THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON
****
Directed by Daniel Percival, Tim Southam.
Starring Norman Reedus, Clemence Poesy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Anne Charrier, Adam Nagaitis, Romain Levi, Laika Blanc-Francard.
Horror, TV, 324 mins, Certificate 15
Out now on Blu-ray from Acorn Media
You could be forgiven for losing track with AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD franchise, particularly as two spin-offs, WORLD BEYOND and TALES OF THE WALKING DEAD, were unleashed while the original series (which commenced back in 2010) and its initial, long-running companion piece FEAR THE WALKING DEAD were still on the air. DARYL DIXON followed, by a few months the Maggie / Negan-centered DEAD CITY series in terms of original airdate though you don’t need to have kept up with any of the spinoffs (or watched all 959 seasons of THE WALKING DEAD) to follow what’s going on here. Being at least a casual fan or fancying Norman Reedus will obviously help.
Created by David Zabel, DARYL opens with Reedus’ eponymous rogue (who truly looks like he’s survived at least one apocalypse) washing up on the shores of France, having left The Commonwealth via “some bad decisions” alluded to in fleeting THE WALKING DEAD flashbacks. Within a few minutes, he’s fighting off a small horde of Walkers and getting robbed by the living, before taking refuge with a community of nuns, led by former drug addict Clemence Poesy and known as the “Union of Hope”. The post-apocalyptic convent has a weapons room (“Killer nuns, huh”) and believe humanity is undergoing a “test”. They also believe Daryl is the “Messenger” who will “deliver” Poesy’s young nephew Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) to lead humanity’s revival, due to the belief that he’s the new Messiah. (Insert your own “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty post-apocalyptic boy!” joke here). Daryl is naturally sceptical of it everyone, but bonds develop, antagonists are established, and safe havens turn out to be far from it
Subsequent episodes fill in Poesy’s troubled earlier existence and find welcome humour in the darkness, including the grizzled Daryl delivering a comical “grace” and watching MORK AND MINDY with his fellow survivors. Equally comfortable growling one-liners (“Dead priest in a closet and a creepy kid – no thanks”) as he is swinging a mace to blast the faces off the shambling undead, Reedus earns his star billing with a superb return to one of the original show’s major assets. Few could pull off a moving (fictional?) monologue about a piglet while torturing a cowering henchman like Reedus – and, yes, at one point he gets to deliver “Bon Appetit” as a kiss-off line. The unlikely connections he forms with Poesy (bringing quiet strength and vulnerability to one of the best TWD female characters to date) and the unusually likeable Scigliuzzi are well realised.
It looks like no other WALKING DEAD spinoff: the location filming in France adds immense production value and atmosphere. Pivoting around visits to two notable graves (one Jim Morrison, the other an emotional personal moment for Daryl), the six episodes showcase visually striking scenes at the Louvre Museum, Omaha Beach, Munt Saint-Michel, Pond Du Gard and in the Paris catacombs. The supporting cast is impressive, from the ever-offbeat Dominique Pinon to Anne Charrier as Madame Genet, the horribly believable Nationalist leader who, while blaming previous leaders for the Walker plague, promising a shift away from the rich few controlling the many and quoting the Bible, all too clearly represents a further threat to peace and some kind of normality. Romain Levi is an imposing presence as the soldier on a personal mission of vengeance against Daryl.
There are occasional lulls, but the shorter series format serves it well, and it’s punctuated by inventive visuals: the third episode opens with the marvellously ghoulish EC Comics-worthy image of Walkers as musical instruments in a warped kind of orchestra-at-the-end-of-the-world. The presence of acidic, black-eyed Walkers and a fight with an underwater zombie in the Lucio Fulci tradition add further spice, and the final furlong offers a show-stopping gladiatorial combat sequence ranking as one of the best scenes in any WALKING DEAD show. Long-term fans will appreciate the closing promise of a reunion that could well enhance the series’ existing dynamic.
Acorn’s two disc set contains some throwaway “Cast diaries” (4 mins) in which the cast Skype-in descriptions of their character arcs. Much better is the enjoyable documentary, “Show Me More” (43 mins) in which Reedus, Greg Nicotero and other cast and crew members discuss the challenges of finding new riffs on the format, the “super-powered walkers” and the ambitious location filming, with Reedus enthusing about the various castles, abbeys and picturesque (if Walker-ravaged) French vistas that help make DARYL DIXON such good fun.
Steven West
