The Strolling Useless: Useless Metropolis – THE BIRD ALWAYS KNOWS – Overview: Shock and Awe. Awe, Shocks.

On the episode’s coronary heart is Herschel’s (Logan Kim) torment over the fallout of his betrayal. His confession to Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is laced with remorse as he admits that he signaled the Croat however didn’t anticipate the bloodshed that adopted. It’s a uncommon second of honesty, one which digs into the psychological horror of unintended penalties. His sorrow is palpable—not only for the act itself, however for his failure to know the stakes till it was far too late. His apology is real, but hole within the face of the lifeless who can’t hear it.

Maggie, hardened by her personal vendetta, presents absolution—or a minimum of an try at it. She tells Herschel to let it go, however her phrases are tainted by hypocrisy. She has clung to her grudge towards Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) with an iron grip, her personal soul consumed by an unrelenting thirst for vengeance.

“The Bird Always Knows” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee. Photograph: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The irony isn’t misplaced on Herschel or the viewers. Maggie’s credibility, asking Herschel to only let what occurred go, is nonexistent. Right here, the episode masterfully juxtaposes private vendettas towards the broader horrors of battle and betrayal, displaying how anger corrodes and the way redemption, if it comes, isn’t clear—a lesson Ginny (Mahina Anne Marie Napoleon) learns on this episode.

Because the story shifts to town, its ‘shock and awe’ intensifies. The Dama (Lisa Emery) dispatches Negan to influence gang chief holdout Christos (Jake Weary) to affix her trigger towards New Babylon. Negan’s dialogue begins promisingly. He and Christos discover surprising widespread floor of their shared purpose—defending their households. It’s a fleeting glimpse of hope, a second the place unity appears doable amid chaos.

“The Bird Always Knows” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured (L-R): Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Zeljko Ivanek as The Croat. Photograph: Robert Clark/AMC© 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Hope is violently ripped away when The Croat (Željko Ivanek) struts in. Firmly within the grip of his invulnerability advanced that twists each slight into an unforgivable problem, The Croat arrives not simply to sabotage Negan’s progress however to obliterate any notion of the Burazi’s weak spot. His weak spot. His response to Christos’ substation assault is not simply retaliation—it’s theatrical brutality, a grotesque show meant to reassert his dominance.

Negan—and the viewers—are blindsided by the revelation that the Croat had ensured the fuel canister remained on your complete time, silently flooding the room and sealing Christos’ destiny earlier than anybody had an opportunity to combat again. The second of realization is sickening. Resistance was by no means an possibility—simply demise, delivered with chilling precision. Then comes the true horror: the Burazi descend upon Christos and his males, their bludgeoning a violent exclamation level on the Croat’s calculated cruelty.

The Croat chuckles as he assures Negan that he spared the ladies and youngsters, as if that concession dims the sheer ruthlessness of the bloodbath. When Negan asks whether or not the Dama sanctioned the assault, the Croat’s silence speaks volumes. The burden of The Dama’s unstated approval—or harmful ignorance about The Croat’s actions—settles over Negan like a suffocating fog.

“The Bird Always Knows” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Dascha Polanco as Narvaez. Photograph: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In the meantime, Narvaez (Dascha Polanco) raises the stakes on the Forager’s compound, arresting Roksana (Pooya Mohseni) and Armstrong (Gaius Charles) for crimes towards the Federation. She forces Maggie into an not possible state of affairs, demanding that she go to town alone and ship Negan and The Croat to her, utilizing Herschel as leverage.

Bending is just not Maggie’s manner. She fights her manner again into the compound, solely to be betrayed by Herschel—whether or not out of cowardice or impulse—when his eye actions unintentionally reveal her place. Even nonetheless, she seizes management, urgent a knife to Narvaez’s throat, just for the facility dynamic to shift once more when Ginny trains her gun on Herschel, unmoved by Maggie’s determined pleas as a result of the little woman is huge mad that Maggie didn’t inform her she was going to see Negan when she was within the metropolis. Argh!

The episode doesn’t draw back from the recklessness of youth, portraying Herschel and Ginny as impulsive, simply swayed, and incessantly unreliable. The writers emphasize a brutal fact: their choices lack the anchor of maturity as a result of their brains are merely not developed sufficient to know the total penalties of their actions.

For instance, Ginny’s actions permit Narvaez to implement her one resolution for defiance—execution. Roksana is led to the gallows. Her individuals mourn so loudly that their cries stir the undead. Chaos erupts as walkers swarm by way of the fences, forcing a frenzied shift within the battle for survival.

“The Bird Always Knows” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Mahina Anne Marie Napoleon as Ginny. Photograph: Robert Clark/AMC© 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ginny, injured within the melee, lastly snaps out of her treacherous malaise, saving Maggie from Narvaez’s noose. Then, in scrumptious irony, the freshly reanimated Roksana tears aside Narvaez’s throat—her violent finish a poetic consequence of her personal ruthless rule. Hurray! 

And simply when the strain settles, a knock on the door—a shock customer for Maggie and Armstrong as Bruegel (Kim Coates) arrives, casually asserting, “Looks like I’m late to the party.” I don’t learn about different viewers, however I used to be left with a sinking feeling that Maggie’s troubles are removed from over. Rattling! Are you able to give our woman sooner or later?

In the meantime, within the metropolis, Negan performs puppet grasp, sowing doubt between The Dama and The Croat. By killing the Dama’s beloved pet rat, he crops the seeds of suspicion in regards to the Croat’s motives. Then, by reminding the Croat of how shabbily The Dama treats them each, Negan feeds the Croat’s worry of weak spot, setting off an epic confrontation.

“The Bird Always Knows” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Lisa Emery as The Dama. Photograph: Robert Clark/AMC© 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Dama and the Croat change insults earlier than the Dama sinks her enamel into the Croat’s hand. Too dangerous, so unhappy—The Dama finally ends up swallowed by flames, shrieking “Mile! Mile! Help me!” just like the depraved witch melting in The Wizard of Oz. So, awe, the shock. 

The episode closes on a macabre observe as Negan scrapes smashed rat guts from the underside of his shoe—a grim reminder that The Dama’s finish is just the start. One Dama down—The Croat and Bruegel to go. Then, lastly, he can depart this cursed metropolis behind him.

Whereas The Chicken At all times Is aware of is high-stakes storytelling with betrayals, executions, and unforeseeable twists that unfold with ruthless effectivity, it’s a type of heavy-lifting episodes. The episode sheds actors from the decision sheet, not gratuitously, however as a needed evolution within the story’s pitiless world. The plotting intrigue—from the Burazi’s ‘gas and smash’ slaughter of Christos’ gang to Roksana’s hanging—feels acquainted and becoming throughout the TWDU. In any case, not one of the casualties have been well-known (Roksana, Christos) or significantly likable (The Dama)—so bye-bye. Subsequent!”

One lingering query stays—why does this evaluate omit the dialog between Armstrong and Roksana? Provided that the episode’s title relies on this change, it appeared positioned as a second of significance. And but, its absence from dialogue solely reinforces its lack of actual impression. My appreciation for the episode wouldn’t have modified had it been minimize totally. In actual fact, it ought to have been—as a result of it provides little to the primary plots. 

Now that the New Babylon forces have been decimated, what’s Bruegel’s gambit with Maggie and Armstrong? Let me know within the feedback.