The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2 Episode 3 Review

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 3.The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2 introduced some major developments in its final episode: Carol (Melissa McBride) arriving in France, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) cementing their relationship, and the idea Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) could be the key to a Heal. Episode 3, “L’Invisible”, doesn’t include nearly as many big moments, instead focusing more on some table setting and a bit of resolution. Compared to the breakneck speed of the first two episodes, episode 3 takes things more slowly, but that’s not to say it’s an action-free episode.

In fact, “L’Invisible” includes the most action we’ve seen all season. But everything that happens feels like a setup for something bigger, which honestly makes sense for an episode that sits halfway through the season. Episode 3 also spends much of its time fleshing out this season’s villains. And yes, that’s wicked plural because it’s pretty clear now that L’Union is as much an adversary as Pouvoir.

It’s about control

Be it faith or force, L’Union and Pouvoir are not so different

In season 2, it was expected that Madame Genet (Anne Charrier) and Pouvoir would continue to cause trouble for Daryl and L’Union. What comes as a surprise, however, is how quickly it is revealed that L. Union is also a bad actor. Both groups want to be in control, and while Pouvoir went about it by the usual brute force, L’Union’s control measures are more insidious, preying on people’s hopelessness and abusing their faith.

The two groups oppose each other, but to anyone who wants to fall in line with them, they are more or less the same. Pouvoir offers security but expects total obedience, and for those who don’t comply, it’s either death or experimentation (which also ends in death). L’Union, meanwhile, promises a Messiah who will save their followers from the zombie apocalypse, with anyone who does not believe that they are labeled a heretic and disposed (which has so far also meant death).

The different ways they exert control over people is a bit of an interesting contrast, as is the exploration of how two groups can think of themselves as different and ultimately be the same. However, as I mentioned in my comprehensive Daryl Dixon Season 2 review, with two evil groups vying for control and hunting down our main characters is redundant. Creating a second threat while the first is still prevalent could be seen as raising the stakes. In this case, it does not allow any enemy to get the full focus they deserve.

Losang’s (Joel de la Fuente) heel turn, for example, feels a bit like it came out of nowhere. And now that he is in so deep, leading what is basically a cult, he must communicate with him without there being enough time for further explanation. We get a deep dive into Madame Genet’s backstory in this episode, and it goes a long way toward explaining her motivations. It’s a predictably tragic story, but her observations of France’s classism make her transformation into a fascist leader a logical one.

So about this potential cure

The idea of ​​Laurent’s immunity was dropped as quickly as it was introduced

For a moment, it almost appeared as if The Walking Dead is going to put Laurent’s supposed virus immunity to the test. That was the whole point of the ceremony that L’Union was planning, and they were very close to pulling it off. Of course, Daryl and Isabelle arrive just in time to shut it down and save Laurent from Walker Sylvie’s (Laïka Blanc-Francard) bite.

It means that for now, Daryl Dixon Will not address whether it is true that Laurent has immunity due to the unique circumstances of his birth. It’s an intriguing idea, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if it comes up again in the future, whether it’s here or elsewhere. walking dead Show. That said, it’s in Daryl DixonS favor to move on from this idea. Keeping Laurent safe because he is a child that Daryl has grown to care for is a better story than him being a specially chosen one.

Carol and Daryl use their special abilities

But they don’t find much success with them

As two of the longest lasting survivors, Carol and Daryl have learned more than a few skills that have helped them stay alive. For Daryl, it’s his fighting ability, a skill he gets to show off in a big scene about 20 minutes into the episode. The scene is a single take that comes after they have stopped the ceremony, and it follows Daryl as he sends one L’Union member after another. It’s a great bit of cinematography and action choreography, demonstrating how good the action can be when the production really goes for it.

Unfortunately for Daryl, the sequence ultimately ends with him being overpowered and captured, something that is arguably another of his skills, as he’s been a prisoner more times than almost anyone else walking dead Character. Still, the scene is a great action set piece in addition to showing Daryl’s dedication to keeping both Laurent and Isabelle safe.

Carol is also a capable fighter, but she does not possess the same skill in hand-to-hand combat as Daryl. Instead, Carol’s superpower is her ability to lie. She behaved at it and Daryl Dixon Season 2 had her doing it a lot. In the latest episode, she first lies to Codron (Romain Levi), calling Daryl her brother as she tries to learn more about his current whereabouts. It works, but it’s not nearly as clever as the lie she uses on Genet, saying she’s looking for Daryl to kill him.

Both instances show what makes Carol such a good liar, mixing in as much of the truth as necessary to really sell it. In the case of lying to Genet, it also shows how she is able to read people and know exactly how to manipulate them – the same tactics she used with Ash. Unfortunately, as with Daryl fighting his way out of the nest, Carol lying to Genet doesn’t work out the way she hoped. Genet brings her right to Mont Saint-Michel, but Carol is likely not limited to being turned into a rampaging super zombie once she gets there.

Daryl Dixon Season 2’s Zombie Kill of the Week

There’s a lot more going on with the walkers in this episode than last week. Not only do we see more of Pouvoir’s experiments with the virus, but it’s explained why they’re doing the experiments in the first place – Genet hopes to make zombie super soldiers. It’s a pretty ridiculous idea – just having soldiers who follow orders would probably work better than unpredictable walkers, but that’s her plan.

Still, none of them take zombie kill of the week because it goes to poor Sylvie. Her suspicions about L’Union lead to her death, which then leads to her being the walker they choose to bite Laurent during the ceremony. It’s a twisted development, fitting for the cult turn the group has taken. Of course, Laurent is rescued before she can bite him, with Daryl dispatching the zombie Sylvie by shooting her with an arrow while looking super cool and uttering “Already finished, mother P-Kers.” It’s a quintessential Daryl moment, albeit a sad end for one of Laurent’s few childhood friends.

Daryl Dixon Season 2, episode 3 is another good entry in the series, but some cracks are starting to show. The convoluted way the villains are handled is the biggest issue, but there’s also an overall simplicity in the first season that’s been lost. Hopefully, the series can pick up on that once Carol and Daryl are reunited, as it feels imminent as they are now close. Bringing their two storylines together would help streamline things, potentially regaining some of Season 1’s narrative straightforwardness.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Airs weekly every Sunday at 9pm ET on AMC.