The Walking Dead: Dead City is bringing back Beth Greene in a way fans probably never expected. Emily Kinney is returning as the fan-favorite character in Season 3. Beth died in Season 5 of The Walking Dead, but she will appear in an alternate reality in which the zombie apocalypse never happened. The episode marks the franchise’s first alternate-reality storyline and will air this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
Beth’s return doesn’t undo her original death. Instead, Dead City is using an MCU-style twist to show fans a different version of a beloved character. The episode brings Beth and her older sister Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) together again in a peaceful New York City, which would have been impossible in the original timeline.
Entertainment Weekly’s first look at the episode shows Kinney and Cohan filming together at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. The reunion is a big moment for fans, as Kinney has not played Beth since her Season 5 death. “I never would’ve imagined that I was coming back at all,” Kinney said when she announced her return with Cohan.
The alternate reality also lets Beth follow her passion for music. Beth performs in the episode, including Kinney’s own song “Reasons to Stay Alive.” The actress also recently released “Hold On,” a song she originally performed as Beth in Season 3.
Why returning to The Walking Dead felt so natural for Emily Kinney
Kinney may have felt strange about her return after more than a decade away from the role. Instead, the actress found the experience surprisingly familiar. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Kinney said, “Yeah, it just felt really natural.” She said the familiar faces made her feel like she still belonged, adding, “My experience with Walking Dead is maybe just stuck with me, and so then coming back to it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I fit in here.’”
Her reunion with Cohan was perhaps the biggest reason the return worked so well. The two actresses quickly got back into their roles as Beth and Maggie. She described their relationship as sisters and said, “Our scenes always feel really like she’s such a good listener and just such a good scene partner.”
For Kinney, the episode lets her show what Beth’s life could have been like without the apocalypse. “I’m really proud of Beth,” she said. In this version of events, Beth gets to leave the farm and follow her dreams as a musician.
