The Walking Dead: Dead City has just wrapped its third season, which cast members and creators are calling the franchise's most enjoyable instalment in years. The season, which concluded on Sunday night, focused on rebuilding the fraught relationship between old rivals Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), giving the pair new dynamics and scenes unlike anything previously seen in the spin-off or the original series. Both actors have praised the shift in tone, saying it allowed for genuinely new material and creative freedom after a decade of on-screen animosity.

The season began by killing off its two main villains, the Dama and the Croat, played respectively by Lisa Emery and Zeljko Ivanek, with Ivanek revealing the Croat's accent was modelled on his late father's voice as a personal tribute. With those threats removed, the story shifted to Maggie's efforts to rebuild New York as a safe haven while also rediscovering personal joy, including a tentative romance with doctor Luis (Raúl Castillo), a deliberate and self-aware move away from her past with Glenn (Steven Yeun). Meanwhile, Negan's arc took a darker turn, as a fatal error of judgement pushed his new ally Dillard (Jimmi Simpson) into a violent breakdown that claimed several lives, including his own.