Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3.

Negan was first introduced into The Walking Dead TV universe in the Season 6 finale, “Last Day on Earth.” His arrival marked a pivotal moment in the series, introducing a ruthless man whose brutal leadership style reshaped the survivors’ world and changed the life of Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) forever. In the time since then, Negan has become a more complex character in Dead City, grappling with his past actions and seeking redemption for his past actions, which includes brutally murdering Maggie’s husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun). They’ve both had to make morally questionable decisions to protect their loved ones, and while Maggie will never be able to forgive what Negan did, they make each other better people.

In this exclusive Collider Signature in-depth conversation, Morgan digs into the journey he’s taken with Negan and how it’s all led to who the character is now, more than 10 years after his first appearance. During the interview, he discusses why now was the right time to shake things up with the franchise and with Negan and Maggie’s dynamic, how different it was for Negan to find a friend in Dillard (Jimmi Simpson) before it all went horribly awry, shooting Maggie and Negan’s version Before Sunrise with Episode 6, how they’re each other’s chosen family at this point, and what their new partnership could look like in a possible Season 4. He also shares why he loved the experience of making Sterling Point, which will be returning to Prime Video for Season 2, and that family is always the priority for him when it comes to finding that next acting project.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Says It Was Time To Change Things Up With ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Season 3

“It was important to find a way to shift things and be able to move this show forward.”

Image via AMC

COLLIDER: You definitely changed things up a lot with Dead City this season.

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: Thank fucking God! That was the whole idea for this year. I felt like we needed a change, and I think we found a way to do that. Really, it was bringing in (showrunner) Seth [Hoffman] and having a fresh set of eyes and finding a way for this relationship, which has been fraught with issues for over 10 years, or 17 years in show years, to be able to move forward in that space of me having killed Glenn and these horrible things that have happened. That was a tricky maneuver, and we found a way to do it. For me, it was a joy. I really had a fun year shooting this season, between scenes with Lauren [Cohan] that we’d never done before and the Jimmi Simpson of it all, I just had so much fun. Every day, I had a blast and couldn’t have had more fun.

But it’s hard. When you’ve been a show that has been as successful as this franchise has been and has multiple spinoffs, and you have two characters that inherently hate each other, and one especially hates the other, you can only play that for so long before you lose people. You might even lose an actor or two. And so, it was important to find a way to shift things and be able to move this show forward, and yet be in the same space that we’ve always been with this past that they have and not ignoring that. It’s a tightrope walk in, and I think we were able to pull it off.

It feels like Negan is in a different mental place this season. He seems to be reflecting in ways that are affecting him more than usual. Is that something that was intentional? Was that something you wanted to explore this season?

MORGAN: Seth and I had a lot of conversations about where Negan would be. After the death of Ginny, Negan is a mess. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back in Negan’s case. When we find him at the beginning of this year, he’s probably more down than he’s ever been. He certainly doesn’t feel good about himself or in this world that he’s living in. The perfect spot for him, which he happens to find, is Dillard’s bar. He not only finds a person that he can tolerate, but that he kind of likes, and he can disappear for a while. And if anybody needs to disappear right now and be reflective and decide what is next, I think it’s Negan. And so, we do find him a bit of a mess at the start of this season, and it takes him a while to crawl out of it. It takes Maggie to get him to snap out of it.

We’ve seen her come to him before, with some stuff she needs help with, and Negan will do it, but that has never worked out well for him. He’s been stabbed twice by her. In trying to make amends for some stuff, he has the guilt that still haunts him. These two people have been together longer than any of the people on the show, except for Carol with Daryl. I don’t think either of them trust each other, but they can predict what the other person is going to do. They’re each other’s dysfunctional family in a way, as well as Hershel, and they are very dysfunctional.

This year, there was a concerted effort to move this relationship dial, one way or another. At the beginning, it could have gone either way. Either Negan was going to disappear or die, or what happens would happen. Negan sees the bigger picture way before Maggie does. The people that we met along the way this year weren’t the ones that should be leading. Negan didn’t trust them from the jump, and he thought that Maggie should be leading this community. Negan has an incredible amount of faith in Maggie. I think Maggie will never fully trust Negan, but she has to lean on him. He’s the one person where she knows what he’s going to do. She knows that he’s going to be by her side. For the right reasons or wrong reasons, she knows that she can play on the guilt of that forever, but she does more than that this year. She opens up to Negan, which I find fascinating.

What’s made the season what it was this year is that we see a different side of Maggie. Maggie has been playing the mad or sad widow for 10 years, and we see a different side this season. There was a line that I improvised in a scene this year, and she smiled. I remember seeing her do it and I remember thinking, “That’s a fucking choice.” I said, “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you smile.” I think that was in Episode 1 or 2. That changed the trajectory again, without us even knowing it. Seth leaned into that as well, and it gave us more places to go. It was a completely different season and yet we’re still built on that foundation that we can’t stray far from.

Morgan Believes That Negan Played a Role in Transforming Dillard Into ’The Walking Dead: Dead City’s Season 3 Villain

“Negan comes in and becore you know it, Dillard’s got Lucille in his hand and he’s playing piñata with some heads.”

Image via AMC

Advertisement

Negan feels like somebody who is typically a pretty good judge of people’s character and is someone who can pretty easily predict where people are going to end up. What do you think he missed in Dillard?

MORGAN: I don’t know if he missed anything. It’s funny, maybe he did it, but he also pushed Dillard. Dillard was fine. Dillard was cool. He was living his own little life. He had his little ecosystem of happiness and food and all his shit above and below the bar there. And then, Negan comes in and before you know it, Dillard’s got Lucille in his hand and he’s playing piñata with some heads. In a lot of ways, Negan pushed Dillard. The only thing with Dillard is that, from the jump, we find out there’s something a little off with him, obviously. He has relationships with walkers and can communicate with them, or thinks he can, all of which I think amused Negan in a certain sense and frustrated him in another. More than anything, I think Negan just finally finds somebody that he’s comfortable around and can have this banter with and is the closest thing to a friend we’ve ever seen Negan have. The dark turn that Dillard takes, in the middle of the season, I was like, “We can’t lose Jimmi. If we do another year or two, I want him to be a part of the show. He’s so fucking great.”

But I knew the last image of this season was him being a walker with his people and communicating with these walkers. I could never get that out of my head because I thought it was such a perfect ending for this perfect/imperfect character. I was like, “Hey, what if we shot two endings? What if we shot an ending where you turn into the big bad at the end of the year, and you die and you’re with your people? But then, what if you don’t die and you stay with us for as long as possible?” He’s such a phenomenal actor and an even better human being. The fact of the matter is that he’s just a busy guy. He’s got other shows to do. This slot ended up working perfectly for him last year. He has six months off to do this season, but beyond that, we couldn’t count on anything, so that’s the way we went. I watched a couple of different cuts of the finale, and I just love that ending. I love Dillard in his happy place, or what I like to think is probably his happy place, and that’s where he wanted to be.

Things really start to spiral in Episode 5, when Negan makes the decision to kill Fabian. There’s something so interesting about the conversation that they have because Negan is testing him out before realizing that he has to kill him if he’s going to protect Maggie. What was that conversation like to shoot? Did you talk about how that would evolve? Were there different versions of that conversation?

MORGAN: My buddy Sylvain White directed that episode, who directed a film I did called The Losers, and he also directed the last episode of The Boys that I did – not the series finale episode, but the episode before the series finale. It was then that I said, “Hey, would you come and direct Dead City?,” and he did two episodes. That was a big scene. The dialogue was a little fucked up. The kid who played Fabian (Michael Emery) was a really sweet kid. I had a couple scenes with him, and I remember he was just nervous. He had a nervous energy, which worked for the character really well. Not only do I have this guy who I think is going to kill Maggie that I’m going to have to deal with right now, but Negan is fucking with him until he says, “I’m going to have to kill the bitch,” meaning Maggie. Immediately, he was dead.

For Negan, that’s all that he needed to hear. The topper of it is that Renata comes in. Negan has never trusted this woman and doesn’t believe that she should be the leader of this community or anyone else. Like you said, Negan has a pretty good feel for people. He has always read people, or thinks he has read them. More often than not, he’s been right and not wrong about people. He’s also putting on a show for her. It’s Negan the showman coming out. If Renata hadn’t walked in, there’s no doubt that Fabian would still be dead, but it probably wouldn’t have been quite as dramatic and large as it was.

Negan still has that flare. The piñata thing was a moment where we got to see that Season 1 Negan – my first season as Negan – is still part of who this man is. I think that’s very important, and I will always fight for that. I don’t ever want to become castrated and lose that aspect of who he is, no matter how much he evolves and how many different layers we show and how much he wants to protect Maggie and Hershel. Whether it’s out of guilt or some obligation or just this dysfunctional family aspect, he’s still got to be Negan. I think that’s incredibly important. That was a big part of that scene. I thought that was a time for Negan to go above and beyond where he normally would in this season and take it to a level, and he does. A lot of that is a show for Renata because he’s like, “Fuck you! You’re not going to tell me what to do and how to do it. And fuck this guy because he threatened my family.” In Negan’s head, Maggie is his family.

A Negan and Maggie Meet-Cute Was Certainly Unexpected in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Season 3

“By the way, I never heard the team meet-cute until we shot that episode … I kept calling it out Hallmark Christmas movie.”

Image via AMC

When you first learned about and read Episode 6, with how everything would play out for Maggie and Negan in a very different version of this world, could you ever have imagined you’d be filming an episode of The Walking Dead where Maggie and Negan would have their own meet-cute?

MORGAN: No, I didn’t. By the way, I never heard the term meet-cute until we shot that episode. That’s the first time I’d ever heard that term. I kept calling it our Hallmark Christmas movie. But no, not in a million years. I remember when Seth pitched it, it was such a head scratcher. I was like, “What?!” I get that we’ve been on the air for a while and we wanted to do some new shit this year, but I was like, “This is a fucking reach.” But then, the more we talked about it and how it would tie into what was happening within our story and ultimately how it ends, there’s Maggie and Negan, and they’re exactly who they’re supposed to be.

They don’t learn anything in that episode. Negan is going to kill a guy, and Maggie’s going back to the farm. Nothing changed. All of these ideas that they talk about in the course of the episode, none of it comes to fruition. They’re still Maggie and Negan. She’s got to go back to the farm and struggle, and Negan is going to go kill her guy and spend the rest of his life in prison. Nothing is learned. And yet, I think so much was learned in that episode. Getting to shoot in this world with no apocalypse and just two strangers meeting, it was our Before Sunrise with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. It’s our version of what would happen if these people met in New York City and had 20 hours together, and what kind of conversations they would have.

It was just really refreshing. I don’t know how else to put it. While we were shooting it, I was like, “This is the craziest fucking thing.” There’s a lot of speculation about whether Maggie and Negan would ever hook up and people have freaked out about that, but that’s not going to ever happen. I love that that’s where people’s minds go. But what we found out in that episode is that it doesn’t matter the circumstances, it doesn’t matter if there are zombies or not, because you’ve got two people that are going to be who they are.

I like that we had those conversations, and that they listen to each other and became each other’s confidants in a way that we’ve never seen on this show before. I thought that was super fascinating and so fun to play. It was like being on a different show and yet not. I was like, “I feel like I know this character, this Negan Smith guy, but I look in the mirror, and I feel like I don’t recognize him at all.” It was about finding that weird balance. I watched the episode and very much enjoyed it. We were like, “We could do this show for another 10 years, and every year do an alternate universe episode, and it would make sense and work, and every ending could be different.” That part of it was fun.

I loved the conversation between Maggie and Negan in Episode 7, when she was making the drink for him at the bar. There were a lot of interesting moments with them working through their feelings this season, and that was one of the most interesting.

MORGAN: Yeah. The scene where she was making the drink was a 17-page scene. It was cut with other shit going on in the show, so it would be two pages of us talking, and then two pages of somebody doing something else before it would cut back to the bar, but we shot it all as one scene. It was like doing a play. We were done in half a day because we both knew it so well. The hardest part was continuity with the drink pouring. That was interesting because you didn’t know if she was going to poison him. A lot of stuff was going on, but a lot was said in the course of that scene. More than anything, I can’t tell you how much fun we both had this season, just getting to take these characters to different places with each other.

Negan and Maggie Are Each Other’s Chosen Family Now, for Better or Worse

“She knows that he’s not going to say no to her, out of obligation, guilt, and a lot of reasons.”

There’s a moment in the finale that feels like it’s been a long time coming, when Maggie says to Negan, “You’ve got me. We’re forever connected. We’re outright chained to one another.” She can’t forgive him, but they’ve moved past what has happened. What did that moment feel like to you?

MORGAN: At this point, that’s probably true. Negan is either going to go off and be on his own or be with Maggie, and not in that way, but by her side, backing her play. I don’t see another out for Negan, at this point. It’s either disappearing on his own, or he’s going to help Maggie achieve whatever she thinks she can achieve. After that conversation, we know what he’s going to do. He’s going to stick by her. He does believe with all his heart that she is the leader that this world needs. He says that at the beginning of the season, and he doesn’t change his mind throughout it. He is behind that 100%.

I don’t think he ever saw himself as being her lawman, her enforcer, her sheriff, or whatever she asks him to be. I don’t think that was ever in the cards for him, but I also don’t think that he’s in a position where he is going to say no to her. And she knows that he’s not going to say no to her, out of obligation, guilt, and a lot of reasons. That opens the door to some stuff that we’ve never done before, so we’ll see. I love the words that she spoke. I think that encapsulated the season without saying the words, but for her to say them was important, for a lot of different reasons. It was as important for her to hear those words come out of her mouth as it was for Negan to hear them. When she says those words, he’s not going to leave. Here they are. They’re each other’s chosen family at this point.

What do you think that new partnership will be like? Do you think they’ll discuss things together? Do you think she’ll give him orders? How do you see that new dynamic working out?

MORGAN: That’s interesting. I think a little bit of all of the above. I don’t think he’s going to take orders real well. I can already hear him fighting back against her telling him what to do, but I think he trusts her to do the right thing. If she is making the right choices for this new world, whatever they may be, I think he will keep his mouth relatively shut. He’ll always have something to say, but I think they’re at a place in their relationship where they are very honest with each other. They don’t have to like each other, but they’re very honest with each other at this point. I find that to be very interesting. I don’t think they’re going to hold back anything going forward. I don’t know that it will ever work out the way that Maggie foresees it because Negan has his issues and, at any given moment, he can disappear.

But at the same time, it depends on what kind of promises he makes to her. He has always been a man of his word. That has always meant something to him, more than it means for a lot of people. If he says, “Look, I’m going to help you do this, and then I’m going to ride off into the sunset,” or “I’m here with you for the long haul,” then I think he’ll eat it, to a certain extent, and she can boss him around. But I think she’s going to have to be careful who she bosses him around in front of. He’s not going to let her make a fool out of him, ever. He would fight back in that sense because he’s too lippy not too. It’s an interesting dynamic that he sees her as this leader and has been pushing her there all year because that puts her in a position over him. Let’s see how that works out.

Morgan Loved Getting To Sink His Teeth Into His ‘Sterling Point’ Character and Just Be a Regular Dad

“It was a really special show to be a part of.”

Image via Prime Video

You have this season of Dead City out around the same time as Sterling Point, and those two shows couldn’t be more different. One of my favorite things about Sterling Point is the relationship between Joe and Ellis. How did it feel to be able to explore a relationship with a young actor that you didn’t have to kill because of a walker or save from a walker?

MORGAN: I loved it. I got to be a dad, flaws and all, and I am a dad. I have a 16-year-old son who actually is in Sterling Point. I got to do a scene with my own son. It was such a joy going to work and just being a dad and not covered in blood or hitting something. I do hit someone in the face. I’ve known Megan Park, the creator who also directed the show and wrote it, for a long time, and we’ve wanted to work together forever. She sent me the script, and Joe comes in and he’s tattooed and in parentheses it says “Jeffrey Dean Morgan,” and I was like, “Well, I have to do it now.” I couldn’t get past page four before I was like, “Well, I’m in.” I had so much fun doing it.

I’ve been Negan for a while. I got to be Joe Kessler on The Boys, and I’ve done other stuff in the last 10 years, but I feel like I got to sink my teeth into Joe. Being a dad of a teenage kid, I’m familiar with. I was calling him “dude,” just like I call my son “dude.” It just fell into a natural, easy rhythm. And I loved the writing and how they shot the show. Every kid in that is so talented. Any scene I had with any of the kids, I had my mind blown by how good they were. It was a really special show to be a part of. I spent last summer, a year ago right now, in Muskoka with my whole entire family with me. I had a little house on the lake, and I had a little dock and a boat. I would take my kids tubing all day, and then I’d go work at night. I had the time of my life. It was a joy. The only problem is that both shows came out in the same week. Two years of work are over like that. But I got an opportunity to do something different. You can see a little bit of range, finally. So, there you go.

Do you know what you’re going to be doing next?

MORGAN: I don’t know what’s next. I would like to close the chapter on The Walking Dead in the right way. Lauren [Conrad] and I would like to close this chapter in the right way. There will be another [season] of Sterling Point. I get so many scripts, but a lot of them aren’t good. I got offered a show, and I can’t tell you what it was because I didn’t end up doing it – someone else did, but I really wanted to do it – but it went from 10 episodes to 23, and I can’t be away from my family for a year. I just can’t. And that show could have gone for 10 years, easy. So, there’s stuff. We’ll find something. For me, it’s always juggling being a dad. That’s what’s important to me. Being a dad is number one, and then you hopefully can work in some good jobs in between.

The Walking Dead: Dead City airs on AMC. Sterling Point is available to stream on Prime Video.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

June 15, 2023

Network

Advertisement

AMC

Showrunner

Eli Jorne, Seth Hoffman

Advertisement

Directors

Kevin Dowling, Loren Yaconelli

Advertisement

Writers

Brenna Kouf

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Netflix has an impressive roster of films being submitted for an Academy Award this year. The streamer, known for releasing movies on its platform, is giving some films a theatrical release to make them eligible for an Oscar. Netflix has gone around the world in its search for heavyweights that can compete with traditional studios or other streaming services. Additionally, the streaming service will now begin reporting box office performances for movies released in theaters. One of them is a war thriller that has secured a limited release beginning next month.

Set in the 1940s, the film follows four characters who enlist in Japan’s war with America. In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, four famous American college football stars abandon their shining status in the sport and enlist in the Marines. “As they prepare for the brutal invasion of Okinawa, they’ll play in a legendary game featuring some of the greatest players in history — a game that, for many, will be the last they ever play,” the film’s description says.

That film is The Mosquito Bowl, Peter Berg‘s war epic coming to theaters on October 30 before streaming on Netflix on November 25. Berg co-wrote the film’s script with Mark L. Smith and enlisted some talented young actors in the lead roles. IT icon Bill Skarsgård continues to impress in all his roles, and in this one he plays one of the stars-turned-soldiers, Bob Bauman. He-Man star Nicholas Galitzine is also building his career in high-budget epics, and he plays John McLaughry. The quartet is completed by Tom Francis (You) as Dave Schreiner and Ray Nicholson (The Beauty) as Tony Butkovich.

‘The Mosquito Bowl’ Is a Stunning Portrait of War

Netflix has already released the film’s trailer, and it has serious All Quiet on the Western Front vibes. Unlike the German boys, these people have a bit of experience in confrontation. In many ways, a football game is like war. Someone always loses, and there is a price to pay. But nothing can prepare anyone for the realities of war. Bob, John, Dave, and Tony experience the devastating realities of combat, where there are no rules, injuries are fatal, and it ends when it ends. The trailer teases a unique take on war through sport with stunning visuals and emotional resonance.

The Mosquito Bowl hits theaters on October 30, then streams on Netflix on November 25. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

October 30, 2026

Advertisement

• 
• 

  Brent Comer

  George Murphy

  Advertisement
• 

  Claudia Ware

  Frances Langford

• 

Advertisement

Advertisement

Few dress codes can send you spiraling through your closet quite like “wedding guest attire.” Fortunately, the Merokeety Satin Strapless Maxi Dress makes the decision so much easier, and Amazon shoppers tend to agree. It delivers all of the elegance of a special occasion dress, but unlike most formal outfits, it’s washable, so you won’t have to add a trip to the dry cleaner to your post-wedding to-do list.

The sleek, satin-like style is dressy enough for weddings and other formal events without requiring much effort on your part. Add heels, earrings and a clutch, and your entire wedding guest outfit is practically finished, leaving you with one less thing to worry about before the big day.

Get the Merokeety Satin Strapless Maxi Dress for $50 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.

The strapless neckline gives the dress an elegant, minimalist look, while the floor-skimming silhouette brings the drama you want for a formal event. A softly draped design keeps it looking sophisticated rather than overly fussy, so accessories can completely change the vibe, depending on the dress code. It comes in so many colors that it might be hard to choose just one, but at the impressive price point, splurging on multiple colors won’t break the bank.

Related: Trending! Amazon’s Hottest Wedding Guest Dresses Are Surprisingly Luxe

Advertisement

You just got the wedding invite, the ceremony is in three weeks and your closet is full of ‘maybe’ dresses that don’t quite work. Sound familiar? Finding wedding guest dresses that feel fresh, age-appropriate and actually flattering can turn into a frustrating, expensive spiral through department store racks. Here’s the good news: Amazon has quietly […]

There’s no reason to retire it after one wear. Style it with metallic heels and statement jewelry for a formal wedding, pare things back with simple sandals for a destination celebration or pull it out again for an anniversary dinner or holiday party. The washable design makes repeat wear especially practical.

Shoppers confirm that it’s a compliment magnet. “I bought a white one for my bridal shower and a pink one for a wedding,” wrote one five-star reviewer. “I got so many compliments on them!”

Another Amazon shopper put it to the test at a summer wedding in Florida. “I love this dress!” they raved, adding that the “light fabric” was particularly appreciated in the middle of summer.

If another wedding invitation just landed in your mailbox, there’s no need to panic about what you’re going to wear. This satin-looking maxi dress delivers an elegant, ready-for-the-dress-code outfit in one easy piece, and being able to wash it afterward is just the icing on the wedding cake.

Get the Merokeety Satin Strapless Maxi Dress for $50 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.

Looking for something else? Explore more satin maxi dresses here and don’t forget to check out all of Amazon’s Daily Deals for more great finds!

Advertisement

Related: These Fall Floral Dresses Are the Rich Mom Upgrade to Neutrals, From $7

You may think that floral prints are for only summer and neutral colors are just for fall, but rich moms aren’t following that ancient fashion rule. Instead, they’re rocking fall floral dresses, aka the most luxe, expensive-looking upgrade to boring solids. Even celebrities like Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry are on board, so naturally, so […]

Jenna Johnson has learned firsthand how difficult it can be balancing motherhood with her Dancing With the Stars career.

“Been working some really long hours this week leading up to our exciting two-night premiere and my mama heart has been a little heartbroken having to be away from my sweet boy,” Johnson, 32, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, September 13, referring to her 3-year-old son, Rome. “Grateful he was able to come to set yesterday and see all the magic happening!”

She continued, “I think I needed it more than he did.”

The two-time DWTS champ shares Rome with her husband, Val Chmerkovskiy, who is also a pro dancer on the hit ballroom competition series. (Johnson has paired up with Glee alum Harry Shum Jr., while Chmerkovskiy, 40, is set to tango with Step Up actress Jenna Dewan for season 35.)

Johnson, Chmerkovskiy and their respective celebrity partners had camera-blocking rehearsal on Saturday, September 12. For Johnson, it was a reminder that moms truly can do it all — even when it requires navigating feelings of heartbreak.

“Working mamas, I see you! We got this,” she added in her social media upload. “And to my mamas on set … grateful for your beautiful examples! Love being able to navigate this together ✨.”

Fellow DWTS pros Daniella Karagach, Witney Carson and Sharna Burgess are also moms. Karagach, 33, and dancer husband Pasha Pashkov are parents of daughter Nikita, 3, while Burgess, 41, shares son Zane, 4, with fiancé Brian Austin Green. Carson, 32, is a mom of two with another on the way. (The pregnant choreographer and her husband, Carson McAllister, already share two sons.) 

Advertisement

Related: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pros Babies Adorably Supporting Their Parents

Witney Carson, Artem Chigvintsev and more Dancing With the Stars pros have little ones cheering them on. “He helps me on my choreo[graphy],” Carson told her Instagram followers of eldest son Leo ahead of the season 30 premiere after joking that the toddler was her 2021 partner. “Can’t express how special it is to have […]

“You guys are so inspiring!!!” pro Brandon Armstrong’s wife, Brylee Armstrong, replied in the comments section.

Karagach and Burgess will cha cha for the mirrorball with respective partners Ezra Frech and Tyler Cameron, while Carson joined forces with Guillermo Rodriguez.

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

“It’s honestly been OK,” Carson exclusively told Us earlier this month about working on DWTS amid her pregnancy. “I feel like I’ve had a lot more energy than I did in my first trimester. The nausea is starting to subside and I’m starting to have a little bit more energy.”

She continued, “I was telling Guillermo I feel exactly the same physically, I’m just more out of breath, but … I don’t feel like I’m pregnant at all, honestly. I feel like I can do all the same things, which is such a blessing. I know that it will start to get a little bit harder once I get a little bit bigger.”

Dancing With the Stars season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.

If there’s one thing fantasy fans can’t seem to get enough of, it’s dragons. You know, large flying, fire-breathing lizards? They’ve been a staple of the fantasy genre for decades, if not centuries, as they stem from mythology. Many cultures all across the world feature some variation of dragons in their folklore, probably because they inspire such a sense of wonder and majesty.

Since fantasy books are genuinely pretty in line with mythology and folklore, a lot of them have featured these flying beasts over the years. Sometimes they are allies, other times they are villains. Sometimes they are intelligent and capable of speech, other times they are animalistic predators. Either way, these are the best fantasy books featuring dragons, all of which can be considered perfect.

‘Dragons of Deltora’ (2004)

Image via Scholastic

Deltora Quest 3, or, as it’s known in North America, Dragons of Deltora, is a compilation of four smaller YA fantasy novels. It’s a whole series in one, basically. The book comes from Australian author Jennifer Rowe, under her pen name of Emily Rodda. Like the first two books, the story is about Lief, a young man who seeks to free the land of Deltora from the clutches of the evil Shadow Lord. The first series (which received an anime adaptation) follows Lief as he reassembles the gems of the magical Belt of Deltora, while the second is about rebuilding a magical flute called the Pirran Pipe.

In this third series, Lief, along with his usual companions, Barda and Jasmine, must travel to the four corners of Deltora to destroy evil spirits called the Four Sisters. However, these sisters can only be destroyed with dragon fire, which means they must reawaken the last remaining dragons, who have been locked away in an eternal slumber. While this is primarily a book for kids aged 8–12, adults can still find enjoyment in this easy read. The Deltora series has always been a stellar introduction to fantasy for young readers, with a surprising amount of lore and incredible world-building to boot.

‘The Rage of Dragons’ (2017)

Image via Hachette B and Blackstone Publishing

Evan Winter‘s The Rage of Dragons is a really interesting read with an even more interesting setting. Instead of opting for a medieval European setting that a lot of high fantasy novels favor, his world is more analogous with Bronze Age Africa. For two centuries, the Omehi people have been locked in an eternal cycle of war and chaos. A very rare few are able to call dragons to aid them in the fight, though this power is exclusive only to women. In the midst of the chaos, a young swordsman sets out on a quest for revenge.

Author Rick Riordan gave the book his personal seal of approval, accompanied by a wordy, odeful review. Apart from the praise of one of YA fantasy’s most prominent figures, fans and critics alike have expressed their adoration for the book’s unique setting and story. It’s truly a spectacular read that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, which is why any dragon-loving fantasy fan needs to pick it up as soon as possible.

‘The Sword of Destiny’ (1992)

Image via Orbit Books

The Sword of Destiny is one of the first short story collections published as part of The Witcher saga by Andrzej Sapkowski, which, as many know, has been adapted into a live-action Netflix series. This anthology of stories follows Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter known as a Witcher who travels across a high fantasy world, seeking contracts from local villagers. Not all the stories contain dragons, but there is one towards the end of the collection that does.

More specifically, it’s about the glittering golden dragon named Villentretenmerth, who is a bit of a shaky ally at best. Most of the monsters in The Witcher are ripped straight from various mythologies and folklore across a variety of cultures, so it’s to be expected that dragons would show up at some point. As far as books in The Witcher series go, this one is one of the best ones because it’s easy to digest and even easier to get lost in.

‘Tress of the Emerald Sea’ (2023)

Image via Tor Books

Tress of the Emerald Sea is a stand-alone novel in Brandon Sanderson‘s shared literary universe known as the Cosmere. The basic premise of this universe is that each series or stand-alone story is set on its own planet, all of which are in the same galaxy. The story takes place on the backwater planet of Lumar, which is closely orbited by 12 moons. The moons continuously pump spores into Lumar’s atmosphere, which make up the oceans in lieu of water. When the spores come into contact with moisture, they produce a destructive effect, which varies depending on the color of the spore. The oceans can even be sailed on due to gas jets on the planet’s surface, which fluidize the spores.

On the remote Emerald Sea island called Diggen’s Point, a young girl named Tress has fallen in love with the mayor’s son, Charlie. However, when Charlie goes missing on an overseas trip, Tress becomes determined to save him. She eventually gets wound up with a pirate crew and comes face-to-face with the dragon Xisisrefliel. While the dragon’s appearance is only a small part of the story, he is a looming background presence throughout. It’s a heartwarming, easy to read, romantic fairytale inspired by The Princess Bride. It’s one of the most underrated entries in Sanderson’s extensive repertoire.

‘A Storm of Swords’ (2000)

Image via Bantam Books

Advertisement

A Storm of Swords is the third book in the acclaimed, but unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. This series famously became the cultural phenomenon that is Game of Thrones. While all the books are amazing in their own right, this third novel is considered one of the best. It’s also one of the longest, at roughly 1,000 pages. The story, as always, is about nine royal families who are feuding over the throne of Westeros while a primordial threat is silently gathering strength to the North, preparing to bring about the end of the world.

One of the major characters in this series is Daenerys Targaryen, from an exiled Westerosi house who had an affinity for dragons. After being gifted three dragon eggs during her wedding in the first book, she now possesses three young dragons that are just learning to breathe fire. While the dragons aren’t as large or mighty as they are in the later books, they are still a major part of the story. They might be small, but they are still a force to be reckoned with. In any event, this book is truly superb, and is among Martin’s finest work.

‘Dragonflight’ (1968)

Image via Del Rey

Advertisement

Dragonflight is the first novel in the critically-acclaimed The Dragonriders of Pern series, which went on for 50 whole years, seeing its most recent installment in 2018. Not all the books are written by original author Anne McCaffrey, since she passed away in 2011. This first book is actually a compound book, made up of two novellas smashed into one cohesive volume.

Believe it or not, the series follows dragon riders in the land of Pern. Humans have colonized a distant planet filled with dragons, but have lost their technological capabilities, reverting them back into the Middle Ages. On this new planet, they form a relationship with the dragons, using them to combat a rising darkness eroding organic matter. This series was so long-lived and acclaimed for a reason: it’s absolutely brilliant, adventurous, and it revolutionized the fantasy genre.

‘The Hobbit, or There and Back Again’ (1937)

Image via HarperCollins

Advertisement

The Hobbit is the first book published by J. R. R. Tolkien, and the very first published work in his vast Middle-Earth legendarium. This includes The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as thousands of pages of extensive history and mythology. In this novel, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is unexpectedly swept up in a quest to slay the dragon Smaug and reclaim the kingdom of Erebor along with 13 dwarves and the wizard Gandalf. The book was famously adapted into a trilogy of films in the early 2010s.

Even if there’s only one dragon in the story, he’s still a commanding presence and certainly counts as the main antagonist. It’s pretty much a classic dragon story, too: Smaug hordes gold, lives in a mountain, breathes fire, loves flattery… the only thing he’s missing is a kidnapped princess and a knight in shining armor. This is considered one of the finest fantasy books ever written, as it sounds like a father telling a story to his children. Beyond that, it’s family-friendly, adventurous, and full of profound moral wisdom. It’s simply a must-read for any fan of fantasy.

One Day at a Time alum Mackenzie Phillips had a rocky relationship with one of her castmates on the 1970s sitcom.

“Richard Masur wasn’t very nice,” Phillips, 66, told former costar Valerie Bertinelli on the Monday, September 7, episode of her “Getting Naked” podcast.

Phillips and Bertinelli, 66, starred in One Day at a Time as the teenage daughters of Ann Romano-Royer (Bonnie Franklin), who must adapt to single motherhood following her divorce. Masur, 77, played David Kane, Ann’s divorce lawyer-turned-fiancé. He left the show after the characters’ season 1 split.

Despite not initially getting along with Masur, Phillips said she and her former costar later “made peace.”

“I saw him and he said, ‘I don’t even remember what it was. I don’t even remember what I said, but whatever I said, I’m really sorry. And I’ve always thought you were so incredibly talented and we were all so young,’” she recalled.

One Day at a Time, developed by legendary producer Norman Lear, aired for nine seasons on CBS from 1975 to 1984. The series spawned a 2017 remake developed by Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce. The Netflix show starred Justina Machado, Rita Moreno, Stephen Tobolowsky, Isabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz and Todd Grinnell.

During Monday’s podcast episode, Bertinelli recalled her own fears about working with Lear, who wrote and produced other hit shows including All in the Family, Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons before his December 2023 death at age 101.

“I always was in awe of him and afraid of him a little bit, always afraid I was going to be reprimanded by Norman,” she said, adding that Lear was “so loving.”

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

“Both of us are incredibly lucky to have such a mentor, and someone who wasn’t what you think Hollywood is, because young girls in Hollywood are eaten up and [spit] out, and we were not, under Norman’s tutelage,” Bertinelli shared. “I felt very, very protected and I always was in awe of him and afraid of him a little bit.”

The Hot in Cleveland alum recalled Lear’s help during a particularly difficult moment when she struggled to make herself cry in the season 1 finale of One Day at a Time.

“He was the one that took me aside when I had to cry in the finale of the first season,” she shared. “And I couldn’t do it. I was too embarrassed because I wasn’t an actor. I was just learning how to do this. Now I can, but I’ve also have 50 years experience behind me.”

Sometimes, shows are canceled for the most absurd reasons and at the most heartbreaking times, leaving fans crusading for their renewal or stuck with unexplained cliffhangers. While some cancellations make sense, whether because of low viewership, high costs, or unexpected circumstances, one of the most jarring reasons a show was reportedly brought to the guillotine happened in 2010 with a live-action Cartoon Network series. With its mysterious boarding school, gifted young students, hidden rules, and an institution that clearly knows more than it lets on, Tower Prep had all the makings of a darker, more conspiratorial Harry Potter-style adventure.

Axed after just 13 episodes, the reasons stemming from viewership were disappointing, yet understandable. However, the show’s creator, Paul Dini, would later be interviewed on a podcast called “Fatman on Batman,” hosted by Kevin Smith, in which he provided another outrageous explanation for why the show was canceled, suggesting it wasn’t simply because it failed to connect with audiences but because it connected with the “wrong” one: young women.

What Is ‘Tower Prep’ About?

The single season revolves around an elusive preparatory school that scouts specially gifted students and discreetly brings them into its fold, apparently with their parents’ permission. The catch is, no one is allowed to leave. Ian (Drew Van Acker) is at the center of the series, as he groggily wakes up at the school and tries to figure out what is going on. His “special gift” is called “pre-flex,” which allows him to sense actions or events mere seconds before they happen.

As the series continues, he creates a close-knit group of friends who are investigating the mysterious location and have special abilities, including an affinity for persuasion (Ryan Pinkston), an ability to replicate things like vocal mimicry (Dyana Liu), and an instinctive expertise in facial micro-expressions (Elise Gatien). Inching closer to the dark truth of the place, Tower Prep‘s first and final season ends on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that we will likely never get closure for.

Why Did Cartoon Network Cancel ‘Tower Prep’?

Image via Cartoon Network

A year after Tower Prep‘s inconclusive Season 1 finale aired, Cartoon Network released the TV schedule for renewed seasons, and Tower Prep was unfortunately not on this list. Dini explained the cancellation in a post on his blog via LiveJournal, where he attributed it to Cartoon Network’s shift away from live-action shows to animated ones. “Their biggest hits now are animated comedy shows,” he said. “And they most likely will continue to concentrate on producing them for the near future.” In the comment section, he further explained that five months before the live-action show even debuted, “they decided they wanted to be a cartoon exclusive network after all. The decision was made then and there to kill live drama.” It doesn’t seem like Tower Prep had much of a chance anyway.

On top of this, Dini also cited the series’ initial reception as a reason for its cancellation. “It cost a lot of money to produce and did not immediately deliver the big ratings smash they wanted; they yanked it.” However, he further argued: “Ironically, now that fans all over the world have seen Tower, and many more have watched via download, the ratings for first-run broadcast would arguably be much better, but CN remains resolute in their decision not to order new episodes.” So, even though Tower Prep grew a dedicated fanbase, it wasn’t built quickly enough for the network to justify its renewal.

There was a subsequent fight for the show’s survival. In the blog post, Dini recommended sending handwritten letters to the network to convince executives of the show’s popularity, and on X, he even provided links to online petitions. But it was going to be an uphill battle, as Dini described Cartoon Network as a company that was “not known for paying much attention to fan protests,” which is ultimately what happened. The story of Tower Prep was lost in network limbo, but this wouldn’t be the last time we heard of it. Dini was invited to a podcast in 2013, where he alleged another reason Tower Prep was canceled — one that could be considered among the most outrageous in TV history.

Paul Dini Reveals Another Reason ‘Tower Prep’ Got the Axe

Image via Cartoon Network

Image via Cartoon Network

Image via Cartoon Network

On the podcast, Dini’s comments about why Tower Prep was canceled are jarring to say the least, claiming that it was the show’s predominantly female viewership that caused it to be quietly benched after 13 episodes. He said he had heard executives at the network explicitly say, “We do not want girls watching this show.” And why? “They. Do. Not. Buy. Toys. The girls buy different toys.” It sounds so ridiculous, you can hardly believe someone would say this. While there hasn’t been much research that specifically ventures into who buys more toys, generally, children tend to gravitate towards gendered toys aligning with their own, though many papers have questioned the role of social conditioning in this. Either way, as Dini and Smith go on to discuss, just do your research and make different toys or products.

Dini expanded on his experience working on the show. “‘We need boys, but we need girls right there, right one step behind the boys’ — this is the network talking — ‘one step behind the boys, not as smart as the boys, not as interesting as the boys, but right there.’” However, Dini recounted that during pre-production, the female characters, namely CJ and Suki, ended up with nuanced backstories and characterizations that drew female viewers in, becoming an integral part of their audience. Dini described the network’s response to this as: “We’ve got too many girls. We need more boys… Boys, boys, boys. Boys buy the little spinny tops; they buy the action figures. Girls buy princesses. We’re not selling princesses.”

Cartoon Network’s boy-centric brand allegedly became the downfall of Tower Prep, where female viewership and connection weren’t celebrated but treated as a problem. Between all the reasons that have been publicized for Tower Prep‘s cancellation, it seems the show was always on shaky ground, never really finding firm footing to thrive as it should have.

In his blog, Dini also noted that Cartoon Network refused to sell the rights to the show. More than 15 years after its premiere, a revival now appears increasingly unlikely; Dini himself has continued to temper expectations about the series ever returning. But with the downfall of Tower Prep also came one of the most infuriating reasons to cancel a show: its audience may have loved it, but according to its creator, too many of those viewers simply weren’t the ones the network wanted. With HBO’s new Harry Potter series arriving this Christmas, Tower Prep feels especially ripe for rediscovery.

Tower Prep is currently available to purchase digitally through the Apple TV Store.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

2010 – 2010-00-00

Advertisement

Network

Cartoon Network

Advertisement

• 

  Drew Van Acker

  Advertisement

  Ian Archer

• 

  Ryan Pinkston

  Gabe Forrest

  Advertisement
• 
• 

Advertisement

Advertisement

Jennifer Aniston’s boyfriend, Jim Curtis, is opening up about the beginning stages of the pair’s budding romance.

“There was a many-month friendship first,” the hypnotist, 50, told The Times in an interview published on Saturday, September 12. “The drive was more natural, more organic, less needy. In the past I’ve felt this idea of, ‘I need you to be in love with me…’ I wasn’t searching for love anymore.”

The self-help guru added, “And what do I feel now? I feel real joy, real presence, real calmness, real partnership.”

While Curtis’ relationship with the Friends star, 50, wasn’t forced, he told the outlet he had a premonition on his 47th birthday that by the time he turned half-a-century old he would be “with someone unlike I had ever been in a relationship with.” After he turned 49, Aniston — a yoga fan who participates in “goddess circles” in which women can freely and without judgement or shame share their stories — followed the “transformational coach” on Instagram, going on to like several of his videos.

Related: Inside Jennifer Aniston’s ‘Serious’ Romance With New BF Jim Curtis

When Jennifer Aniston touched down in Mallorca, Spain, over the 4th of July weekend, it seemed like just another holiday was on the horizon for the Friends alum. Shielding herself from the blazing sun in a wide-brim hat and dark shades, Aniston, casually dressed in a black tank top and jeans, stepped out with her […]

The pair were later introduced by a mutual friend, and by July 4th 2026 — after Curtis was photographed rubbing Aniston’s shoulders on a yacht off the coast of Mallorca — a source confirmed to Us they were officially a couple.

“They are being super private but have been spending a lot of time together,” an insider told Us at the time. “They are happy and really into each other.”

Aniston later opened up about her new beau in an interview with Elle, gushing about Curtis’ many talents.

“Hypnotism is one of the many things that he does,” Aniston said during her November 2025 Elle Women of the Year cover story, adding that Curtis is both “very special” and yet “very” normal. “He’s quite extraordinary, and helps many, many people.“

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Advertisement

Related: Jim Curtis Says Jennifer Aniston Romance Is Still in ‘Honeymoon Phase’

Jim Curtis is shedding light on his relationship with girlfriend Jennifer Aniston. “We do a lot of meditation,” Curtis, 50, shared on the Monday, August 31, episode of the “The Jamie Kern Lima Show” about his and Aniston’s romance. “We do a lot of talk.” The hypnotist went on to explain that there are “different […]

The actress continued at the time, “[He] wants to help people heal, move through their trauma and stagnation into clarity. It’s a beautiful thing to commit your life to.”

Being romantically linked to Aniston — who was was previously married to Brad Pitt before their 2005 split and Justin Theroux until their divorce in 2018 — has only elevated Curtis’ social and cultural status. According to The Times, his Instagram followers have doubled to 1.1 million since the pair went public with their romantic relationship.

“I was sitting on a couch recently,” the wellness expert writes in his new book, The Book of Possibility: Release. Align. Become., per the outlet. “Which sounds normal enough until I tell you that I was sitting between Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.”

Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3.

Everything that’s been building over the course of Season 3 of the AMC series The Walking Dead: Dead City came to a head in the finale, entitled “Tenebrae.” Maggie (Lauren Cohan) finally came to terms with just how much a part of her life Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) really is, and she decided to step into the leadership role that he had been pushing for all along. She also decided to trust that Hershel (Logan Kim) could hold his own and supported his involvement in their plan to take their new community back from those trying to take it and Negan down. Now, it will be interesting to see how this new dynamic evolves moving forward and what this civilization could become next.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat with Cohan about how this felt like “a season of firsts” for The Walking Dead and how that could affect things moving forward. During the interview, she discussed Maggie’s frame of mind, how all of these characters are broken in their own way, redefining Maggie and Negan’s relationship, why their dynamic reminds her of the one she has with her own brother, finding a balance between being a mother and being a leader, and where things could go next, in a possible Season 4.

Lauren Cohan Says It Was Nice To Give Maggie a Bit of a Break in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Season 3

“This is such a season of firsts in our universe.”

Image via AMC

COLLIDER: Having karaoke with a stripper pole in a bar is not a moment that you often get in The Walking Dead. What was it like to figure out who Maggie is when she just cuts loose and doesn’t have the weight of absolutely everything on her shoulders all at once?

LAUREN COHAN: I feel like this is such a season of firsts in our universe. And not just Dead City, but The Walking Dead as a whole. It was amazing. It was funny because Maggie being tipsy, just on an actor level, when you’re with people who you know and you’re familiar with, it’s definitely easier to do that because you can imagine being merry with them. That part feels like, “Okay, cool, so now all I have to remember is, in some sense, this is more of a friendship with Jeff [Dean Morgan] than a Maggie dynamic with Negan.”

The episode leads up to a point where there’s a lot of relief for the group and they’ve taken a risk and it’s paid off, and it’s a whole new frame of mind for her. The only way through now is to do something different, and that applies across the board. When we did that episode, what made it so much fun was watching Jimmi [Simpson] and Aimee [Garcia] sing karaoke naturally makes you feel really relaxed and drunk-happy. There were definitely a lot of elements of uncharted territory, but also genuine fun in the episode and in a lot of moments during the season.

The tension that Maggie has had for so long became these exercises for me. The tension of needing to see things a certain way or needing to keep rigid or keep your horse blinders on, or keep safe and keep people safe, or maintain a point of view, if you just remove that one thing, it’s the equivalent of suddenly being on the beach for a normal person. It was so fun for us to do it. We had so many moments like that this season.

Maggie and Negan Are Both Just Doing the Best That They Can in ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’

“I really believe, in life and in the show, that people are in your life for a reason.”

There’s the moment in the finale when Maggie says to Negan, “You’ve got me. We’re forever connected. We’re chained to one another.” She’s never going to forgive him, but they’ve moved past it. Is she the only one who can humanize him in that way?

COHAN: People feel really connected to Negan in a lot of ways, and that’s testament to Jeff’s charisma and warmth and the relatability of Negan. He does these abhorrent things. He does less of them now, obviously. There’s just something relatable, even in his reactivity and how he traipses through life and what a broken person he is. Everybody that’s left is broken and is a patchwork of coping mechanisms. I hope they never change. Everybody is a total Tin Man. To answer that question now, to me, almost tries to get ahead of the way I might be able to say it when all of The Walking Dead is over, and I look back in five years at what it meant.

I really believe, in life and in the show, that people are in your life for a reason, and you either continue to face the challenges that they bring up for you, or you say, “Thank you,” you move on, and you realize that it was a moment, or you kill them. There’s a million times when I’ve looked at it like, “She should have just killed him. When Rick stopped her, she should have pushed him out of the way and gone for it.” I always feel Hershel Sr. is on my shoulder, and I always feel like there’s a dichotomy in Maggie of a cut and dry brutality, trying to learn how to lead people and being a hugely compassionate person.

There are so many moments within the season, and it isn’t completely magnanimous. He sees the good in Maggie and tells her, and I see the brokenness and the good in him and I tell him, and I thank him for how he’s helped. The archetypes of these characters have always been pretty front and center. If you think about what makes someone a hero, what makes someone brave, what makes someone a leader, what makes someone a fighter, and what makes someone just a little bit of some of those things some of the time, but also completely screwed up and fumbling through and not knowing what you’re doing, it’s a giant metaphor for parenting. Everybody’s just doing the best they can with the information that they have at the time. It’s the friction that comes from them both being around and both being in each other’s orbit that’s fascinating to me.

It’s especially interesting this season because they’ve formed more of a partnership now. Throughout the season, she resisted being a leader, and it seems like finding a partnership is what allows her to be able to step into that leadership position. She hands him that badge and says she wants him to lead security while she’s in charge. Why do you think Negan saw her as a leader before she saw it in herself, and what do you think it is that really helped her finally see it?

COHAN: When I think about that scene, or I think about the season, I feel how much he wants her forgiveness and how much he wants to help her and how much he cares for her, which is very natural. If you take away the main part of their history, I do think it’s like brother and sister. People ‘ship Negan and Maggie so hard, but if I think about my relationship with my own brother, I give him shit, but I know what he’s capable of. You just have these little quirks, and there’s certain people in the world who can lovingly call them out and make fun of them but also know that you’re a fucking badass. I feel like that’s how Negan is to Maggie.

To survive in this world, there are so many things, and not just in this world [of the show]. I really think you can get lost in the past or lost in resentment in life, and it’s like, “Am I going to, or am I going to find the best way to move forward?” What begins as, “I cannot forget this thing and I hate you, and I see everything you do through this lens” becomes, “You are synonymous with this thing, but I haven’t killed you and I’m not going to kill you” to, “Yes, this thing happened, but I’m focusing on something else right now. I’m choosing to focus on this” to, “If people can change in a lifetime — and The Walking Dead, because of all the shit they go through, is somehow many, many lifetimes — then maybe they can change monumentally in this one.”

The leadership thing came about in an interesting way because I got fatigued by giving people these monikers. With Maggie, I don’t want it to just be, “Leader, mother, warrior.” What it led to in the season was a real working mother deciding if she can hold down a CEO job and still raise her kids. We wanted to put that inside the apocalypse, but not quite so literally as that. What permission do you need to give yourself to fulfill your own potential and still be there for your kids? The thing that I think allows it to happen this season is Hershel saying to Maggie at the beginning of the season, “I remember all the times you were there.” And then, we see the mentorship through Luis. We see that he doesn’t want her to hurt anymore, and he’s okay with her allowing Negan to be a part of this new world that they’re building and sees the strengths in him and wants to be a part of this community.

She’s been so afraid to open up to the idea of these possibilities, as well as being with a new community and potentially failing again and losing people again. But I think she realizes that she did okay by her son. He is equipped to jump in and come on the ride. But it’s more than that. It’s never literal. It’s never just, “I’m going to literally just stare at and be with my child.” It’s more like, “Will I have the bandwidth?” It’s like teaching. If you can, you should.

In ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Season 3, Maggie Has Realized That Negan Is Family, for Better or Worse

“Our skill sets complement each other.”

Image via AMC

What do you think this new partnership between Maggie and Negan will be like? How do you see this new dynamic working out between them?

COHAN: It’s funny, it goes back to the sibling thing. What’s been realized, without necessarily being explicitly said, is that our skill sets complement each other. That, for me, comes down to recognizing and encouraging him. Within the season, there’s the light versus the fight. But when it comes down to it and I say to him, “You’re the only one that understands the brutality that it really does take,” it’s not all sunshine and roses. It’s never going to be. Whether Maggie realizes it or not, there is this subconscious recognition that when the shit comes down, she can rely on him to do the thing that will keep people safe, which is his greatest pride, ironically, and his excuse for some of the insane things that he did. If you asked him, he would say that it was to protect his people. Maggie will never believe that. However, with the Negan that is now, she does believe that it’s possible.

I think the most important thing that will influence them moving forward is that it’s like being family. They may not like each other all the time. She may still want to kill him sometimes. She may still find him insufferable. He may find her insufferable and stubborn. But Maggie and Negan have known each other the longest of anyone that we know that’s still living. Rick and Michonne, and Daryl and Carol, and Eugene — these people are still alive, but we don’t know where they are. Maggie and Negan have known each other longer than she’s had her kid. They’ve been through the fire together, even if it has been inflicted by one or the other. From that basis, they will go into uncharted territory, in terms of building something new. I really think this could be the beginning of a huge, robust civilization, ironically born from the ashes of how they met.

The Walking Dead: Dead City airs on AMC.

Advertisement

Release Date

Advertisement

June 15, 2023

Network

AMC

Advertisement

Showrunner

Eli Jorne, Seth Hoffman

Directors

Advertisement

Kevin Dowling, Loren Yaconelli

Writers

Brenna Kouf

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement