The Walking Dead: Dead City Brings Back Beth — And Brings Maggie And Negan Closer Than Ever

What is a "Walking Dead" show without any, you know, walking dead? We found out this week when "The Walking Dead: Dead City" showed us an alternate reality where the zombie apocalypse never happened, Beth is alive and well... and Maggie and Negan might actually hit it off.

Sunday's episode starts out where we left off, with Negan having just killed Fabian as well as Dillard's walker pal Cockenspiel. He remembers telling Maggie, "I think we could've been friends in another life," and he hears Dillard whistling outside the front door and pulls his gun. But when the door opens, it's actually Beth — hi, Emily Kinney! — who glides through a sunny bar full of patrons. We're suddenly in a blissfully zombie-free world, and Beth heads to the park to meet her sister Maggie, who's in town for a visit. Beth wants her to stay overnight and see her play guitar at the bar, but Maggie insists she needs to fly back home to Georgia tonight. Their dad has died (R.I.P., Hershel), and Maggie is trying to find a way to not sell the family farm. Beth thinks selling might not be a bad thing, though: "I want you to live your own life, too."

We learn that Maggie is unhappily married to a guy named Danny, and he won't sign the divorce papers; he's harassing her with phone calls when she sits down at a diner. A man across the counter recognizes her Georgia accent and introduces himself: Yep, it's Negan.

This alt-reality Negan is pretty nosy, actually, peppering Maggie with questions about her husband while he wolfs down a huge breakfast. He was married once, too, but she died of cancer. (R.I.P., Lucille.) Maggie tells him she runs her family farm, and he laughs: "There is not a farmer in the history of the world that looks like you." (OK, flirt!) Negan offers to show her around the city, but she tells him she needs to head to the airport soon — but she does agree to stop and get some of those roasted chestnuts first. ("They smell better than they taste," Negan warns — and he's right.) It's Christmastime in the city, and that reminds Maggie of her late mom, who used to have a Statue of Liberty snow globe. Her flight is in six hours, but Negan says that's enough time to join him for lunch.

He takes her to a fancy restaurant, where they order steaks and Negan reviews her business plan to keep the farm running. It's good, he says, but "good, sadly, isn't good enough." She knows it's a sinking ship, and Negan encourages her to get off it before it sinks her, too. He also raises a glass to some men at another table, and soon, a staffer comes over to remind Negan his membership expired and he's not welcome here. Outside, Negan shows Maggie he's wearing an ankle bracelet after he assaulted a guy named Alan. (The men at the other table were friends of Alan's.) Maggie takes him to the batting cages to work off some of that anger — he's good with a bat! — and Negan tells her how he used to be a gym teacher and softball coach, and Alan started seeing one of the girls on his softball team and beating her up. When Negan learned that the girl died by suicide, he broke Alan's jaw — and went to prison for two years as a result. Maggie says she's never hit anyone, but Negan thinks she will... "when something means a lot to you."

As Maggie and Negan walk the streets of New York, he tells her she'd be a great mom, and he knows "because I'm a s**t dad." He has a son, but he never sees him, thinking "the kid's better off without me." Maggie starts to leave for the airport, but Negan tries to convince her to stay — and admits he intended to kill Alan today, showing her a gun. He gives her the gun to hold "for safety" — why isn't she running for her life at this point? — and she decides, "I've tried being good for so long. I think I want to try being happy." And in that spirit, she decides to blow off the flight to see Beth sing. Negan takes her to a Christmas market where she finds a Statue of Liberty snow globe... and also a tarot card reader who promises to foretell her future.

Maggie sits down, and the reader pulls The World card, declaring that Maggie has been to New York in another life. After a few more cards, Negan joins her, and the reader pulls the Wheel of Fortune, telling them they're "in the midst of some major karmic cycle." She examines their hands and finds evidence of "karmic bonds" between them: "You've had several lives together." Negan jokes that this all means they should do some "hanky-panky" — way to spoil the vibe, Negan — and they head to the bar to see Beth sing the Christmas classic "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," which she and Maggie used to sing as kids. But Negan's face falls when he spots Alan in the crowd.

Negan takes the gun out of Maggie's purse and follows Alan outside, shoving him into an alley and pointing the gun at his head, yelling at him to admit what he did. Maggie runs out to stop Negan, and he relents at first, but then Alan calls her a "little b***h" — and before Negan can shoot him, Maggie punches his lights out. After he runs off, Maggie and Negan share a laugh ("We had something to learn from one another"), and she heads back into the bar while he walks off to call his son.

Maggie and Beth walk home singing together, and Maggie tells her she's ready to sell the farm. They go home to Beth's apartment — and Luis lives in her building, too! But then Maggie gets a call from a loan officer approving her business plan, and she changes her mind: "Maybe what I want can wait a little longer. I mean, it's not like the world is ending tomorrow." (Oof, about that...) Meanwhile, Negan spots Alan on the street and cocks his gun... and we hear a gunshot.

Back in the zombie reality, Maggie's son Hershel runs in to tell her that Negan killed Fabian and sliced Dillard's face in half. Oh man... can't we just keep living in that alternate reality, please?

What'd you think of this very special "Walking Dead: Dead City" episode? Hit the comments to give us your take!