The third season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is off to a promising start after last week’s season premiere. We saw Daryl and Carol explore London, meet a new friend with a boat, and sadly crash said boat on the shore of Spain. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 Episode 2 gave us a little taste of what the vibe of this season is going to be, and boy do I love where it’s heading.
New friends.
Last episode ended with a panicked Daryl unable to find an injured Carol. But in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 Episode 2 he locates her right off the bat and the two see a young couple attempting to hide from some questionable armed men. After taking out all but one of the men, Daryl and Carol approach the couple and ask where they were coming from.
The couple, Roberto and Justina, are very uneasy about it, but they agree to bring them back with them so Carol can be looked at by a doctor. What they find when they arrive is a village known as Solaz del Mar run by a man named Fede, Justina’s uncle. Everyone in the village seems weary of Daryl and Carol but agree to let them stick around for a while.
Forbidden love.
They are introduced to Roberto’s father, Antonio, a quiet and battered man who seems hopeful by the arrival of two new survivors. As they get acclimated to the village, Carol notices why Roberto and Justina seemed so hesitant to come back here — their love’s a secret and not approved by the other villagers. A group of royal looking people in a caravan arrive in the town square with supplies for the villagers.
Daryl and Carol find out that they have a deal with these royals in which females are randomly selected to return home with them in exchange for the supplies and protection. This deal, known in this village as ‘La Offenda,” separates young women from their families. This does not sit well with Carol. The longer they stayed in the village, the clearer the situation became — Daryl and Carol need to intervene.
Mixing genres.
In the original series, we typically just saw nods to other horror films and variations of the horror genre. In these spin-off shows like Dead City and this series, there’s been a much more diverse group of inspirations. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 Episode 2 brought the western genre to the center of the story and gave it a zombie twist.
The scene in which Fede’s men point their guns at Daryl and Daryl points his back felt like it was straight out of a spaghetti western. With the Spanish influence, the western nods and the zombie horror, this episode got me very excited for what’s to come in a way that the series’ first two seasons never quite did.
Overall.
The only downside to The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 Episode 2 was the amount of explanation they squeezed into it. We met a lot of new characters, saw their relationships with each other, explored a new landscape, and learned a general idea of what the conflict of the season is going to be. This was all important information to get, but it was too much for one episode. The village itself was a gorgeous location, and the cultural influences are present in almost every frame.
With new characters, a new location, and a new conflict, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 Episode 2 sets the stage for a lot of chaos to come. The introduction of Spain as the primary setting for the season was a welcome change and one that looks like it’ll have a positive impact on the legacy of the series. Let’s see what trouble our heroes get into in the coming weeks!
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs new episodes every Sunday on AMC
REVIEW RATING
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'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' Season 3 Episode 2 - 8/10
8/10
From a young age, Tyler has been amazed by filmmaking and writing. When he’s not watching movies in theaters, he also enjoys playing video games and binging one of the numerous shows he’s watching at any given moment. Working with The Young Folks was a highlight of his writing career and he is looking forward to this new adventure with In Between Drafts!
