Summary
- The Walking Dead spinoffs Dead City and Daryl Dixon are following the same pattern of characters trying to bring someone back home.
- Daryl Dixon season 2 will mark the third time The Walking Dead spinoffs have used this formula, making diverse stories in the future necessary.
- If Daryl Dixon and Dead City can approach their rescue mission storylines in different ways, it can set the stage for better stories that differentiate themselves from one another.
Although The Walking Dead's new spinoffs add variety to the universe with new adventures for established characters, they're still going to tell the same story for the third time in 2024. Following The Walking Dead series finale, the show branched off into three spinoffs following a variety of characters from the original series. This includes Dead City, focused on Maggie and Negan, Daryl Dixon, chronicling new travels of its titular character, and The Ones Who Live, bringing back Rick and Michonne. While The Ones Who Live ended, the other two spinoffs are set to continue for multiple seasons.
The next spinoff set to air will be Daryl Dixon season 2, focusing on Daryl's continued stay in France as he battles the Pouvoir and evolved zombies. But it will also focus on Carol traveling across the world to find him and bring him back to America. This is bound to cause tension given the life he's now established overseas, alongside the friendships he's made with Laurent and Isabelle. However, season 2's story also means The Walking Dead spinoffs will have told the same story for the third time in a row.
Every Walking Dead Spinoff Is About Bringing Someone Back Home
The Stories For Every Spinoff Are Now The Same
Now that Daryl Dixon season 2 is going to focus on Carol's efforts to bring Daryl back to the Virginia communities, all three spinoffs are now about a character trying to bring someone back home.Dead City season 1 ended with Maggie bringing Hershel back home after he was captured by the Burazi, which was the central focus of the series right from the start. Meanwhile, The Ones Who Live was all about Michonne trying to rescue Rick from the CRM, ending after the pair reunite with Judith and RJ.
Daryl Dixon joining the lineup with its own rescue mission means all the major spinoffs now have similar premises to one another. This pattern is also set to continue with Dead City season 2 in 2025, which features Maggie trying to save Negan from having to expand the Burazi's power in New York. While the spinoffs manage to utilize their unique locations and characters to differentiate one another, their similar premises leave much to be desired. If characters rescuing other characters is going to be a recurring pattern, it might not be as interesting as more unique stories.
The Walking Dead Spinoffs Really Need More Diverse Storylines
Daryl Dixon Already Proved Why Different Stories Are Necessary
As of writing, Daryl Dixon season 1 is the only season of the new spinoff shows that hasn't been about one character trying to bring another one back home. Instead, the episodes focused on developing Daryl more thanks to his new surroundings, presenting a journey that made him more conflicted about going back home the more attached he grew to his companions. Daryl Dixon's new characters aided this approach with their own unique struggles and circumstances. The season proved why The Walking Dead spinoffs need diverse storylines in order to stay interesting.
While different settings, characters, and even creative teams bolster each series in unique ways, the franchise will inevitably feel repetitive if the same story takes center stage every single time. Since the shows are seemingly embracing this similarity, it makes them all feel too close to one another beyond their shared setting. If The Walking Dead's ongoing spinoffs are to keep interest alive and tell stories that make their continuations worthwhile, they'll need to grow their scope beyond standard rescue missions or journeys back home.
How Dead City Season 2 & Daryl Dixon Season 2 Can Break TWD's Spinoff Formula
The Rescue Missions Can Lead Into Something Bigger
Although it's unclear how the pattern can be broken, both Daryl Dixon season 2 and Dead City season 2 have a chance to differentiate their stories to ensure they don't feel too repetitive. The trailer for Daryl Dixon season 2 teased Carol will find her missing friend before the end of the season, opening the door for a more complex narrative. While conflict is bound to grow as Daryl is forced to choose which life he wants to live, confirmation of Daryl Dixon season 3 taking place in Spain means an unpredictable storyline could grow from Carol's arrival.
Similarly, Dead City season 2's trailer confirmed Maggie will learn of Negan's new role within the Burazi, something that might lead to a more tense reunion than Daryl and Carol's. It could also pave the way for the duo teaming up to take down the Burazi, either later in season 2 or during a potential season 3. This would keep the show from falling into a formula of having to save someone all the time, instead giving the characters a primary force to fight against, like how the CRM behaved for Rick and Michonne.
With The Walking Dead spinoffs now pursuing the same formula for a third time with Daryl Dixon season 2, the shows are becoming increasingly similar to one another. In order to keep the franchise from getting too formulaic, it might be time for their stories to be more varied going forward. Even though the upcoming episodes of each respective spinoff will be following the same pattern, perhaps enough can be done to differentiate them, either when they air or in future seasons.
