‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ season 3 premiere review: “Costa da Morte”

We’ve returned to the story of everyone’s favorite crossbow-wielding redneck with a heart of gold, and this time he’s going to Spain. In the Season 3 premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon things go from bad to worse for Daryl and Carol as they continue their mission to finally get back home after leaving France. Titled “Costa da Morte” (which translates in Portuguese to Coast of Death), the episode introduces a new friend, a mysterious new enemy force, and crosses two countries.

After the mind-bending and slightly traumatic walk through the tunnel that we last saw Daryl and Carol, we find our heroes walking through some of the most beautiful and scenic views that England has to offer. Their journey leads them to the outskirts of London (very reminiscent of 28 Days Later), and things are way too quiet. They find a mostly intact apartment building and make their way up to the top floor that has a balcony view of the whole city.

After making camp here for a few days and regrouping, they realize that the city streets below are full of walkers. In the distance, Daryl notices a flashing that he insists isn’t just a reflection of the sun. Daryl was right, and that night a man appears on their balcony.

 

Enter Julian Chamberlain (Stephen Merchant), a tall and awkward man wearing a bike helmet who seems to have rappelled down onto the balcony with rabbits for Daryl and Carol. Julian sits down with them and proclaims himself the last person in England and says he hasn’t seen anyone else alive in years. He talks about how the outbreak unfolded in London and then he says something that sparks the interest of Daryl and Carol. Julian has a working sailboat. While Julian doesn’t seem to like the idea of leaving London to go to America with Daryl and Carol, he decides to help them and the three set off. With Daryl and Carol having no sailing knowledge Julian teaches them the basics and they get to open water where a storm is brewing.

However, the storm knocks out Julian and leaves Daryl and Carol alone to sail the boat. They soon realize they’re in over the heads and a giant wave hits the boat. Daryl wakes up on a beach next to an injured Carol and a beached sailboat. As Daryl searches the boat for Julian, Carol wanders off down the beach and makes the heartbreaking discovery that Julian is now a walker. They put him down and Daryl tends to Carol’s wounds in their makeshift camp. That night, a group of men with horned masks on horses arrive to inspect the boat and salvage for supplies. After avoiding them, Daryl and Carol realize that they didn’t wash up in America … they’re in Spain.

After two seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon in which they explore France and spending a lot of time with a core group of French characters, just focusing on Daryl and Carol was a refreshing start. They’re in new environment doing what they do best, adapt and survive. Longtime fans of The Walking Dead know that everything feels right when these two are together. They’re two lifelong friends. Everything about this episode was refreshing to watch and visually entertaining. The beautiful views of rural England and the desolate streets of London, the fact that the episode only has three characters and they all interact and allow for deep conversations, and that the story was straightforward.

The only real issue with the episode isn’t even an actual issue, but more of a compliment to the actor/writers for crafting a likeable character in such a short amount of time with Julian. While fans of this universe know not to get too attached to characters because they can be killed off at a moment’s notice (I’m looking at you Fear the Walking Dead), I started off this episode knowing from the trailers that Stephen Merchant was coming on the show and I was looking forward to seeing him be a central part of the season.

Merchant’s performance paired with the carefully crafted character made me want to stick with Julian for a whole season. But he gets killed off before the season premiere is over? There were a few other characters in the first two seasons that I would’ve been very okay with this happening to, but this character death seemed a bit premature and unfair.

This season premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon almost felt like another series premiere to me with the feeling of starting over and discovering new places. Getting to see the post-apocalyptic London and all the scenic views that they walked through was a nice change of scenery compared to the last two seasons. And even though this was the first and last time meeting him, Stephen Merchant made a great impact on the story and was a great addition to this season premiere. Here’s hoping that Daryl and Carol survive the insanity that lies ahead of them in Spain.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs new episodes every Sunday

Tyler Carlsen

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!