Is The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Worth Watching Without Finishing TWD?

With the second season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, known as The Book of Carol, coming out September 29, 2024, and the first season now available to stream on Netflix, fans are wondering if maybe it’s worth checking out. Die-hard fans, of course, have watched this show along with the original The Walking Dead, other spin-offs like Fear the Walking Dead, and likely the other new spin-offs The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. However, some fans of the comics and the original show became part of a large group that abandoned the anchor series before its end.

For many, that moment came after the first few seasons when the show had arguably peaked. Many people felt it was getting repetitive: group finds new home, group meets new villain, group eliminates threat, lather, rinse, repeat. Once the war with the Saviors dragged on and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) brutally killed Glenn (Steven Yuen) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), many fans boycotted the show, disgusted with the gruesome, gratuitous violence.

The biggest loss in viewership (and ratings) occurred in Season 8 following that memorable kill scene. The show slowly built back up, and some fans actually came back. But many never did. Now with all the fanfare around Daryl Dixon, the question is: do fans who stopped watching The Walking Dead partway through need to have finished the original show to watch and enjoy this one?

Can You Watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Without Finishing The Walking Dead?

Everyone wants to know whether you can watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon without finishing The Walking Dead. The answer, which will be to the delight of many, is absolutely! The fact that both Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) appear in the spin-off is confirmation that neither of them die in the original show. That spoiler cat is already out of the bag.

Beyond that, the show is set in a completely different country with totally different characters from the original. The only crossover centers around Daryl (and, in Season 2, Carol), two fan-favorite characters from the original. And, of course, those pesky walkers, which even pop up in different variants on this show, are crucial to the plot. So are enemies of all kinds who pose even bigger threats than the dead.

The deep platonic friendship between Daryl and Carol was established within the first half of the original show. Even so, fans who watched at least Seasons 1 through 3 of The Walking Dead will understand the dynamic between them as well as Daryl’s character. That’s the most important aspect of the show. Knowing Daryl and Carol went through many more survival and personal hardships in the seasons that may have been missed is the only thing that’s necessary. Their bond only became more solidified and unwavering.

Interestingly, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon offers more character depth for Daryl than The Walking Dead ever did. He remained the same angry, loner character he always was through that entire series, with a deep heart he only showed to those closest to him. He just had longer hair and a bit more confidence that he belonged and was valued and loved. Nothing much changes when he appears in France on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, so anyone who is at least vaguely familiar with the character can pick right back up wherever they left off. When it comes to Carol, she had a much more compelling character arc on the show. Fans who at least watched up to Season 4 understand the journey Carol went on and how hardened she had become after suffering so much loss.

Of course, it’s important to know that Carol lost many more children after losing Sophia (Madison Lintz) and having to execute Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino). She lost herself a few times more through the later seasons, got married and divorced, and made a deal with the reformed devil (a.k.a. Negan) to save the group from arguably one of the biggest threats they ever faced in Alpha (Samantha Morton) and The Whisperers. By the end of The Walking Dead, she rose to a position of importance in The Commonwealth, the last community the main group took over and changed for the better.

Knowing she continued to be more and more of a badass as time passed is all fans need to understand to catch up. She’s even back to having the same shorter haircut, making some fans feel like they didn’t miss much. Just don’t be surprised if she shows some incredible skill, intuition, and the ability to take down even the most menacing enemies. It’s Carol evolved, so it's a better version of whatever version of Carol fans left off with.

What to Know About The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon picks up where The Walking Dead left off. Following a one-year time jump, Daryl was hopping among communities, going on his own but always returning to report back or check in with his friends. He preferred the nomadic lifestyle. He winds up in France through a series of unfortunate circumstances where he meets new friends and enemies and gets caught up in a plot to help a young boy escape from danger. A nun he befriends named Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) needs his help to transport a young Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) to a safe location. She believes, for very specific reasons, that he is the next messiah. Based on events, Daryl feels obliged, albeit reluctantly, to help.

The first season ends with Daryl trying to decide what to do once he achieves his mission. While he yearns to return home with his “family,” he has also found a new one in Paris. Fans see him learning the language, drinking and toasting (even smiling!), helping train kids to fight, and seemingly settled for arguably the first time since the outbreak began. Even in the picture-perfect communities of Alexandria and The Commonwealth in the original show, he never quite seemed like he belonged.

But with Daryl being away so long and not checking in, his best friend Carol expectedly got worried. She’s seen at the end of the final episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 1, approaching a man on a motorbike to interrogate him about where he got it from and what happened to the man who owns it. She is still in America, but fans expect their paths to cross in Season 2.

With the stories so centered around Daryl’s new life in France, no matter how fleeting it might be, and Carol’s journey to find him, there’s no major connection between this show and The Walking Dead.

Thus, for those who at least know the characters, it’s possible to watch and enjoy this show like a standalone series. There could be a reference or two from later seasons that goes over the head, but chances are nothing will pertain to anything new in the main series. Remember, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon takes place after The Walking Dead ended. There’s no new villain for Carol to warn Daryl about, no pressing situation about things back home to discuss.

If anything, it’s best to watch The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which follows the journeys of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who left the original series in the ninth season and was presumed dead, and Michonne (Danai Gurira), who left in Season 10 to find Rick after suspecting that he could still be alive. Based on the timelines of the shows, these two series have the best potential to crossover with one another.

Beyond that, however, go ahead and queue up The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and enjoy every minute of it. Even those who got bored, annoyed, or frustrated with The Walking Dead and quit watching after a few seasons will still be able to appreciate everything this show has to offer. The only thing tying them together are two beloved characters, gruesome walkers, and a whole lot of violent humans looking to create their own new world. Les morts marchent encore, mais Daryl vit toujours. Stream The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 1 on Netflix; stream Season 2 on AMC+ starting September 29, 2024.