[Negan] Previously on Dead City...
For a wanted man, I look good!
[Armstrong] I'm a New Babylon marshal.
Have you seen this man?
Manhattan was one of the epicenters.
Military destroyed all the bridges and tunnels
hoping to contain it.
[Amaia] What are you after?
It's pretty obvious
you dickheads ain't from around here.
The Croat, he has my son.
[Amaia] So you wanna get to the psycho.
That, we can help you with.
[Negan] He was an exceptionally insane son of a bitch.
I'll put up that girl.
Ginny, I will come back for you soon.
[crickets chirping]
[birds chirping]
[walker growling]
[grunts]
We gotta talk. Scratch that,
you gotta talk.
You need help?
How am I supposed to know if you ain't yelling for it?
All I have been doing for months
is trying to find a safe place for you,
and you have been sticking to me like goddamn crazy glue.
I turn my back for half a second,
and that's when you decide to skedaddle!?
[birds chirping]
Yeah.
This asswipe tried to kill us last night.
Guess we ain't the only ones he pissed off.
Can you at least tell me
what the hell you're doin' out here?
[birds chirping]
[Negan] You lost your dino. Goddamn it.
Dropped it, huh?
Okay. All right.
We will just re-goddamn-trace our goddamn footsteps.
[loud, clunky engine running]
[engine stops running]
[seagulls squawking] [waves lapping]
[unsettling music]
[music intensifies]
[theme music]
[clacking]
[seagulls squawking]
[clacking continues]
[dings bell]
[Negan laughs] What do you got there?
It's beeswax.
I hear that's good for cuts. Can I bum a little bit?
No.
[Amaia] Eighth is safe until around 30th,
then we'll loop around.
[Tommaso] Might as well be a map of the moon.
Or Yonkers.
Most of these streets are no-go,
jammed wall-to-wall with fleshies.
What about 33rd?
[Amaia] Nah, he's got traps all up and down the 30's.
How long you guys been at this?
We ain't tourists, that's for sure.
Just... kids when it all went down.
The first few weeks were the worst.
I mean, it spread so fast.
Through the subways, the buildings.
Bodies coming up from the ground,
falling from the sky.
[sighs]
We kept waiting for the Army to show up.
Shit, anybody.
And when they finally got here,
we were dumb enough to think that they'd come to save us.
Then we watched them blow up the bridges,
the tunnels.
Leaving us in this death trap.
We were getting it together little by little,
till he showed up. Asking people to join him,
offering protection, creature comforts.
What's he want with you?
To keep us safe.
His paranoid, crazy version of that.
Kill or be killed.
[Amaia] We were never gonna sign up for that.
We don't take no orders from no bridge-and-tunnel nutcase.
[Tommaso] So now he tries to kill us.
Steal from us.
Catch and torture us,
so he can learn how to kill and steal some more.
Only one of us ever got out alive,
and that wasn't anything but luck.
I've gotta go check the alley.
Oh, shit.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--
No, it's all right.
She's tougher than she looks,
and she looks tough as shit.
[tries to breathe down sobs]
[creaking] [waves lapping]
[tense music]
[seagulls squawking]
[loud whirring] [walkers growling]
[Tommaso] Wanna get to the Croat,
we just gotta get through that.
It's been bringing fleshies in from all over the city.
[Amaia] Right on cue.
[music playing from float] [walkers growling]
God dang, the parade's lookin' a little rough this year.
[Maggie] How do we get inside the arena?
You don't.
-Sewers. -[Amaia] Hell no.
Army shoved in all the fleshies they killed
till they got turned into fleshies too.
Sealed it up nice and tight.
[Negan] You said one of your people got out.
Look, I'm just extrapolating here, but...
if someone broke out of Alcatraz--
Then there's a way back in. Who escaped?
Tommaso, just tell us how you got out.
It's all we need to know.
Or... we could show them.
No. The decision's already been made.
So, what, we're just gonna sit around,
twiddling our dicks?
He invaded our home! He butchered our people!
-We can't just-- -Luther's right.
It was a risk when we voted it down the first time.
And now there's even less of us, and I...
I don't know if I can...
I mean...
Going back there is, like...
I am, um, getting a little feeling of déjà vu.
Twelve, fifteen years ago, there was a...
a fella down south.
Showed up out of nowhere, a lot like this guy.
Everybody flocked to him because he knew what they needed,
what they wanted. Protection.
Sanctuary.
So we built a badass fortress.
Formed an army out of psychopaths.
And he forced people to join.
And if they didn't?
The hammer came down.
Now soon enough, the people, they got fed up with it,
so they got together.
And they decided it was time to take that hammer back.
-So what happened? -It worked.
Hell yeah it worked.
[whirring in background]
[sighs]
We'll talk to the others.
[tires screeching]
[tense music]
Welcome!
[music grows darker]
[indistinct chatter in distance]
[Tommaso] Sometimes the door would open
and he'd offer me food or medicine.
All I had to do was start talking.
How many of us were left, where we were hiding.
[chuckles]
But I knew the second I talked, I'd be axed, so...
you know, the door kept opening.
But let's just say there was no more food and medicine.
When I was a kid,
my nonno used to talk about working on the crew
that rebuilt Penn Station.
People assumed the old station was gone.
But Gramps, he knew the spots where they left the framework
hiding behind the walls.
So one night, the Burazi
were kind enough to clean out my cell
from all the blood they spilt in there.
And lucky for me, a fleshie got in.
I ran as fast as I could,
followed the framework, found the tunnels.
So how far are the cells once we get in?
It's close.
[taps table twice]
Wouldn't bank on those cells being full.
After your disappearing act,
he would've moved folks off site.
How do you know?
It's what he would've done.
He and the Croat know each other.
They go back. Way back.
He knows how he thinks.
Huh.
So they buddies, then?
Were. Took a shot at him. Blew his ear off.
He can bait him. Lure him out of the arena.
And we get him to tell me where my son is.
And we kill him.
The rest of us will get a jump on his people
so he can't follow you.
[Luther] I'm sorry.
You said he shot his ear off, right?
So how is he gonna bait him?
You don't think he's gonna want payback?
Eye for an eye? Dick for an ear?
And what if you're wrong?
What if it doesn't work?
It will work.
Y'all gonna get us killed. And for what?
For my son.
So that I can get my son.
Your son is already dead!
I think you know that.
[Negan] All right, you know what?
It's been a long day. Let's take five.
[indistinct chatter]
[loud whirring]
[keys jangling] [door unlocking]
[door shuts]
[soothing Croatian choir music, Proplakat Ce Zora , plays]
[door opens]
[door shuts]
[sighs]
Chilly in here, isn't it?
[switches on heat]
[The Croat] There we are!
Not bad for a jail, no?
[chuckles]
Nicer than yours, I imagine.
Lights.
Heat, music.
Drink.
Food.
You must be hungry.
Pasticada.
It isn't magic, I promise.
Only science.
That was my profession. Alternative energy.
So naturally, when I first arrived here,
I couldn't help asking myself,
what is the most abundant natural resource
on this island?
Death.
The sewers are full of it.
As the bodies break down, they produce methane,
and because the intermolecular forces are weak,
the gas can be pressurized into a liquid fuel
at regular temperatures.
Amazing, isn't it?
What we have built here is a sanctuary.
And all are welcome.
So, why are you here,
and whom did you bring with you?
[sighs]
[silverware clanking]
You understand, I can't offer you refuge
until you no longer pose a threat.
Because above all, above all
in this vicious, monstrous world,
we must stay safe.
[record crackles, skips]
You inspected the meat?
Rotten meat can host all type of bacteria.
And without the treatment that we once had,
all potentially deadly.
Why would you serve me rotten meat?
-Actually, it was-- -Ah, ah!
[tense, sinister music]
Ahh.
Ahh?
[gulps]
[crack]
[pants]
[tense, sinister music]
[door opens]
[walkers growling]
[dark, wistful music]
[Negan coughs]
Hey, sorry. I, um...
I found this in the back of one of those tourist shops.
I remember, uh...
I remember Hershel used to wear one sort of like it.
Thought maybe you could give it to him when you see him.
He's wrong, Luther. He is wrong.
Your plan is gonna work.
If you wanna talk about it or whatever, I...
Contrary to popular belief, I do occasionally...
know how to shut up.
[chairs creaks]
When the Croat showed up at our gates...
I told Hershel... to get in the root cellar.
I tried to make him hide.
By then, I could've said left and he'd go right
just to spite me.
And he went and grabbed his shovel and a brick
like that was gonna do anything.
And I told him he was stupid.
He told me to get off his damn back for once.
And that is the last thing that we said to each other.
And I screwed up so many ways before then.
Fumbling through, doing it by ourself...
There weren't a lot of people
that meant anything to me in this world.
But there were enough.
And whatever's left of all of them is inside this box.
And I'm...
A few years ago,
Joshua, Annie, and I,
we were living in this little cabin outside of New Babylon.
One day, Annie decided to go into town
to do some trading.
When she wasn't home at nightfall, I, uh...
I knew something had gone wrong.
I went looking for her. I found her.
And she had been...
[sighs]
She had been--
She had been robbed, beaten, and, um...
She begged me not to do something stupid.
The hell, you know me. I found 'em.
All five of 'em.
Some shit drinking hole.
Honestly, I don't think I even wanted to kill 'em.
After that, we were on the run, and it was very hard for Annie.
So I put 'em on a wagon train to Missouri,
and I said I'd be right behind 'em.
I stayed.
I think about them every single day.
I hope to god they are okay,
and maybe I have no right in hoping that.
I don't know, Maggie.
I mean, what else do we have?
Besides hope.
[Negan sighs]
I thought you knew how to shut up.
[walkers growling]
[tense music]
[walker growling]
[Negan] We can't keep doing this.
Been lookin' for this friggin' dinosaur all day.
[sighs] I've gotta find a better place for you.
And you have to speak.
You know, I call out for you, then you...
you call back, all right?
You're in trouble, you say so.
Hey! Are you listening to me?
No, Ginny, you don't get to say no.
All right, maybe back in the day
you could go see some state doctor
and he would help you get through all the horrible shit
you've been through.
But that is not the case anymore,
so you gotta skip all the coping shit
and get straight to the staying alive shit.
You hear me?
Do you hear me!?
[sighs]
[birds chirping]
Hey.
You know what the problem is?
The problem is we don't have any leads.
Or hell, maybe the leads are all around us
and we can't just see 'em.
[walker growling]
[unsettling music]
[waves lapping]
[tense, creaky music]
[clinking]
[hums gently, reverently]
[chanting] Doma smo! Doma smo!
[humming continues]
[All] Doma smo! Doma smo!
Doma smo! Doma smo!
We are home!
[crowd cheering]
[all hum]
[The Croat] We are family.
Tonight...
we celebrate our fallen brother.
Not mourn, no.
Because death is no end.
It is our fuel.
Because people are a resource!
[crowd cheering]
[humming continues]
[humming ends]
[crowd cheering]
[cheering dies down]
[methane escaping from mask]
Anything to say?
Last chance, my friend.
[crowd shouting]
[crowd cheering, laughing]
[clanking]
[panting]
[The Croat] [speech warped] Let's begin!
[coughs]
[walker growling]
[crowd cheering, laughing]
[music intensifies] [walker growling]
[crowd disappointed, groaning]
[grunts]
[crowd groaning]
[glass shattering]
[crowd shouting]
[tense, pulsating music]
[crowd shouting]
[cage rattles]
[walker growling]
[music continues]
[walkers growling]
[grunts]
[walkers growling]
[grunts]
[crowd shouting]
[crickets chirping]
Here we go, right?
I gotta say,
I'm shitting more bricks
than what's left in the city right now.
I don't know how you do it.
Keep it together, with your kid and all.
Amaia, she says having a kid in the city wouldn't be safe.
Yeah, I don't know, I just...
Yeah, she's probably right, you know?
Yeah, she's right.
It isn't safe.
So you have to make it safe somehow.
You do whatever it takes.
[Amaia] Tommaso!
Look who's here.
[laughing] Oh, shit!
-Where you been? -Ah!
Inwood?
-Aw, shh. -[chuckles]
Scrounge up anything good?
Always good.
[chuckling]
Um...
[Maggie] Where'd you get that?
Street.
When?
I know a little girl who likes stuff like that, that's all.
Take it.
[loud whirring] [walkers growling]
That was the best show this place has seen in years.
I don't enjoy such barbarism, but it had to be done.
When the world became unstable,
my family and I found shelter in a post office.
We were starving, so I went to look for food.
When I got back, I smelled it immediately.
My family.
My wife, Mia,
and my daughters Nika and Hana,
and my son, Filip,
had become a meal
for another starving family.
I was too distraught to even think of killing myself,
and by the time that would've occurred to me,
I had already found the man who would become my new family
and teach me how to protect the things that matter,
which makes me wonder what it is you are protecting
in that boot.
[Armstrong struggles]
Ooh.
[Armstrong pants]
[grunts]
"Pearlie,
"I don't know if you'll even read this.
"I feel dumb it took me so long to realize
"you all changed your numbers.
"I wonder what those other people thought
"when they heard my messages.
"I've been trying so damn hard,
"but it's too much for me.
"I'm too weak, and I can't do it by myself.
"I need help.
"Please help me.
"Please come find me.
"I don't like it where I am,
and I just want to come home--"
Stop it!
It's just me.
No one else.
I had two partners, but they're dead.
We came to bring a wanted man home.
Who is worth following here?
His name is Negan.
[clanking]
[chuckles]
Oh dang, for a big guy, you are quiet.
I just, you know, seeing if there's any weapons
I could pick up for tomorrow.
Look,
I know you're not the president of my fan club.
I get it, but all you need to know is that
we are on the same side and this plan is gonna work.
The two of you are leaving here tonight.
I think you got the wrong idea about me.
Do I?
So this isn't you right here?
Says that "if you have any information on this man,
"notify any office of the New Babylon Marshals.
Do not approach unless armed."
Mm.
Where, uh, where'd you get that?
I got it from you.
Must've been proud of yourself to keep it on you.
"Antisocial, prone to extreme violence,
"with above-average intelligence and charisma.
Do not trust him."
The thing is...
that I have people depending on me, Luther.
So respectfully?
No.
I ain't goin' anywhere.
Respectfully,
people are depending on me as well.
So, you know.
[tense music]
[chuckles]
All right, here's the deal.
I am, uh...
I'ma try this one more time.
All right, Luther?
And I really hope this doesn't turn into something
it doesn't need to.
Okay.
[music intensifies] [grunting]
[yells]
[grunts]
[sputtering]
[clank]
[grunts]
[tense music]
[crickets chirping]
[tense music]
You didn't, by chance,
check your bag before we left this morning, did you?
Maybe you didn't drop it all. Maybe that asswipe stole him
before you even had a chance to drop him.
[insects buzzing]
[Negan] Oh shit, hold up.
Oh, [grunts]
All right, hold on to it for me.
Good.
Very gentle, go around.
And... here you go, ma'am.
the operation was a complete success.
All right. Here's the thing, Ginny.
I want you to listen, okay?
[whistles two tones]
That was the whistle that my wife Lucille used, all right?
She was sick and couldn't get out of bed,
and she would do that whistle.
And it didn't matter what I was doing or where I was.
I came running.
[whistles two tones] Can you do that?
[whistles two tones]
[Negan] That was amazing.
You do that and I'm not around, I will be there.
Deal?
Talk is cheap anyway, kid.
Believe me, I oughta know.
It doesn't matter what people say.
[folksy guitar]
* Hang me, oh, hang me
* I'll be dead and gone
It only matters what they do.
* Hang me, oh, hang me
* I'll be dead and gone
* Wouldn't mind the hanging
* But the laying in the grave so long, poor boy *
* I've been all around this world *
* Hang me, oh, hang me
* I'll be dead and gone
* Wouldn't mind the hanging
* But the laying in the grave so long, poor boy *
* I've been all around this world *
Negan: It's gonna work, Maggie.
We're gonna get your boy back.
Woman: You get your kid. We kill the psycho.
Don't screw it up.
*
[Woman screams]
Hey, follow me!
Negan?
Fall in!
*
Nothing to be afraid of. It's only me.
Eli: Hi, I'm Eli Jorné, EP showrunner of "Dead City,"
and this is episode three, "People are a Resource."
*
So, episode three has this flashback storyline
about Ginny and Negan,
and we learn how they formed their bond.
Negan: You lost your Dino, God damn it.
*
I think there's something in Negan that wants to be there
for people, that can be there for people.
[Whistles]
Can you do that?
[Whistles]
That was amazing.
The flashback is there to help tell that story, too,
about how Ginny makes her way to the city.
Well, she did it because she's got Negan in her head.
And so in that way, we start to understand
that it isn't just that he helped her find a dinosaur doll,
you know, he helped her figure out how to live.
*
So in episode three, we have yet another scene
of Negan killing somebody.
All you need to know is that we are on the same side,
and this plan is gonna -- The two of you
are leaving here tonight.
There's a lot of implications there
that Luther intends to do to Negan
what Negan ends up doing to him.
Everything that Luther is doing
is coming from a place of love for his people.
And I think there's something in Negan that even knows that.
Okay. [Clink]
[Grunts] [Pan clatters]
We see that moment when Negan holds down Luther's head,
and there's a look in his face like there's something in him
that kind of gets unleashed a little bit there,
and he knows it and maybe he fears it.
And it's just a small, little moment,
but he looks down at his hand,
and it's this wound that got opened up.
It's like these sort of monstrous forces in him
that seem to come out whether he likes it or not.
*
The Croat and the Boratzi are holed up in this big arena.
That was really fun to build.
The production designer, Scott Murphy,
just did an incredible job there.
There were these suites all around,
and those were our offices.
So I'd be sitting there doing rewrites,
and I'd hear crazy stuff happening down below --
screaming and walkers and groans and whatnot.
The Croat: Here we are.
*
Not bad for a jail, no? [Chuckles]
The Croat never does anything just to do it,
just to be nice.
There's always strategy there.
And in this case, he's trying to say to Armstrong,
"If you give me what I want, you can become a part of this."
But I think Armstrong knows on some level
that's a dangerous game to be playing.
And so he withholds the information,
and of course, that leads to a lot of trouble for him.
[Crowd chanting indistinctly, cheers]
*
Methane, you know, if you breathe it in,
it can really just kind of slow everything down and mess you up.
[Walker growls]
There's this key moment --
Armstrong realizes he could get the key out of his stomach.
And that's when I think we start to realize
this is weirdly a kind of test or a challenge
to see what Armstrong's made of.
And then there's this second key moment,
which is when Armstrong reaches to get his boot.
And that's what it was all about.
The Croat has put him in this situation
where his life is on the line and something slips out.
The thing that's going to crack him and break him.
*
Through the tribes people and their experiences,
their ways of grieving, it's gonna start to kind of
crack Maggie and Negan open a bit.
Maggie: There weren't a lot of people
that meant anything to me in this world,
but there were enough.
*
And whatever's left of all of them is inside this box.
And Negan, too, is gonna have to open up
and be vulnerable about his pushing his family away
to save them the trouble.
Negan: After that, we were on the run,
and it was very hard for Annie.
So I put him on a wagon train to Missouri,
and I said I'd be right behind him.
I stayed.
And when they start to do that,
the funny thing that starts to happen is they start to connect.
You know, maybe on some level,
they're both starting to understand
that the only way out of this is through each other.
I don't know, Maggie.
*
Hey, what else do we have
besides hope?
*
[outro music]