[The Dama] Previously on Dead City...
I help you, and no more of this
dragging me back to New Babylon bullshit.
When this is over, will you look after Ginny for me?
You're trying to go after Negan?
What do you think he's wanted for?
Stealing a loaf of bread?
-[walkers growling] -Go, Ginny, go!
-Hershel! -Mom!
[Maggie] Negan is the key to getting him back.
He's on the island. I saw him.
[The Dama] Where is he?
There is absolutely no way Negan will be getting off this island.
[tense, pulsating music]
[music mellows]
Maggie? Maggie!
[whistles from distance]
What are you doin' here? How the hell did you get here?
[Maggie] Ginny! Ginny!
-You know about this? -No.
She just turned up at the arena,
right before the walkers came, and--
You can't be here.
I think she just wanted to be with you.
[walkers growling]
-The flare. -We gotta go.
You can't be here. You hear me?
I can't protect you and help Maggie. There was a plan.
Her and I, we come here, we get Hershel.
You stay with her people, where you're safe!
That was the whole goddamn point!
That you stay safe. And you know that, Ginny.
-[Negan] Shit! -I can take her back.
You finish what you started.
I can take her where she needs to go.
[haunting ambient music]
Listen to me, you're gonna go with him.
And he'll keep you safe. He is good people.
Ginny, I can't go with you, and you can't stay with me.
Hell, you do not want to stay with me.
You don't know me, kid.
I am not who you think I am.
I... want you to--
No!
All these months and now you want to chat?
I killed your dad.
[music intensifies]
I'm not wanted for robbing a wagon train.
I killed five men.
And your dad, he was one of them.
It's why I tracked you down to the farm.
Why I let you tag along, 'cause I knew you had no one.
You? You're just a debt that I had to pay.
That's it.
I got you. Come on. Let's go. Come on.
[walkers growling]
[theme music]
[panting]
Time to go.
[wistful, haunting music]
[birds chirping, cooing]
You should sleep. I can keep watch.
It's all right, I'm good.
Besides, he shows up, two sets of eyes are better than one.
[birds squawking]
What you did back there, that couldn't have been easy.
You think the plan's gonna work?
I'll say this, he was surprisingly glad to see my ass.
Water under the bridge, he said.
It's not like our reunion went off without a hitch, but,
with all our history, that brotherly bullshit,
I have a feelin' he and I may be able to work something out.
For me, it wasn't the Statue of Liberty.
It was Macy's.
When I was little, after my mom got sick,
I'd crawl into bed with her and she'd tell me stories.
About Santa.
The real Santa.
Sometimes he'd come down from the North Pole
to the Macy's store in Manhattan and visit all the kids.
And I used to daydream that one day I'd go to New York,
walk into that Macy's,
become best friends with the real Santa.
He'd take all my toys that I'd lost
or that had been broken,
and he'd find a way to replace them.
[mellow, bright ambient music]
And there it is.
[tires squealing]
[sinister, pulsating music]
[music continues]
[sinister music]
[music softens]
[Negan] Where there's smoke, huh?
Guess you were right all along.
Let's go.
[music intensifies]
Hey.
You were inside the sewers with Ginny.
What do you think she was trying to tell me?
[Maggie] I don't know, maybe she knew that you'd be mad at her
for coming and just wanted to explain herself.
[tense music]
[grunting]
[walkers growling]
[tense music]
[walkers growling]
Goddamnit, Maggie. We don't have to do this.
[music intensifies]
[grunting]
Stop. Stop!
[screams in pain]
[grunts]
[grunts and coughs]
[screams]
Drop it.
Here's what I'm thinking.
The Croat never took your grain, just your kid.
For collateral, sure,
but he was never coming back for no harvest.
He wanted me.
And for what? Who the hell knows.
But whatever that crazy son of a bitch wants with me,
I sure as shit ain't gonna like it.
You and I both know that much.
The shit thing is, Maggie,
we could have done it.
We could have saved Hershel.
Because you and I together, we made one hell of a badass team.
But you know that, don't you?
Maybe some part of you always wanted it to end this way.
The fact is, Maggie, it doesn't matter what excuses I give you
or how many apologies I offer,
you can't get over it.
And you shouldn't.
[door opens]
[sinister music]
[brakes squealing]
[haunting music]
[Armstrong] Hey!
[Nina] Welcome home.
[The Croat] We first looked for you at the Sanctuary.
It was a husk abandoned long ago,
which was depressing.
And after searching up and down the mainland for God knows
how many months,
I learned of your status.
Four men and a magistrate.
You, you, you.
And then I found Jerome.
He was not much interested in reminiscing, but
he was alone and weak.
And I convinced him to talk. And he told me a story
that excited my curiosity.
The story of the widow.
Either way, I saw that you could help.
Strong, smart.
Vulnerabilities to be exploited.
And most of all,
you needed a little push, yes, but...
you had your own incentives.
Still, I never expected you to pull it off.
But you did. You found him.
And brought him home.
Doma smo, eh?
You know, for a moment when I saw you on the catwalk
all alone, I thought to myself, lucky me.
I get to have Negan and the child.
Nah, it's okay.
He's enough.
[tires squealing]
[dark, thunderous music]
[tense music]
[door opens]
Hey.
Just look after Ginny, will you?
That's all I ask.
[music softens, becomes somber]
[door opens]
How do we do this?
Well, we both want the same thing, no?
[music continues]
It's good to see you, kid.
[music continues]
[unsettling music]
[walkers growling]
[Armstrong] It was like a maze full of sculptures
made up of whatever they could find, I guess.
But, uh, I tracked him down,
got him up against a wall,
had a gun on him.
He made a move to get away, and...
I shot him, killed him.
[New Babylon Man #1] Got him! Got the son of a bitch--
Let him finish!
I want to hear the rest.
[Armstrong] Not much more to tell.
Got back to my boat. Car was where I left it.
Enough ethanol to get me home in one straight shot.
Shame you had to shoot him, though.
As a marshal, I'm licensed to administer justice--
No, I know all about that.
Just saying it would have been nice to put him on display.
Make a statement.
No thank you, ma'am.
How are your girls, by the way?
Marjorie, Bea and... Dessie?
Don't worry, we looked out for them while you were gone.
I should pay them a visit.
Let 'em know all about their daddy's heroics.
How hard he works to protect our body politic.
[unsettling music]
I knew you couldn't help yourself.
You know what went into making that cigar?
You see, the thing is, gotta cure the leaves
at a temperature of 100 degrees.
And a temperature like that,
an exact temperature.
What's the optimal way to keep that going?
Central heating.
But ethanol comes from corn,
which takes up thousands of acres of fields.
So what I'd like you to do, Marshal,
I'd like you to tell me your story again.
And this time,
I want you to tell me all about the methane.
[music intensifies, then softens and fades]
[sighs]
I can't begin to imagine what you went through.
-I hope that you know I-- -I was fine.
That's because you're brave--
All I ever do back home is wait for
the next bad thing to happen.
If anything, I felt safer back there.
[rain pattering]
You should eat something.
Not hungry.
It's not about being hungry, it's about--
If I say I'm not hungry, it means that I'm not hungry.
I can only guess what they were feeding you.
So what? You gonna force me to eat?
No, I'm not gonna force you to eat.
Whatever. Just... forget it.
What's this? Is it for me?
It was a gift.
Wow.
Got me a souvenir for being kidnapped.
Thanks.
It's like the one you used to wear.
You do what you want with it.
Having you back,
there are not words I can use to express how glad I am.
Glad?
Of course.
Seemed like you cared more about,
I don't know,
revenge or whatever.
What are you talking about?
It's like you're obsessed with him.
With Negan. With what he did.
Getting him back. You've always--
Hershel. I came for you.
[Hershel] And I'm right here. But you don't see me.
It's like my whole life you've been looking over my shoulder,
watching for him, waiting for him.
That is not true!
But you never see me.
[haunting music]
Whatever. Doesn't matter.
[music continues]
[engine starts]
[The Croat] [chuckles] Do you remember
our second visit to the River People?
The first visit was friendly, welcoming.
You told them what they had to provide,
and then you told them what will happen if they didn't.
Hence, the second visit.
[laughing]
You breezed right up to their leader
like an actor commanding the stage. Like a rock star.
But what is a rock star without his microphone?
So, out came Lucille.
Then you turned,
and you offered her to me.
I didn't understand.
I'd only just arrived at the Sanctuary.
I was nothing. I was broken.
But you saw something in me.
Not what I was.
But what I could become.
And you let me have a crack at it.
[chuckles] Of course, I had no idea what I was doing.
[laughing]
My first swing, I completely missed.
The second time, I, I overcompensated.
I pounded him with far too much force.
I was lucky he was still breathing.
But you didn't get upset with me.
No, you took your time.
You had the patience
to show me
how to do it right.
And then once his face was just a puddle on the ground
and I looked around
and I saw
what you told me I'd see.
Complete and total submission.
We were untouchable.
No one could ever take anything from us again.
You remember that?
I do.
It was beautiful, huh?
It was.
You know, it took me a long time...
years...
to finally understand what had happened between us.
I shouldn't have killed the girl.
You told me not to,
and I disobeyed you.
And I became the threat that needed to be handled.
I promise you,
that will never happen again.
[tender music]
[sighs]
[knock on door]
[Maggie] Hey.
[Hershel] Hey.
[Maggie] I've been, um...
thinking about what you said.
Y'know, for a long time, for most of my life,
I felt like the world kept taking...
and kept taking and, um,
I think at some point,
I thought that if I could just fight hard enough,
I'd be able to get it back.
A little piece of it at least...
But it doesn't work that way,
because you just end up losing what you got.
And I don't want to keep doing that anymore.
I don't know how,
but this thing with Negan...
I'm gonna finish it.
So that I can just let it go.
[tender, bright music]
[door shuts with loud clank]
My battles with the tribe, the rats I had to exterminate,
that was practice for the war to come.
Once we have full control of the island,
Dama says a clash of civilizations is inevitable.
So when I told her about all the good you had done,
all the people you had saved and protected,
she said you are the missing piece.
[giddy laugh]
[unsettling music]
I never imagined
I'd find another home with someone after you.
[chuckles] I can't wait for you to meet her!
Like Mommy and Daddy coming together. You know?
[Dama] Yes.
[an aria from Mozart's Die Zauberfloöteplays]
Dama, I take great pleasure in introducing you--
Thank you.
Well. Let's begin. Let's get to it.
I think our guest and I should take some time
to get acquainted.
But I appreciate the introduction.
[laughs]
Of course.
[door shuts]
God, he's like a sponge. Sit.
I'm good. I have a funky cramp in my leg,
buggin' the shit outta me.
I hear brandy is good for cramps.
[Negan] Really?
It's good for everything.
Yeah, I gotta tell you, I'm more of a gin man.
It's a delight to finally meet you.
To find out that you are not, in fact,
the product of someone's psychosis.
I heard about your performance at the bank.
The taunting, the joking,
that extra but absolutely necessary
pinch of gruesomeness.
Shock and awe and all that.
Bravo!
I told you,
I'm a gin man.
[aria continues to play in the background]
Don't tell me you're spooked by the cops.
Oh, it's not the cops I'm worried about.
It's the forces behind them.
Wherever a natural resource abounds,
they'll come for it
like a sneaking, thieving pack of hyenas.
The island needs leadership. Now more than ever.
Someone with confidence, fearlessness, charisma,
that special, shall we say, political talent.
For what is politics if not performance?
[chuckles]
Okay.
Tell me,
why would I help you?
There are others.
Settlements as far north as Harlem.
If we can unite them under one rule,
we'll be indomitable.
And all of it, that can all be yours again.
[unsettling music overtakes aria]
The keys to the kingdom.
[laughs]
But how can I be sure?
Maybe you're not the man you used to be.
Maybe you never were.
Maybe.
[music continues]
[lock clicks]
[music intensifies, becomes more sinister]
What the hell is this?
[Dama] My former guest and I had a lot of talks.
He told me this story of a man who murdered his father
not just in front of his mother, but him,
the unborn baby in her belly.
And I could sense in the rest of this story
what he himself couldn't.
That his father's killer might feel remorseful,
responsible for the boy whose family he destroyed.
Well, of course, he only told me this once he felt safe with me.
And here you are, come all this way to save him.
As you know, I eventually let him go in exchange for you.
But I kept a little piece of him.
And I can always go back for more.
Make it last.
We have a lot to discuss.
A lot to plan for.
[rock music]
Eli: Hi, I'm Eli Jorné, EP and showrunner of "Dead City,"
and this is episode six, "Doma Smo."
It's a Croatian phrase, and it means "we are home."
You brought them home.
[Speaking Croatian]
So, when Negan sees Ginny in episode six,
it's, like, the worst thing that he wants to see happen.
You stay with her people where you're safe.
That was the whole damn point!
She's here in this dangerous place
just when they're on the cusp of hopefully, you know,
getting this thing over with.
You know, she hasn't spoken since her dad died.
That's how painful it was for her.
I want you to -- No.
All these months and now you want to chat?
And then he realizes that if he's gonna stop her
and -- and make her go back
and make her get away from him once and for all...
I killed your dad.
...he has to tell her that, you know,
something that he knows
will probably make him lose her forever,
but it'll at least keep her safe.
And I think that's the ultimate sacrifice.
You're just a debt that I had to pay.
I got you. Come on, let's go.
♪
So, eventually, Maggie and Negan get into a fight.
I think it's the fight we've all been waiting for.
You know, we found an amazing location.
That's a weird thing to say, but it was kind of a dream
to see this fight unfold.
Stop!
♪
[Grunts]
[Walkers vocalizing]
[Coughs]
When Negan has his knife to Maggie's throat
and he drops it and he steps back,
I think that action itself is essentially
starting to say to her, "This is as it should be."
I think he knows that he has to take responsibility.
And beyond that, I think there's something in him
that fears what he is.
It doesn't matter what excuses I give you
or how many apologies I offer.
You can't get over it.
♪
And you shouldn't.
♪
Maggie has tricked Negan.
The Croat demanded that Maggie, you know, bring Negan to her,
only then she would get her son back.
A-And she has the knife to his throat.
And I think there's just a moment where she's realizing,
"O-Of course I want my son back, but I also --
how do -- how do I feel about
turning over this person that I've come to see
is maybe not exactly the person I thought he was."
He helps her put her family back together,
and in turn, he will suffer for what he's done.
♪
I can't begin to imagine what you went through.
There's a moment when Maggie and Hershel
are parked out in the car.
Hershel kind of explodes at his mom
a-and calls out the fact that, you know,
"Were you really here for me, or were you really here
to punish Negan?"It's like my whole life,
you've been looking over my shoulder,
watching for him, waiting for him.
That is not true!But you never see me.
♪
And she's realizing that just things
are not as black and white as she once thought they were.
And she has to wonder if what she's done to Negan is right
and if it's gonna help any of them heal at all.
That's what's going through her mind in that moment
is she's kind of wrestling with what she's done to him.
[Engine starts]
♪
Well, at the end of, uh, episode six,
which is the end of the season,
The Dama kind of lays out what she what she wants out of Negan.
♪
The Dama has just shown him Hershel's toe
and basically said,
"If you're not the man I need you to be,
you better become that person, you know, or else."
And Negan, his expression kind of falls,
because he realizes that he's trapped.
And this is kind of worse
than any torture he would have expected.
On some level, I think he felt he deserved that.
But the one thing he's not looking forward to
is letting the monster out.
And that's essentially what The Dama is asking of him.
Make it last. We have a lot to discuss.
The end of episode six,
we've got this split screen kind of image
where Maggie and Negan are almost, like, sharing a face.
And, um, to me, that kind of is the larger metaphor
for -- for what's happened in this season
is these two people who started out so far apart,
and in coming together,
they've started to understand one another,
and they're starting to see that,
you know, there is this way out.
It's probably a long way off,
but it has to be through each other.
♪
[outro music]