THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY’s Finale Ends with a Death that Changes NYC Forever Tai Gooden | usagoldmines.com

The Walking Dead: Dead City’s finale took us into a fiery battle between Bruegel’s collective and Negan’s new force. While there’s usually someone who ultimately gets the upper hand and wins, I’d say that this is a loss on both ends in my opinion. Things go awry, many lives are lost and the city is really no better than when it started. Honestly, I found the groups of gangs to be a vibe and believe that maybe it is not best to have militaristic forces like New Babylon telling people what to do.

Negan ends up with pretty much no power, no Ginny, and a knife to his back, thanks to Maggie. And, well, Bruegel ends up suffering a terrible demise at Negan’s hands. New Babylon brings in its second wave and controls the methane. And while Dama and Herschel want to build a different future, it’s going to be hard for them to do it without the resources and people power.

It is The Walking Dead universe so happy endings are rare and not expected at this point. Instead, we longtime fans get our joy from the show’s big battles and the finale’s fight is a great one. The choreography, the flamethrowers, and all the tension building up to brutal violence is such a treat. Actor Kim Coates, who portrayed Bruegel, spoke to us about filming that scene, which took multiple shoots due to some technical setbacks. 

“We lost power one night,” Coates told us. “So we were back to that church oh, I don’t know, maybe four or five times when we were only supposed to be there twice. But, it’s such an old, gorgeous, not used much anymore place of worship and to be able to turn it into this place with the walkers and the gangs.”

He continues, “In Sons of Anarchy, we had bikes and incredible riding and that world of the club. Now, with The Walking Dead, I’d never been on it before. I’d never seen it before and to see it all firsthand is no joke. The technical side, the crew, the stunt people, the walkers, it’s no joke. It’s full on. And we had to film it nighttime night after night after night… It’s really impressive how they do it and how safe the set was.” 

Sadly, we won’t get any more Bruegel in The Walking Dead’s future. He was quite the dapper and hilarious dude who really got under Negan’s skin. While they were staunch frenemies on screen, the love between Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kim Coates, who are real life pals, on set was undeniable. 

“When we got to meet in this world, it was easy because the trust was there,” he affirmed. “And he supported everything I did. And I think one of the biggest problems he had with me was he would laugh in the middle of a lot of takes. [laughs] Maybe Negan shouldn’t be laughing, so we had to redo them a couple of times. I made him laugh so much, but I love the guy… It’s been great to work with him and Lauren [Cohan]. I really have a lot of respect for Lauren, too.”

What will happen next in the Big Apple? We will have to see if a third season shows Maggie and Negan teaming up to reclaim the streets and convince Herschel to come home.