Review: The Walking Dead Episode 1018, “Find Me”

Last week’s episode of The Walking Dead, “Home Sweet Home,” welcomed Maggie (Lauren Cohan) back into the series, and touched on a potential feud on the way with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). It also introduced us to her new friends Elijah and Cole, all while filling us in about her past.

Due to the anthology-style storytelling of these six extra episodes of season 10, we leave Maggie behind for “Find Me” and shift our focus to the relationship between Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride). That seems fitting, since this episode marks Norman Reedus’ 150th appearance as fan-favorite Daryl Dixon!

During the episode, Daryl falls for a mysterious woman he meets while looking for Rick’s body. We also learn about how he came to acquire his dog, named Dog.  The previous episode didn’t use a single flashback, but “Find Me” is awash with them. In fact, they take up the vast majority of the runtime.

Daryl, Carol and Dog

The episode starts with some banter between Carol and Daryl as he struggles to start his bike. Seeing both of them laugh and joke about fairly mundane things is a welcome change from the recent tension between the two, with Daryl criticizing Carol over some of her decisions, such as freeing Negan to kill Alpha. But things are different here. There’s even a moment when they go fishing and Carol catches a fish on her first try. She celebrates triumphantly. Seeing Carol happy and Daryl somber is great.

However, they do talk about some more serious things. “Everything that’s good in the world is not on our side anymore,” Carol says.

While out hunting, Dog leads them towards an abandoned cabin on the side of the river. After searching the place, Carol finds a note — previously left by Daryl — hidden in the floorboards. The flashbacks start as she confronts Daryl about what the note means.

Leah

I enjoyed the use of flashbacks here. These six episodes are a chance for the writers to experiment with different styles of storytelling, and we haven’t had many flashback-heavy episodes like this.

We’re taken back to the time the show skipped after Rick’s final episode in season 9, “What Comes After.” That’s also the time when Maggie left the group to do her own thing for a while. It’s revealed that during this time, Daryl painstakingly searched every part of the river for Rick’s body, to no avail. Obviously, he needs closure over Rick’s “death.”

When he’s out searching, he comes across Dog (as a pup) which takes him to Leah.

Leah (Lyn Collins) is a newcomer to the show. She lives by herself with Dog in a small cabin in the woods located just off the river. Of course, this is the same cabin that Daryl and Carol stumble upon later.

When Daryl enders the cabin, Leah stands with a gun pointed right at him. Once Daryl explains who he is and that he means no threat to her, she simply lets him leave.

Time jumps

After Daryl’s first contact with Leah, the episode skips ahead by a few months at a time (but we’re still in flashback mode). With every jump, Daryl and Leah grow closer and closer. And each time we see Leah, Dog grows bigger and more attached to Daryl, and he to Dog.

One thing we learn is that Daryl didn’t name the canine companion “Dog” after all. Turns out Leah gave it the name and it just stuck.

Leah reveals more about herself with each meeting. At one point, she even saves his life from a walker ambush. Still, there’s not a single scene where they get romantic. It wasn’t that sort of relationship… yet.

There’s one nice moment when Daryl tells Leah why he’s out there every day: he’s searching for “my brother.” And he doesn’t mean Merle, he means Rick. “I’m not going to stop until I find out.”

Eventually, after seeing each other for some time, Leah leaves Daryl in a dilemma. She asks him to choose between her and his family. It’s not an easy choice, but he makes it. But when he reaches the cabin, Leah is gone. Clearly disappointed, Daryl writes her a note which he hides in a chest in the floorboards: “I belong with you. Find me.”

Carol finds out

We jump forward to the present, and Carol has the note in her hand. Carol and Daryl go from being friendly and loving at the beginning to angry and serious at the end.

After losing so many people and blaming himself, Leah’s disappearance starts to get to Daryl. “I could’ve helped her,” he says.

Carol tries to comfort Daryl with the old “it’s not your fault” speech. No doubt she knows how much Daryl blames himself for things. But he’s not here for her sympathies, and instead goes after her for some of her decisions, particularly the one that got Connie “crushed” in the cave (she survived). “That’s on you because you never know how to stop,” he says. Yikes!

This is the first time Daryl has properly spoken out in anger against Carol. I always felt it was coming.

There’s always a lot to be said about the relationship between Daryl and Carol— Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride have been discussing their characters a lot in recent interviews. They’re two of the longest-serving characters in the franchise, and they will continue to endure even after the mother show ends. AMC is working on a Daryl-Carol spinoff with a “road show” vibe. We’ve got the remaining episodes of season 10 and an extended 24-episode season 11 to see them forgive each other.

It kinda ruins the shock of seeing them split up since we know they’re reuniting for a spin-off. I suppose a lot of the intrigue will come from seeing how they mend their relationship going forward.

Verdict 

Like the last episode, it’s a pleasure to watch something focused on a couple of characters rather than the whole group. This format also worked well with season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead, and it’s a welcome change here. We would never have got this level of detail about Daryl’s past had they not devoted an entire episode to it. I’m always down for experimentation, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to the much grander scope of the final season.

There are terrific performances across the board. Lyn Collins delivers in her first episode. It remains to be seen whether she’ll return. The way it’s been set up, I can see them swapping Michonne’s story with her’s. In the comics (spoiler), Michonne learns that her daughter may be a citizen of the Commonwealth. Well, Michonne has left the show, so we probably won’t get that storyline. Could Daryl come across Leah in the Commonwealth instead?

Grade: B-

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