The second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City is a hit with audiences after it jumped straight into the trending chart.

The series, a spin-off and sequel to The Walking Dead, sees Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprise their respective roles of Maggie and Negan, with the action following the pair as they navigate zombie-infested New York City.

Created by Eli Jorné, the series returned to the small screen in the UK on Thursday (10 July) with its eight-part second season, and it has proved to be a success with viewers after it shot to the #2 position on streaming service NOW.

Despite its success with audiences, its reception from critics has been more mixed, with the season currently having an approval rating of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes from eight reviews. This is markedly lower than its predecessor, which attained a score of 80% from 57 reviews.

“The Walking Dead: Dead City goes weirder in season two, with more eccentric groups, all the while continuing its introspective look at Maggie and Negan,” wrote ScreenRant, while CBR dubbed it “compellingly unhinged”.

the walking dead dead city season 2 official trailer

Sky

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“Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan make the writer’s job easy as they consistently deliver within Negan and Maggie, making season two well worthy of a watch,” wrote FandomWire, while Total Film said there was “plenty to enjoy”.

Collider was less positive, however, remarking that there “wasn’t much story left to tell”. Decider echoed this sentiment, who wrote that there was nothing “new to examine” in the long-running franchise.

maggie, negan, the walking dead dead city season 1

Sky

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The series is the fifth show in the franchise, with Fear the Walking Dead, World Beyond and Tales of the Walking Dead all following the flagship series. There have been further spin-offs since Dead City, with Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live coming in the last two years.

While the second season of Dead City is currently sitting at #2 in NOW’s streaming charts, the only series to outperform the post-apocalyptic show was The Rookie, a police procedural starring Nathan Fillion and Alyssa Diaz.

The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 is streaming on NOW.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.