Walking Dead: Dead City's Lauren Cohan Explains Why Season 2 Needed To Be 8 Episodes

The Walking Dead: Dead City's Maggie actor Lauren Cohan explains why season 2 needs eight episodes to tell her character's story. The Walking Dead spin-off show follows Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie's journey as they travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan following the main show's finale. With The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2’s trailer being revealed at New York Comic Con, the wait for the next chapter in their adventure is gradually coming to an end.

In an interview with Screen Rant at NYCC, The Walking Dead universe Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple hyped Cohan's part in making Dead City season 2 even bigger than the first, having two more episodes than season 1, which only consisted of six. Cohan revealed that she "fought really hard" for the second season to have eight episodes. Check out what they said below:

Gimple: I'm going to look at Lauren at that. Lauren was a big part of that. She just was. I mean, Lauren said the story demanded it.

Cohan: Lauren said the story demanded it, or that the story would really benefit. Yeah. It's very, very difficult, as Scott can attest to, and there's a lot of people who make shows, can attest to, it is really, really hard to get everything in place and get engines going to shoot a show, and then to only do six episodes. It feels like you're ending just as you're beginning. And we had a lot of story to bring and a lot more characters to introduce and a lot more stuff to develop between the existing characters this year, and so to have eight episodes to do that was really exciting. So yeah, I fought pretty hard for it.

What 8 Episodes Mean For The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2

Season 2 Tells A Bigger Story

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 1 only consists of six episodes, with each ranging from 40-something to a little bit over 50 minutes. NYCC has brought many updates about the upcoming season, which will introduce new cast members to Dead City while diving deeper into the setting and the existing characters. Cohan's comments suggest that season 2 would tell a much more complicated story than season 1, which resulted in the second season needing two more episodes.

Her comments also confirm that the network initially wanted to keep the existing six-episode format for The Walking Dead spin-off's season 2, which would tell a story that is small in scale. However, with the increase in episode count, it means that the story has taken its own form and is rapidly growing beyond original expectations. A common complaint surrounding TV shows these days is that shorter seasons hinder storytelling, and it sounds like Dead City might be able to avoid feeling rushed or cramped.

Our Take On The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2

It Has A Lot To Look Forward To

The show was AMC+'s biggest season premiere ever at the time of its debut, and it brought in similarly strong numbers on AMC's cable network. Dead City has shown promise as a new show. Even with six episodes, the Walking Dead spin-off is able to conjure old and new fans with its intense plot and fleshed-out world building. It seems that season 2 is taking the storytelling aspect more seriously as well as character development.

If Dead City season 1 set the stage for what the show could be, season 2 could bring in some real guns and help it evolve into a truly compelling program. The show has recently revealed its new villain, played by Sons of Anarchy star Kim Coates, who can lend the season even more energy and excitement. With the series' season 2 slated for premiere in spring 2025, there should be even more revealed about The Walking Dead: Dead City very soon.