This is a non-spoiler review for all seven episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - Season 3. The series premieres Sunday, Sept. 7 on AMC.
Everyone's terse, scraggly-haired zompocalypse outdoorsman Daryl Dixon is back for a new round of European adventures, and -- yup! -- dystopian BFF Carol Peletier is still at his side. Season 3 of this Walking Dead spinoff continues to prove that more interesting things are being done in these new spinoffs -- particularly on this Daryl show -- than were explored in the final few seasons of the original series. There are some typical bumps and bruises, yes -- in the form of annoying characters and outrageous coincidences -- and Season 3 itself doesn't "up the ante" in any significant way, but it's still a solid chapter in Daryl and Carol's odyssey, with some of the best action the Walking Dead saga's ever produced.
Two things at the top here: Firstly, the season takes place in Spain (and was shot in Spain, giving everything a unique feel for the franchise). I know the italicized words above pointed at a spoiler-free review, but this was kind of a given. It's in all the promotional materials. The last we saw of Daryl and Carol, they were headed to England through the Chunnel but... there're in Spain, y'all. The season opener -- which has 28 Days Later vibes -- deals with this, while also gifting us with a fun guest spot for Stephen Merchant. It's why there are seven episodes this year instead of the usual six.
Secondly, the show (still) works well because Daryl is kind of a blank character. Let's put this another way: We know catastrophically little about Daryl given that he's been a main character on a whopping 14 seasons of television. He had an abusive childhood and can hunt and the zombie years have turned him into a near-unstoppable warrior, but that's really it. He was underserved on The Walking Dead, but on his own show he's the perfect character to have traveling to new places, meeting new people, and getting into new adventures. He comes with baggage that makes him the right amount of grumpy, and cautious, but he's a hero at heart. Having him experience other cultures, even in a ruined world setting, is why his series is superior to the back half of the old show.
This year, Daryl is reeling from the loss of Isabelle, even if they barely had any time at all as an established "thing." While the trippy Chunnel experience seemed to heal Carol, giving her final closure with Sofia, it sort of hardened Daryl, to the point where he and Carol now disagree about helping folks. Carol is more charitable and Daryl is even more closed off, singularly driven to getting back home. It's a simple, effective dynamic for Season 3 that nicely steers away from the dangerous waters of "are they actually gonna make 'Caryl' happen?" from Season 2.
And to Daryl's point, maybe these two should butt out of certain affairs because, as we know, things are tough all over. Even the most thriving communities tend to have dark secrets, so Season 3 is very much about "okay, what's wrong about THIS place?" Like how basically, for better or worse, The Walking Dead franchise is one long Woodbury, with each new locale having it's own Governor-style obstacle to overcome. The Spanish town at the center of this season is Solaz Del Mar, a survivor faction nestled inside a gorgeous, fortified medieval city. It's got it all, but of course there's always a catch.
Daryl and Carol find a temporary home with these fine folks after inadvertently saving the right people... and killing the wrong people. Which is to say that, by hook or by crook, our heroes will manifest a necessary violent confrontation between citizens and governing bodies that wouldn't have happened if they hadn't stumbled into town. Presiding over Solaz Del Mar is Óscar Jaenada's suave Federico, a ruler who definitely doesn't take to outsiders, but also a man who's under the thumb of an even bigger despot, seated in the historic El Alcazar in Seville.
So there are many fish for Daryl and Carol to fry, and at the heart of it all? The gateway call to action? Young lovers Roberto (Hugo Arbués) and Justina (Candela Saitta) -- a couple that gives metaphoric hope to Carol, who now just might be open to finding actual love herself. Also, a couple that gives Daryl heartburn, as he's temporarily taken himself out of the crusader business. And even though, you know Daryl and Carol are ultimately going to help these desperate people defeat their oppressors, it's easy to side with Daryl at the outset because Roberto can be quite grating. While Daryl exists to rarely speak his mind, Roberto is the antithesis, just a swirling combo of impetuous TV tropes that lead to him making rash decisions, getting captured (more than once), and generally causing more trouble than the visiting buttinski Americans here.
Does Roberto have reason to be reckless? Sure. His town isn't ideal and the cruel patriarchy has other designs for Justina other than letting her be with Roberto, but on a fairly decent season of a franchise that's been around for 15 years, he comes off as a lazy catalyst. Fortunately, in the plus column for Season 3 is a massively impressive city siege that brings together the best elements of Walking Dead stunt work. Plus, Season 3 even splits up Daryl and Carol for a time, pairing them with others -- like Alexandra Masangkay's Paz and Eduardo Noriega's Antonio, respectively -- giving this Daryl Dixon series some breathing room.
Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride are still a great pair, as you'd expect. Their bond runs so deep now that they can just exist in the same space and you feel the characters' history together. In a different decade of TV these two could just have new adventures each week, going all over the globe, A-Team/Kung Fu/Incredible Hulk style. The Walking Dead began as something intensely serialized and then sort of melted into a show reminiscent of a bygone era. Bottom line: If you're still locked into Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon remains the best of these last gasps.
