"Everybody Wins a Prize" is the fourth episode of the first season of AMC's The Walking Dead: Dead City. It is the fourth episode of the series overall. It premiered on July 9, 2023. It was written by Eli Jorné and directed by Kevin Dowling.

Plot[]

Maggie and Negan carry out an attack, but not everything unfolds according to plan; Ginny and Armstrong each make unexpected contact with others.

Synopsis[]

In a flashback, Negan sits at a table full of food in the Sanctuary, Lucille sitting in a nearby chair. Negan sketches what appears to be plans for the Sanctuary's walker fence, before being interrupted by Simon with the news that they have a problem. Simon leads Negan, carrying Lucille, to a cell, telling his boss that he'd "told him to kibosh that shit. Said you gave the order, but you know he don't listen to me." While Simon isn't going to say I told you so, a lot of people are saying that it's time to reign the Croat in, suggesting that Negan invest more authority in someone like himself.

The Croat leads Negan and Simon into the cell, telling them that the girl confessed that she was sent by the King, just like he thought. Simon reminds the Croat that Negan had given a direct order to let the girl go, but the Croat states that his process takes time, reminding Simon that he'd determined the location of the hidden arms cache at the Hilltop. Simon is sure that he would've found it eventually and Simon argues with the Croat as Negan looks in horror at the Kingdom scout - just a young girl - who has been brutally tortured to death by the Croat and then stabbed in the head in order to keep her from reanimating. Simon calls the Croat "a Slavic, psychopathic, nut job" and - despite his own hypocrisy in the matter - angrily confronts the other Savior over harming kids which is a line that they don't cross. The Croat appeals to Negan for understanding as they had to be sure.

In the present, Negan is visibly distracted by his memories of the Croat and exchanges a look with Maggie as they prepare for the upcoming attack. Amaia arrives with the news that she has looked everywhere, but she can't find Luther. Tommaso asks if Luther just took off with Rizza noting that she had passed him on her way in the night before. Amaia asks if there was anyone outside the night before who might've seen Luther leave, but Maggie remains silent and two other tribespeople are surprised by the fact that Luther is still missing and ask where he would go. Amaia tells them that she's not saying that Luther went anywhere, she's just trying to figure out what had happened to him. Negan finds it hard to believe that someone like Luther would just be hiding somewhere and reminds her that Luther wasn't very keen on their plan which Tommaso agrees with. Tommaso asks how long they're going to wait as every hour gives the Croat more time to figure out what they're up to, reassuring his girlfriend that Luther can handle himself and, when he gets back and sees what they've accomplished, Luther will be apologizing to Amaia for his doubts. Relieved, Amaia shares a kiss with Tommaso.

Maggie follows Negan into another room where he practices with one of the tribe's modified Nail Guns, but experiences pain from his hand wound which was reopened during Negan's fight with Luther. Negan brushes off Maggie's visible concern for him and continues packing while Maggie becomes upset at the sound of one of the tribespeople playing a harmonica. Negan admits that he's not ready and that it's not because the Croat wants him dead, pointing out that a lot of other people have wanted him dead too. "The closer we get to the Croat... it just begins to feel a bit too goddamn familiar. Like if he starts talkin', it won't be him at all. It's gonna be the echo of some song that I don't wanna hear no more." In turn, Maggie reveals that when Hershel was a baby, there was a man living above them who decided that it was a good time to learn the harmonica while Hershel was having trouble sleeping. When the man still wouldn't stop after Maggie asked him to, she stole the harmonica while he was on a hunting expedition and buried it in the ground. An impressed Negan jokes that Maggie must've lost a couple of Girl Scout badges for that while she guesses that Negan would've buried it somewhere way worse which he silently acknowledges. Negan asks if Maggie has seen his matches, but Maggie lies that she hasn't before she leaves.

After a small herd passes by a subway entrance, Maggie, Negan and the tribespeople emerge from a nearby doorway. A disgusted Maggie notices something bubbling up out of a nearby sewer grate and Tommaso explains that it's methane from the sewers. The group enters the subway with Ginny, watching unnoticed from a nearby storefront, following them inside.

Passing through a subway tunnel, the group finds it filled with corpses, some of which are walkers so decomposed that they can't even move anymore and their ribcages are visible. The group carefully picks their way through the corpses, arriving at Penn Station. Exploring the station, Maggie finds one of the Croat's cells with streaks of blood on the floor outside and a teenager resembling Hershel tied to a chair, his throat slit. Lifting the teenager's head, Negan discovers him to be a walker, but he isn't Hershel, much to Maggie's relief. Negan stabs the boy in the head, putting him down, and he and Maggie leave the room.

In the hallway, Amaia outlines their plan for the tribe to wait for a bit so that they aren't discovered while Maggie steals a car and Negan lures the Croat down to the garage so that they can lead the Croat halfway across the city and get him alone. Once they do that, the tribespeople will start killing the Burazi. "You get your kid. We kill the psycho. Everybody wins a prize," concludes Amaia. Tommaso wonders how they'll know if things go sideways for Maggie and Negan and Negan admits that they won't. Amaia orders the two not to screw it up, and the tribespeople leave. Pulling out Negan's matches, Maggie asks if he has figured out how to bait the Croat yet, and Negan states that he has a thought or two and Negan feels good about this. Negan is sure that their plan is going to work and that they're going to get Hershel back. Maggie decides to tell Negan the truth about finding Ginny's dinosaur, but she notices Luther's beeswax in his bag as she goes to return the matches and Maggie realizes what Negan did to Luther. Negan offers to explain, but Maggie is uninterested in hearing it and she leads Negan away.

In a control center for the arena, the Croat powers up the systems and checks with a young Buraz that she knows how to operate it, giving her instructions just to be sure. The Croat notices that the Buraz seems nervous and realizes that she's afraid of him despite the young woman's claims that she's not. The Croat recalls the day that she joined the Burazi, hiding in a fire station with a group of barbarians and how she was smart enough to lay down her weapon. The Croat states that it's been a joy watching her blossom over the past few years into a strong, faithful, confident protector. She has made the Croat incredibly proud, and she should have no reason to ever be afraid of him. The Croat gives her some candy before they both notice the sound of a whistle echoing through the halls - the distinctive whistle that was used by Negan and the Saviors. With the sound repeating itself, the Croat grabs his jacket and runs off while the Buraz inserts a disc into the player and starts a 5 minute countdown. The Croat excitedly runs off, following the whistle that he realizes is from Negan.

In the garage, Maggie sneaks into an old taxicab and begins trying to hotwire it before she finds the keys in the ignition. Before Maggie can start the car, she hears a noise, and she spots Ginny nearby. After exchanging a look with Maggie, the girl runs off and Maggie follows her. With just three and a half minutes left on the timer, someone lights a fuse. The tribespeople enter the main area of the arena which is empty while the Croat's search for Negan leads him to the garage where Negan hides behind a truck before moving amongst the vehicles to the cab. The Croat begins imitating Negan's whistle in an effort to draw him out, but Negan notices Maggie's screwdriver on the cab's passenger seat. As the timer reaches 1 minute, Maggie finally catches up to Ginny in the main area of the arena where Amaia informs her that the Burazi aren't here. As Negan climbs into the cab and picks up the tool, the Croat continues to try and draw him out while more Burazi rush in behind him.

The timer reaches 0 and all of the arena's entertainment systems turn on, broadcasting music through the main area. The fuse burns to the end in what's revealed to be a barrel fuel set in one of the arena's doorways. Explosions rock the outside of the arena as the doors are blown open, letting in the herd. The Burazi climb into various vehicles and begin making their escape as their trap is sprung on the tribespeople. Negan gets out of the car just in time as one of the Buraz takes the cab for himself. Drawn by the music, walkers flood the main area of the arena from all directions, trapping the tribespeople. The strobe lights turn on as the tribespeople get cornered by the massive herd against the ring. The Croat orders the cab driver to go on without him and has two more Burazi stay with him. When the cab drives away, Negan is gone from behind it, taking cover in the room full of tanks containing dead bodies.

In the main area, Maggie and the tribespeople desperately fight the herd but, severely outnumbered, they are quickly overwhelmed, and the tribespeople fall to the walkers one by one. Much to Maggie and Amaia's horror, Tommaso eventually gets grabbed by a group of walkers and carried away to his apparent death. Once the rest of the Burazi have cleared out, the Croat orders his two remaining men to search for Negan and grabs one of the tribespeople's modified nail guns. Negan takes the opportunity to run which is noticed by the Croat who excitedly chases after him. As the fight continues, Maggie is consumed with flashbacks of Hershel calling out to her for help as the Croat drags him away and she notices that one of the exits is nearly clear of walkers and that Ginny is trapped in the ring in the center of the arena. Rather than escaping and leaving Ginny behind, Maggie leads Amaia and Rizza - the only other survivors - inside of the ring where they barricade themselves in. Maggie and Ginny exchange a look while Negan runs up a stairwell, pausing only briefly to look at his former friend when the Croat calls out to him.

In the ring, Maggie and the others stab the walkers through the chain link fence, but there are far too many for them to take out, even from within cover. Maggie has everyone grab the ring's rubber supports as makeshift shields while the Croat splits up with his men after spotting Negan entering another stairwell after reaching a higher floor. Maggie's group uses their makeshift shields to force their way through the herd towards the exit that Maggie had spotted earlier, but Rizza gets grabbed and devoured by walkers on the way with the others being forced to press on, unable to help her. Amaia nearly suffers the same fate, but she is unexpectedly saved by Tommaso who had somehow managed to fight off the walkers and escape. With too many walkers between them and the no longer clear exit, Tommaso instead leads everyone into the tunnels beneath the arena where they eventually find an unlocked door, but they find themselves caught in a dead end with no other way out of the room as walkers start to bang on the door.

The Croat's search for Negan leads him onto a catwalk over the main area of the arena where he observes the carnage below him with amusement. The Croat calls out that there's nothing for Negan to be afraid of as he's safe and it's only him. Hearing a noise, the Croat turns around to find Negan, also armed with a modified nail gun, standing on a lower catwalk. The Croat delightedly greet his "brother" and notes Negan's new weapon of choice, but Negan doesn't respond to him. The Croat recalls hearing about what had happened at the bank which he knew sounded like Negan's handiwork. The Croat also knows that Negan had assumed that he wanted revenge on Negan for blowing off his ear and found common cause with his new friends, but the Croat actually doesn't care, telling Negan that he has another ear. The Croat asks about Lucille and Negan, speaking to his former friend for the first time since they had parted ways, admits that the bat is gone and the Croat correctly guesses that she broke from too many hits to people's heads.

"No, I... I understand. I saw Jerome on the mainland. He told me about the war with the Hilltop, the Kingdom... Alexandria. I should've been there. I can only imagine the damage Simon caused. He never listened... never really listened to you. It's okay. It's okay you lost the Sanctuary, 'cause I have built a new one! And we'll keep going. We'll build something bigger, stronger! The whole island will become our sanctuary, fueled by the death in its bowels. Okay, business first, then pleasure. I know who you want. He's here with me, now." Negan asks to see him, and the Burazi bring out the captive Perlie Armstrong.

The Croat believes that Negan wants the marshal who has been pursuing him so doggedly, but Negan clarifies that he actually wants Hershel. The Croat already knows because Perlie told him, and he asks what Maggie has promised Negan to get him to help her. Negan simply reiterates his demand for Hershel, but the Croat tells him that it will be difficult and require a conversation and asks Negan to come to him to talk, but Negan just stands his ground instead. Understanding that Negan doesn't trust him, the Croat decides to make a gesture to show him that the Croat only comes in the spirit of friendship and brotherly love. On the Croat's signal, the three men fling Perlie off of the catwalk, but he manages to grab onto the one that Negan is standing on. Much to the Croat's shock, Negan begins pulling Perlie up instead of letting him die. The Croat sends his two men after Negan and Perlie and he shoots the marshal in the leg with his weapon and tries to pull him up with it, but Perlie manages to rip the hook out of his flesh. Pulling Perlie up, Negan flees with the marshal as the Croat watches on in shock that Negan would save the other man's life rather than kill him.

In the basement room, Maggie, Amaia and Tommaso manage to use an old boiler to block the door. Maggie notices a sign warning of a sewer pipeline and she realizes that they can get out through the sewers. As the walkers try to break through the barricaded door, Maggie and Tommaso move some barrels that are in the way, but Amaia objects that it's too dangerous as all of the dead are down there and they can't breathe in the air. Tommaso points out that they don't have any other choice, and Amaia reluctantly concedes.

Having managed to escape from the overrun arena through the subway, Negan and Perlie make their way into an abandoned shoe store near the station exit that they used. As Negan checks outside, Perlie grabs his weapon and recites the New Babylon Federation's judicial code about murder which authorizes him to summarily execute Negan for his actions. Annoyed at the marshal's actions in the aftermath of Negan saving his life, Negan raises his hands and tells Perlie that "you're a dick."

Tommaso, Amaia, Ginny and Maggie descend into the sewer system with Maggie moving the barrel back into place before she follows after the others.

Other Cast[]

Special Appearance[]

• Steven Ogg as Simon

Co-Stars[]

• Aixa Kendrick as Rizza
• Allison Wick as Young Buraz
• James Jackson as Walker/Not Hershel
• Jenna D. Hellmuth as Tribeswoman
• Randy Gonzalez as Tribesman
• Frank Bal as Cabby Buraz

Uncredited[]

• Bryce Biederman as Buraz Underling
• Victor Plajas as Buraz
• Mark Pettograsso as Buraz
• Saint Marino as Manhattan Survivor
• Unknown as Kingdom Scout (Flashback)

Deaths[]

• Kingdom Scout (Flashback, Off-Screen)
• Manhattan Survivor 2 (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
• Tribeswoman
• Tribesman
• Rizza
• 6 unnamed tribespeople

Trivia[]

• Only appearance (in Dead City continuity) of Simon. (Flashback)
• Only appearance (in Dead City continuity) of the Sanctuary. (Flashback)
• Last appearance of Rizza.
• The title of the episode, "Everybody Wins a Prize", refers to Amaia's telling Maggie and Negan that "you get your kid. We kill the psycho. Everybody wins a prize."
• This episode was made available for streaming to subscribers of AMC Premiere on July 6, 2023.
• The song played in the Madison Square Garden as the survivors fight the walkers is titled "Proplakat Će Zora" by Mišo Kovač.

Episode Highlights[]

TBA