Season two of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, also known as The Book of Carol, reunites fan favorites Daryl and Carol in a disappointing continuation of the franchise’s most promising series.
For context, The Walking Dead is a 2010 television show based around the 2003 comic of the same name. Its popularity in the early 2010s allowed it to run for eleven seasons, covering all 193 issues of the comic series before finally ending in 2022. Although the show lost traction when most viewers left around season seven, due to the series stretching its source material too thin. Overall, the show has had its highs and lows. I believe that overall, even in its rougher latter half, the show was better than most people gave it credit for. However, in the public eye it’s mostly seen as just a show that went on for too long. Following the end of the main show, three spin-offs were produced, one of which was The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
The first season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon was released last fall, serving as a tonal reset to the long running franchise. The show set itself apart for its unique direction diverting from the pitfalls of other spin offs like Fear The Walking Dead with greater stylistic choices complimenting the series’ new setting.
Season one takes its title character (Daryl Dixon) to France, far from the rural Georgia that he started in. While the viewer has to suspend some belief on how Daryl gets to France it still makes enough sense in the context of a post apocalyptic world and serves to set up the story. Season one breaks down the character of Daryl Dixon beyond what the 2010 show could do. In the original series he served as a sidekick for over eight seasons. But when he got promoted to the series lead we really didn’t get much more Daryl. He didn’t get enough time to further his character as the show shifted to focus on an ensemble. In six episodes of the new spin off series Daryl is developed further as a character by having to choose between trying to find a way home versus protecting those who can’t protect themselves while trying not to get attached.
The first season received positive reviews for its departure from franchise tropes and themes such as the double-sidedness of religion and how it affects people differently when society collapses. Additionally, the show had an all new French cast (other than the lead character himself) allowing the show to feel independent and not require people to watch the original show. This made it feel like a new story from the universe rather than just The Walking Dead in France.
With all the praise from season one I was excited to see the direction season two would take, however when I finally watched it I was thoroughly disappointed. The first couple of episodes focus on Carol, a returning character from the main show. The focus on her traveling from America to France leaves Daryl and the entire main storyline feeling underdeveloped. This is even more frustrating because the few times we shift focus back to France, there are major and interesting events happening, however this event doesn’t get enough time to build itself up before we cut back to America. The first half of the season deals with a conspiracy surrounding a community in France. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of time to expand on the mystery before the big reveal. This is due to it being treated like a side story and its plot points jump around, making the pacing feel rushed and abrupt.
Going back to Carol, the way she gets from America to France feels unrealistic and unfaithful to the world that has been built. In the original series there is a big deal about traveling from Atlanta to Washington D.C., the characters take time planning it out and it’s a big plot point. Ultimately, it takes five episodes to make this journey, so when Carol travels to four countries in six episodes it makes the world feel smaller and makes the show’s plot based on coincidences.
Other downgrades from season one include the characters, mainly Daryl, who loses all depth with contrived story beats that are not setup nor earned. Carol, although one of my favorite characters in the original, has the same character arc that she’s gone through for the past fourteen years. Moreover, throughout the season many characters unceremoniously depart with no buildup. For example, one of the major main characters who has had lots of time spent developing his arc over the two seasons, finally gets closure surrounding the death of his brother. This is undone less than five minutes later when he inhales a hallucinogen he goes on a trip that serves to only undermine his development before he disappears into darkness, it is later addressed in a throw away line by Daryl saying he ‘ran off’ never to be seen or heard from again.
Ultimately, the writers had to make a lot of changes to fit in Carol as another main lead ruining much of what made the first season so good. It also reverts back to the franchise’s status quo rather than pushing the boundaries like season one. To put it simply, there is not enough room for two leading characters forcing two plot lines in a six episode season.
Despite being disappointing, season two wasn’t completely horrible; it still boasts its great production value, with much of the show being shot on location in some of France’s most famous sites, including Mont Saint-Michel and The Louvre. There are also some great set pieces such as a John Wick-esque continuous shot and a fight sequence involving Paris’ catacombs.
A third season is in filming and is set to release next year being set in primarily Spain and parts of England. It looks to style itself as a western, which has worked before for The Walking Dead but I find it hard to care about a third season after this season crushed any potential the show had to revitalize a dying franchise.
