Even after the series finale of The Walking Dead in 2022, the franchise pumps out more content with each passing year. AMC is aware of the cash cow it has on its hands and isn't likely to give up Robert Kirkman's dystopian franchise any time soon. The conclusion of The Walking Dead resulted in splitting up the main cast into series of their own. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) went to Dead City, while Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) got an eponymous series of his own.
But anyone watching The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon was waiting for the inevitable: The return of Carol (Melissa McBride). Carol and Daryl part ways in the final episode of The Walking Dead and when McBride couldn't commit to the European shoot, Daryl had to walk the beautiful ruins of France alone. Now Carol has returned in Season 2, it is time to see how these episodes measure up.
12 Season 2, Episode 6 Betrays the Promise of Daryl Dixon
The Season 2 finale of Daryl Dixon dares to ask: Fans tuned in for this? After Daryl and Carol's reunion, the finale of the Daryl Dixon Season 2 is anticlimactic. Laurent (Louis Puech Scigluizzi) finally gets away from the fanatical worshipers of France, but that is only the first half of the episode. The rest of the story systematically gets rid of every character fans have come to love over the first two seasons until Carol and Daryl are by themselves trying to find a way to England.
Some characters elect to stay behind, some run away, while others simply just die. This sends a message to the audience that none of the experiences Daryl had before this really matters now that Carol is back. And as emotional as it is to see the duo back together, this is not necessarily what the series promised to be. Daryl Dixon's exploration of France was beautiful and a far cry from The Walking Dead in the best way. Now that it is just Carol and Daryl on their own, fans may as well just queue up the first episodes of the flagship show again.
11 Season 2, Episode 5 Continues the Show's Unpopular Trajectory
Up until this point, it seemed possible to turn the season around. Though Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) certainly appeared dead, no one is really gone on The Walking Dead until their brain is destroyed. The fifth episode of the season cements her fate. Daryl tells Laurent that Isabelle died, sending him into a whirlwind of despair -- as expected.
Feeling that death follows him everywhere, Laurent doesn't want to go with Daryl to America. This story further enforces the idea that France never mattered, and all Daryl wants to do is get back to Virginia. The episode is only elevated by the fact that there was some semblance of hope with the death of Losang (Joel de la Fuente).
10 No One Will Ever Forgive Daryl Dixon For Isabelle's Death In Season 2, Episode 4
Deaths happen in the world of The Walking Dead, and that cannot be avoided. Even so, Isabelle's death in Daryl Dixon was one of the most callous and unearned moments in the show's history. Daryl's emotional touchstone to France, Isabelle, is yet enough form of grief that Daryl must endure. After 14 years of content, The Walking Dead still doesn't allow Daryl to be happy and throws Isabelle away with no thought. It isn't just that this event takes away Daryl's happiness, but the way she was dispatched was the height of disrespect.
She fades away slowly after a stab wound, urging Daryl to take care of Laurent -- something he was already planning on doing anyway. The show treats Isabelle like a second choice to Carol when the two women could not have been more different. The only thing that elevates this episode is the long-awaited reunion between Carol and Daryl. The tragedy of it is that moment is sullied by a shortsighted failure on the part of the series.
9 Laurent's Circle Gets Diminished in Season 2, Episode 3
Season 2, Episode 3 starts weeding out Laurent's allies -- who are few to begin with. While the Nest at first seemed a comfort, it turns out quickly to show the dangers of religious fanaticism. Losang and his cohorts believe Laurent to be The Messiah, and the only way to test that theory is to have him bitten by a walker. Sylvie (Laika Blanc Francard) is his only protection at the Nest, and she is also killed off disrespectfully. This started the trend of killing off all the French characters so Daryl and Carol could ride off into the sunset together.
While trying to protect Laurent, Sylvie is thrown haphazardly from a tower, dying from a broken neck. To make matters worse, the Nest weaponizes her as the walker to bite Laurent. Just like Isabelle, she is treated poorl to service Laurent's story. Her death doesn't hit as hard as Isabelle's, but is still unpopular.
8 Season 1, Episode 4 Has Shaky Logic
The Walking Dead franchise doesn't work without an arch villain, and in Genet (Anne Charrier), Daryl Dixon has a good one. Her backstory is motivating, and viewers can understand why she is the way she is. But where she conflicts with Daryl is the least convincing aspect of this dynamic. Season 1, Episode 4 puts Laurent in Genet's crosshairs because of his rumored abilities.
Genet wants to kill Laurent because hope poses a threat to her regime. The episode also becomes grueling because of the push and pull with Daryl and Laurent. Though there comes a time when they cultivate a loving relationship, Daryl is still playing the reluctant hero, which gets frustrating this many episodes in a row. Episode 4 has more of a filler episode feel, while other episodes with this setup are more seamless.
7 Carol's Greenlander Adventure In Season 2, Episode 2 Is Filler But Still Resonates
It takes some time for Carol to make it to her intended destination, with one stop being in Greenland. Ash (Manish Dayal) lands the plane for repairs and, unsurprisingly, runs into a group that isn't exactly what they appear. This episode is tangential to the main drag of the season but still implements an interesting conceit. While bargaining with two women they have just met, Carol and Ash get separated to learn the women have ulterior motives.
Eun (Minami) is desperate to have a child and plans to farm Ash for his sperm. She gives her companion, Hanna (Maria Erwolter), orders to kill Carol. This strikes at the heart of Carol and Ash's dynamic because they have both lost children. Though Ash doesn't know that Carol's daughter died over a decade ago, this still raises some complex feelings surrounding the issue. Had this episode been separated from the series, it could have led to interesting discourse. As it happens, it is self-contained and doesn't come back in a meaningful way.
6 Season 1, Episode 3 Gets In the Way of Its Own Premise
In many ways, Daryl Dixon is a tough pill to swallow. The premise of the series takes Daryl away from everything he knows and forces him to shepherd a child as a religious prophet at the end of the world. Why Daryl is interested in Laurent when he is so ar from home as a concept is a little tedious.
At this point in the series, it's unclear if Laurent is a literal profit or if this is just a consequence of radical belief. When The Walking Dead is so based in reality and a phenomenal adaptation of The Last of Us premiered with a very similar setup, Episode 3 of the season is shaky at best. Because the series circles back to this question, however, the episode has better rewatch value.
5 Episode 3 of Daryl Dixon Is the Origin Story the Series Needs
One of the big challenges of Daryl Dixon is getting audiences to care about new characters and an entirely new location when Daryl is by himself. Episode 3 of the first season does this spectacularly with flashbacks showing Isabelle's origins. A former party girl, Isabelle, her sister, and her boyfriend, Quinn (Adam Nagaitis), escape Paris during the outbreak. While pregnant, her sister succumbs to a bite from a walker and gives birth to Laurent. This leads many people to believe that the boy is some sort of zombie messiah.
Isabelle takes on the responsibility of caring for her nephew and becoming a nun. The episode gives viewers the context they need while also endearing them to Isabelle. Her ferocity when it comes to protecting Laurent becomes clear, and her story is unlike anything ever seen before on The Walking Dead. Her later death makes this episode pack less of a punch upon rewatch.
4 The Season 2 Premiere Finally Brings Carol Back Into the Fold
For an entire season, The Walking Dead fans have been feeling the absence of Carol, and in the Season 2 premiere, the episode delivers. Hitting the ground running, the episode focuses on Carol's attempts to track down her best friend. Her friendship with Daryl is so strong that when she runs into the solitary Ash, she lies to him and tells him she needs to get to France to find her missing daughter. She knows that since he lost his own child, this will manipulate him into helping her.
Because Daryl Dixon is a quieter show than The Walking Dead with a smaller ensemble, Carol finally has the room to address her grief. The episode employs hallucinations of Sophia, one of the most tragic deaths in The Walking Dead. The fast-paced series never allowed Carol to sit in her grief. Season 2 opens with character moments that fans have been waiting for for some time. Only the strength of the best episodes of Daryl Dixon Season 1 can beat that.
3 The Daryl Dixon Season 1 Premiere Is Far Different From The Walking Dead
The series premiere doesn't waste time in throwing audiences into an unfamiliar world. Straight out of the gate, Daryl finds himself floating in the middle of the ocean. With no indication of how he got there, his only goal is to get back home and maybe keep looking for Rick (Andrew Lincoln). Instead, he is pulled into a plot he has no interest in. As with all the other spin-offs of The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon knows how to set itself apart. Shooting on location, the series has beautiful sweeping shots of France without the gritty nature of the original series.
The landscape alone pulls in viewers to a tale they are unaccustomed to. With an entirely new narrative and stakes, Daryl Dixon builds the world spectacularly. While it takes some time to find its footing, this first episode still knows exactly what it is, leading to later episodes that improve on the concept of the series.
2 Season 1, Episode 5 Answers Many Questions
Daryl's location in France had a large question mark over it for most of Season 1. How a disgruntled bowman from Georgia ends up in France is quite the story. Daryl Dixon tells this story in Season 1, Episode 5, which amounts to very bad luck. While still in America, Daryl was working with a group of people who were capturing walkers. During an altercation, they sell Daryl to a ship to France.
This reveal doesn't make Daryl's connection to Laurent any clearer. His growing love for the boy only happened because of wild circumstances. But this dynamic has grown stronger throughout the season, making the season finale of Season 1 the best episode of the series.
1 Season 1, Episode 6 is a Satisfying Daryl Dixon Finale
Entitled "Coming Home," the finale of Season 1 is a culmination of everything the series set out to do. Laurent started in the series as a sheltered child with no knowledge of the outside world. He needs Daryl just as much as Daryl needs him. His ultimate learning experience is learning how dangerous walkers are. His father, Quinn, gets bitten and sacrifices himself for his son. Laurent is forced to kill him, putting a satisfying conclusion to that dynamic. The subject of fathers and sons permeates the last few episodes as Daryl confronts his own fractured relationship with his father.
Laurent's real father may be dead, but Daryl chooses to stay behind for the child. Even when pushed to abandon him, he decides to stay. This is a stark change for Daryl at the beginning of the season, showing that anyone can change. Season 1 of Daryl Dixon was a success because of this satisfying ending.
