Lauren Cohan: Maggie-Hershel relationship is complex, sad in 'Dead City' S2
1 of 3 | Lauren Cohan (R) and Logan Kim star in "The Walking Dead: Dead City." Season 2 wraps up Sunday. Photo by Robert Clark/AMC
NEW YORK, June 22 (UPI) -- Lauren Cohan says she thinks Maggie's strained relationship with her teen son Hershel (Logan Kim) in Season 2 of the zombie-apocalypse drama, The Walking Dead: Dead City, resonates with viewers because it is such a common parent-child dynamic.
"That part of the story-line has been really complex and real and sad, and we get to unpack all of this, but mostly because he is a teenage boy and it is his responsibility to NOT do what's best for himself," Cohan told reporters during a recent New York Comic Con press conference.
"No," she laughed. "It just comes with the territory that there's going to be a push and pull between he and I, and I think that's what makes the season really relatable for me. We've all been teenagers, and we've all known that nothing our parents say or do, can ever be right, and the rub for Maggie is that the influences that aren't her -- she's not a perfect parent either -- but the influences that aren't her are particularly dire."
The Walking Dead spin-off, Dead City, shows Maggie teaming up with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), her husband's baseball-bat-wielding murderer, for an unlikely mission in New York to rescue Hershel from the clutches of the Croat (Zelijko Ivanek), a power-hungry mad man who just happens to idolize Negan and to whom Hershel has become devoted.
Taking the story back.
The season finale of #DeadCity premieres TONIGHT at 9pm on AMC or stream it early on AMC+. pic.twitter.com/QwjzrT5jxx— The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) June 22, 2025
"The people that he came in contact with in Season 1 are going to have a lot of influence on him," Cohan said about Hersehel.
"You always want to protect your child from danger and the danger here is maybe a little more potent than [what real kids encounter] -- or not, because the dangers of social media and the dangers of mental illness for children are potent. So, I like the fact that we do this on the scale of the apocalypse, but it's issues that are close to the heart."
Playing resourceful and loyal community leader Maggie for two seasons on Dead City and 10 seasons on the flagship series, The Walking Dead, has taught the actress the importance of perseverance and leaving one's comfort zone.
"You could rest on your laurels or not look for a challenge within yourself as a performer or as a teammate," Cohan said.
"I do find myself to be very different from [Maggie] in many ways and I'm always looking for ways that I'm similar," she added. "Knowing the best way to swing a hammer [is one]. One of the things that we, in this world, have more of a luxury to do is self-reflection and there will be more of that in our show and, so, I guess it's just art informing life, informing art."
Season 2 wraps up Sunday on AMC and AMC+.
Anxiety levels right now.
Catch up on the penultimate episode of #DeadCity on AMC+. pic.twitter.com/sfZLdJcE9k— The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) June 16, 2025
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‘The Walking Dead: Dead City' Season 2 Finale Review — A Crushing Disappointment
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Both shows just burn through villains in the most haphazard and jarring way, never really allowing for any of them to build up into something truly threatening, let alone interesting enough to carry the mantle of Big Bad. In Dead City, our late-stage villain ended up being Bruegel, who bucked the recent Walking Dead trend of all-female leaders by being a man. He wanted methane and was willing to kill and betray his rivals to get it, but Negan burned him to death in the Season 2 finale. In Daryl Dixon, the late-game bad guy is almost beat-for-beat the same concept. In a show where every leader is a woman, Losang popped up in Season 2 to become another short-lived male antagonist, though he was driven by his twisted faith rather than a need for energy sources. Daryl made short work of him. None of these villains provide any kind of real threat. Our heroes can't die. They're practically ensconced in plot armor at this point. At least in Daryl Dixon, Genet didn't come back from the dead. Here, somehow the Dama survives being burned to death and manages to worm her way back into Hershel's life. But she's one of the worst bad guys in The Walking Dead history – and there have been a lot of terrible villains. She has no real power other than her inexplicable influence over Maggie's son, and frankly at this point she can have him. Hershel has turned out to be a pretty horrendous character. The apple fell very far from the tree when it comes to him and his father, Glenn, who must be rolling in his grave at this point. The Season 2 finale essentially wraps up the conflict between the Burazi and other New York factions. By the end, Bruegel is dead, the Croat is AWOL and the Dama and Hershel are on their own. Negan, Maggie and Perlie are off on their next adventure. The New Babylon forces – goofily marching like actual army troops through the streets of NYC – have taken control now that everyone else is dead. Who is their leader? Nobody knows. The whole 'will Maggie kill Negan' gimmick reached fever pitch this episode, with Maggie hunting down Negan only to find him doing the very same 'eenie-meeni-miney -mo' speech he did before killing Glenn. He kills Bruegel and when it looks like he's about to kill Perlie, Maggie stabs him in the back. Just like when Rick cut Negan's throat, it's all just a headfake. Tis merely a scratch! When he crawls over to Ginny's cell and finds her dead, Maggie sees just how much pain he's in, just how much he genuinely cared for the girl, and shows mercy. Again. It's actually more than mercy: She does a threeway with him. Not like that, you perverts, it's a threeway voiceover with Negan, Maggie and Perlie, saying cringey stuff about sticking together and facing the odds. I was half-expecting them to say 'We're the ones who live!' It's Gimple-speak at its absolute worst and most blatant, and I have no idea how anyone making TV in this day and age would think it's a good idea. Just when you think you can't cringe any harder, TWD throws you a bone. Beyond this, the episode had one big action set-piece when Bruegel brings a Trojan Horse into Negan's banquet hall. The statue they gift to him is filled with swords and sabers, so when Negan double-crosses him by hiding zombies under the table (yes, that's the plan) Bruegel's people spring to action, immediately tipping over the statue to get the weapons and – wait, no, actually they stand around like mopes while the zombies pick them off. We get lots of the signature 'zombie shove' that's become so common in these shows. Just give those shambling undead a good push or two and they'll back right off. They stand around dying until Bruegel remembers the statue and Perlie knocks it over and they all rush to grab swords and Bruegel even gets a flamethrower off one of Negan's guys and sprays it around the room some. 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Lauren Cohan: Maggie-Hershel relationship is complex, sad in 'Dead City' S2
1 of 3 | Lauren Cohan (R) and Logan Kim star in "The Walking Dead: Dead City." Season 2 wraps up Sunday. Photo by Robert Clark/AMC NEW YORK, June 22 (UPI) -- Lauren Cohan says she thinks Maggie's strained relationship with her teen son Hershel (Logan Kim) in Season 2 of the zombie-apocalypse drama, The Walking Dead: Dead City, resonates with viewers because it is such a common parent-child dynamic. "That part of the story-line has been really complex and real and sad, and we get to unpack all of this, but mostly because he is a teenage boy and it is his responsibility to NOT do what's best for himself," Cohan told reporters during a recent New York Comic Con press conference. "No," she laughed. "It just comes with the territory that there's going to be a push and pull between he and I, and I think that's what makes the season really relatable for me. We've all been teenagers, and we've all known that nothing our parents say or do, can ever be right, and the rub for Maggie is that the influences that aren't her -- she's not a perfect parent either -- but the influences that aren't her are particularly dire." The Walking Dead spin-off, Dead City, shows Maggie teaming up with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), her husband's baseball-bat-wielding murderer, for an unlikely mission in New York to rescue Hershel from the clutches of the Croat (Zelijko Ivanek), a power-hungry mad man who just happens to idolize Negan and to whom Hershel has become devoted. Taking the story back. The season finale of #DeadCity premieres TONIGHT at 9pm on AMC or stream it early on AMC+. The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) June 22, 2025 "The people that he came in contact with in Season 1 are going to have a lot of influence on him," Cohan said about Hersehel. "You always want to protect your child from danger and the danger here is maybe a little more potent than [what real kids encounter] -- or not, because the dangers of social media and the dangers of mental illness for children are potent. So, I like the fact that we do this on the scale of the apocalypse, but it's issues that are close to the heart." Playing resourceful and loyal community leader Maggie for two seasons on Dead City and 10 seasons on the flagship series, The Walking Dead, has taught the actress the importance of perseverance and leaving one's comfort zone. "You could rest on your laurels or not look for a challenge within yourself as a performer or as a teammate," Cohan said. "I do find myself to be very different from [Maggie] in many ways and I'm always looking for ways that I'm similar," she added. "Knowing the best way to swing a hammer [is one]. One of the things that we, in this world, have more of a luxury to do is self-reflection and there will be more of that in our show and, so, I guess it's just art informing life, informing art." Season 2 wraps up Sunday on AMC and AMC+. Anxiety levels right now. Catch up on the penultimate episode of #DeadCity on AMC+. The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) June 16, 2025
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