At the top of my list is the removal of the very
American title character (played by Norman Reedus) into a French setting, which
begins with Dixon waking to find himself washed ashore on a beach where he is
almost immediately confronted by a “burner,” a new type of super-strong and
super-speedy zombie with acidic body fluids that burn whoever they touch. Of
course, Daryl is touched but he prevails and begins his journey inland, toward
Paris and onward to Normandy beach where he ends the six-episode first season
torn between catching his scheduled ride across the Atlantic back home, or
saving a child who seems to be in danger of being swarmed by zombies.
Between the two beaches Daryl is caught up in the
contest for power that is taking place between two groups: the bad guys being
the fascist-identified Pouvoir des Vivants (Power of the Living) paramilitary organization
headed by Madame Genet (played by Anne Charrier) and her team of mad scientists,
and the good guys being the “resistance” guerrilla group Union de L'Espoir (Union
of Hope) and brave Catholic clergy who inspire them.
Daryl is dragged into the fray by Isabelle (played
by Clémence Poésy), a nun who persuades Daryl to protect a teenage boy named
Laurent (played by Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) whose odd ability to psychically
control the new superzombies endows him with a messianic aura. The boy is a
John Connor-like figure whose youthfulness makes him vulnerable... for now.
A majority of the online reviewers pointed out that
the cinematography was possibly the strongest element in this spinoff, and I am
pretty much in agreement with them. The locations were obviously “exotic” when
considered in contrast to the backwoods persona of Daryl Dixon and the North
American forested settings that much of the original series was filmed in. Suddenly
the incredibly stereotyped American icon (representative of the ironic
knowledge that comes not from formal education but from the school of hard
knocks—and Daryl has gotten a lot of knocks) is set within a background that
represents a more ancient European cultural history. The contrast is beautiful.
Given that I viewed the series on a low-quality
streaming service from China which offered a sometimes hazy screen, a mismatch
between image and audio, and the constant interruption of advertising banners,
it says a lot that the visual beauty of the Parisian and French countryside
settings could still pop through the haze.
But like the zombies that are ever present in the
background of all Walking Dead
narratives, so too we could see behind the magnificence of French art and architecture
the shambling undead European history of violence in both physical and philosophical
forms.
Daryl has been plucked from his homeland and plunked
down in the midst of this ancient empire of clashing ideals, kidnapped as fresh
blood for the experiments being carried out by the mad scientists of the fascist
Pouvoir des Vivants organization that is trying to create a new army of superzombies.
(There’s nothing new here for fans of the Nazi zombie subgenre. Move along,
now.) Of course, the indomitable Daryl Dixon breaks the chains that bound him,
becoming both the white whale destroyer and the sole survivor of the shitwreck,
er, shipwreck.
While he’s in France, however, Daryl has a chance to
root his personal history into the soil of the larger European history. His
grandfather had volunteered to fight in the Second World War, and the elder
Dixon’s grave is part of the veterans’ memorial that Daryl will visit when he
finally arrives at Normandy. This is a noticeable and important theme, the
grandson inheriting the pain that is born of the ancestor’s choices. Apparently
the Dixon kin passed along a resentment of the grandfather’s decision to
volunteer in a war they did not see as their own. Similarly, Daryl does not see
himself as belonging to the ongoing struggle in France between the fascists and
the liberal humanists, both groups seeing themselves as inheritors of a noble
past.
The art that features so beautifully in this show
also highlights the schism between the two ideologies. Madame Genet reveals
that in the “Before” she was a night
watchman in the Louvre — “just me and the art: thousands of eyes followed me
around.” Those eyes of history have transferred to her a grandiose vision of a
future in which the individual is less important than the whole, the nation.
Hers is a prototypical form of fascism born from the myths and legends of supernatural
inheritances. The fall of the world to a zombie plague is merely another
opportunity to re-invigorate the fascist idea of a nationalist utopia. Inspired
by the eyes of the historical artwork figures, Genet takes upon herself the
goal of resurrecting the ancient warrior history of fiefdoms and kings. And like
so many villains, she is given some of the best lines: “We are the future for
the future; we do the hard things.”
The supernatural is also a part of the resistance
movement that is built upon the leftover representatives of the Catholic Church
and their belief that the life of every human is sacred in the eyes of God.
Theirs is a simple goal of re-establishing the political structures that
guaranteed the ability of every person within the society to choose to do good
for everyone, not to be forced into obedience. They carry on the hope that
humans will make the right choices because the spark of divinity, of love, rests
within the human spirit.
Surrounded by the latter group, Daryl cannot help
but be pushed into conversations about serious ideas. While he starts off
arguing that “this isn’t my fight,” he eventually displays an awareness that he
is following in the footsteps of his grandfather who sacrificed himself as a
player in yet another clash of ideologies, the ending of which would impact
human societies around the world. Daryl’s grandfather understood that and
volunteered to fight fascism. Daryl would eventually come to the same choice,
actively supporting the Union de L'Espoir movement by protecting the teenaged
messiah figure.
Placing an adolescent at the center of the plot
helps to highlight Daryl’s own mixed feelings and gradual shift in ideological commitment.
Daryl carries within himself the pain that came of an abusive father whose
brokenness can be traced directly to the grandfather’s decision to leave his
family and serve a larger goal. Now Daryl can confront his grandfather and
forgive him. The suggestion, of course, is that Daryl’s presence upon the
European continent is a continuation of a Divine intervention, of God placing
him into as a chosen warrior within a larger fight between ideologies.
Whether Daryl follows his grandfather’s footsteps
and continues to battle the spread of fascism within the homeland heart of
Western culture, or steps onto the boat that will take him back home is
something we will only find out if and when there is a second season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
Closing
Note
Daryl Dixon is both the highest critic and fan-rated
show in the entire Walking Dead
series, which is made up of six shows of varying lengths. Here they are in
order:
The
Walking Dead (11 seasons) – 79% critic score, 78%
audience score
Fear
the Walking Dead (8 seasons) – 73% critic score, 59%
audience score
The
Walking Dead: World Beyond (2 seasons) – 46% critic score,
35% audience score
Tales
of the Walking Dead (1 season) – 74% critic score, 57%
audience score
The
Walking Dead: Dead City (1 season, renewed for 2) – 81%
critic score, 79% audience score
The
Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (1 season, renewed for 2) – 90%
critic score, 89% audience score.
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