Dead City doesn’t just flirt with the idea of post-apocalyptic chaos—it continues to plunge headfirst into it, dragging viewers, like me, happily along for the ride. Set in a gang-ruled New York, the Season 2 premiere, “Power Equals Power,” is a leap forward from Season 1. It more clearly defines the landscape of human ambition clashing against the unstoppable mutations of the dead. With stronger character development and sharper world-building, Season 2 is off to an electrifying start. Let’s review.
The factions this time around are more thoughtfully constructed. Some, like Christo (Jake Weary) and The Bruegel (Kim Coates), are “ferocious and territorial,” reveling in brute force. The Dama (Lisa Emery), in cahoots with The Croat (Zekjko Ivanek), controls the Burazi and dominates the technology that creates the methane powering the city.
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| "Power Equals Power” – DEAD CITY, Pictured: Kim Coates as The Bruegel. Photo: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) once laid down his bat, but with the Dama’s threats to his family, he's forced to take another swing at the man he tried to leave behind. In a pivotal scene, he electrifies his adversary, Christo, with Lucille—now laced with crackling barbed wire—knocking him unconscious in a shocking display of dominance. Negan’s philosophy? “Power equals power”—the Walking Dead’s apocalyptic version of the golden rule: “He who has the gold, rules.” As always, power—whether political, financial, or forceful—tends to concentrate in the hands of those who already possess it, making disruption nearly impossible.
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| "Power Equals Power” – DEAD CITY, Pictured (l-r): Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Zeljko Ivanek as The Croat. Photo: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Meanwhile, the New Babylon Federation operates under the guise of law and order, but it’s no less brutal than the others. Marshall Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles) is promoted to Colonel on the lie that he killed Negan, prompting him to recruit Maggie (Lauren Cohan) for the Federation’s mission to invade New York. Unfortunately for him, Governor Charlie Byrd (Jasmin Walker) and her henchwoman, Major Lucia Narvaez (Dasch Polano), rule with an iron fist—lynching those who won’t fight with them. Maggie watches in horror as Jason Ornell (Ari Loeb) is hanged in accordance with Federation law, proving that even structure can become tyranny in the wrong hands.
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| "Power Equals Power” – DEAD CITY, Pictured (l-r): Jasmin Walker as Governor Charlie Byrd, Gaius Charles as Perlie Armstrong, Dascha Polanco as Narvaez. Photo: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Those truly yearning for freedom—like Maggie, who clings to ethics, peace, and independence—are forced into the shadows, surviving in a world that rewards conquest. The New Babylon Federation, by conscripting its citizens for an invasion of New York, is little more than another brutal gang.
Where “Power Equals Power” truly shines is in its characters. The motivations of Maggie, Negan, The Dama, and The Croat are explored with enough depth to keep them compelling without spoon-feeding the audience. Maggie talks to her son, Herschel (Logan Kim), explaining her choices. The Dama threatens Negan with the lives of his wife and child, making his actions understandable.
But what’s refreshing are the newcomers. Their motivations remain intriguingly ambiguous.
Herschel, seemingly inept as a fighter and hunter, excels as an artist. Through his drawings, he finds beauty in New York’s decay. But what does it mean when he finally gets the ninja star to stick in that wall in the closing scene? What’s his real motivation? Does he hate Negan but secretly admire The Dama?
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"Power
Equals Power” – DEAD CITY, Pictured (l-r): Anthony Molinari
as Lt. Houseman, Keir Gilchrist as Benjamin Pierce. Photo: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc.
All Rights Reserved. |
And then there’s Benjamin Pierce (Keir Gilchrist), the Federation’s archivist. He lacks real-world experience, as Herschel slyly points out, but he seems desperate to restore the city’s former glory. Pierce is Dead City’s version of Milton Mamet (Dallas Roberts) from Season 3 of the flagship, The Walking Dead.
And Ginny… what’s up with her? Learning at the end of Season 1 that Negan killed her father, why does she want to return to the city? Maybe she sees the ruins not as potential, but as her coffin, and returning is simply a death wish. Is this why she rushes wildly into the corral filled with walkers, slashing without a second thought? And yet, there’s something thrilling about her reckless determination. If the world is dying, why not go out fighting?
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"Power Equals Power” – DEAD CITY,
Pictured: Mahina Anne
Marie Napoleon as Ginny. Photo: Robert Clark/AMC ©
2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
“Power Equals Power” delivers a rich emotional palette—fear, manipulation, heroism, and just a glimpse of hope, which is the episode’s biggest flaw? Hope feels more like an afterthought than a driving force.
A world ravaged by violence and death needs more than fleeting glimpses of optimism—it needs tangible proof that survival is worth it. The flagship Walking Dead series thrived on emotional beats: the Maggie-Glenn and Rick-Michonne romances grounded the chaos in love and resilience. Dead City desperately needs its own version, such as a love story, the birth of a child, or a groundbreaking invention that saves lives instead of taking them.
Without this balance, Dead City risks becoming just another immersive but hollow video game, where victory is measured solely by the rising body count.
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"Power Equals Power” – DEAD
CITY, Pictured (l-r): Anthony
Molinari as Lt. Houseman, Keir Gilchrist as Pierce. Photo: Robert
Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Despite this flaw, it’s undeniable that Dead City improved over Season 1. “Power Equals Power” grips viewers with its brutality, raw emotion, and unexpectedly grounded portrayal of power struggles and survival. Like the Daryl Dixon and the Ones Who Live spinoffs, Dead City crafts a hauntingly beautiful apocalypse where characters wrestle with existence itself. Through striking cinematography and immersive art direction, these series create visually distinct worlds that are as mesmerizing as they are brutal, making them well worth watching. Just don’t expect it to leave you feeling hopeful.
Is Hershel destined to disobey his mother and join her in New York? If so, will he confront Negan? What will happen to Colonel Perlie Armstrong when Governor Byrd and Major Narvaez discover Negan is alive? Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments.
Overall Rating:
9/10
Lynette Jones
