Old Acquaintances

Dead City quickly hooked me in and got right to the point unlike the franchises previous spin off shows which have infamously fumbled. While it is still too early to fully determine where dead city will rank among it's flagship and sister shows, Dead city starts off the right way by offering strong characters we are familiar with as well as interesting new ones such as."The Croat" played by Zeljko Ivanek. One of my favorite parts of the first two episodes is the beautiful clausterphobic atmosphere of New York City where danger is around every corner. Dead City could be the best product The Walking Dead has to offer in a very long time.

Maggie observes a herd of walkers in Manhattan; she is attacked by one walker and later she goes to a bar of a motel, where she has to fight for her life. Finally, she meets Negan, who was in the motel and is on the run with the teenager Ginny. Negan is wanted in New Babylon for killing a judge and the marshals are hunting him down. Maggie tells him that Hershel was kidnapped by his former follower, The Croat, and she is tracking him down until the Hudson River. Negan says that The Croat is a sick man, and Maggie says that he owes her and proposes to take care of Ginny at Hilltop if he teams up with her to hunt down The Croat and rescue Hershell. Maggie tells him that Hilltop was relocated and fires a flare; soon, her friend Gina arrives to take Ginny to Hilltop. Meanwhile, the Marshal Perlie Armstrong arrives at the bar where Maggie and Negan were, and he shows the wanted poster of Negan and asks his whereabouts. After torturing the owner of the bar to have information about Negan and Maggie, Armstrong throws her to be devoured by walkers restrained by a fence. When Maggie and Negan are ready to navigate to Manhattan, Armstrong and the two marshals arrive, but the junior one, Jano, is captured by Maggie while pissing. They use Jano as a shield and cross the Hudson River by boat. But soon Armstrong and the other marshal follows them, in the beginning of their journey hunted down by a local gang, The Croat gang and the marshals.

"Old Acquaintances" is the first episode of "The Walking Dead" spin-off "Dead City. The beginning of this show is confused, with strange things happening, such as Hershell a teenager and Maggie with the same appearance; people driving cars; and outlaw marshals that kill without judgement, although they claim that Negan killed a judge. The environment of New York recalls John Carpenter's "Escape from New York" (1981), showing a derelict Manhattan. The team-up of Maggie with Negan is maybe the worst in the show, since she hates and do not trust him; therefore, it seems incoherent this association specially when the viewer learns that The Croat has a grudge with him. But the show has many action scenes and twists and is not bad. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Old Acquaintances"

Although I still do have concerns on the future of twd franchise, Dead City is an impressive entry to the franchise which left me excited after seeing the first two episodes. Dead City offers great performences by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan and stunning cinematography. My biggest concern going in was that the show was going to force the two into a relationship but it is clear after viewing that is the direction they will not be going. The show also provides interesting supporting characters while still not losing focus on it's two main stars which is another promising factor as it's flagship show sometimes stumbled with that.

Ever since the main show ended it felt like these further spin offs were blatant attempts at milking the franchise. However I'm happy to say that this first episode is a glimpse at something potentially great. It's early to tell but straight away we can see evidence of the high budget in the effects and general scenery.

This is probably the best the franchise has looked visually and ultimately by stripping back the cast, characters are allowed to shine further. This episode felt a lot more focused than TWD had been in recent years with a constant sense of dread that later seasons lacked. I think you get just enough civilisation and survival to make for a show encompassing the best of both worlds. I'm hopeful that the show will continue on this path as there is a ton of potential, it's amazing how focusing on quality over quantity has helped this show.

After the walking dead went on for over a decade, I am so impressed with how well this spin off started out. Congrats to all of those who made it possible, good job! Even if I didn't know the back story, I still consider it a great start. I am super excited to watch the rest of this season. I'm so glad that they didn't let the zombie apocalypse genre go. Honestly, I really think that they could keep this going permanently if they keep the right scripts for it just like morning soap operas. Keep it going guys! So excited LLLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE IIIIIITTTTTT!!!!!!! I will probably be a fan for life.