What Do We Owe Two Actors Still Pushing a Dead Franchise Up a Hill

There were 11 seasons of The Walking Dead, seven seasons of Fear the Walking Dead, two seasons of The World Beyond, a season of Tales of the Walking Dead, the Rick and Michonne reunion season, The Ones Who Live, three seasons of Daryl Dixon (so far), and this week, the third season of The Walking Dead: Dead City premiered. I think the gentlest way I can put this is that, after 25 seasons of The Walking Dead franchise, I think about Jon Bernthal killing it out there in The Punisher or The Bear or His and Hers, and I think about Oscar nominee Steven Yeun and all the success he has found, and I think of all the great character actors who have come through — Lennie James, Steven Ogg, Ryan Hurst, Michael Cudlitz, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Sonequa Martin-Green, Chad Coleman, Lauren Ridloff — and of the literally dozens of actors who cycled through the franchise and back out into obscurity.

And then I think about Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan, both of whom have dedicated so much of their careers to this franchise, and how about ten years ago, they were two of the biggest stars on the biggest show on television, and how they’re doing their damndest to push a car along that clearly ran out of gas five years ago. The budget is like $17, a roll of duct tape, and a lot of spit, and these two veteran actors keep pushing that rock up a hill on a streaming network that no one watches anymore for a franchise that probably has maybe 1/20th of its original fanbase.

I honestly don’t know whether to applaud them or weep for them a little. Or both. But I hate that the legacy of this once massive franchise has been reduced to a rubble of recycled ideas, poorly choreographed action sequences, and some of the most uninspiring writing in all of television. I don’t even blame the writers. There’s just nothing left in this franchise to mine. The only thing this franchise has left going for it is Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s charm and Lauren Cohan, who has finally been allowed to have some fun again. And also new cast member Jimmi Simpson, who has actually been granted a perfectly perfect Jimmi Simpson role.

For those of you who are the least bit curious, here’s a very brief recap: The Walking Dead ended. Several years later, Maggie and Negan are dropped into zombie-infested and isolated Manhattan. In the first season, Maggie recruits her old foe Negan to help rescue her son Hershel, who was abducted by The Croat (Željko Ivanek). In reality, she trades Negan for her son, and Negan is forced to work for The Dama, who controls the city’s energy supply (she and the Croat manufacture methane gas from the corpses of zombies). Negan is forced by The Dama to work against a group led by Maggie, but Hershel is brainwashed by The Dama and ultimately pitted against his mother. Before all of this started, Maggie had promised to protect Negan’s surrogate daughter, Ginny, but fails — Ginny dies, and at the end of season two, Maggie stabs Negan in the back (literally) but cannot bring herself to finish him. The way the second season ends, it appears that Negan is on his last legs and that Maggie has to figure out how to rescue her brainwashed son from The Dama (Lisa Emery).

To its credit, season three decides not to run with the storyline it had set up, and for good reason. The six of us still watching Dead City had no interest in watching Maggie and Negan hate each other for another season. Yes, Negan killed Glenn, but he saved Hershel. And Maggie couldn’t protect Ginny and stabbed Negan in the back. Ten minutes into the season, the two have decided on a fresh start, so to speak. And then they’re kidnapped by Luis and Renata (familiar character actors Raúl Castillo and Aimee Garcia), who want to trade Negan and Maggie to The Dama in exchange for methane, which they need to help a relative have a baby.

The logic is not sound, so don’t ask. It doesn’t even matter, really, because soon after, the Croat is dead and Maggie and Negan join forces with Luis and Renata to take down The Dama and make Manhattan their new home. Also, Jimmi Simpson is introduced as a bar owner who never left his bar after the apocalypse and has neutered zombies as his only customers. He’s a little nuts, but that’s a Jimmi Simpson character for you.

It’s the same playbook the franchise has been running for 25 seasons: The Dama is The Governor. The good guys form an alliance against the bad guys, they go to war, and the zombies are the variables. It could not be a less interesting setup, but it genuinely is a delight to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan play off each other now like bickering siblings instead of hostile frenemies. It changes the whole tone of the show. It doesn’t improve the writing or the storylines or the production value. But it feels less deadly serious, and for an actor like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who can show off his charisma, it makes a difference. Not enough to win over new fans, but maybe enough to keep those of us clinging to the life raft from completely abandoning the franchise for another season. I have immense affection for Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan, and I really wish they’d move on to better projects, but I also have a begrudging respect for their loyalty to a franchise they’re single-handedly maintaining.