When approaching the first season ofThe Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, series creatorDavid Zabelhad the ambitious goal ofbreathing new life into the franchise, as they brought in new writers, a new showrunner, and most notably, an entirely new location. As Zabel and executive producer,Greg Nicotero,told Collider at San Diego Comic Con 2024: they “reinvented the show in a different country.” While they certainly achieved this by the brilliant move of expandingThe Walking Deadto France, which is ground zero of the apocalypse, there is another overlooked way they approached the show that really cemented its novel and horrifying feel.
As Nicotero also explained during SDCC, “the zombie action and that stuff really directly relates to the story. It’s not just thrown in there.” Compared to the flagship show and its recent slew of spin-offs, the walkers are placed intoDaryl Dixon’s narrative in a purposeful and scaled-back manner. This is whattruly makesDaryl Dixonstand out. Their meaningful approach becomes even more significant when you consider the walker’s history inThe Walking Dead, as they became increasingly more dismal and inconsequential as the original show progressed. As such,Daryl Dixongives them the spotlight they deserveby making themthe dangerous, exciting, and revolting creatures they are supposed to be.
The Walking Deadpilot was the prime example of using walkers in a thoughtful way, as each walker that Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) came across elicited a visceral reaction and enhanced the post-apocalyptic dread in the atmosphere. As the series progressed, it became easier to ridicule the walkers, mainly because they were so easy to dispatch. Even in the new spin-off,The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) have plenty of scenes where they flaunt their skills and take down countless walkers as if they were swatting away gnats. As such,Daryl Dixoncompletely flips the script on walkers, and instead uses them sparingly and in lower numbers, giving us genuinely frightening sequences where they become threats. Who knew walkers could actually be dangerous again?
The show sets up this subversion of our expectations almost immediately, asNorman Reedus' titular character washes upon the shores of France and heads into a derelict warehouse, wherehe comes face to face with a couple of Burners. These new types of walkers take him unawares, and he struggles to fend them off. We see a more high-stakes walker fight later in the season, whenDaryl is captured by Genet’s(Anna Charrier) people and isforced to fight an Amper — a supercharged walker created in French labs — in a gladiator-styled arena. Wielding an axe and his wits, Daryl fights to the death in a thrilling action sequence, where concern is etched upon his expression. When was the last time you remember seeing a character reasonably worried about a fight against a single walker? He thrashes and dodges away from the frenzied creature — and we all know how accomplished Daryl is, makingthe prospect of these walkers so much more terrifying.
We Finally Feel Revolted By Walkers Again in ‘Daryl Dixon’
As the essence of the apocalypse, walkers slowly lost their bizarre, horrific, and revolting charm in the original series, and instead became painfully uniform and arbitrary. This is not because of the walkers themselves, who were masterfully created throughNicotero’s “Zombie School,“but because of how they were treated and the narrative surrounding them gradually became lackluster. They simply started blending into each other, each more forgettable than the last, as they all became fodder for each character’s weapon of choice.Daryl Dixon, however, refuses to let its walkers fade away from the limelight, and insteaddelivers memorable visuals that will forever be ingrained into our minds. More importantly, the sight of these walkers curdle our stomach in a sickening way, just as a reanimated corpse should.
The most unforgettable image is by far the walker orchestra— equal parts awe-inspiring and unhinged, that deftly taps into the insanity of the apocalypse. Daryl’s unsettled and uncertain face as he gazes upon the deranged scene perfectly captures the impact it evokes. We are not entirely sure of what we are seeing, but we feel the poignant loss of humanity in a saddening and hollow way wehaven’t experienced before inThe Walking Dead. Each sanctuary in the original show and its brutal ways has repeatedly captured the lack of morality that comes with the apocalypse, but this madman’s creation symbolizes a twisted form of artistry that truly shows how long they have been in this post-apocalyptic world. A similar sentiment is evoked when we come face to face with a child walker inDaryl Dixon. Child walkers always give us a haunting glimpse into the loss of innocence, yet they rarely appear in the franchise. Bringing one in reflects the creator’s thoughtful approach to walkers, as much ofDaryl Dixon’s horrorstems from this agonizing depiction of walkers who are difficult to look at.
On the other hand,Daryl Dixon’s new variantscreate a different kind of surreal atmosphere, one that builds terror rather than emotion. We particularly see this when Daryl fights off the Burners, as each fleeting touch creates an abundance of smoke,giving each action sequence a mystical touch and appeal. There is almost a voyeuristic approach to the walkers, as imagery becomes paramount in what sort of response they elicit. Each walker inDaryl Dixondemands our attention, no matter how grotesque or other-worldly they appear. The apocalypse is already such a fantastical concept andDaryl Dixonprovides us with a range of unique walkers that all evoke a surreal eeriness that a walkershouldevoke.
While it is easy to attributeDaryl Dixon’s success with walkers to the experiments being conducted on them, it is really their deliberate and earned storytelling that gives justice to the walkers. The experiments are really just a tool to do so. As such, during SDCC, the crew further teased thatSeason 2, subtitledBook of Carol, would also introduce us to even more variants. If Season 1 is anything to go by, then we can be excited about the prospect of even more grotesque apocalyptic creatures that cultivate the fear that walkers deserve to create.Being able to construct this anticipation surrounding walkers is a feat in itself, especially as the original show’s focus tended to remain on how cruel the sanctuaries could be, essentially neglecting the walkers. We began looking forward to thenext group of Saviors or Whisperers, rather than the next faceless hoard of walkers. As such, by introducing the French labs and pairing this storyline with a pared-back execution,Daryl Dixonfinally gives the walkers their own stage to create disgust, fear, and dread.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Daryl’s journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home.
The Walking Dead: Daryl DixonSeason 2 will premiere on Sunday, September 29 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC+. The first season is streaming now on Netflix in the U.S.
