The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon review: Episode 1, “L’âme Perdue”

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon takes the franchise to another country in another continent… but the problems are all the same. Prepare for an emotional, action-packed rollercoaster of a series!

Warning! This review contains SPOILERS for the series premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

The episode starts with Daryl (Norman Reedus) washing up on the shores of France. Alone and malnourished, he traverses the desolate French coast in search of food and drink, finding only scraps. Towns have been ransacked and destroyed; there are no signs of the living, and very few of the dead for him to contend with.

While we don’t know exactly how Daryl had ended up in France, he sends a message out through a radio into the void, revealing that he “went out looking for something,” but inexplicably ended up here. As viewers, we’re left pondering how this happened, because the show looks forward rather than back. The last time we saw Daryl, he was riding away from Alexandria after saying his goodbyes to Carol and the rest of the group.

While exploring an abandoned factory, we see the first walkers of the series… but these aren’t just any walkers. They appear to be variants. While not strong and powerful, like the variants we saw in the United States, these French variants leave a burn on whoever they touch. Daryl is left with a pretty nasty rash. We later learn that these walkers are called Brûlant (or burning walkers). It’s implied that there are other variants roaming around France; I can’t wait to see them!

Later, Daryl meets his first French people: Maribelle and Guillaume. At first glance they appear friendly enough — trading supplies and whatnot — but of course, in the world of The Walking Dead, nobody can be trusted. Soon after meeting, they are all ambushed by a group of warriors led by a brutal guy called Codron (Romain Levi). The fight is scrappy. Daryl kills Michel, Codron’s brother, and is left with a wound across his neck. Rather than helping Daryl, Guillaume decides to knock him out and make an escape with his supplies.

Daryl is left to die but is rescued by Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) and taken to an abbey where he is treated. The abbey is inhabited by a group of nuns; they call themselves the  l’Union de l’Espoir (The Union of Hopes). While a peaceful group, they are well trained in arms; you have to be ready for anything in a world ruled by the dead.

All the scenes in the abbey really drove home just how much of a culture shock this show is. It’s a very refreshing change from the samey forests of Georgia where The Walking Dead spent most of its time.

There’s something strange about the nuns in the abbey. They keep their zombiefied old priest, Père Jean, locked up and refuse to put him out of his misery. They believe that they can cure him… but he’s too far gone. Daryl sees this and says what it means, but they don’t listen.

Laurent: The Messiah?

In addition to the strangeness of keeping Jean undead and believing that he can return to life, the nuns also ardently believe that they have the messiah in their abbey.

Let’s explain this further. Isabelle took in an orphaned boy called Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), who shows an unnatural amount of promise. The boy is intelligent and compassionate. He can solve a Rubik’s cube in three minutes. He’s impressive.

But while he’s clearly smart, Laurent seems a little overhyped. I mean, he’s got a teenage silliness about him. In one scene he copies everything Daryl does, which I found particularly childish. Kid’s gotta have his fun, right?

The nuns firmly believe that he is the messiah born to save the world. And they see Daryl as the man to deliver Laurent north to fulfill this prophecy. Rather bizarrely, Laurent had predicted that an American would wash ashore in France to deliver him to the north. This seems like it could be a ploy to trick Daryl into taking on the task, or perhaps not.

Naturally, Daryl doesn’t believe in any of this, and therefore refuses to humor them.

The abbey is attacked

When Codron learns that Daryl has killed his brother, he is out for revenge. I have to laugh; Daryl has only just arrived in France and he’s already a wanted man.

The battle in the abbey is pretty gruesome. I enjoyed seeing the different types of weapons used, including muskets and old-fashioned swords. Watching these badass killer nuns go up against Condron and his cronies — swords versus guns — was really fun. One of Condron’s men kills Père Jean, which is a catastrophe for the nuns. At one point, Daryl comes face to face with Condron, but the Frenchman manages to make a narrow escape. Something tells me this won’t be the last we see of him.

Following the battle, Daryl spends the night at the abbey and helps to bury the dead. It was a day of loss, including the already dead Père Jean, but Laurent remains alive. As they sit around a fire, Daryl explains that he left the Commonwealth to find something good in the world. We learn that he was captured. “I ran into some bad people, they put me on a boat,” he said. “That didn’t go well.” This explains how he ends up in France, or at least, some of the story.

While he may not be sold on the whole “Messiah” idea, he vows to accompany Laurent on his pilgrimage north.

It seems Daryl was captured before arriving in France

Before the premiere concludes, we jump to Lehavre in Northern France, where a ship has docked. There we meet Genet (Anne Charrier), who berates the ship’s captain for a mutiny that occurred on board. Turns out Daryl was spearheading the revolt.

The captain is certain that Daryl is dead, but Genet isn’t sure. We don’t know what they wanted with Daryl, but Genet is keen to get revenge on him. What did Daryl do? What is the purpose of the ship?

Verdict

This was a solid series premiere. I’d even say I enjoyed it more than the first episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City, which aired earlier this year. It brings the Walking Dead universe to a new world, with new enemies, and new walkers. Wherever be goes in the world, Daryl cannot escape conflict.

The setting of France is super refreshing. The characters are interesting, and the story is compelling. I hope we’re not gonna fall into the age-old surrogate father-child cliche with Daryl and Laurent, like Joel and Elle in The Last of Us or Mandi and Grogu in The Mandalorian. Right now it looks to be heading that way!

Episode Grade: B+

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