The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon review, Episode 5, “Deux Amours”

We’re entering the endgame of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, folks! In the penultimate episode, “Deux Amours,” Daryl and Laurent attempt to travel to their final destination: The Nest. Meanwhile, Isabelle remains in Paris and considers her options, and Genet enacts her plan.

Here’s your SPOILER warning!

Backstory time: How did Daryl get to France? 

Everyone rejoice! It’s only taken until Episode 5 of 6 to finally learn how Daryl ended up in France. And even then, we only Get some key pieces in a much larger jigsaw.

When The Walking Dead left Daryl, he was riding away from the Commonwealth alone, off on new adventures. He finds himself in Maine where he joins a strange group set on hauling walkers into shipping containers and sending them off to Europe. Why? That’s something of a mystery, but they’re doing it. All of the walkers being hauled onto the ship appear to be variants; there’s fast ones, strong ones, extra hungry ones, and so on. Perhaps the French are planning experiments or something?

Daryl manages to radio Carol at one point and they briefly catch up. He also makes a friend. However, when his newfound friend is suspiciously killed, Daryl kicks off and is eventually made a prisoner on a ship bound for France.

I say “prisoner,” but he and others are pretty much there as zombie food. The crew don’t hesitate to throw them into a pit of walkers, but Daryl fights back in what is easily the best battle sequence on the show to date. He races across the ship to escape on a boat, letting loose all sorts of variant walkers on his way and creating a mass slaughter. Epic!

This was much needed backstory. I was getting really annoyed waiting for it, but it was well worth it.

Daryl and Laurent

Back to the present, Daryl and Laurent travel to the Nest. They are polar opposites: Daryl is a true survivor, Laurent a wide-eyed innocent; Daryl is not religious, Laurent worships God, and so on. I liked when Daryl tried to teach Laurent how to gut a fish and Laurent is totally freaked out. Another lovely moment is when Daryl briefly opens up about his past, saying the names of people he misses: Judith, R.J. Carol, etc. This spinoff very much stands on its own, but it’s nice to see callbacks to fan-favorites.

There’s something very endearing about their relationship, it’s very reminiscent of Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us — the hardened survivor and the “special” kid traveling together — and I don’t think the show has played on this element anywhere near enough.

Laurent clearly has his reservations about fulfilling his destiny. Despite being deemed a messiah, the show keeps reminding us that Laurent is just a kid. He didn’t choose this path. It was an enormous burden put on him from birth. At one point he tries to sabotage the mission by breaking the boat, and Daryl is (briefly) furious. I keep getting surprised by his use of the F-bomb, since it was almost never used in the main show.

Traveling by foot, they are eventually caught by the Guerriers, squashing all hope of reaching the Nest, which, funnily enough, we haven’t even seen yet. From there, they are taken to Genet’s base of operations.

Isabelle

The other side story in this episode involves Isabelle, who remains in Paris and deals with her ex, Quinn. With the Guerriers surrounding the city, she sees Quinn as a man influential enough to make sure Laurent can get safe passage, as long as she can persuade him to do so. He’s still in love with her, clearly, and perhaps she can use his influence to climb the ranks.

This whole subplot feels kinda unnecessary to be honest. It hasn’t really captivated me. Isabelle had great chemistry with Daryl, and now that they’re separated, it’s hard to keep me invested in her story.

That said, I’m really enjoying Quinn, who steals all of his scenes. It’s not long until Genet comes knocking and they all travel to her base where she holds a rally, ushering in the next phase of her republic.

The Guerriers unite!

Sure, we’ve fought Codron and Quinn, but Genet is the main antagonist of this series. The leader of the biggest movement in France, the Guerriers, she is the one pulling the strings. The episode reaches its climax when everyone ends up in Genet’s base: Daryl, Quinn, Laurent and Isabelle. With everyone together, the tyrannical Genet makes it a night to remember.

To prove a point, she puts Daryl in an arena and sets a walker on him. But this isn’t just any walker. They inject it with some sort of serum that makes it the ultimate variant; is this what they were developing? It’s rabid, super strong, fast and powerful. Unfortunately, the episode ends just as we’re about to see Daryl take on the monster. What a tease!

Verdict

This was my favorite episode yet. I loved the backstory and the return of variant walkers. Daryl and Laurent make a terrific duo, although I wish we could’ve seen more of them earlier on in the series. The cliffhanger sets up for an action-packed finale. Episode 6 can’t come quickly enough!

Episode Grade: A-

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