The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
- Thread starter TREK_GOD_1
- Start date
This Sunday I believe
Yes, I just saw the commercial! Hehe
I'm surprised this is coming first. I know "The Ones Who Live" was basically the wrap up the Rick and Michonne's plot and finally dealing with the Civic republic Plotline that had started in the original show and continued in "Fear" and "World Beyond" so it was more a one-shot season. But I thought Dead City would get it's 2nd season on the air first.
Indeed. Without knowing the entire season's plot, the review gives a hint of what needs to happen in order for the series to move to its announced third season.More positive one here.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Review - IGN
The action is great, the seasonal resolution works, and the final sequence offers clever catharsis.www.ign.com
Dead City had to shut down last year because of the strikes, while SAG-AFTRA granted Daryl special dispensation to film during the strike, which is why season 2 of Daryl is ready before season 2 of Dead City.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol
Season 2 - Episode 1:"La Gentillesse des Étrangers"
When we last left Daryl...
...he was waving to a ship intended to help him start the journey back to America. Just as soon as Daryl catches the attention of the boat captain, Laurent calls out to him--the boy standing on a structure at the cemetery...with walkers closing in on him. In that moment, Daryl must decide which path he's going to take...
Two weeks later, at The Nest...
Laurent hacks away at approaching Walkers, but loses his footing while backing up; he calls out for Daryl, who locks a crank for a pulley system tied to practice Walkers. Laurent is disappointed in himself, feeling he will never be as good as Daryl, but Dixon reminds him that he's only been training for a mere two weeks.
One of Losang's associates calls Laurent in to study (he'd rather spend time with Daryl), and Daryl to join a meeting of the Union of Hope's leaders. In attendance are Losang, Jacinta and assorted members, including Isabelle and Sylvie. Learning that Fallou and Emile have been captured in Paris, Sylvie panics, demanding an immediate rescue attempt. Jacinta is more concerned with the captives' knowledge about The Nest's location, the implication that they might lead Genet's group to them.
Losang asks for patience, but Daryl believes Fallou and the others will be killed the moment Genet believes she cannot get anything useful from them, an opinion that disturbs Losang, who is not one to rush into a conflict. As the meeting comes to an end, Isabelle shoots a curious glance at Daryl (SEE NOTES).
Once the others are gone, Losang disagrees with Daryl, explaining that he's not willing to act impulsively, as it does not serve the greater good and may lead to the destruction of all of their movement. Losang asks Daryl about his plans, which the American readily admits is about returning home, despite Losang hoping that he would come to find his place at Mont-Saint-Michel (aka The Nest). Still, Daryl still requests another boat, so Losang--in exchange for fulfilling that promise--asks Daryl to stop training Laurent, as its become a distraction to the boy.
Losang: "You've been training Laurent?"
Daryl: "Yeah. Yeah, to defend himself."
Losang: "It's...become a distraction. Laurent is meant for much more."
Daryl: "More than staying alive?"
Losang: "Yes, actually. Maintaining empathy. I worry about the impact of repeated violence on him--no offense."
Daryl: "None taken."
Later, Daryl meets with Isabelle, informing her of Losang's concerns about Laurent. The conversation drifts to Daryl asking if she thinks he could be happy at The Nest. Isabelle believes he could. Daryl cannot help wondering if his family back in America still thinks of him; Isabelle has no answer for that--her expression probably suggesting she does not want to answer that, for obvious reasons. if he could be happy at The Nest, but Isabelle believes he could
Carol in America I: Carol--after reclaiming Daryl's motorcycle--makes her way to Fuller's Auto Repair--the Walker collection yard run by Jones. Pretending she needs to find Daryl who would know how to repair the bike, she learns (from Jones and two other men) Daryl was recently at the yard, but was taken on a boat trip to France. Shocked by the news, but not entirely trusting the men (especially after seeing one of them with Daryl's crossbow), a brief skirmish breaks out, with Carol ultimately forcing Jones and two of his workers to stand down. Thanks to Jones' attack, one of the crossbow bolts punctured one of the bike's tires, leading Carol to steal one of the working cars.
Eventually, she reaches the boatyard, only to discover it had been long abandoned, its shoreline littered with rotted, beached boats. Feeling the search for Daryl is hopeless, she drives back in the direction of Alexandria, playing, then discarding cassette tapes she finds displeasing.
Randomly trying another tape, she hears:
Tape: "We're going to breathe in...compassion, and to forgiveness, and breathe out, fear and suffering. Start by centering yourself. Now take a deep breath in...and out. Each breath...each one is a reminder that you are here, and you are okay..."
Carol immediately tries to eject the tape, and utters quite the violent cry at its message (SEE NOTES), and her inability to remove the tape. In that moment, she's awestruck at the sound and sight of a small passenger airplane flying ahead of her, but the distraction is enough for Carol to be too late to avoid hitting a Walker, and skidding into a drive-in sign post.
Recovering, Carol kills the oncoming Walkers, then follows the sound of the airplane, which--by nightfall--leads her to a large, fenced in property with gated traps for trespassers. She spots a lone, armed man activating a pole-mounted generator switch, then scans the fences after hearing noises. Carol--needing help--drops her weapons and pretends to be caught in the gated trap, catching the attention of the owner, who reluctantly buys her "kindness of strangers" act, volunteering to help her, but reminding her if she tries anything, he will kill her.
The pilot: The man--named Ash--has fenced off what used to be his family's Maine vacation home, fortifying it with floodlights, remote-controlled gates and traps. He offers to hep Carol fix her car in the morning, offering her to stay in his barn / workshop. Seeing the barn doors, Carol begins to have flashbacks to the reanimated Sophia emerging from Hershel's barn so long ago, hearing her own echoing cries, and that one gunshot. Carol appears to be fully immersed in the memory, until Ash asks if she's okay, breaking the spell.
Once in the barn, Carol takes notice of the airplane, which Ash uses to just get above it all, even if the noise attracts Walkers to his compound. In the morning, Carol suggests with Ash having an airplane, he could go anywhere, which is countered by Ash stating he has everything he needs at his home. Suddenly, Ash looks at his watch in a panic, then jogs to a locked greenhouse, where he enters, and locks the door behind him.--his behavior piquing Carol's curiosity.
Later, Ash takes off in his plane, which accomplishes two things: Carol left alone to break into the greenhouse, and the plane's noise to attract a horde of Walkers to Ash's compound--the latter not quite at the gates as Carol (thanks to the failing generator triggering the greenhouse lock to open) begins to spy around.
The Indoor Grave: In a separate room at the back of the greenhouse, Carol finds an indoor-grown tree with several objects placed on or at its trunk, including a music box, model airplane, Red Sox cap and smaller toy airplanes, all encircling a framed photo of a happy young boy in a swing.
Carol winds up the music box, which plays a rendention of the Mitchell/Davis song, "You Are My Sunshine"; Carol eeks out the lyrics, shedding tears as she sings along (SEE NOTES), but is caught off guard by the Walker horde entering the greenhouse. Although Carol resourcefully used garden tools as weapons, and surrounds herself with wheeled shelving, it will not be long before the Walkers reach her. Carol climbs the shelving to break out of the greenhouse glass roof, where she spots an enraged Ash.
After the Walkers are killed, Carol sheepishly asks to help remove the corpses, a request granted by the still hostile Ash. Hours later, Carol finds Ash sitting at the grave / monument, mentioning that she was only curious in the hope than in knowing him a bit better, they could become friends, a kind of relationship she's been missing (SEE NOTES).
Ash begins to talk about his son--Avi, who died at the age of seven, at 8:23 a.m. on April 19, hence his rushing to the greenhouse after looking at his watch: he visits the memorial at the exact time of his son's death every day...apologizing for failing to do what a parent should, and keep him safe. By creating the indoor grave, Ash can "protect" his son. Thinking back, Ash recalls how his son loved airplanes, which he took as a sign as he discovered the Beechcraft he restored. Continuing, Ash mentions that he flies around, but not too far from his son, and from the view above, sometimes he imagines the old world--the world where his son was alive--is still there.
Inviting Carol to dinner that evening, she spots a Cherokee Rose mounted in a bottle, triggering memories of the time Daryl gave her the same flower, as a sign of hope that Sophia would be found. Thoughts of Daryl get her wheels turing, leading her to fabricate a story how Ed Peletier and Sophia travelled to France to visit a relative just before Wildfire overtook the earth, and she has not heard from them since that time. Ash angrily clues in that Carol initially lied to him about her background, all to convince him to fly her to France.
The next morning, Carol collects her things and begins the long walk home, now believing if Daryl is in France, she will never see him again.
The Nest I: Daryl watches Losang proacticing Aikido rather agressively with another man. Losang informs Daryl that they are preparing to send a rescue unit to the prisoners' next location; Daryl voulenteers to accompany them, though that thought worrried Losang, as he stresses they look for non-violent solutions, much like he trains with the Jo not as a weapon, but in case he would ever need a weapon. That said, Losang allows Daryl to go with the rescue, but not before asking Dixon if he's interested in a training session. Daryl jokingly replies, "Not with that toothpick." (SEE NOTES).
Carol in America II: Ash drives after Carol, asking her if she would look for someone she's never met (reversing their roles by implying his son, for example). Carol says she would--if she felt the person still lived. Clearly she does, stating she was tired of waiting. This was the question Ash needed answered, and with that, he agrees to fly Carol to France. The duo begin gathering all they'll need for the long flight, including Ash's home-made ethanol for the airplane. Ash--a bit hopeful--wonders how Carol would feel if she found Sophia, which stiffens her a bit, as she has to work around her fiction by adding there's a chance Sophia may not be alive.
Carol questions Ash again, asking if he's truly willing to leave his home; Ash replies that finding the plane was what saved him from the isolated sorrow of losing his son, coming to the conclusion that if one of not moving forward, they are dying.
Daryl / Genet / Power of the Living I: Daryl and The Nest's rescue team await the arrival of the prisoners, rigging a tripwire of explosives to disable the vehicles. As Genet's vehicles pass, the tripwire fails to set off the explosives,moving Daryl to lead by example by shooting the drivers in the head, causing Genet's car to flip on its side, while the rest of the convoy soldiers are shot dead. After Fallou and Emile are rescued, Daryl comes face to face with Genet again, the latter dragging from her injuries, yet laughing that she shouold have known Daryl--in her view--was still in France and/or behind this attack.
Daryl does not speak to Genet at all, instead, aiming his rifle at her, as she assumes a brave posture of raising her hands to surrender, in other words, Daryl will have to execute an unarmed woman. As Daryl squeezes on the trigger, the tripwire explosives finally detonate, which was all the distraction Genet needed to vanish.
The Nest II: Jacinta presses Losang about "moving the ceremony up" (SEE NOTES), feeling Losang will never "win them over", certainly not the American. Losang pushes back, arguing Laurent is not ready for this ceremony. Jacinta will not back down, assuming it is Losang who is not ready....
Carol in America III: At nightfall, Carol and Ash watch the beginning of a violent lightning storm; while loading the plane, lightning strikes the generator, permanently diabling it, while a fallen wire detonates the ethanol. With no power, the compound gates are wide open...just as a herd of Walkers--attracted to the explosion--head toward the compound (one nearly overwhelming Carol), forcing Ash & Carol to make a desperate take off with limited runway space and low visibility.
Carol--who never travelled by plane before--is struck with anxiety, but Ash, in perfect ideological symmetry with the cassette message which angered Carol earlier--tells her:
Ash: "Just center yourself. Take a deep breath in...and out. There's nothing to be afraid of up here. Nothing."
...a truth punctuated by the plane flying past the storm toward the dawn of the new day. Carol calms down, as the plane soars above the clouds....
NOTES:
The season two premiere served as a new character study of Carol, who--after years of not mentioning Sophia at all--shows the signs of her suppressed grief in flashbacks and her reaction to the music box. During season three of The Walking Dead, Rick questioned Carol, feeling she was sort of heartless for never talking about Sophia, but he misread how she was dealing with the loss. IOW, everyone does not make their grief known to others. That said, in season 4 of the same series, she did admit (to Lizzie) that she thinks about Sophia every day. Her years of separation are finally getting to her in a more expressive manner.
Jacinta's eager push to perform some sort of ceremony involving Laurent makes me believe it involves something the boy and his loved ones may not support, perhaps something dangerous (e.g., using him as a sacrificial lamb, etc.). I would not be surprised if Daryl finds himself in a enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend situation regarding Laurent's welfare.
Daryl referred to Losang's Jo as a toothpick, as if its an ineffective weapon, which was odd, since he witnessed Morgan be absolutely deadly with it.
As the Nest meeting ended, Isabelle shot a displeased look at Daryl, indicating the wall of ice erected by his departure had not thawed, at least not until the two were speaking outdoors.
We know Carol misses her best friend, but her statement to Ash suggested she was completely alone without her friend, as if she were not close to her longtime companions. Then again, she may have been using that "friend" line to see if she was able to work her way into a flight to France. Well, wish was granted, just not through her manipulative ways as seen in the greenhouse scene.
Carol's violent reaction to the tape message reads as if she's suffering from a lack of faith, and lashed out at it, not for a moment considering the message is what she needs, as seen in the final moments of this episode, where Ash's own version of the tape message actually calmed her nerves regarding flying.
Ash's fate: too early to tell, but I hope he does not turn out to be another WD franchise character who is built up well, especially if they provide any sort of spiritual / philosophical guidance to a main character, only to be killed off, such as Eastman or Hershel.
In any case, this was a strong start for season 2, and the teasers promise more of the same, high-quality storytelling.
GRADE: A.
Season 2 - Episode 1:"La Gentillesse des Étrangers"
When we last left Daryl...
...he was waving to a ship intended to help him start the journey back to America. Just as soon as Daryl catches the attention of the boat captain, Laurent calls out to him--the boy standing on a structure at the cemetery...with walkers closing in on him. In that moment, Daryl must decide which path he's going to take...
Two weeks later, at The Nest...
Laurent hacks away at approaching Walkers, but loses his footing while backing up; he calls out for Daryl, who locks a crank for a pulley system tied to practice Walkers. Laurent is disappointed in himself, feeling he will never be as good as Daryl, but Dixon reminds him that he's only been training for a mere two weeks.
One of Losang's associates calls Laurent in to study (he'd rather spend time with Daryl), and Daryl to join a meeting of the Union of Hope's leaders. In attendance are Losang, Jacinta and assorted members, including Isabelle and Sylvie. Learning that Fallou and Emile have been captured in Paris, Sylvie panics, demanding an immediate rescue attempt. Jacinta is more concerned with the captives' knowledge about The Nest's location, the implication that they might lead Genet's group to them.
Losang asks for patience, but Daryl believes Fallou and the others will be killed the moment Genet believes she cannot get anything useful from them, an opinion that disturbs Losang, who is not one to rush into a conflict. As the meeting comes to an end, Isabelle shoots a curious glance at Daryl (SEE NOTES).
Once the others are gone, Losang disagrees with Daryl, explaining that he's not willing to act impulsively, as it does not serve the greater good and may lead to the destruction of all of their movement. Losang asks Daryl about his plans, which the American readily admits is about returning home, despite Losang hoping that he would come to find his place at Mont-Saint-Michel (aka The Nest). Still, Daryl still requests another boat, so Losang--in exchange for fulfilling that promise--asks Daryl to stop training Laurent, as its become a distraction to the boy.
Losang: "You've been training Laurent?"
Daryl: "Yeah. Yeah, to defend himself."
Losang: "It's...become a distraction. Laurent is meant for much more."
Daryl: "More than staying alive?"
Losang: "Yes, actually. Maintaining empathy. I worry about the impact of repeated violence on him--no offense."
Daryl: "None taken."
Later, Daryl meets with Isabelle, informing her of Losang's concerns about Laurent. The conversation drifts to Daryl asking if she thinks he could be happy at The Nest. Isabelle believes he could. Daryl cannot help wondering if his family back in America still thinks of him; Isabelle has no answer for that--her expression probably suggesting she does not want to answer that, for obvious reasons. if he could be happy at The Nest, but Isabelle believes he could
Carol in America I: Carol--after reclaiming Daryl's motorcycle--makes her way to Fuller's Auto Repair--the Walker collection yard run by Jones. Pretending she needs to find Daryl who would know how to repair the bike, she learns (from Jones and two other men) Daryl was recently at the yard, but was taken on a boat trip to France. Shocked by the news, but not entirely trusting the men (especially after seeing one of them with Daryl's crossbow), a brief skirmish breaks out, with Carol ultimately forcing Jones and two of his workers to stand down. Thanks to Jones' attack, one of the crossbow bolts punctured one of the bike's tires, leading Carol to steal one of the working cars.
Eventually, she reaches the boatyard, only to discover it had been long abandoned, its shoreline littered with rotted, beached boats. Feeling the search for Daryl is hopeless, she drives back in the direction of Alexandria, playing, then discarding cassette tapes she finds displeasing.
Randomly trying another tape, she hears:
Tape: "We're going to breathe in...compassion, and to forgiveness, and breathe out, fear and suffering. Start by centering yourself. Now take a deep breath in...and out. Each breath...each one is a reminder that you are here, and you are okay..."
Carol immediately tries to eject the tape, and utters quite the violent cry at its message (SEE NOTES), and her inability to remove the tape. In that moment, she's awestruck at the sound and sight of a small passenger airplane flying ahead of her, but the distraction is enough for Carol to be too late to avoid hitting a Walker, and skidding into a drive-in sign post.
Recovering, Carol kills the oncoming Walkers, then follows the sound of the airplane, which--by nightfall--leads her to a large, fenced in property with gated traps for trespassers. She spots a lone, armed man activating a pole-mounted generator switch, then scans the fences after hearing noises. Carol--needing help--drops her weapons and pretends to be caught in the gated trap, catching the attention of the owner, who reluctantly buys her "kindness of strangers" act, volunteering to help her, but reminding her if she tries anything, he will kill her.
The pilot: The man--named Ash--has fenced off what used to be his family's Maine vacation home, fortifying it with floodlights, remote-controlled gates and traps. He offers to hep Carol fix her car in the morning, offering her to stay in his barn / workshop. Seeing the barn doors, Carol begins to have flashbacks to the reanimated Sophia emerging from Hershel's barn so long ago, hearing her own echoing cries, and that one gunshot. Carol appears to be fully immersed in the memory, until Ash asks if she's okay, breaking the spell.
Once in the barn, Carol takes notice of the airplane, which Ash uses to just get above it all, even if the noise attracts Walkers to his compound. In the morning, Carol suggests with Ash having an airplane, he could go anywhere, which is countered by Ash stating he has everything he needs at his home. Suddenly, Ash looks at his watch in a panic, then jogs to a locked greenhouse, where he enters, and locks the door behind him.--his behavior piquing Carol's curiosity.
Later, Ash takes off in his plane, which accomplishes two things: Carol left alone to break into the greenhouse, and the plane's noise to attract a horde of Walkers to Ash's compound--the latter not quite at the gates as Carol (thanks to the failing generator triggering the greenhouse lock to open) begins to spy around.
The Indoor Grave: In a separate room at the back of the greenhouse, Carol finds an indoor-grown tree with several objects placed on or at its trunk, including a music box, model airplane, Red Sox cap and smaller toy airplanes, all encircling a framed photo of a happy young boy in a swing.
Carol winds up the music box, which plays a rendention of the Mitchell/Davis song, "You Are My Sunshine"; Carol eeks out the lyrics, shedding tears as she sings along (SEE NOTES), but is caught off guard by the Walker horde entering the greenhouse. Although Carol resourcefully used garden tools as weapons, and surrounds herself with wheeled shelving, it will not be long before the Walkers reach her. Carol climbs the shelving to break out of the greenhouse glass roof, where she spots an enraged Ash.
After the Walkers are killed, Carol sheepishly asks to help remove the corpses, a request granted by the still hostile Ash. Hours later, Carol finds Ash sitting at the grave / monument, mentioning that she was only curious in the hope than in knowing him a bit better, they could become friends, a kind of relationship she's been missing (SEE NOTES).
Ash begins to talk about his son--Avi, who died at the age of seven, at 8:23 a.m. on April 19, hence his rushing to the greenhouse after looking at his watch: he visits the memorial at the exact time of his son's death every day...apologizing for failing to do what a parent should, and keep him safe. By creating the indoor grave, Ash can "protect" his son. Thinking back, Ash recalls how his son loved airplanes, which he took as a sign as he discovered the Beechcraft he restored. Continuing, Ash mentions that he flies around, but not too far from his son, and from the view above, sometimes he imagines the old world--the world where his son was alive--is still there.
Inviting Carol to dinner that evening, she spots a Cherokee Rose mounted in a bottle, triggering memories of the time Daryl gave her the same flower, as a sign of hope that Sophia would be found. Thoughts of Daryl get her wheels turing, leading her to fabricate a story how Ed Peletier and Sophia travelled to France to visit a relative just before Wildfire overtook the earth, and she has not heard from them since that time. Ash angrily clues in that Carol initially lied to him about her background, all to convince him to fly her to France.
The next morning, Carol collects her things and begins the long walk home, now believing if Daryl is in France, she will never see him again.
The Nest I: Daryl watches Losang proacticing Aikido rather agressively with another man. Losang informs Daryl that they are preparing to send a rescue unit to the prisoners' next location; Daryl voulenteers to accompany them, though that thought worrried Losang, as he stresses they look for non-violent solutions, much like he trains with the Jo not as a weapon, but in case he would ever need a weapon. That said, Losang allows Daryl to go with the rescue, but not before asking Dixon if he's interested in a training session. Daryl jokingly replies, "Not with that toothpick." (SEE NOTES).
Carol in America II: Ash drives after Carol, asking her if she would look for someone she's never met (reversing their roles by implying his son, for example). Carol says she would--if she felt the person still lived. Clearly she does, stating she was tired of waiting. This was the question Ash needed answered, and with that, he agrees to fly Carol to France. The duo begin gathering all they'll need for the long flight, including Ash's home-made ethanol for the airplane. Ash--a bit hopeful--wonders how Carol would feel if she found Sophia, which stiffens her a bit, as she has to work around her fiction by adding there's a chance Sophia may not be alive.
Carol questions Ash again, asking if he's truly willing to leave his home; Ash replies that finding the plane was what saved him from the isolated sorrow of losing his son, coming to the conclusion that if one of not moving forward, they are dying.
Daryl / Genet / Power of the Living I: Daryl and The Nest's rescue team await the arrival of the prisoners, rigging a tripwire of explosives to disable the vehicles. As Genet's vehicles pass, the tripwire fails to set off the explosives,moving Daryl to lead by example by shooting the drivers in the head, causing Genet's car to flip on its side, while the rest of the convoy soldiers are shot dead. After Fallou and Emile are rescued, Daryl comes face to face with Genet again, the latter dragging from her injuries, yet laughing that she shouold have known Daryl--in her view--was still in France and/or behind this attack.
Daryl does not speak to Genet at all, instead, aiming his rifle at her, as she assumes a brave posture of raising her hands to surrender, in other words, Daryl will have to execute an unarmed woman. As Daryl squeezes on the trigger, the tripwire explosives finally detonate, which was all the distraction Genet needed to vanish.
The Nest II: Jacinta presses Losang about "moving the ceremony up" (SEE NOTES), feeling Losang will never "win them over", certainly not the American. Losang pushes back, arguing Laurent is not ready for this ceremony. Jacinta will not back down, assuming it is Losang who is not ready....
Carol in America III: At nightfall, Carol and Ash watch the beginning of a violent lightning storm; while loading the plane, lightning strikes the generator, permanently diabling it, while a fallen wire detonates the ethanol. With no power, the compound gates are wide open...just as a herd of Walkers--attracted to the explosion--head toward the compound (one nearly overwhelming Carol), forcing Ash & Carol to make a desperate take off with limited runway space and low visibility.
Carol--who never travelled by plane before--is struck with anxiety, but Ash, in perfect ideological symmetry with the cassette message which angered Carol earlier--tells her:
Ash: "Just center yourself. Take a deep breath in...and out. There's nothing to be afraid of up here. Nothing."
...a truth punctuated by the plane flying past the storm toward the dawn of the new day. Carol calms down, as the plane soars above the clouds....
NOTES:
The season two premiere served as a new character study of Carol, who--after years of not mentioning Sophia at all--shows the signs of her suppressed grief in flashbacks and her reaction to the music box. During season three of The Walking Dead, Rick questioned Carol, feeling she was sort of heartless for never talking about Sophia, but he misread how she was dealing with the loss. IOW, everyone does not make their grief known to others. That said, in season 4 of the same series, she did admit (to Lizzie) that she thinks about Sophia every day. Her years of separation are finally getting to her in a more expressive manner.
Jacinta's eager push to perform some sort of ceremony involving Laurent makes me believe it involves something the boy and his loved ones may not support, perhaps something dangerous (e.g., using him as a sacrificial lamb, etc.). I would not be surprised if Daryl finds himself in a enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend situation regarding Laurent's welfare.
Daryl referred to Losang's Jo as a toothpick, as if its an ineffective weapon, which was odd, since he witnessed Morgan be absolutely deadly with it.
As the Nest meeting ended, Isabelle shot a displeased look at Daryl, indicating the wall of ice erected by his departure had not thawed, at least not until the two were speaking outdoors.
We know Carol misses her best friend, but her statement to Ash suggested she was completely alone without her friend, as if she were not close to her longtime companions. Then again, she may have been using that "friend" line to see if she was able to work her way into a flight to France. Well, wish was granted, just not through her manipulative ways as seen in the greenhouse scene.
Carol's violent reaction to the tape message reads as if she's suffering from a lack of faith, and lashed out at it, not for a moment considering the message is what she needs, as seen in the final moments of this episode, where Ash's own version of the tape message actually calmed her nerves regarding flying.
Ash's fate: too early to tell, but I hope he does not turn out to be another WD franchise character who is built up well, especially if they provide any sort of spiritual / philosophical guidance to a main character, only to be killed off, such as Eastman or Hershel.
In any case, this was a strong start for season 2, and the teasers promise more of the same, high-quality storytelling.
GRADE: A.
Interesting decision to begin the season with an episode that focuses almost entirely on Carol with Darryl just limited to a handful of scenes at the beginning and end. Then again, the season is called "The Book of Carol" is I guess that shouldn't be completely unexpected.
Anyway, I liked the episode. Reminded me a lot of those old school Walking Dead episodes where we get a smaller scale character episode that ends up being integral to the show's story arc. Like that one with Morgan and Eastman. Season 2/The Book of Carol is off to a fine start.
Anyway, I liked the episode. Reminded me a lot of those old school Walking Dead episodes where we get a smaller scale character episode that ends up being integral to the show's story arc. Like that one with Morgan and Eastman. Season 2/The Book of Carol is off to a fine start.
That's the risk with WD characters who are introduced with a heavy backstory, and once he realizes he was duped into risking his life in the air and in France--leaving his son's grave behind--I wonder if he will become an antagonist, or instantly reckless (trying to return to America), leading to his death...
Walkers attacked him all the time in the first season. The only exception was at the start of the fourth episode, but that was revealed to just be Daryl dreaming.
Huh, well I guess that would've been kind of a silly plot anyways. His importance is more of a "Spiritual" thing than anything pragmatic...
It was a little too convenient that Carol happened to crash her car right by a guy who happens to have a plane.
Also, I really missed France. I love Carol, but I missed the French characters. Daryl Dixon has been the best spinoff (post TWD) to develop other characters. I am glad Carol is heading to France now.
I hope it doesn't take the whole season for Daryl and Carol to meet each other.
Like I said, I enjoyed the episode and am excited for the season and the reunion of the two great characters.
I do admit though, there is a little bit of me that wishes Carol had her own show, just because I thought season 1 was so great.
Also, I really missed France. I love Carol, but I missed the French characters. Daryl Dixon has been the best spinoff (post TWD) to develop other characters. I am glad Carol is heading to France now.
I hope it doesn't take the whole season for Daryl and Carol to meet each other.
Like I said, I enjoyed the episode and am excited for the season and the reunion of the two great characters.
I do admit though, there is a little bit of me that wishes Carol had her own show, just because I thought season 1 was so great.
There's only a handful of episodes, so she needed to stumble across a pilot ASAP for the sake of moving the story forward with the time left to the season.
Probably not the entire length of the season, but Carol has no intel on Daryl's whereabouts or new companions at all; at this point, for Carol to just happen to meet someone who is involved with either side of the conflict would be a stronger example of Plot Convenience 101 than Carol finding the pilot. A time jump would help that situation, so at least it appears its taken weeks for Carol to receive some sign of Daryl's location.
Historically, similar to Rick and Michonne, Carol and Daryl have always complimented each other as people, what kind of life purpose they've adopted and how they work against / through problems, so they're better off in a series together, rather than starring in a solo series. That might sound strange, considering this thread is about the solo journey of a character, however, if I recall, the original concept of Daryl Dixon included Carol, so in one way or another, Daryl was going to have his adventure with his other, platonic half.
I'll be surprised if Carol and Daryl don't reunite by the third episode.
Someone uploaded episode four to YouTube before it was taken down. It happens it that episode.
You really should spoiler code that.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol
Season 2 - Episode 2:"Moulin Rouge"
The Nest I: Laurent communes with God, praying for the welfare of those he loves, and that the Nest will one day feel like home. He observes all of the residents claiming to love him, though he wishes he were an ordinary child. Later, Jacinta is annoyed with Laurent's lack of concentration on his studies, compounded by the arrival Daryl and the rescue party. Sylvie is elated to see Emile, but he is completely shell-shocked, incapable of returning her hug.
Laurent prays Daryl stays at the Nest, and looks forward to learning how to be more like his friend; Losang reminds the boy that he's here for a much higher purpose than the skills Daryl teaches him. Recognizing Laurent's uncertainty about his place at the Nest, Losang reminds him:
"Doubt is the question that faith answers. You doubt because you are special, not because you aren't."
Laurent leaves to meet Daryl, prompting Jacinta to confront Losang:
Jacinta: "Daryl will leave again, then what? Laurent wants to go with him?"
Losang: "Daryl will come around. Some people need time."
Jacinta: "We don't have time.Even among our faithful, there are doubters. They've grown tired of waiting for deliverance."
Losang: "They are always free to leave if they don't support our mission."
Jacinta: "Are they free to rise up as well? The answer to doubt isn't faith. It's proof. Proof will bolster the boy. Proof will strengthen the union."
Losang: "You want to move up the ceremony."
Jacinta: "It would send a strong signal."
Losang considers Jacinta's urging as he watches Laurent interact with Daryl...
Carol and Ash I: Ash's Beechcraft streams smoke as it lands in the hills of Greenland. No sooner than they disembark are they confronted by Walkers; as Ash tends to a fuel leak, Carol uses the crossbow to quickly kill a few Walkers, until Walker hands emerge from the ground, pulling Carol down--almost killing her until gunshots kill the remaining creatures--help from two women in the distance, welcoming the Americans to the country.
The women--Eun and Hanna--take Carol & Ash to their riverside shelter; while Eun takes Ash to find what he needs for the plane repairs, Hanna explains that she and Eun were conducting climate research when the world ended, or, as Carol puts it, "..when the world went to Hell." This elicits a very strange reply from Hanna:
Hanna: "You make it sound so terrible."
Carol: Isn't it?"
Hanna: "If that's how you look at it. Maybe the world is trying to heal itself."
Carol: "By killing everyone we love?"
Hanna: "weren't we already doing that to ourselves?"
Hanna believes the rise of the dead is a form of mother nature fighting back.
Eun accompanies Ash back to the plane, revealing her strange plans for him, specifically Ash impregnating she and Hanna to "save" civilization (instead of Hanna wanting it to perish). Naturally, Ash rejects this insane plot, and tries to head back to Carol, only to be held at gunpoint by Eun.
After taking a drink of alcohol, Hanna expresses curiosity about the crossbow, and ends up aiming it at Carol, stating she was supposed to kill Carol. Hanna claims she's not a killer--its what Eun wants. Breaking down, Hanna says she wants to leave, as her life there is "killing her". Carol offers to take Hanna with her; at that moment, Eun walks in, and demands Hanna kill Carol. Instead, Hanna fires a bolt into Eun's head.
That evening, Carol escorts Hanna to the plane, but her wish to leave is cut short, by Ash--chained the plane--shooting a flare into her throat. Carol and Ash continue their journey...
The Nest II: Sylvie gently tries to get Emile to talk about his ordeal, but he's silent, barely responding to anything. When he decides to speak, he says:
"I made a deal with God..to bring me back to you."
Sylvie admits she had the same, answered prayer, but there's still something wrong with Emile...
The Nest III: After Laurent is called away from Daryl's baseball instruction, Isabelle and Daryl are a bit more revealing to each other:
Daryl: "Workin' him pretty hard, don't you think?"
Isabelle:"Well you too--sports, self-defense, tracking..."
Daryl:"I'm just havin' fun."
Isabelle: "He needs balance."
Daryl: "You know, some of the stuff they're teaching him up there...he's not buying it."
Isabelle: "Kids should question things. Skeptical. Doubt. It's healthy."
Daryl: How about you? You ever doubt it?"
Isabelle: "Like I said, it's healthy."
Daryl: That's what I thought! You're not like them at all."
Isabelle: "Who am I, then?"
Daryl: "You're like us."
Isabelle: "What does 'us' mean? In a week or two, whenever you figure out a plan, you'll be gone and we'll stay here. People make choices for a reason that makes sense to them. There's always doubt. Sometimes you...let faith make up the difference. You understand that. How else do you get on a boat to the other side of the world?"
Daryl: "You can make a different choice. You could come with me. Both of you."
Isabelle: "It's not possible."
Daryl: "Of course its possible."
Isabelle: "Laurent's entire life has led to this place. Everything that's kept us going."
Daryl: "Maybe that's all it was...something that just kept you going."
Murder plot: The next morning, Isabelle discovers Laurent is missing--kidnapped, with a grappling hook still mounted in his window. Losang and Jacinta mobilize a rescue party commanded by Daryl; Jacinta hands one of the rescuers rifle shells which are given to Daryl. Fallou joins the party, despite the pleas from Emile for the man to remain at the Nest. Sylvie observes this, and now believes something is not as it appears to be.To the shock of Losang, Isabelle also joins the party, armed with a rifle. Losang cannot convince her to stay, nor can he hide his panicked reaction.
The party tracks the kidnappers to an abandoned building; once inside, members of the rescue party attempt to kill Daryl (who discovers his rifle shells were duds), but that plan does not go well for them, as he hurls one man out of window, while using the other as a human shield from another archer, who is shot dead by Isabelle. On another floor, Fallou is attacked, and nearly stabbed to death--as he pleads with the slowly approaching Emile to help. Fallou kills his assailant, just as Daryl & Isabelle arrive. Emile reveals part of the set-up by telling Fallou he was not supposed to join the rescue party.
Fallou tries to reason with Emile, asking what happened to him when he was a captive, which triggers an outburst / information dump: one, he was forced to watch comrades murdered, and finally, Laurent is to be tested--to see if he's the savior who can withstand the infection from a Walker bite. Emile aims his gun at Daryl, but is disarmed by Fallou. Wasting no time, Isabelle retrieves the gun, but hesitates when Emile reaches for the cross he's wearing--meeting her stare. Isabelle shoots Emile.
Daryl and Isabelle: Fallou, Isabelle & Daryl watch the Nest from the mainland; while Fallou moves out to form a perimeter, a disillusioned Isabelle speaks of her lost belief in the Nest...Losang, thinking they were the one thing that would save them, only now, she's failed at the one thing she'd promised her sister--keeping Laurent safe. Hoping to rescue the boy, Isabelle asks Daryl if his offer to join him in America still stands and receives his nod of approval. No longer denying what was obvious, the pair kiss.
Carol in France: Ash and Carol land in France. Concealing the plane, Ash mentions the idea of finding Sophia again; visibly shaken by her own lie coming up again, Carol tries to keep the ruse going, and serving a dual purpose, convinced Ash to remain with the plane, as he cannot afford to be hurt. She suggests he return to America if she does not return in two weeks, then sets out on her mission.
Making her way to Paris, Carol is both astonished and wistful at seeing that which would never been allowed to--by her abusive husband--before the world ended, as she takes in the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and more. She notices Power of the Living logos covering walls all throughout the city, leading her to investigate this best option for answers. Eventually, she comes across a food stand set up by the POTL, with Lt. Sabine--Genet's right hand woman--offering the promise of more food and life if they give their support to the movement.
To "worthy" volunteers, 20 are loaded on trucks and transported to a POTL compound....
That evening, Sabine reports to Genet, and notices a bloody Codron tied to a chair. Sabine carefully says she believes Codron does not know anything, but Genet rejects this notion, and continues to torture the man, having one of her guards twist a corkscrew into Codron's knuckles, but the bloodied, slashed man refuses to say a word about the objects of her obsession; Laurent, Isabelle and Daryl.
The Nest IV: More suspicious than ever before, Sylvie notices the cook who provided Laurent's meals preparing a serving tray with the same meal. Following the woman, she sees the cook enter one a keep facing the mainland. Entering the structure, Sylvie eventually sees Laurent, but she's startled by a knowing Losang:
"We are on the eve of something wonderful."
Later, Jacinta and Losang debate the Laurent matter:
Jacinta: "Are you doubting the plan?"
Losang: "We'll go through with the test. It will work, but we'll still have to deal with Daryl when he comes back."
Jacinta lets Losang in on her treacherous plan against Daryl--
Jacinta: "He's not coming back. I amended the order."
Losang: "...amended...how?"
Jacinta: "I told them the truth: Daryl was in the way of our mission; that he would be an obstacle as long as he was around. It should be done by now."
Losang angrily approaches Jacinta, who backs away...
Losang: "What about the others?? Isabelle? Fallou?"
Jacinta: "They were not part of the plan.Your prophecy inspired these people! We've been together all these years--we've come too far! "
Losang questions if this is who they were meant to be. Jacinta only needs them to be certain (about Laurent), leading a conflicted Losang to resign himself to the horrifying plan.
NOTES:
We now know why Jacinta (and to a lesser degree, Losang) is so aggressive about Laurent being "prepared"; to test his alleged divinity, he will be bitten by a Walker, under the assumption he will survive. How Losang jumped from the account of Laurent still being born after his mother turned into a Walker to the idea the boy has super-immunity from the Walker bite is anyone's guess, but the heart of the Nest's plan--that one can survive from the bite sans extreme intervention--seems to be as much of a ridiculous gamble as Sam "Shrike" Krennick's belief that radiation treatments held the answer to the Walker virus. Copium reactions.
One can only imagine how the Nest will be sustained after the murder attempt & the dark plan for Laurent is revealed to Daryl, which makes me return to my suspicion / semi-prediction that Daryl may be forced into a enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend arrangement, perhaps negotiated by Carol, that is, if Losang and the Gang relentlessly try to set their ceremony into action.
Well, well, the anticipated romance door to a Daryl and Isabelle has been officially opened, but being a longtime viewer of TWD TV franchise, I could not help thinking their blossoming romance, along with Isabelle considering her future not aligning with the Nest teased a tragedy. I hope that does not happen; in the TV franchise's history, Daryl has been one the most unlucky characters where romance is concerned, and its about time the showrunners finally allow the character to find his permanent significant other.
Carol is on her way to infiltrating the Power of the Living headquarters; her instincts are quite sharp, reasoning that the local representatives of power would likely lead her to Daryl, and I can imagine if or when she comes face to face with Genet, she will craft another tall tale that will--in some manner--earn Genet's trust.
Codron--for a guy who was the "B" antagonist of season one, he's certainly earned at least temporary recognition as a hero, as he refuses to divulge anything about Laurent, et al, no matter what Genet throws at him. You'd think Genet would learn torture eventually loses effectiveness to one who is conditioned to experience it, or is ready to die.
The Bizarre and The Somewhat Rehashed: the Greenland duo--Eun and Hanna--were odd from the start, but they set off alarms as their worldview unfolded; Hanna's pro-nature / anti-human position was a bit too reminiscent of the environmentalist extremist Dr. Everett from Tales of the Walking Dead's "Amy / Dr. Everett" (S1 / E4), which makes her a hypocrite, as she's all in favor of the idea of nature striking back against people--not caring about the personal cost, yet she--and Eun--wanted to turn Ash into a breeding captive to do their part in restoring humanity. Thankfully, this freakish pair were a one-and-done side story.
While Laurent sees Daryl as his best friend, i;m not sure if he considers Dixon an older brother or father figure, too. Either way, their relationship is a joy to watch.
GRADE: A+.
Season 2 - Episode 2:"Moulin Rouge"
The Nest I: Laurent communes with God, praying for the welfare of those he loves, and that the Nest will one day feel like home. He observes all of the residents claiming to love him, though he wishes he were an ordinary child. Later, Jacinta is annoyed with Laurent's lack of concentration on his studies, compounded by the arrival Daryl and the rescue party. Sylvie is elated to see Emile, but he is completely shell-shocked, incapable of returning her hug.
Laurent prays Daryl stays at the Nest, and looks forward to learning how to be more like his friend; Losang reminds the boy that he's here for a much higher purpose than the skills Daryl teaches him. Recognizing Laurent's uncertainty about his place at the Nest, Losang reminds him:
"Doubt is the question that faith answers. You doubt because you are special, not because you aren't."
Laurent leaves to meet Daryl, prompting Jacinta to confront Losang:
Jacinta: "Daryl will leave again, then what? Laurent wants to go with him?"
Losang: "Daryl will come around. Some people need time."
Jacinta: "We don't have time.Even among our faithful, there are doubters. They've grown tired of waiting for deliverance."
Losang: "They are always free to leave if they don't support our mission."
Jacinta: "Are they free to rise up as well? The answer to doubt isn't faith. It's proof. Proof will bolster the boy. Proof will strengthen the union."
Losang: "You want to move up the ceremony."
Jacinta: "It would send a strong signal."
Losang considers Jacinta's urging as he watches Laurent interact with Daryl...
Carol and Ash I: Ash's Beechcraft streams smoke as it lands in the hills of Greenland. No sooner than they disembark are they confronted by Walkers; as Ash tends to a fuel leak, Carol uses the crossbow to quickly kill a few Walkers, until Walker hands emerge from the ground, pulling Carol down--almost killing her until gunshots kill the remaining creatures--help from two women in the distance, welcoming the Americans to the country.
The women--Eun and Hanna--take Carol & Ash to their riverside shelter; while Eun takes Ash to find what he needs for the plane repairs, Hanna explains that she and Eun were conducting climate research when the world ended, or, as Carol puts it, "..when the world went to Hell." This elicits a very strange reply from Hanna:
Hanna: "You make it sound so terrible."
Carol: Isn't it?"
Hanna: "If that's how you look at it. Maybe the world is trying to heal itself."
Carol: "By killing everyone we love?"
Hanna: "weren't we already doing that to ourselves?"
Hanna believes the rise of the dead is a form of mother nature fighting back.
Eun accompanies Ash back to the plane, revealing her strange plans for him, specifically Ash impregnating she and Hanna to "save" civilization (instead of Hanna wanting it to perish). Naturally, Ash rejects this insane plot, and tries to head back to Carol, only to be held at gunpoint by Eun.
After taking a drink of alcohol, Hanna expresses curiosity about the crossbow, and ends up aiming it at Carol, stating she was supposed to kill Carol. Hanna claims she's not a killer--its what Eun wants. Breaking down, Hanna says she wants to leave, as her life there is "killing her". Carol offers to take Hanna with her; at that moment, Eun walks in, and demands Hanna kill Carol. Instead, Hanna fires a bolt into Eun's head.
That evening, Carol escorts Hanna to the plane, but her wish to leave is cut short, by Ash--chained the plane--shooting a flare into her throat. Carol and Ash continue their journey...
The Nest II: Sylvie gently tries to get Emile to talk about his ordeal, but he's silent, barely responding to anything. When he decides to speak, he says:
"I made a deal with God..to bring me back to you."
Sylvie admits she had the same, answered prayer, but there's still something wrong with Emile...
The Nest III: After Laurent is called away from Daryl's baseball instruction, Isabelle and Daryl are a bit more revealing to each other:
Daryl: "Workin' him pretty hard, don't you think?"
Isabelle:"Well you too--sports, self-defense, tracking..."
Daryl:"I'm just havin' fun."
Isabelle: "He needs balance."
Daryl: "You know, some of the stuff they're teaching him up there...he's not buying it."
Isabelle: "Kids should question things. Skeptical. Doubt. It's healthy."
Daryl: How about you? You ever doubt it?"
Isabelle: "Like I said, it's healthy."
Daryl: That's what I thought! You're not like them at all."
Isabelle: "Who am I, then?"
Daryl: "You're like us."
Isabelle: "What does 'us' mean? In a week or two, whenever you figure out a plan, you'll be gone and we'll stay here. People make choices for a reason that makes sense to them. There's always doubt. Sometimes you...let faith make up the difference. You understand that. How else do you get on a boat to the other side of the world?"
Daryl: "You can make a different choice. You could come with me. Both of you."
Isabelle: "It's not possible."
Daryl: "Of course its possible."
Isabelle: "Laurent's entire life has led to this place. Everything that's kept us going."
Daryl: "Maybe that's all it was...something that just kept you going."
Murder plot: The next morning, Isabelle discovers Laurent is missing--kidnapped, with a grappling hook still mounted in his window. Losang and Jacinta mobilize a rescue party commanded by Daryl; Jacinta hands one of the rescuers rifle shells which are given to Daryl. Fallou joins the party, despite the pleas from Emile for the man to remain at the Nest. Sylvie observes this, and now believes something is not as it appears to be.To the shock of Losang, Isabelle also joins the party, armed with a rifle. Losang cannot convince her to stay, nor can he hide his panicked reaction.
The party tracks the kidnappers to an abandoned building; once inside, members of the rescue party attempt to kill Daryl (who discovers his rifle shells were duds), but that plan does not go well for them, as he hurls one man out of window, while using the other as a human shield from another archer, who is shot dead by Isabelle. On another floor, Fallou is attacked, and nearly stabbed to death--as he pleads with the slowly approaching Emile to help. Fallou kills his assailant, just as Daryl & Isabelle arrive. Emile reveals part of the set-up by telling Fallou he was not supposed to join the rescue party.
Fallou tries to reason with Emile, asking what happened to him when he was a captive, which triggers an outburst / information dump: one, he was forced to watch comrades murdered, and finally, Laurent is to be tested--to see if he's the savior who can withstand the infection from a Walker bite. Emile aims his gun at Daryl, but is disarmed by Fallou. Wasting no time, Isabelle retrieves the gun, but hesitates when Emile reaches for the cross he's wearing--meeting her stare. Isabelle shoots Emile.
Daryl and Isabelle: Fallou, Isabelle & Daryl watch the Nest from the mainland; while Fallou moves out to form a perimeter, a disillusioned Isabelle speaks of her lost belief in the Nest...Losang, thinking they were the one thing that would save them, only now, she's failed at the one thing she'd promised her sister--keeping Laurent safe. Hoping to rescue the boy, Isabelle asks Daryl if his offer to join him in America still stands and receives his nod of approval. No longer denying what was obvious, the pair kiss.
Carol in France: Ash and Carol land in France. Concealing the plane, Ash mentions the idea of finding Sophia again; visibly shaken by her own lie coming up again, Carol tries to keep the ruse going, and serving a dual purpose, convinced Ash to remain with the plane, as he cannot afford to be hurt. She suggests he return to America if she does not return in two weeks, then sets out on her mission.
Making her way to Paris, Carol is both astonished and wistful at seeing that which would never been allowed to--by her abusive husband--before the world ended, as she takes in the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and more. She notices Power of the Living logos covering walls all throughout the city, leading her to investigate this best option for answers. Eventually, she comes across a food stand set up by the POTL, with Lt. Sabine--Genet's right hand woman--offering the promise of more food and life if they give their support to the movement.
To "worthy" volunteers, 20 are loaded on trucks and transported to a POTL compound....
That evening, Sabine reports to Genet, and notices a bloody Codron tied to a chair. Sabine carefully says she believes Codron does not know anything, but Genet rejects this notion, and continues to torture the man, having one of her guards twist a corkscrew into Codron's knuckles, but the bloodied, slashed man refuses to say a word about the objects of her obsession; Laurent, Isabelle and Daryl.
The Nest IV: More suspicious than ever before, Sylvie notices the cook who provided Laurent's meals preparing a serving tray with the same meal. Following the woman, she sees the cook enter one a keep facing the mainland. Entering the structure, Sylvie eventually sees Laurent, but she's startled by a knowing Losang:
"We are on the eve of something wonderful."
Later, Jacinta and Losang debate the Laurent matter:
Jacinta: "Are you doubting the plan?"
Losang: "We'll go through with the test. It will work, but we'll still have to deal with Daryl when he comes back."
Jacinta lets Losang in on her treacherous plan against Daryl--
Jacinta: "He's not coming back. I amended the order."
Losang: "...amended...how?"
Jacinta: "I told them the truth: Daryl was in the way of our mission; that he would be an obstacle as long as he was around. It should be done by now."
Losang angrily approaches Jacinta, who backs away...
Losang: "What about the others?? Isabelle? Fallou?"
Jacinta: "They were not part of the plan.Your prophecy inspired these people! We've been together all these years--we've come too far! "
Losang questions if this is who they were meant to be. Jacinta only needs them to be certain (about Laurent), leading a conflicted Losang to resign himself to the horrifying plan.
NOTES:
We now know why Jacinta (and to a lesser degree, Losang) is so aggressive about Laurent being "prepared"; to test his alleged divinity, he will be bitten by a Walker, under the assumption he will survive. How Losang jumped from the account of Laurent still being born after his mother turned into a Walker to the idea the boy has super-immunity from the Walker bite is anyone's guess, but the heart of the Nest's plan--that one can survive from the bite sans extreme intervention--seems to be as much of a ridiculous gamble as Sam "Shrike" Krennick's belief that radiation treatments held the answer to the Walker virus. Copium reactions.
One can only imagine how the Nest will be sustained after the murder attempt & the dark plan for Laurent is revealed to Daryl, which makes me return to my suspicion / semi-prediction that Daryl may be forced into a enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend arrangement, perhaps negotiated by Carol, that is, if Losang and the Gang relentlessly try to set their ceremony into action.
Well, well, the anticipated romance door to a Daryl and Isabelle has been officially opened, but being a longtime viewer of TWD TV franchise, I could not help thinking their blossoming romance, along with Isabelle considering her future not aligning with the Nest teased a tragedy. I hope that does not happen; in the TV franchise's history, Daryl has been one the most unlucky characters where romance is concerned, and its about time the showrunners finally allow the character to find his permanent significant other.
Carol is on her way to infiltrating the Power of the Living headquarters; her instincts are quite sharp, reasoning that the local representatives of power would likely lead her to Daryl, and I can imagine if or when she comes face to face with Genet, she will craft another tall tale that will--in some manner--earn Genet's trust.
Codron--for a guy who was the "B" antagonist of season one, he's certainly earned at least temporary recognition as a hero, as he refuses to divulge anything about Laurent, et al, no matter what Genet throws at him. You'd think Genet would learn torture eventually loses effectiveness to one who is conditioned to experience it, or is ready to die.
The Bizarre and The Somewhat Rehashed: the Greenland duo--Eun and Hanna--were odd from the start, but they set off alarms as their worldview unfolded; Hanna's pro-nature / anti-human position was a bit too reminiscent of the environmentalist extremist Dr. Everett from Tales of the Walking Dead's "Amy / Dr. Everett" (S1 / E4), which makes her a hypocrite, as she's all in favor of the idea of nature striking back against people--not caring about the personal cost, yet she--and Eun--wanted to turn Ash into a breeding captive to do their part in restoring humanity. Thankfully, this freakish pair were a one-and-done side story.
While Laurent sees Daryl as his best friend, i;m not sure if he considers Dixon an older brother or father figure, too. Either way, their relationship is a joy to watch.
GRADE: A+.
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