I know we are now only two episodes in, but I am enjoying the spacing that is taking place. We are slowly uncovering the truths of the show, but also not spending an enormous amount of time on character development on people who are not staying long. This episode was more plot focused than the action, which was nice to try to get a little more knowledge of the lay of Manhattan. With the help of, as Negan refers to her, pigeon lady, we see that people travel by way of zip lines from building to building. It is a pretty awesome way to move, and it looks like it’s something the smart walkers haven’t been able to master. Negan thinks it’s incredibly awesome, while Maggie appears to be afraid of heights. She struggles with the height and doesn’t make it across smoothly, but is still too stubborn to allow help from Negan.
Negan and Maggie follow this lady, eventually to her group, which puts them in a cell after Maggie gives them a BS story about going to Canada for a settlement, and they get stranded on the island from their boat. In the alone time Negan and Maggie have, Negan talks about his past with the Croat, how he was someone who went rogue, and that the Croat has one ear because Negan missed trying to kill him. Maggie gets upset that the man might want to kill Negan because she is sort of terrible and never bothered to ask in the first place. She also assumed that the Croat was terrible because Negan was terrible and probably trained him, which was not the case, as Negan explained, and he also said he was only a monster when he needed to put on a show for his people. With how much he has mellowed out, that can be believable.
This new group doesn’t seem to have guns, which is unsurprising. They have made some makeshift nail gun weapons, and they are pretty cool, actually. But when Croat’s people come to raid, they are no match and try to escape to another set of buildings. In the melee, the pigeon lady is killed, but Negan captures him. He knows they don’t have enough time for everyone to escape, so he takes the man and says he can handle it. He goes back to classic Negan to stall and create fear. He smashes the man’s head through three panes of glass, saying knock knock to more attackers below. He ends up gutting the man and spilling blood down on the soldiers below, who seem pretty terrified of Negan. This all happens with Maggie watching after his stunt. When he sees that Maggie is watching, he maybe feels ashamed, but you also see a weird dynamic with Maggie seeing firsthand how Negan’s show saved a bunch of people. Once Maggie, Negan, and the others get to another set of buildings to lay low, they all have a chance to talk. The new group says they don’t have hundreds of people like they tried to say earlier, and Maggie is finally honest about her mission, to get to the Croat to save her son. They say now that is something we can help you with if you want to die.
Elsewhere just a few short pieces, Jinny is introduced at the new settlement as someone from Oceanside, so we know that Oceanside is still up and operational. The Marshall went to his brother’s apartment to see what happened. His brother committed suicide at some point. The walkers eventually start breaking into the apartment, so he flees out the window. Unfortunately, in the alley, he is picked up by a net trap. Croat set the trap, and they have cars, gas, and helmets with spikes they use to headbutt and kill walkers, a unique new way. Croat takes the Marshall and tells him he is safe now.
