The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2, Episode 3 — Hershel's Encounter With Negan & Relationship With The Dama Explained By Logan Kim

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 3 gives us a window into Hershel's soul, and actor Logan Kim offered ScreenRant an even deeper exploration of his motivations in a recent interview. While Maggie and her son were reunited at the end of Dead City season 1, the first few episodes of season 2 revealed that they were not in the best place — and furthermore that Hershel was working with the Dama behind his mother's back. Now, thanks to the flashbacks in “Why Did the Mainlanders Cross the River?”, we finally know exactly why.

During Hershel's captivity, the Dama skillfully employed her manipulation tactics to give Hershel a form of Stockholm Syndrome, leading him to view her as a "motherly figure", according to Kim. Acting as if she only has his (and all of New York City's) best interests at hers, she managed to give Hershel what Maggie never could: her undivided attention. Maggie was so traumatized by Negan killing Glenn that her hatred for him often eclipses her love for her son, as evidenced by her focus shifting to that old enemy as soon as Hershel mentioned his name in episode 3.

ScreenRant interviewed Kim about Hershel's divided loyalties in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, and what Maggie needs to do to win her son back. The actor shared what was going through his character's mind during his encounter with Negan, and he shared how he would bring Steven Yeun back to The Walking Dead universe.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Will Further Explore Hershel’s Dynamic With Maggie & The Dama

“There’s Such A Big Shift There…”

While viewers (and Maggie) were not privy to Hershel’s ill intent until the end of season 2, episode 2, when the color of his handkerchief suggested collusion in the fire, Kim himself was aware of his character’s plans from the start. “Ever since I came back, I think she planted some ideas in my mind, and I already knew what I had to do,” he explained. “Hershel as a character has just been pondering this stuff for however long it's been, but he already wanted to put her plans into motion.”

Despite that reveal, Hershel has also been proactive in protecting his mother and Ginny. He has betrayed Maggie’s ideals, but he still wants her to be safe, which will naturally become more difficult as the Dama’s plans come closer to fruition. “That's the big conflict, right? Because he's got to choose somebody,” Kim pointed out. “His mom has been opening up more and listening to him more. At the same time, the Dama got in his head already, and so he is getting pulled one way or the other, and he doesn't even know how to deal with that, really.”

Episode 3 is when flashbacks to Hershel’s captivity begin to unravel how the Dama brainwashed him, and Kim was happy to further expand on what she represented to Hershel. “I think the Dama becomes a motherly figure to him. She's very gentle - and very manipulative, but he doesn't really see that. She really listens to him, and he starts trusting her. I do think there's definitely a motherly dynamic there.”

Can that quick but strong so-called motherly bond last in the face of Hershel’s evolving dynamic with his actual mother? “I think we've seen a little bit of this already, but Hershel's relationship with both the Dama and Maggie changes drastically this season,” Kim teased. “Whether they improve or decrease, I just think there's such a big shift there. It's really exciting, and that's something to look forward to, for sure.”

Logan Kim Breaks Down Hershel & Negan’s Encounter In Dead City Season 2, Episode 3

“He Has A Lot Of Malice Towards Negan Because He's In The Way Of Maggie”

Hershel goes through quite the ordeal when wandering the wheatfield alone, befriending a young member of a previously unknown group of survivors only to see her murdered in front of his eyes. The moment culminates in a face-off with Negan, who saves Hershel from his hunting partner only to find himself facing down the barrel of a gun once more. No words are exchanged and no bullet is fired (at least not into another human being), but it has a huge effect on Hershel nonetheless.

“I think Hershel sees Maggie's relationship with Negan as a very big issue because of his own relationship with his mother. The only person standing in the way of that, in Hershel's mind, is Negan,” Kim said, trying to explain why Hershel hates Negan despite not harboring the same feelings about Glenn’s death as his mother does. “He has a lot of malice and a lot of hate towards Negan because he's in the way of Maggie, and he just wants Maggie to be free of him. So, he wants to free Negan from life.”

It's a desire he can’t fulfill for now, seeing as he failed twice in a row to harm another human – whether it be in defense of Joan or in revenge for his mother. ”I think he's getting better,” Kim offered good-humoredly. “I mean, he doesn't have much experience out there killing walkers, really. And so I think as it goes, he'll be less hesitant, and he'll want to actually get things done as his emotions are heightened.”

While Hershel’s fighting skills may be progressing in a linear fashion, the connection between Negan and Maggie most certainly is not – and it is responsible for a large part of the estrangement between mother and son. “Talking from experience with my own mother, I don't necessarily like not being heard,” Kim expanded. “If I'm saying something that's not going through, I get a little frustrated. But for Hershel, it's a lot different because this is about the guy who killed his dad.”

“I think that what Hershel wants to see is his mother connecting with him more,” the actor added. “She does try; she's trying to listen to him, hear him, and respond to what he says. I think that it is very close to real life in how a mother and son interact, but maybe a little bit more bloody.” Hopefully, Maggie listens successfully enough to keep her son from siding with the Dama when push comes to shove.

How Hershel Changes After Dead City Season 2, Episode 3

Logan Kim Also Reveals Which The Walking Dead Character He Wants To Share Scenes With

Joan represented hope and extreme loss for Hershel in this week’s episode, but meeting her also exposed him to a whole new group of survivors. “I think he sees a different kind of culture that he is not aware of, and he sees it as beautiful in a way. It's very gentle, even though to some others it might look grotesque. I think he respects it a lot.” While her death “hurt him pretty bad,” it also prepared him. “He gets to see how brutal it is out there and what there is to expect.”

He seems to have more respect for this latest culture he encountered than he does for New Babylon, that’s for sure. “He's got a very big bias against them because of what he's been told by other people, so he already has his mindset set in stone of what he thinks about the New Babylonians,” Kim explained. “I don't think he'll ever really like them, but he might see a few individuals in that group where he might be like, ‘Okay, they're fine, I guess.’ But I don't think he'll ever warm up to them as a group."

Perhaps there will be space for the New Babylonians he does warm to in the New York City he hopes to create under the Dama’s supervision. When asked exactly what Hershel’s vision is for the great rebuilding, he answered, “I think he just wants a really outstanding place. His big artistic brain wants to see the glory of New York as it was and as it will be, but he doesn't really know what he has to do to get there. And so, he's just trusting the Dama to see the vision out, I think he just wants something cool.”

Last but not least, Kim revealed which original character from The Walking Dead he’d like to see Hershel interact with. Despite the other spin-offs and surviving characters available, he went for a rather unique response: “We could see maybe a flashback of Glenn, or maybe bring on the ghost of Glenn! Something like that would be cool.” Though he was concerned that “Hershel's never really seen him, so I don't know if he'd actually know what his dad looks like in that moment,” it’s fascinating to think of Hershel reframing his mother’s pain after envisioning his father.

Nevertheless, Kim’s not done with playing this character anytime soon. “I would be so happy to play Hershel forever. He's so fun to play. I really like playing somebody that I'm not like at all. It's a lot of fun to tap into somebody who's not super easy to connect with immediately. I had to discover that way of acting him out.”