The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon review, Episode 4 “La Dame de Fer”

This week in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, complications keep getting in the way of Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) quest to find a way home: Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) is missing, and the Guerriers are on the hunt!

As always, here’s your SPOILER warning!

The episode opens with a really strange scene. In the tunnels of Paris, Laurent is stranded alone as a horde of walkers pass by him. It seems like there’s no way out for him; any other character would be as good as dead. But Laurent just stands there, in silence, and the walkers ignore him. Is this a sign that he is as special as the nuns say? Or was he just incredibly lucky? There’s no further context to this. Is it a flash-forward to the end of the episode, or the end of the series?

We then cut to Daryl, who is drowning underwater after collapsing through a building in the final scene of the previous episode. He’s attacked by underwater walkers, which was cool to watch. This series has been really creative with its walkers so far!

The next morning, Daryl wanders through Paris alone, a wanted man. Turns out Codron (Romain Levi) has healed from this fight with Daryl, and he’s questioning the members of Fallou’s (Eriq Ebouaney) community to figure out where Daryl escaped to. This is when he and Genet learn about Laurent, the boy the nuns claim to be the messiah, and his great destiny.

The community’s steadfast belief in Laurent is crazy. They genuinely think he will save them all. Genet (Anne Charrier), the leader of the movement called the Guerriers, laughs off the idea of Laurent’s power. She sees him as dangerous, someone who gives the people false hope. She decides to cut off that hope at the source.

I’m not sure about Genet. She’s similar to the Dama in Dead City. We don’t learn much about her past, other than at some point she became the leader of the Guerriers. I’d like it more (and fear her more) if the show actually explored her character.

Daryl and Isabelle

Daryl eventually meets Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) back at her old apartment. They plan to find Laurent and to find Daryl a way back home. It’s one step forwards, two steps backwards for Daryl at the moment.

Surprising no one, Laurent makes his way to the most famous landmark in Paris: the Eiffel Tower. We saw him intrigued over the Eiffel Tower when Isabelle handed him a photograph of his mother under it in the previous episode. The visuals are spectacular. It’s eerie way the tower creaks in the wind — it creates a great atmosphere!

Turns out the tower is flooding with walkers, and both Daryl and Isabelle arrive right on time to help clear them out. Daryl might be most famous for wielding a crossbow, but he’s also pretty damn badass with morningstar. It’s so much fun watching him wave it about! However, in the midst of battle, Laurent is abducted… but not by the Guerriers. Instead, his father Quinn, the leader of the nightclub in the catacombs, takes him.

When Quinn meets with Laurent, you can tell he’s trying to be nice to him, but he comes across as quite patronizing. Perhaps it’ss just his nature as a leader, or his British accent. Funnily enough, Quinn welcomes Genet into Demimonde to negotiate for Daryl. No doubt our group are walking right into a trap. Before the inevitable attack, Quinn puts Laurent into the care of his girlfriend Anna.

Invasion of the Demimonde

In order to retrieve Laurent, Daryl and Isabelle hatch a plan to invade the Demimonde (the nightclub in the catacombs). Fallou and his crew join them. We learn that there’s something of a budding romance between Sylvie and Emile. Much less obviously, Isabelle appears to have growing feelings for Daryl. Whether that goes anywhere, we don’t yet know.

The battle itself is pretty fun. I loved the use of Molotov cocktails. The close combat in the dark tunnels makes for some great visuals. As always, Daryl goes lone wolf and travels deep into the tunnels to get Laurent. When he finds Laurent, he comes face-to-face with Anna, who bizarrely lets them leave despite being the one holding the gun.

Daryl vs. Quinn! 

Last episode, Daryl fought Codron in the final moments. In the climax of this episode, he faces Quinn. Despite being quite messy, it’s a much easier fight for Daryl, who beats just about anyone in hand-to-hand combat. However, Daryl hesitates to kill Quinn in front of Laurent, knocking him out instead; he’ll survive.

Everyone makes it out safely, but the danger isn’t over. The Guerriers surround the city, and Isabelle asks one last thing of Daryl: to accompany Laurent to The Nest. You can tell Daryl is hesitant, but at this point he’s dug in too deep. There’s definitely a sense of duty in him. Daryl and Laurent set off down the river en route to The Nest. The Paris saga is over… at least for now!

Verdict

With plenty of pieces moving, this show is really starting to hit its stride. There’s some great action sequences, both with the living and the undead. The plot is thickening too, leaving me on the edge of my seat waiting to watch the next episode!

Episode Grade: B+

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