The Walking Dead: Dead City‘s sophomore round is off to an electrifying start. AMC’s spinoff of the zombie franchise has set up a new battle, taking place in Upper Manhattan, between New Babylon and the bloodthirsty gangs left fighting for room in the concrete jungle. What are they fighting for? The power to control the methane operation that’s strong enough to light up Radio City Musical Hall again.
On one side, there’s newly-promoted Colonel Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles), not-so-friendly new face Major Lucia Narvaez (Orange Is the New Black‘s Dascha Polanco), and a reluctant Maggie (Lauren Cohan). On the other side, there’s the Dama (Lisa Emery) and the also-reluctant Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who has been tasked by the former with uniting Manhattan’s gangs into an army to defeat New Babylon. At the top of the list of baddies Negan has to woo is Kim Coates‘ (Sons of Anarchy) brutal underworld leader, Bruegel. Thankfully, Bruegel is pretty dazzled by what he’s seen the methane do so far.
“When Bruegel walks out of that church [in the season premiere] and sees the Radio City Music Hall lights start popping on — that’s the power of methane,” explains Coates, while chatting in the TV Insider offices alongside costars Polanco and Charles. “When you’re dealing with these zombies everywhere, you’re pulling at strings for something to get power over them. … [Seeing those lights on is] a thrust, certainly for Bruegel, and it becomes a thrust for the Croat [Željko Ivanek], for sure, and the Dama.”
It’s also a motivational thrust for the New Babylon forces, who are currently trying to make their way back into Manhattan. “For Armstrong, the methane is really about the hope of bringing the world back,” says Charles, “Which I think is important for the story, because there has to be some sliver of hope that we can finally get back to where we were, get something closer to the old world, or else, why fight so hard for it and against each other?”
While Armstrong dreams up a better future, he’s also keeping a big secret in check. “Armstrong is [trying to] stay one step ahead of Narvaez and everybody else, because he told this huge lie — that he killed Negan — but all of the sudden we’re going back into New York,” says Charles.
Something tells us that Narvaez won’t be too happy about Armstrong’s deception if they cross paths with the bat-wielding ex-Saviors leader. But for the moment, Polanco says, her focus remains on the task at hand. “Methane is the currency,” says Polanco. “Either you try or you die trying. Along the way, those that will survive will and those that will not — she’s not scared to get rid of them.”
Check out the full video interview with Charles, Polanco and Coates above.
The Walking Dead: Dead City, Season 2, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
