And so it’s with a surprisingly heavy heart that we say farewell to Daryl Dixon’s spin-off show that I’m sure we’re all agreed with way better than we all expected.
Those refusing to believe that a simple change in environment could breathe new vitality to a franchise that’s been loping along for comfortably over a decade were proven right by the watchable, but rather ordinary Dead City, that was content to just reheat old plot tropes instead of using its tighter focus to try something new, but Daryl Dixon, on the other hand, finally succeeded in changing the game just enough to make the same old mildewy zombie look all shiny and new.
However, with the fifth episode, some familiar old bad habits seemed to be creeping back into Dixon’s tenure of being washed up in France, has Daryl’s big finish similarly been negatively affected by the lazy writing of seasons past?
We rejoin the action as Daryl brandishes a hefty, medieval axe as he prepares to face down an acidic blooded, uber Walker in Genet’s gladiatorial pit and after a struggle, Dixon manages to slay the thing while numerous, cheering spectators and a captive Isabelle and Laurent look on. However, this only proves to be round one as the French, wannabe, despot orders Dixon and a similarly enslaved Quinn chained together in order to now fight three super zombies after the fourth one literally blows its stack after getting stuck with highly experimental, power-up juice.
Dixon and Quinn prevale and in the chaos, Fallou, Emile and others from the good settlement launch an attack from within, giving the two reluctant gladiators a chance to escape. However, no victory in Walking Dead land is allowed without some sort of cost or agonising choice and after it’s revealed that Quinn had been bitten during their skirmish and subsequently sacrifices his life to buy Dixon time, he staggers back into frame as the undead and tries to sink his teeth into Isabelle. This leaves little Laurent with something of a conundrum, you see, not only is Quinn his actual father, but he strongly believes that Walkers are still people and will eventually be restored via some devine influence – and yet, if he does nothing, Isabelle will become the living dead herself.
In the aftermath, the survivors finally head off to finally get to the Nest, the stronghold whose inhabitants will raise Laurent to be the leader he apparently born to be – but even if they can make it past one last ditch attempt from Codron to get revenge, what will the notoriously restless Dixon do once everyone is safe?
Regardless of the outcome, a certain old friend starts a search for old comrade who seemingly has vanished from the face of the earth.
While the previous episode saw Daryl Dixon’s stock drop a little by a smidge thanks to the need to shuffle things around in a very predictable, Walking Dead sort of way, however, this season finale not only gets things back onto the same wavelength as the rest of the series, but ends places on a suprising touching note.
To kick things off, the episode is smart enough to realise that if it wants to close the season with an emotionally complex ending, it had better cover its ass by stacking its front end with a bunch of leg chopping, head popping action as our leads fight to escape Genet’s compound. It’s a well paced and brutal start that sees the epidode take time to give the gladiatorial scene the space it needs to make the action breathe and thanks to the zombies bring more juiced than a 90s raver, the battle is far more frenzied than your average Walker scrap. From there it’s a mad dash to get to the middle of the episode as the script attempts to tie as many loose threads as it can in a way that’s not only serves the characters, but strives to be a quick and tidy as possible. Not everything works; Quinn’s change of heart thanks to an errant zombie bite (and subsequent death and zombification) feels to swift to be properly earned and feels very much like a simple “redemption while dying” trope. However, what it does do is give us our first real spot of character conflict for Laurent who has to put aside his beliefs and “murder” a Walker or seen Isabelle, his surrogate mother, bloodily savaged. It’s a huge moment because up until now, Laurent has accepted that to murder a Walker is an unforgivable sin, but under Daryl’s guidence, he’s already starting to reject teachings he’s believed since birth and this may go on to have repercussions, both positive and negative, once the series continues. It also helps to make the little sod one of the more interesting kids in Walking Dead history, something which is usually quite tough to do. However, as a result, Clémence Poésy is kind of shoved into the background in all the kerfuffle and even sustains a stab wound for her troubles during a genuine, heart-in-the-mouth moment when Cordon and the guerriers catch up with them.
Speaking of of Cordon, the resolution of his arc might confound or even annoy a few viewers as he finally gets the drop on Daryl and even has him begging for mercy when he suddenly decides to murder his own men as he seemingly can’t bring himself to murder a child. While this seems somewhat illogical (why doesn’t he just kill his men and Dixon and then just leave?), I’m willing to let it slide due to the fact that the show is obviously creating some open roads for the already announced second season.
However, once all the overarching plot is done with, the episode shifts gears as the group finally reaches the Nest and it proves to be a legitimately stunning moment. Visually, the stronghold is reminiscent of the White City of Gondor from The Lord Of The Rings and is situated on on a plain making its reveal – and every subsequent shot of it – the single most striking shot in Walking Dead history ever since they nailed that take of the burning barn collapsing way back at the end of season 2. Finishing the tying of the show to its French surroundings is Daryl’s final moments as he leaves the Nest to make to long journey home and finds himself at Omaha Beach, surrounded by the gravestones of those killed during the D-Day landings. It’s an incredible powerful thing for Dixon to start finally realising his worth and purpose by finding the headstone of his soldier grandfather and it’s the most genuinely moving the franchise has been in a good long while.
Much like Dead City, Daryl Dixon has already clinched a second season but while the former stacked its dying moments with mountains of unanswered questions and what ifs, the latter nails us with an ambiguous ending that still leaves us with no doubt what Dixon’s mindset is and a tease to a certain fan favorite we all know as Carol who has seemingly ditched the pacifism and is on the March field her old friend. The differences between the shows couldn’t be more striking but here’s hoping the upcoming Rick and Michonne show – The Ones Who Live – takes its cue from the better of the two titles.
Vive le Dixon.
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