WALKING DEAD'S DARYL DIXON #3: THE GOOD. THE BAD. THE UNDEAD.

AMC's Walking Dead spinoff, Daryl Dixon: Season 3, has begun, with an initial chapter that captures the grit, desperation and determination that defined its previous seasons.

The show's accent resumes a disguised, western drawl, which isn't uncommon for any Walking Dead incarnation (no matter the time or location). To press the matter, it constructs the Daryl/Carol, Norman Reedus/Melissa McBride, poster-front tease. That means Daryl Dixon: Season 3 lives up to its sharp, graphic hype. 

Season 3's opener transitions our dynamic duo beyond France into England, with the promise of Spain (the eventual hub of this season and where most spaghetti westerns were shot, albeit seasoned by an Italian touch), with aspirations to return to America. Along the way (in the mid-aforementioned realm), our heroes come upon Stephen Merchant's Scotch-sharing/sailboat-harboring Julian Chamberlain, "the last Englishman on Earth," whose chipper persona gives way to more questions, though also another chance at hope. (One may wonder why a bloke would be so congenial in light of such supreme danger, unless there's a catch? But then, sometimes people, even under doleful duress, can still be, well, nice. Regardless of his disposition or motive, Julian appears for only a brief time, but as to why, you'll just have to see for yourself.)  

As always, Daryl and Carol make due with what they're dealt, though it appears they'll assimilate in a Spanish, coastal town (hints of which we start to get about forty-five minutes in), featuring a medieval city/fortress (i.e., another variant of the the fabled Woodbury, no doubt), occupied by residents defined by their attitudes and customs. More high tensions will bleed from this (per a yet-to-come reveal, spurring conflict that appears to invoke The Magnificent 7, The Wild Bunch and Guns for San Sebastian), with walkers doing their ravenous thing whenever jolts are required. (FYI: The opener's British flesh-feasters are quite chilling, thanks to their by-chance, vegetated camouflage.) 

With this said, The Walking Dead wouldn't be The Walking Dead without its walkers (something that both devotees and detractors have acknowledged time and again), but it's the Daryl/Carol interaction that defines this grim melodrama (with all the profound and petty swings the characters can bring). For the sake of the couple's dark, human adventure, they count for a lot and damn well should. Daryl and Carol are the reason we watch. 

As one may infer, this season is off to a sturdy start, and when its seven episodes are through, I'll return with a hardy overview.  

I saw Daryl's Book of Carol (Season Concludes)

Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol was good, damn good, in fact. The Shane aspect remained (and there was even a reversal variant to accompany it), but The Searchers component was its thrust, even with the concept already tested in the Maggie/Negan venture, Dead City. With this popular trope inserted, a resilient quest pushes The Book of Carol, in which our titular lady seeks our titular gent (ah, signs of Leia and Han when Star Wars was good).   

Between these themes, there's significant chemistry, thanks in no small part to the characters, which in turn succeed because of their performers: Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Louis Puech Squigliuzzi, Manash Dayal, Clemence Posey, Anne Charier, Adam Nagiatis, Lukerya Ilayshenko, Roman Levi, Joel de la Fuente, Eriq Ebouany, among many others. They team up, divide, console and fight, holding different views and motives throughout their perils, sometimes at the cost of their lives, but in a way, their combative positions are nowhere near as myopic or intolerant as what we find in our rueful, present day. 

The Book of Carol, moreover, rises to the occasion because it analyzes what results from such conflict: faith, cynicism, hope and deceit (the latter most evident when Carol lies to Ash, so he'll take her to France). Such ambivalent additives distinguish any life. Though Daryl Dixon (like any Walking Dead tributary) is fictional, it's also like any worth-while Star Trek adventure, swinging right back to earth, right into stark reality, after its allegory is completed. When one peels away its reflective layers, one sees nothing but sincerity. (Try to find that in Harry Potter or This is Us. Go on. I dare you.) 

It now appears (per handy gossip) that Daryl Dixon: Season 3 will take place in Spain, and perhaps that's where we'll receive a closer-to-the-bone confirmation as to whether Laurent is ethereal or just a pampered, run-of-the-mill kid as he resides with his new, surrogate dad. Whatever happens, it's certain to be historic, but then when all is said and done, what stretch of The Walking Dead hasn't been?  

AMC's Daryl Dixon Miniseries: A Dystopic Western in Zombie France

The Loner, Tate ... The Rebel, these are classic-western forerunners for another Walking Dead. Daryl Dixon is the disguised result, the remedy for those starved for more showdowns with the living dead.  

Norman Reedus' conscientious tough guy is now a hope-churning drifter (in search of an allegorical, lost chord) in France, the place where the disease emanated. There's no evading this fictional, scientific fact, unlike the true-blue ruse of Chinese gain-of-function not causing COVID (snicker). 

Daryl is uncertain how he got washed up on a French shore, but he's apt to connect the dots (and all the far-reaching clues the process delivers), recording his observations much like Paul Mantee's Commander Christopher "Kit" Draper in Robinson Crusoe on Mars. This ought to give the adventure an identifiable narrative, but then Mr. Dixon has always been the sort of hero through whose eyes we like to peer. 

It's a given that Daryl will encounter the good, the bad and the ugly (even if the specifics are now undefined), just as Maggie and Negan did in their Dead City nod to The Searchers, but per Walking Dead's intrinsic tradition, there's bound to be some existentialism interwoven and perhaps more questions than answers. (The series might mirror Jack Nicholson/Monty Hellman's surrealistic The Shooting, with choice chunks of Jean Rollin's The Grapes of Death; I can only trust that it will, based on those teasing trailers.) 

To buffer Reedus' reprise, he's joined by Clemence (Tenet) Poesy's Isabelle Carriere, a battle-ready nun, and Adam (The Terror) Nagatis' mercurial, nightclub owner, Quinn. They, in turn, are joined by Laika Blanc Francard's Sylvie; Romain Levi's Stephane Codron; Anne Charrier's Marion Genet; Eriq Ebouaney's Fallou Boukar; Louis Puech Scuigluzzi's Laurent; and if the rumors are true, (somehow, someway) Melissa McBride's Carol Peletier. 

The Daryl Dixon's six-part spinoff starts Sept 10. I'll be watching, and if you're a Walking Dead fan (and if not, why the hell are you here?), you'll be doing the same. 

Collectible Time: Walking Dead 10" Daryl Dixon #2

My wife, Donna surprised me with an early Christmas present: an item that I had a tough time finding and figured I'd have to live without. 

It's another in the McFarlane 10" "Walking Dead" series and the second Daryl Dixon representation in the prestigious line. 

The resemblance to Norman Reedus is as exceptional and comparable to the previous, "poncho" release. When the figure is viewed from the back, one can appreciate Dixon's angel-wings, vest design.  

Dixon also comes equipped with his trusty bow, a knife and a handy rocket launcher. 

I don't know how I got along without this dandy, zombie-slayer piece for as long as I did. Thank you, Donna for remedying a big gap in my "Walking Dead" collection. 

The Walking Dead Season 10: Will it Die on the Vine?

Good ol' James Woods got it right. "Walking Dead" has turned into a chick-fest, and that ain't right. On the other hand, in light of other fanciful forms of entertainment ("Maleficient the Benign", "Socialist Beasts", etc), it still remains a godsend, albeit at present a misguided one.

I suppose that Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)'s departure was the first sign of decline. Perhaps the series should have said goodbye at that point or shortly thereafter. A greater emphasis on Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) should have stepped in, as many of us thought would be the case, but promises are often the result of the crafty rumor mill. (And yet what does Season 10's poster reveal?! Say, we may yet get our wish. Nah, we'll probably just be fooled again.)

"Walking Dead" needs more unapologetic grit and shock-to-the-system surprise like it once had. It needs its core characters in the forefront. New folks are fine, but not when they take the reins coming outta left field, as became the case with those whispery Whisperers.

I want sheer madness and sadness reinstalled in "Walking Dead". I want that nail-biting edginess that made me not want to go to sleep on a Sunday night, even though better-be-spry Monday was in wait. I want the Governor (David Morrisey) back (somehow, someway), so that he can fight Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) for control, but I guess that's a scenario destined only for fan fiction. 

If I miss an episode of "Walking Dead" now, I'm content to catch it later. Never saw that coming. At the same time, I haven't given up on the saga, not by a long shot. I still want it to go out with a bang, even if that means every last lead dies as a consequence. 

Maybe Season 10 will go that cataclysmic path or at least die on the vine trying.  

For better or worse, the flesh-eating infestation returns Oct 6.