The first season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon It was a success among critics and viewers, despite its flaws. It finally arrived The Walking Dead franchise in North America and captured how cultural differences create unique apocalyptic circumstances. And it was also essentially a set-up for the unsurprising return of Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier. McBride and Norman Reedus had an emotionally searing chemistry as platonic (or perhaps non-platonic) survivors during The Walking Dead's 11 seasons, and the idea was that by Daryl Dixon would not disturb such dynamite.
Season 2 of by Daryl Dixonsubtitled Carol's BookIt's a sentimental catwalk for Daryl and Carol. As usual, their characters are given deep story arcs bewitched by unimaginable pain and tumultuous love, but when their metaphorical plane into the sunset takes off, the remarkable supporting cast is left behind. The tragedy of a country with a history of fighting fascism falling to a modern autocratic movement is still present with hints of a religious twist, but it fizzles out in the season's six episodes. The culprit seems to be that the story was redesigned to incorporate Carol. To expedite her return to Daryl's side, other elements had to be sacrificed. What made season 1 promising and different from its The Walking Dead competitors is now collateral damage. A recurring theme of Carol's Book is that everyone has the chance to start over, but the series is too stuck in the past The Walking Deadthe glory days to ensure an original future.
Daryl Dixon's Season 2 Leans Into a Cautionary Tale About Messiahs
Carol's book plays its religious themes…safely
Creator and showrunner David Zabel has the difficult task of connecting two extremely separate storylines: Carol's quest to find Daryl and the conflict in France. Zabel does a great job of overlapping the two for a cohesive narrative, but Carol's Book barely scratches the surface of the political and personal context of the war. And yet, it’s enough. By the end of Season 1, the religious movement known as the Union of Hope was the clear frontrunner, while The Power of the Living, led by Madame Genet, was the nihilistic villain. Carol's Book levels the playing field with a story of manipulated faith. Laurent Carrier’s role as the messiah-in-the-making is less about hope this season and more about the dangers of playing God. The Union of Hope’s plot slowly builds to a panicked unease that wrestles with faith and evidence and warns against those pulling the strings behind the scenes.
This is a fascinating and meaningful material that Carol's Book flirts with for the first four episodes. Joel de la Fuente delivers a frighteningly charismatic performance as Losang, the ambitious but tempered leader of the Union of Hope. His well-heeled antithesis Genet is refined by Anne Charrier's touching performance and the added depth to her character. A big improvement over the previous season is that everyone's motivations are much more apparent. Middle-aged players may be stuck in a situation they don't agree with and others will naturally change their minds, but Carol's Book he is never confused about the characters' obligations.
However, Carol's Book is stubborn in playing it safe with this messianic plot. Laurent's unusual birth was the subject of criticism in Season 1, but only because the show didn't confidently convey this bizarre plot. A story of this magnitude is not something The Walking Dead the universe is used to it, but that doesn't mean it should never broaden its perspectives. Carol's Book he is more confident, but still remains passive about it. There is a reluctance to fully commit to a story about the dangers of religious fanaticism. Isabelle Carrier is a perfect starting point for this type of plot, but her presence in the series is frustratingly limited.
Carol's return has its ups and downs
Carol's presence in season 2 has its advantages and disadvantages.
What made Clémence Poésy as Isabelle a standout was that she was the most insightfully written character in Season 1. Being a professional thief turned nun is more exciting than a scruffy man stuck in the “badass caretaker” trope. Poésy gives one of the most emotional performances in a particular episode of Season 2, but she doesn't get the same insightful material as Season 1. It's hard to say, but that's because Carol's Book does not allow two female characters to share the scene.
There is almost nothing wrong with Carol's storyline in this series. Zabel treats Carol as The Walking Dead has done — with grace and passionate depth. Carol's conflicted friendship with a new character, Ash, puts her in a fluid rhythm that forces her to confront an unresolved part of her past and her own shaky moral code. But is it too much to ask that Isabelle, who is also close to Daryl, not be demoted to elevate another female character? Can't Daryl have more than one friend who is a woman, and can't those women exist without Daryl as their backbone?
The supporting characters in general are not taken into consideration with Carol on board. Treating the supporting cast as big shots in favor of Reedus and McBride creates a flat narrative about two characters, yet still watchable, that have been established for almost 15 years. Reused Beats Unleash Fury Carol's Book when he ignores the opportunity to let secondary characters be active. Villain Stéphane Codron (played by Romain Levi) is more fleshed out than most, with his personality shining through and evolving from the stoic, oppressive soldier he was in season 1. It's a great example of how supporting characters are essential to a series, no matter how big or beloved the main characters are. Imagine The Walking Dead as if it were Rick Grimes, or Lost like the Jack Shephard story. It wouldn't work, because the secondary characters add dimension to places the main characters can't explore.
Daryl Dixon is still an ambitious love letter to apocalyptic France
Carol's book production creates an invigorating atmosphere
Continuing from season 1, Carol's Book amazes with his creation and production of the world. The cinematography is more relaxed, but still beautiful. The benefit of shooting on location is that the series draws viewers into this apocalyptic world in iconic French locations that weren’t previously explored in the first season. The environments aren’t just a visual treat, though. The filmmakers use them creatively to raise the stakes in claustrophobic action scenes. And the action is never lacking in this series; each fight scene incorporates a different choreography and direction style to freshen up the human-on-human or human-on-zombie action.
One problem with a zombie franchise that has been around for a while is that the creatures that once served as THE the danger will no longer be dangerous. by Daryl DixonThe solution is to revamp the walkers with new abilities and powers, and sometimes it's logically absurd but visually beautiful. This season's new walkers showcase the grotesque wilderness where nature takes over. It's impressive when there are new ways to make the environment itself an enemy, bringing back the man versus nature themes that were very present in the early seasons of The Walking Dead.
by Daryl Dixon The second season's overall commitment to representing France as faithfully as possible is admirable. Characters speak French when English isn't necessary, and there are some funny jokes between characters from different European cultures. And when it seems like every French person supports religious fanaticism or fascism, Carol's Book turns the tables to show ordinary people just trying to survive. It's not perfect, by any means. Some of the jokes about American versus French culture and politics don't translate well. One can't help but think that to fully commit to a show set in France, there needs to be at least one French writer.
Season 2 takes the good from The Walking Dead and the bad from the spin-offs
Daryl Dixon can't decide what kind of show he wants to be
Carol's Book actively tries to blend nostalgia and novelty, and can be a test to watch. The show is more personal and emotionally attuned, capitalizing on The Walking Deadthe long-standing devotion to exploring different responses to pain. In this sense, Carol's Book is a special addition to the franchise. But there's this nagging sense that Carol is being shoved inorganically into the show. McBride and Reedus are a rarity together, especially when they convey trauma and pain through shaken body language and tears. But it's disconcerting when Carol is put into a situation for convenience's sake, or when she suddenly becomes incredibly important to people who shouldn't care about her.
This irregular form of storytelling doesn’t give the show time to breathe and brings this era of the series to a close. The franchise has seen this show before; Carol's Book follows the structure of Those who live almost to perfection, but its main characters aren’t written with the same charismatic qualities as Rick and Michonne. Rest assured, after nearly 15 years of playing these characters, Reedus and McBride know the ins and outs to showcase all of their nuances perfectly. But Daryl and Carol work best as supporting characters. Daryl becomes a victim of these circumstances when all of the developments he made in season 1 are subverted, leaving him back where he started.
Carol's Book supports the strengths of The Walking Dead but the weak points of the spin-offs. The emotional brilliance of the series is a testament to The Walking Deadappreciation for character pieces rooted in a wild genre. Undermining this greatness is the rush to make its crossover characters the only ones worth following, something The Walking Dead: Dead City also struggles with. In the finale, it is unclear what the story is supposed to be about. Everything that was good in Season 1 is gone, but maybe Carol's Book It's just an awkward transition period for Season 3 to reach its full potential. Yet the series seems intent on doing the one thing it tried to avoid in Season 1: Americanize the The Walking Dead European Tour. At some point, the formula, no matter how much energy it contains, has to change. Otherwise, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will end up taking Daryl's “last man standing” mantra too literally.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol will debut September 29, 2024 on AMC and AMC+.