Aahana Swrup
Since the destructive earthquake, things have started to edge toward chaos in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City.’ Episode 5 of season 3 begins with a community-wide effort to secure more power for the community in the face of depleted food supplies. As a result, with Negan’s help, Renata and Maggie form a special squad that embarks on a risky endeavor that could prove to be a suicide mission with just one wrong move. At the same time, a few complications pop up around the new Haven in Manhattan that compel Renata to make some difficult choices. As a result, these decisions threaten to steer her further away from some of her closest and most useful allies. SPOILERS AHEAD.
A Walker Wrangling Mission at the Empire State Building
In the wake of the earthquake that shook up the streets of Manhattan, the Haven finds itself with a fresh shortage of supplies. This means intense rationing, at least until the crops in Central Park show yield and a larger version of Dillard’s turkey supply chain can be established. This unexpected food shortage shakes up the precariously constructed peace within the community, as people begin blaming Renata. Even though there is no magic solution to the food problem, Maggie comes up with a different but effective plan. Since they can’t keep the population satisfied with food supplies, the next best thing they can do is provide them with enough distractions to keep them preoccupied.
This means a 24/7 electricity supply for the community. In order to achieve this kind of power reserve, the Haven needs a lot more walkers than they already have. Thus, a mass wrangling mission is in order. Solmari, one of the residents, has come up with an excellent plan to extract deadies from the Empire State Building that has been flooding with zombies from day one. However, if Maggie and Renata want to succeed in this high-risk mission, they need the right kind of people on the team. As such, the duo once again reaches out to Negan, seeking his expert help. Together, the group puts together a team of the brightest and most brutish residents of the Haven and arrives at the walker-infested building.
The plan involves Solmari sneaking into the building through the back with a partner and then creating a diversion to clear up some wrangling space in the front of the building. Once this distraction is in place, the others can come in through the front doors and begin collecting walkers. The mission proposes a high potential for danger, and Solmari even comes close to briefly becoming zombie food. Nonetheless, in the end, the group walks away with trucks full of fuel for their power tanks and zero casualties. Afterward, they celebrate at Dillard’s bar, where the former cop makes some new friends, this time of the human variety. Simultaneously, Negan and Maggie bond over a job well done.
Renata Deals With a Theft in Her Community
While putting together her team, Renata had considered Fabian, who frequently oversees guard duties, for the mission. However, he had turned the offer down, unwilling to risk his life for the sake of his wife and kids. Still, he wants to be of help and offers to pull extra duties as a guard while Renata and the others are wrangling walkers. The leader agrees to the deal without any reservations. However, when she returns from the mission, she correctly guesses that the guard had exploited the opportunity of an empty Haven to steal from their dwindling supplies.
Fabian insists that since he was the one to save the supplies from storage during the earthquake, he deserves them more than the others. However, this philosophy goes against the fabric of the community Renata has been building. As a result, she makes him return the supplies. Later, as punishment, he has to publicly own up to his mistakes and vow to do better. This handling of the situation doesn’t sit well with Maggie, who fears the social ostracization that Fabian will undergo. Nonetheless, even she concedes that such punishment is better than a more severe sentence. From there, it doesn’t take long for the social isolation from this event to drive Fabian into Dillar’s bar across the counter from Negan.
Negan Breaks the No Killing Rule
In the aftermath, Fabian arrives at Dillard’s bar with the intention of drowning his sorrows in a drink. Naturally, this leads him to strike up a conversation with Negan. However, unbeknownst to him, the nature of the conversation proves to be dangerous for him. After everything, Fabian blames Maggie for the way his life has played out. He and his family are former members of The Bricks who followed Maggie away from their old community to Manhattan. The guard has always been against the idea, but had no choice in the matter once his wife insisted. Thus, he blames the former leader for influencing his wife and dragging them into what he considers to be a more dangerous community.
Likewise, even though Renata is the face of Haven’s leadership, Fabian believes that she is also only operating under Maggie’s influence. As such, he has nothing but awful things to say about Negan’s former enemy. Initially, the latter plays along and pretends to also be against the former Bricks leader to scope out the security of the drunken guard’s hatred towards the woman. Ultimately, he concludes that Fabian, armed with his gun, is a risk to Maggie’s safety. As such, Negan disarms him and holds him at gunpoint. Yet, before he can shoot, Renata walks in on the encounter. Off-the-bat, she tries to calm Negan down, threatening that executing another kill would make him an enemy of the Haven. Nonetheless, despite the warning, Negan pulls the trigger. In the end, Renata promises to return with men, guns, and a proverbial arrest warrant.
Read More: The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3 Episode 4 Recap: Found/Lost
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