The star and executive producer also weighs in on Maggie’s big move at the end of the episode.
Warning: This article contains spoilers aboutThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityseries debut,“OldAcquaintances.”
The next phase ofThe Walking Deadfranchise is officially underway.
Lauren Cohan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’.Peter Kramer/AMC
Maggie’s recon mission is interrupted, however, by a group of walkers.
When one grabs her leg, she responds the only way she knows how by bashing its brains in.
And then bashing some more.
Lauren Cohan’s Maggie holding a knife up to the throat of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’.amc
And then a little bit more after that.
Basically, until the head is mush.
“It originally opened in the bar scene,” Cohan tells EW.
Lauren Cohan on ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’.Peter Kramer/AMC
Nor did it provide as clear a window into Maggie’s fraught psyche at the outset of her mission.
But also, just tonally, it felt right.
And to have these very frayed strands that needed to be temporarily rerouted for the purpose of this mission.
It was definitely this kind of strange catharsis."
“I look at that scene like a bit of a dream sequence.
And that puts some imagery to that feeling.”
Maggie not only knocks him out, but leaves him to die in a room full of walkers.
She credits showrunner Eli Jorne with having everyone on screen occupying that gray area.
“Eli really does this with all the characters,” says Cohan.
These are traumatized people trotting through the world doing questionable things all of the time.
And then it’s also about a parent doing something that she thinks she has to do."
Cohan also points out some hidden symbolism in the scene that some viewers may have missed.
“That is Maggie’s wedding ring, and it’s on a chain of blades around her neck.
That’s what she ultimately is able to use to slice Armstrong’s face and get herself free.
I think that that speaks to the tokens that have galvanized her through these years.
With five more episodes on deck, there’s plenty to come.
