In 2023, AMC debuted season 1 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which is a direct spinoff of the main series. This story focuses on Daryl Dixon, a character introduced in season 1 of TWD who is portrayed by Norman Reedus. The spinoff has been well received and has greatly expanded TWD TV universe.
When AMC announced the series it was revealed that Daryl's story would take him to France. This seem an absurd idea given the state of the world and the fact that overseas travel seemed impossible. Then news of a second season was announced and it appeared that Carol (Melissa McBride) would also travel to France in search of her missing best friend.
How did Daryl Dixon get to France?
The first season of the Daryl Dixon spinoff began with Daryl tied to a row boat in the middle of the ocean. He soon washed ashore in France and immediately set out to look for food and supplies. Among the items he found was a tape recorder with a recording of one man's apocalyptic story. Daryl would also use this to tell his story.
""My name is Daryl Dixon. I come from a place called the Commonwealth. It's in America. I went out looking for something. All I found was trouble. If I don't make it back, I want them to know I tried. Hell, I'm still trying.""
While the opening of the series didn't reveal how Daryl got to France, viewers learned via flashbacks later in the season. Back in the US Daryl, needing fuel for his motorcycle, found work for trade. He had to capture walkers and in exchange would be given the much needed fuel. But things went south and he was forcibly put on the same ship the walkers were loaded on, which was bound for France.
This is when Daryl learned of a group, Power of the Living, or Pouvoir Du Vivant, lead by a woman named Genet (Anne Charrier) who needed the walkers to conduct experiments on to create variants to use as weapons.
While in France Daryl would side with The Union of Hope, a group who believe the savior of humanity is a young boy named Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi). The group was also the enemy of the Pouvoir who wanted to capture the boy. Even thought Daryl desired to return home, he set those plans aside to help people who needed him.
The end of season 1 would tease the return of Carol in season 2 that was sub-titled The Book of Carol.
How did Carol Peleiter get to France?
In season 2, Melissa McBride would make her full time return to TWDU as Carol Peletier. The coda scene of season 1 finale featured Carol in a search for Daryl. In a previous episode Daryl was able to radio Carol and told her he would return to the Commonwealth in a week. It is no surprise that when he never arrived Carol headed to Maine, his last known location, to find him.
When season 2 opens, Carol continues her search and discovers that Daryl was sent to France. She comes upon a man named Ash (Manish Dayal) who owns a plane he pilots every day. This seems the perfect solution to her continued search for Daryl.
Carol is the type of person who always makes the hard decisions, good or bad, to get results. In this case she manipulates a grieving father by telling him her daughter was stuck in France after the outbreak.
Carol and Ash make the journey to France in his plane with a strange stop in Greenland where Ash was propositioned to help Eun (Minami Bages) and Hanna's (Maria Erwolter) repopulate the earth. They arrive in France where Carol, to keep her betrayal a secret, tells Ash to wait with the plane while she searched for her daughter.
This leads to the long-awaited reunion between Carol and Daryl. They are last seen fleeing France via the Chunnel and make an interesting stop before heading to Spain, where the third season will be set.
