they'll survive without incident. A major issue with walkers no longer concerning viewers is the long-running characters with plot armor who are likely not going to die during a random scene with walkers, significantly decreasing the intended fright of the titular villains.

Another reason walkers have lost their intrigue and impact is the living villains, like Negan and the Dama, who pose more of a risk to the main characters than the undead. Overall, these zombies have failed to live up to the hype of the groundbreaking first installment of this horror universe. From the inconsistencies in the lore, such as walkers first being able to pick up objects, not being able to later on, and then "developing" the ability to do so years later, to walkers not attacking when they have the opportunity to catch their next meal, these undead antagonists are quickly fading into the background of The Walking Dead franchise.

Walkers as Atmosphere are Problematic

Throughout the original series, walkers were well-known by fans to be the major conflict the characters had to face, and, for a while, the storyline did a great job of highlighting this. Even when a living villain was threatening the group's safety, the sudden invasion of a walker horde successfully heightened the tension and left viewers on the edge of their seats. This was especially true for moments such as the horde knocking down Alexandria's walls in Season 6 and the one that was able to scale the gates of the Commonwealth in Season 11.

Unfortunately, the franchise has had less of a focus on walkers, not using them to heighten the tension as much as utilizing them to remind the audience what world these characters are moving around in. Even in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, variant walkers were created to control the survivors of France, but these super-powered zombies were more aesthetically terrifying than successful at convincing the viewers they posed a serious threat to the titular character. Dead City has a similar issue, utilizing walkers to create a foreboding landscape, and making them an unusual power source, but still not convincing anyone that these undead villains are as fearsome as they should be.

In contrast, The Walking Dead has succeeded in developing an eerie, dystopian atmosphere that highlights how the natural world has taken over the previous infrastructure of civilization. The zombies add to this aesthetic, accenting the crumbling buildings and excessive foliage with rotting corpses, perfectly conveying how this plague has completely and irrevocably changed the world. This would be a major positive for the universe if only the series hadn't damaged the reputation of its overarching conflict.

The Walking Dead Is Suffering Under This Trend

So far, The Walking Dead spin-offs have impressed fans and convinced many die-hard fans of the flagship series to dedicate more time to the franchise. On the other hand, the series has lost a significant number of viewers over the years, with these people claiming various reasons why the universe failed to keep their interest. Among these many explanations is the obvious issue of moving away from the terror and uncertainty of zombies ruling the world in favor of dramatic power struggles and complex social and political issues.

Though humans being the real villains in this story is a popular and admired theme in The Walking Dead storyline, the creators had the potential to do this without taking away from key aspects of the overall concept. Without the walkers, the series has turned into a post-apocalyptic narrative that is often eerie, but not nearly in the same way it was 15 years ago. The zombies continue to have a role in the narrative, but it doesn't go unnoticed that many episodes can be completely devoid of walkers and still have the same impact.

The frustrating scene in Dead City Season 2 concerning Maggie and the newly turned walker isn't the worst mystery or inconsistency in the narrative or the walker lore. However, it does speak to a major issue in the franchise, emphasizing how unimportant the world-destroying antagonists have become. Without the creatures that define the series, viewers have begun to question what the point is in dedicating more time to this horror TV icon.