by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
“If Daryl dies, we riot.” This was a common phrase among fans of The Walking Dead at the height of its popularity. No character was safe, whether the story called for them to die, or the performer needed to be written off due to being on another show. Only two people from the original season survived until the end: Daryl (Norman Reedus) Carol (Melissa McBride).
Daryl falls under the “if he dies, we riot” category. He’s been a fan favorite for a long time, and showed a tremendous amount of growth and development throughout the entire run of the original series. What started out as an ignorant person under the terrible influence of his brother eventually became a leader who cared so much more about others than himself. So now Daryl finds himself in Paris somehow, put in a boat and set adrift in the latest spinoff of The Walking Dead.
Reedus continues to do amazing work with this character. Out of all the performers who appeared on The Walking Dead, he has seen the most extraordinary growth as a performer. Above everything else, Daryl is a survivor, and he connects with people extremely well. Everything he does is this is great, and AMC was very smart to give Reedus his show.
Daryl Dixon’s greatest asset is moving from the United States to Paris. If this is a path The Walking Dead continues to take — showing how other places around the world handle the zombie apocalypse — I will gladly keep watching. It’s amazing to see not only how other places handle the advent of the walkers, but also how they adjust to life with them. There are moments during Daryl Dixon that are borderline laughable with how some people have adjusted. That doesn’t change seeing the stark difference between how the U.S. has handled it (cynically and constantly on-guard) versus how France handled it (finding joy in life).
There are two new characters in this that I’m very intrigued about moving forward. The first is Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), a French nun who has had a tough life since the zombie apocalypse started. Previously, she was a happy-go-lucky party girl who didn’t have much in the name of responsibility. Once Daryl appears in France, though, they form a connection, and Daryl feels protective of her. Reedus and Poesy are amazing together. Given how the season ends, I’m curious to see what her path is moving forward.
Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) is the other character. He appears to be a young boy just trying to survive. A religious group though thinks that Laurent is a Messiah-like savior who will bring the world back into order. As a character, Laurent is fascinating to explore. Growing up in this post-apocalyptic life, he’s much more of a pacifist than other kids who have grown up since the walkers arrived. Meeting Daryl completely changes his outlook, since he doesn’t have a father to look up to. Scigliuzzi does a great job selling the relationship he forges with Daryl, as well as how much Laurent grows as a person because of their interactions. I like his addition to the world, and he presents a new aspect that hasn’t been explored yet: Who can lead people out of this chaos?
Most of the new characters have a connection to one another, even the main villains. Pouvoir Des Vivants, a military group of great significance in Paris, is led by Marion (Anne Charrier). She’s cold and calculating as a leader, and has a massive amount of influence in her group. Also, she’s afraid of losing her power. When Daryl washes ashore, she, along with the entire military group, sees him as a threat since he’s an outsider. To combat him, Guerriers are dispatched to maintain order. One of those Guerriers is Stéphane (Romain Levi), who go toe-to-toe with Daryl a few times during the season. Neither Marion nor Stéphane are all that memorable as characters, but the close-knit nature of Paris means everyone knows one another, having encountered them over the years numerous times.
The Walking Dead spinoffs continue to play around with different types of zombies. In France, a few people are experimenting on them to learn about variants. They also explore various ways to arm walkers so they can be used as weapons against other groups. Daryl Dixon also takes advantage of the setting in France by utilizing action scenes around historical landmarks in Paris, which keeps the action fresh and exciting. This helps provide a new shade for the action, upping the stakes, and nullifying the idea that this is the same old stuff we’ve seen in countless other Walking Dead shows.
A small part of me thinks we’re starting to hurdle towards the endgame for The Walking Dead after they introduce us to Laurent and show how Paris is trying to get back to normal. If that’s the case, and if The Walking Dead continues with these spinoffs this way, putting existing characters in new locations and exploring the world as a whole in the face of the zombie apocalypse, they may just reel me back in to watch more of the shows. I lost steam with The Walking Dead a while ago due to the violence, and with it being too hard to latch on to a character because they usually died. But Daryl Dixon is hopefully an important step in the right direction, assuring that Daryl will continue to thrive as a character in this universe for years to come. Not bad for a character that isn’t even in the source material.
Rating: Liked It
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is currently streaming on AMC+
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd