Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3, Episode 6.The Walking Dead: Dead City just delivered its most unique episode in its much-talked-about alternate reality story. Dead City Season 3, Episode 6, titled “Genesis,” explores a future where the apocalypse never happened. While the focus is on how Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) could have met under very different circumstances — and it has an awkward rom-com vibe (thankfully, no actual romance between these two!) — it also brings back a beloved character in Beth (Emily Kinney).
That has me thinking about what other Walking Dead characters could return in similar scenarios. It doesn’t need to be in another alternate-reality episode, but there are similar ways to bring back old fan favorites from the original series. There’s room to make that happen, whether it’s during the remainder of this outing or if The Walking Dead: Dead City is renewed for Season 4. And there’s one character comeback at the top of the wishlist, both because of the way the narrative is going and because fans deserve better closure: Glenn (Steven Yeun).
‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’s Alternate-History Episode Reimagines Beth’s Fate
The premise of “Genesis” plays off of a comment Negan makes to Maggie during a heartfelt conversation. He says that, in another lifetime, they might have actually become friends. We see that “what if” scenario play out in this episode, which takes us back to a pre-apocalypse New York. The story weaves Beth into the plot because, in this reality, she was never shot in the head by a female officer with a superiority complex. And while she’s very much the same person, she’s grown in more ways than expected.
The episode makes a bold play to win back lost viewers, and it doesn’t just center on Maggie and Negan having a meet-cute and lovely day together in New York. It suggests that, even if this was the way things had happened, both still would end up having a tough time shedding who they really are. By contrast, Beth follows her dreams, takes a huge leap of faith, and changes her life in a way no one thought she would.
The story leans into Maggie being the responsible one, as she has come to New York for meetings and to visit her sister and discuss their father Hershel’s (Scott Wilson) farm. Ironically, Beth, who was portrayed as the timid, risk-averse sister, tries to convince her older sibling to sell the farm and move on with her life. She’s still flighty, but in a way, also more mature and adventurous. She’s a dreamer who has found a fulfilling life, whereas Maggie appears to be stuck in a rut of loyalty to the farm and to her father, which she refuses to break.
When Luis (Raúl Castillo) walks by while Beth and Maggie chat in the lobby of her building, Beth points out that he’s her handsome neighbor, a doctor. But Maggie doesn’t even give him a second glance. It’s a hint at what could have been had Maggie heeded her sister’s advice, sold the farm, and moved to New York to start anew. In the end, despite Maggie considering this, she goes back home after her loan is approved. “It’s not like the world is ending tomorrow,” she tells Beth. There’s still time. If only she knew.
Meanwhile, despite Maggie’s best efforts to help Negan, they fall on deaf ears. He has a tough time moving on from the justified anger he has against a man who sexually abused one of his former students. Trying to get payback sent Negan to jail once. Maggie hopes her wise words will convince him to move on, but a leopard won’t change its spots. The episode had the chance to rewrite Morgan’s favorite one, but Negan is last seen encountering the man in question, and it’s presumed that he shoots him dead.
Beth may not have been integral to the story as it pertains to these two characters, but her presence is a reminder that everyone has the chance to become someone different or stay the same. Seeing an alternate version of Beth in this episode opens a huge door for similar appearances, revealing how other dead characters can still have a presence in the overall franchise.
How Glenn Could Now Come Back in ‘The Walking Dead’ Franchise
The most exciting element of this episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3, beyond offering a reprieve from the tense situation presented in Episode 5, is the potential it presents. It demonstrates a logical way the spin-off could include one of the original show’s most beloved characters: Glenn.
In Season 3, there’s a hint of a romantic connection between Maggie and Luis. In Episode 4, “Found/Lost,” the pair travel together, looking for help from a resourceful woman. They bond and even attend a party at a welcoming community. All the suggestions of a mutual attraction are solidified when, while dancing, Maggie daydreams about kissing Luis. She quickly snaps out of it and is visibly shaken by the mere thought. But it’s evident Luis would have happily obliged.
What’s interesting about this potential new romance is that Luis has a similar moral code to Glenn. He wants to help people at all costs, having dedicated his life before the apocalypse to doing so. He and Maggie also share the same grief, with confirmation that Luis’s wife is likely dead and that he continues to mourn her. He also gets along well with Hershel (Logan Kim), which means Maggie’s son would probably approve. Now, it’s just a matter of Maggie getting out of her own way.
Seeing Maggie finally start to let her guard down by singing, dancing, and even laughing, is a good sign. But her love for Glenn is what’s holding her back. This presents a great opportunity for Glenn to return in the future as a daydream, just like the one Maggie had about Luis. Cohan has, after all, noted that she’s hoping to manifest a TWD reunion with old co-stars.
Perhaps, then, Glenn will show up in Maggie’s mind to tell her he approves and encourage her to move on. She has seen visions before, including when she first reunited with Negan in Dead City Season 1 and was haunted by memories of Glenn’s death through flashbacks. It’s the perfect way to bring Yeun’s character back into the fold, even if it’s just a quick cameo appearance.
As far as potential returning characters go, Glenn is the one with the closest ties to this show. Seeing him reunite with Maggie and Hershel, and maybe even come face-to-face with Negan, even if just as a ghost, would be a great way to finally close the door on that chapter. It would make die-hard fans happy as well, providing closure to anyone who felt The Walking Dead fell off after Glenn’s death.
Glenn’s ghost could tell Maggie he forgives Negan — it’s something Glenn would do, after all — and that he wants her to move on and be happy. It’s just the green light Maggie needs to move forward and bring a romantic storyline back into the fold. Just please, Dead City, don’t kill off Luis. Maggie has already been through enough.
