| “ | My nonno's story? That shit was real. I didn't make that shit up. I was this close to getting out, but he followed me and... I gave up our hideouts to stay alive, to get back to Amaia. He said if I brought my people to him, he'd... He said he'd give me a boat. Left the tanks for me, like you said. He told me about this place on the mainland. He said they got homes with kitchens, rooms for your things, a farm, a school for your kids. That shit sounded safe because everything was made of brick. He said that's the kind of place we could get to. I -- I don't know. I didn't mean for it to go down the way it did. I thought at least they'd have a choice. I thought... I thought he'd... I should've... I should've known. But I had to try. For Amaia. For our... our... Like you said. Gotta do whatever it takes to make it safe.
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Tommaso is a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead: Dead City. He is the co-leader of the Manhattan Tribespeople alongside his partner Amaia.
Overview[]
At first glance, Tommaso appears to be a hot-headed tough survivor who clashes often with Amaia and Esther. Tommaso is shown to be greatly annoyed by Esther bringing home more people for their tribe and he is quick to jump to violence.
However, underneath his tough exterior is a man who cares very deeply about his people, calling them his family. Esther's murder reduces Tommaso to tears as he takes it upon himself to prevent Esther from reanimating and, once the group is in safe place, he openly cries about the losses that he's suffered, dropping his tough exterior completely.
After dropping his tough exterior, Tommaso proves to be a kind, thoughtful and friendly man who is not afraid of admitting his fear of returning to Madison Square Garden. After learning about the defeat of the Saviors, Tommaso is inspired to overcome his fear and help Maggie and Negan using his knowledge of a way into the Croat's base to help their mission. Privately, Tommaso opens up to Maggie about his desire to become a father and his fears about bringing a child into the current world, seeking her advice as a parent.
It's later revealed that Tommaso had betrayed his people in exchange for safe passage off of the island by the Croat, hoping to take Amaia to the Bricks. However, Tommaso had never intended to get all of his people killed as he had believed that the Croat would give them a choice rather than just killing everyone. Tommaso revealed that he had lost faith in the idea of retaking Manhattan and was taking the chance for a safe home for his family. Tommaso expressed regret for his actions and with his last words, apologized to Amaia, blaming himself and his actions for getting them both killed. Despite initially being furious at Tommaso's actions, Maggie became sympathetic after learning the whole story and was saddened by his death.
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Manhattan, New York[]
Nothing is known about Tommaso's life prior to or as the outbreak began except that he grew up in Manhattan and his grandfather told Tommaso stories growing up about his work on rebuilding Penn Station.
Post-Apocalypse[]
When the outbreak begins, Tommaso is just a kid living in Manhattan. After the U.S. Military destroys all of the bridges and tunnels out of the city, Tommaso and his girlfriend Amaia form the Manhattan Tribespeople out of the survivors until the Croat shows up and begins offering people protection and creature comforts in exchange for them joining the Burazi. On multiple occasions, the Croat tries to entice Tommaso into giving up information on his people with food and medicine, but Tommaso refuses, knowing that he'll just be killed afterwards. Tommaso is eventually captured and tortured by the Burazi. However, when a walker gets into his cell while the Burazi are cleaning it, Tommaso manages to flee and uses his knowledge of the New York City Subway System from his grandfather to escape the Burazi.
Season 1[]
"Who's There?"[]
Esther leads Maggie and Negan down some stairs where Amaia and Tommaso aim modified nail guns at them, while Esther tries to defuse the situation. Negan immediately disarms himself followed by Maggie reluctantly while Amaia and Tommaso argue about how the old woman keeps bringing back people for them to take in. "I am guessing they are not with the Croat," comments Maggie which Negan sarcastically agrees with. Negan interrupts the argument, acknowledging that they don't know each other and they might not be friendly, but he doubts that Esther has brought them all of this way to get killed.
Tommaso claims that there's thousands of them and they own this city, but Amaia asks what they're after, pointing out that it's pretty obvious that Maggie and Negan aren't from around here. Maggie claims that they were heading up north to a settlement in Canada when their boat washed them ashore in Manhattan during a storm and they're just here to get supplies and get on their way again. However, Amaia doesn't believe Maggie's story and Esther argues with her as Tommaso disarms the two. Tommaso leads Maggie and Negan through the Manhattan Tribespeople's hideout, has Luther search through Maggie's bag and, much to Negan's annoyance, locks them in an old bathroom.
At the hideout, Maggie and Negan hear a lot of panicked shouting and Tommaso grabs them, accusing the two of being responsible. Amaia's people are frantically packing up because the Burazi are coming, and Tommaso believes that Maggie and Negan led them to the hideout, wanting to kill them for it. Negan tries to calm the situation down, telling Amaia that they aren't with the Burazi and arguing Tommaso before holding a sharpened pigeon bone to his throat, threatening to kill Tommaso with it before releasing him and reiterating that he and Maggie are here to help them. As vehicles pull up outside, Amaia returns Maggie and Negan's belongings and weapons. Maggie suggests that they should wait if this is the Croat's people, but Negan knows that it's a bad idea if the Burazi have the jump on them.
Several Burazi, armed with makeshift metal spears, enter the hideout and Maggie and Negan quickly hide. A Buraz comes close to finding them, but he heads off after another survivor that runs past instead. Climbing the stairs, the two find one of Amaia's people dead, a Burazi spear through her chest and Amaia's people fighting a few more, the bodies of another of their people and a dead Buraz lying on the ground. Amaia uses her nail gun, which fires a grappling line, to yank out a piece of a Buraz's chest, severely wounding him, while Luther snaps the neck of another Buraz. Stopping Amaia, Maggie finishes off the wounded Buraz herself with a vicious stomp to his neck.
On the roof, the surviving group members prepare to make their escape, but one Buraz takes Esther hostage. As Negan tries to talk the man down, he keeps muttering "doma smo," before suddenly stabbing Esther in the chest, killing her to everyone's horror, before Negan finally subdues the man by slamming him headfirst into a beam. Cradling Esther's body, Tommaso - who up until this point has seemed to only be a hot-headed angry survivor - breaks down crying, before stabbing Esther in the head in order to keep her from reanimating. Negan instructs everyone else to make their escape across the ziplines while he deals with the captured Buraz. However, Maggie follows Negan back inside.
In another building, Negan removes the glass from his hand while Amaia and her people mourn their losses, a devastated Tommaso in particular. Amaia and Tommaso thank Maggie and Negan for their help and Tommaso admits that he was lying about there being thousands of them out there. His voice breaking, Tommaso reveals that "those people we lost... that's it. That's our family. We've been going that way a long time." Amaia states that they'd return the favor, but there's no supplies here for Maggie and Negan's trip to Canada: whatever's left has already been taken by somebody else. Tommaso's sure that it doesn't matter and that their boat has already been sunk and you get on the island, but you don't get off because the Burazi and their psycho leader make sure of that. With a look at Negan, Maggie finally admits the truth, that they're in Manhattan because the Croat has her son. "So you wanna get to the psycho? That we can help you with. You know, if you're looking to die." reveals Amaia.
"People Are a Resource"[]
Crouching behind a car with Maggie and Negan, Amaia bangs two sets of antlers together, trying to draw in a nearby deer. As the deer approaches, Tommaso kills it with his modified nail gun.
In a store, Negan bangs on a bell, but it doesn't draw in any walkers. Negan notices Luther applying beeswax to himself, but he refuses to let Negan have any and works on stripping the deer of useable meat. Amaia goes over a map of the city with Maggie and Tommaso with the two tribespeople revealing that most of the streets are too dangerous due to walkers and the Croat's traps. Negan asks how long they've been at this, and Amaia explains that they're native New Yorkers, just kids when the Trials began. "The first few weeks were the... the worst. I mean, it spread so fast. Through the subways, the buildings. Bodies coming up from the ground, falling from the sky. We kept waiting for the Army to show up. Shit, anybody. And when they finally got here, we were dumb enough to think that they'd come to save us. And we watched them blow up the bridges, the tunnels, leaving us in this death trap."
Tommaso adds that they were getting it together little by little until the Croat showed up, asking people to join him, offering protection and creature comforts. The Croat wants to keep them "safe" in his paranoid kill or be killed version of it with Maggie and Negan exchanging looks as they recognize this as a twisted version of what Negan and the Saviors did. However, the tribe were never going to agree to that deal, so the Croat now kills them, steals from them and kidnaps and tortures them so that he can learn how to kill and steal some more. Only one of the tribespeople ever got out alive, but that was just luck. A disturbed Maggie goes to check the alley, and Negan reassures an apologetic Amaia that Maggie's tougher than she looks, "and she looks tough as shit." Maggie takes a moment to collect herself privately before heading outside.
From a window overlooking Madison Square Garden which is surrounded by a massive herd, Tommaso informs Maggie and Negan that, "if you wanna get to the Croat, you just gotta get through that. He's been bringing fleshies in from all over the city." A vehicle drives by playing music and drawing more walkers behind it towards the arena, the same thing that Maggie, Negan and Jano had encountered on their first night in Manhattan. Luther says that there's no way inside of the arena and Amaia shoots down Maggie's idea of the sewers as the Army had shoved in all of the walkers that they killed until they got killed themselves and turned into walkers at which point the sewers were sealed up nice and tight.
Negan recalls that one of the tribespeople had broken out of "Alcatraz," meaning that there's a way back in. Tommaso is revealed to be the one who had managed to escape and Amaia suggests that they show Maggie and Negan, but Luther refuses the idea as it has already been refused. Amaia brings up their recent losses, but Tommaso backs Luther up as there's even less of them than when they had first voted on it and Tommaso's not sure that he can go back there again. "I am, um, getting an old feeling of deja vu. 12, 15 years ago there was a... a fella down south. Showed up outta nowhere, a lot like this guy. Everybody flocked to him because he knew what they needed, what they wanted. Protection. Sanctuary. So, he built a badass fortress. Formed an army out of psychopaths. And he forced people to join. And if they didn't, the hammer came down. Now, soon enough, the people they got fed up with him. So, they got together. And they decided it was time to take that hammer back." Amaia and Tommaso listen with interest, as does Maggie who recognizes the story as that of Negan himself, the Saviors, and his defeat by Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom and Oceanside. Tommaso asks what happened and Maggie and Negan reveal that the revolt worked. After a moment, Tommaso agrees to talk to the others, much to Amaia's delight and Luther's displeasure. As the group watches, three vehicles, including a blood-splattered ambulance, drive into the arena.
In the tribe's new base at an abandoned restaurant, Tommaso draws a map and explains that sometimes the door to the arena would open and the Croat would offer him food or medicine in exchange for telling him about the tribe, specifically how many of them were left and where they were hiding. Tommaso knew that the second he talked, he'd be killed so while the door kept opening, "let's just say there was no more food or medicine," and Negan notices scars on Tommaso's back. When Tommaso was a kid, his grandfather talked about working on the crew that rebuilt Penn Station and that while people assumed that the old station was gone, Tommaso's grandfather knew the spots where they had left the framework hiding behind the walls. One night, when the Burazi cleaned out Tommaso's cell of all of the blood they spilt in there, a walker got in. Tommaso ran as fast as he could, found the framework and followed the New York City Subway System out.
However, while the cells are close, Negan knows that after Tommaso's escape, the Croat would've moved his prisoners as it's what Negan would've done. Maggie admits that Negan and the Croat know each other and they go way back, and Negan knows how the Croat thinks. While they were friends, Negan took a shot at him and blew the Croat's ear off. "He can bait him. Lure him out of the arena. Then we get him to tell me where my son is, and we kill him," declares Maggie. Amaia agrees that the rest of them will get a jump on the Burazi so that the Croat can't follow Maggie, but Luther questions how Negan is going to bait the Croat after blowing his ear off. Negan points out that the Croat will likely want revenge on him for doing it and Maggie insists that it will work, but Luther is doubtful, going so far as to harshly tell Maggie that her son is already dead and he thinks that she knows that. Negan interrupts the argument and a distressed Maggie walks away.
At the restaurant, Tommaso approaches Maggie and admits that he's scared. Tommaso doesn't know how Maggie manages to keep it together, especially with a kid. "Amaia, she says having a kid in the city wouldn't be safe. I don't know, I just... yeah, she's probably right, you know?" Maggie admits that Amaia's right that it isn't safe, but you have to make it safe somehow and you do whatever it takes. Amaia brings in the scavenger who Tommaso happily greets. As the woman pulls out her finds, Maggie is shocked to spot Ginny's dinosaur toy amongst them, only telling the woman that she knows a little girl who likes those kinds of toys, and the woman gives it to Maggie.
"Everybody Wins a Prize"[]
In the present, Negan is visibly distracted by his memories of the Croat and exchanges a look with Maggie as they prepare for the upcoming attack. Amaia arrives with the news that she has looked everywhere, but she can't find Luther. Tommaso asks if Luther just took off with Rizza noting that she had passed him on her way in the night before. Amaia asks if there was anyone outside the night before who might've seen Luther leave, but Maggie remains silent and two other tribespeople are surprised by the fact that Luther is still missing and ask where he would go. Amaia tells them that she's not saying that Luther went anywhere, she's just trying to figure out what had happened to him. Negan finds it hard to believe that someone like Luther would just be hiding somewhere and reminds her that Luther wasn't very keen on their plan which Tommaso agrees with. Tommaso asks how long they're going to wait as every hour gives the Croat more time to figure out what they're up to, reassuring his girlfriend that Luther can handle himself and, when he gets back and sees what they've accomplished, Luther will be apologizing to Amaia for his doubts. Relieved, Amaia shares a kiss with Tommaso.
After a small herd passes by a subway entrance, Maggie, Negan and the tribespeople emerge from a nearby doorway. A disgusted Maggie notices something bubbling up out of a nearby sewer grate and Tommaso explains that it's methane from the sewers. The group enters the subway with Ginny, watching unnoticed from a nearby storefront, following them inside.
Passing through a subway tunnel, the group finds it filled with corpses, some of which are walkers so decomposed that they can't even move anymore and their ribcages are visible. The group carefully picks their way through the corpses, arriving at Penn Station. Exploring the station, Maggie finds one of the Croat's cells with streaks of blood on the floor outside and a teenager resembling Hershel tied to a chair, his throat slit. Lifting the teenager's head, Negan discovers him to be a walker, but he isn't Hershel, much to Maggie's relief. Negan stabs the boy in the head, putting him down, and he and Maggie leave the room.
In the hallway, Amaia outlines their plan for the tribe to wait for a bit so that they aren't discovered while Maggie steals a car and Negan lures the Croat down to the garage so that they can lead the Croat halfway across the city and get him alone. Once they do that, the tribespeople will start killing the Burazi. "You get your kid. We kill the psycho. Everybody wins a prize," concludes Amaia. Tommaso wonders how they'll know if things go sideways for Maggie and Negan and Negan admits that they won't. Amaia orders the two not to screw it up, and the tribespeople leave.
Maggie finally catches up to Ginny in the main area of the arena where Amaia informs her that the Burazi aren't here.
The timer reaches 0 and all of the arena's entertainment systems turn on, broadcasting music through the main area. The fuse burns to the end in what's revealed to be a barrel fuel set in one of the arena's doorways. Explosions rock the outside of the arena as the doors are blown open, letting in the herd. Drawn by the music, walkers flood the main area of the arena from all directions, trapping the tribespeople. The strobe lights turn on as the tribespeople get cornered by the massive herd against the ring.
In the main area, Maggie and the tribespeople desperately fight the herd but, severely outnumbered, they are quickly overwhelmed, and the tribespeople fall to the walkers one by one. Much to Maggie and Amaia's horror, Tommaso eventually gets grabbed by a group of walkers and carried away to his apparent death.
Maggie's group uses their makeshift shields to force their way through the herd towards the exit that Maggie had spotted earlier, but Rizza gets grabbed and devoured by walkers on the way with the others being forced to press on, unable to help her. Amaia nearly suffers the same fate, but she is unexpectedly saved by Tommaso who had somehow managed to fight off the walkers and escape. With too many walkers between them and the no longer clear exit, Tommaso instead leads everyone into the tunnels beneath the arena where they eventually find an unlocked door, but they find themselves caught in a dead end with no other way out of the room as walkers start to bang on the door.
In the basement room, Maggie, Amaia and Tommaso manage to use an old boiler to block the door. Maggie notices a sign warning of a sewer pipeline and she realizes that they can get out through the sewers. As the walkers try to break through the barricaded door, Maggie and Tommaso move some barrels that are in the way, but Amaia objects that it's too dangerous as all of the dead are down there and they can't breathe in the air. Tommaso points out that they don't have any other choice, and Amaia reluctantly concedes.
Tommaso, Amaia, Ginny and Maggie descend into the sewer system with Maggie moving the barrel back into place before she follows after the others.
"Stories We Tell Ourselves"[]
Maggie, Amaia, Tommaso and Ginny prepare to make their way through the corpse-filled sewers. Tommaso notes that these particular corpses are recent, fresh deposits to the Croat's methane bank, effectively hot-boxing dead people for fuel. Maggie notices that Negan's missing from the group, but neither Amaia or Tommaso have seen him. Amaia asks about Ginny, but Maggie just tells her that Ginny's with her. As Maggie goes through her bag, Ginny spots her dinosaur toy inside which Maggie had chosen not to burn after all with Maggie noticing Ginny's attention on her bag. Maggie simply tells the others that Ginny doesn't talk much or follow orders, and Maggie doesn't have the extra flashlight that she thought that she had. Amaia goes to retrieve one from Tommaso's pack, but he quickly gets it himself instead.
Amaia blames herself for the disastrous attack that had killed their entire tribe despite Tommaso's attempts to dissuade her, pointing out that the Burazi knew that they were coming. Tommaso gets her to focus on getting out of the sewers, warning the others that they need to start running when they feel the effects of the methane kicking in. As they begin moving through the sewers, one of the bodies begins moving, revealing that some of the corpses are actually walkers.
Maggie's group experiences breathing difficulties from the methane in the air and Amaia and Tommaso go to investigate a strange pile of corpses covered in a white substance. A disgusted Tommaso thinks that it's fat while Ginny tries to climb a ladder out. However, Maggie tells the young girl that the manholes are sealed shut. Guessing that she's trying to go after Negan, Maggie furiously reminds Ginny that Negan had wanted her to stay at the Bricks, stating that they were so close, and that Ginny doesn't even know Negan. Maggie points out that Negan isn't wanted for some minor crime, and Ginny doesn't know the monster that Maggie knows, but she will if Ginny sticks around long enough.
Amaia guesses that they're in either Hell's Kitchen or Chelsea. Stopping behind a large tank, Tommaso produces two oxygen tanks with masks on them that Tommaso claims must be extras for the Burazi. Although Tommaso calls it crazy lucky and Amaia gives one to Ginny while the adults will share the other, Maggie becomes suspicious, studies the room and refuses use of the oxygen tank. Donning an oxygen tank, Amaia still can't figure out how the Burazi knew that they were coming, and Tommaso suggests that Luther had tipped them off since he had left the tribe and didn't want to go through with the plan, but Amaia is doubtful while Maggie knows that it can't have been Luther since Negan had secretly killed him.
"It was him," Maggie realizes, accusing Tommaso. "You knew exactly how to get out last night. You knew to go to the sewers. You even knew how to get inside with that bullshit nonno story." Tommaso denies this, stating that it was how he got out the first time while he was being tortured. Despite his denials, Maggie deduces that Tommaso had cut a deal with the Croat and gave him the location of the tribe's hideouts so that the Croat could raid them and gave the Croat a signal so that the Burazi knew that they were coming. Having noticed Tommaso take his pack off before he had "found" the oxygen tanks, Maggie challenges him to tell the truth to a horrified Amaia: Tommaso had the tanks in his pack the whole time and taking them likely was the signal to the Croat that they were coming. Maggie accuses Tommaso of being a liar that only cares about himself, and Tommaso finally admits the truth, telling the heartbroken and furious Amaia that taking back their home was a fantasy and it's been gone for a long time. Tommaso insists that his betrayal was the only way and that he did it for Amaia who storms off, followed by Ginny, leaving Maggie looking somewhat regretful.
Finding the tunnel blocked with corpses, Tommaso begins moving them out of the way while the others take a break. Maggie tells the devastated Amaia that she doesn't know what she's planning or about Tommaso, but Amaia is free to go to the Bricks where she'll be safe and all Amaia has to do is give them Maggie's name and Ginny knows the way. As Maggie goes to help Tommaso move the corpses, she collapses, disorientated from her methane exposure, and experiences a flashback of Negan killing Glenn and Hershel yelling to her for help as he's kidnapped by the Burazi. Maggie rejects Tommaso's offer of oxygen, and the group takes a break, not noticing that one of the corpses behind Ginny is beginning to move.
Sitting with Maggie, Tommaso explains that "you don't know what it's been like for us. You can't put down roots when all you're doing is running for your life. My nonno's story? That shit was real. I didn't make that shit up. I was this close to getting out, but he followed me and... I gave up our hideouts to stay alive, to get back to Amaia. He said if I brought my people to him, he'd... He said he'd give me a boat. Left the tanks for me, like you said. He told me about this place on the mainland. He said they got homes with kitchens, rooms for your things, a farm, a school for your kids. That shit sounded safe because everything was made of brick. He said that's the kind of place we could get to." A now sympathetic Maggie realizes that the Croat had told Tommaso about the Bricks and Tommaso adds that "I -- I don't know. I didn't mean for it to go down the way it did. I thought at least they'd have a choice. I thought... I thought he'd... I should've... I should've known. But I had to try. For Amaia. For our... our... Like you said. Gotta do whatever it takes to make it safe."
Walkers rise from amongst the corpses and attack Amaia and Ginny. As Maggie and Tommaso rush to their rescue, one grabs Tommaso's leg and trips him and several walkers attack the man while Maggie puts down the walkers attacking Amaia and Ginny and a few of the ones attacking Tommaso who manages to finish off his other attackers with blows from the oxygen tank. However, while Maggie and Ginny are left unharmed, Amaia has been disemboweled by the walkers and Tommaso has been fatally bitten in the side of his neck, leaving him quickly bleeding out from his jugular vein. Maggie tries to comfort the dying man who apologizes to Amaia as it was all his fault. Tommaso dies and Maggie sadly stabs him in the head in order to keep Tommaso from reanimating. His body is left in the sewers.
Death[]
- Killed By
- Zombies (Alive)
While trying to rush to his girlfriend's aid in the sewers, Tommaso is attacked by several walkers. Despite Maggie's best efforts, Tommaso is bitten in the side of his neck which rips open his jugular vein and he quickly bleeds to death.
- Maggie Rhee (Before Reanimation)
After Tommaso dies, Maggie sadly stabs him in the head in order to keep Tommaso from reanimating.
Killed Victims[]
This list shows the victims Tommaso has killed:
- Esther (Caused; Before Reanimation)
- Tribeswoman (Caused)
- Tribesman (Caused)
- Rizza (Caused)
- At least 1 unnamed Burazi (Alongside his fellow tribespeople)
- At least 8 unnamed tribespeople (Caused)
- 1 deer
- Numerous counts of zombies and possibly unnamed people
Relationships[]
Allies[] |
Enemies[] |
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Tommaso is the last named character to die in Season 1.
Dead City Characters
| |
|---|---|
| The Bricks | Maggie • Hershel • Nina • Mr. Aizawa • Wesley |
| New Babylon Federation | Negan • Ginny • Perlie • Prefect • Jano • Jones • Gritz |
| Manhattan Tribespeople | Tommaso • Amaia • Rizza • Luther • Esther |
| The Burazi | Croat • Benjamin |
| Manhattan | Dama • Roksana • Joel |
| Bruegel's Gang | Bruegel |
| Miscellaneous Survivors | Lucia • Christos • Simon • Glenn • Beth • Hershel • Patricia • Annette • Shawn • Otis • Josephine |
| Alive characters appear in green. Dead characters appear in red and italics. Unknown characters appear in blue. Undead characters appear in gray and italics. | |