The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is one of three new spin-offs of The Walking Dead to launch in the last year. Season two, coming this weekend, adds Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) to the mix, which kicks the story up a notch and pays fan service to those who love the original and the platonic dynamic between the two fan favourite characters.
In this season, you get to see a story developing for both characters. It might not, however, be in the way you might think. The season, known as The Book of Carol, isn’t quite as intense as the first with a lot to follow between the two characters in just six short episodes. But it has all the required elements to make it a successful TWD entry.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Spoiler-Free Summation
When The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon ended its first season, Daryl (Norman Reedus) was at a crossroads. Having achieved his mission of getting Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) to safety within The Nest on Mont-Saint-Michel in France, he was also starting to acclimate to this new life. He found new friends, he was training Laurent to fight, and actually cracked a smile now and then. But he knew something was missing. He wanted to go back home to the people he missed and loved in America.
But as he is about to hop aboard a boat, Laurent appears having followed him, pleading with his newfound friend and mentor to stay. Based on the trailer for season two, Daryl does stay. But the focus of this season, known as The Book of Carol, is on her character as well. In a parallel storyline, after getting worried about not hearing from her best bud, she heads out to find him. She travels to his last known location, as fans learn in the season one finale. Daryl’s long-time best friend will stop at nothing to find him. Yes, even if that means trying to find a way to cross the ocean into France.
The season follows their two journeys, Daryl fighting off enemies new and old and Carol doing what she does best and being resourceful, lethal, and fearless.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Review
Like many episodes of the original series, the season takes you on journeys as the characters fight enemies of all kinds, living and dead, searching for some semblance of life amidst chaos and devastation. The hope, of course, is that these two proverbial character ships will do more than just cross in the night. Hints in the trailer suggest they eventually meet, as fans expect. But how, when, why, and what the outcome is, is what builds through the story.
Interestingly, more important than the action is the emotional journeys both characters go on throughout the six episodes. In both cases, you see a version of the two characters you’ve never seen before, at least not to the same extent. There’s a lot of growth, healing, and confronting demons they both experience.
The season brings back some old characters, including fan favorite Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), enemy with a conscience Codron (Romain Levi), and primary antagonist Genet (Anna Charrier), all of whom experience intriguing arcs of their own as well. A lovely addition to the season is Manish Dayal as Ash, a young man with his own tragic backstory story who Carol meets along the way.
If you’re a fan of badass Carol and brooding Daryl when they’re in the throes of their best “don’t mess with me” moments, you’ll enjoy The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol. Squealed with delight after seeing Carol unexpectedly pop up in the post credits scene of season one? What she brings to the table in the following six episodes is satisfying. This is the same Carol fans have come to know and love, but also a rawer, more unhinged version, if that’s even possible. While Carol has never been afraid to make difficult decisions, there’s still something different about the person she has become today.
Overall, the season is satisfying but also feels rushed. Storylines wrap up quickly, something with which fans of the original series might not be accustomed. Consider that The Walking Dead typically aired with seasons that were anywhere from 13 up to 24 episodes. Season one of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon successfully and impressively told a compelling story from start to finish in just six-plus hours. Season two takes on a lot in following two core characters versus one, and it feels like it could (or should) have run across 10 episodes. Some storylines would have benefited with being drawn out a bit longer.
Because of that, this season feels more like part of a traditional The Walking Dead season than it does a standalone show (and full season) on its own. You could easily have watched season one of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon without having watched The Walking Dead. But in this season, Carol’s presence makes having watched at least the first half the original show’s run worthwhile to fully understand the dynamic and situation.
Should You Watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol
If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead universe and you liked the first season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, you’ll enjoy season two. It doesn’t deliver the same level of excitement as the first season, feeling more like fan service nostalgia than anything else. But it’s still a solid six-plus hours of television that will keep your attention the whole way through and have you running through a myriad of emotions along with the characters.
With the series renewed for a third season, which has already begun filming in Spain, the story continues. And we can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Stream The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol on AMC+. Episodes are released weekly from September 29, 2024 through November 3, 2024.