'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' Season Finale Is as Wretched as It Is Pointless

The final original season of Showtime’s Dexter aired in 2013, three years after AMC’s The Walking Dead debuted. Since then, Dexter has been rebooted twice, with a prequel due out next month. The last four seasons of Dexter were underwhelming, but the first reboot found success, and there’s genuine excitement for the second, thanks to its new takes - a serial-killing son and an upstate New York setting in one, with an entirely new cast in the upcoming prequel.

The Walking Dead, however, has been airing continuously since 2010. While it’s spun its characters into five spin-offs and an anthology series, it’s offered little break and even less that’s truly new. As many fans acknowledge, the series peaked with the long-awaited introduction of Negan back in 2015—almost a decade ago. The thrilling moments have dwindled since, leading us to the second season finale of the awkwardly named The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol, now featuring two fan favorites set against a French backdrop.

Honestly, the season was a slog, and it’s hard to shake the sense that the series — now propped up by a struggling streaming network instead of cable’s reigning giant — is just going through the motions, trying to keep AMC propped up in between seasons of Interview with a Vampire. Once, The Walking Dead was engaging, sometimes unpredictable, and often heartfelt, capable of delivering devastating blows. But now, it’s more lifeless than its zombies.

Spoilers

Daryl Dixon, once the quiet outsider with a punchy one-liner here and there, now casts his stoic demeanor over the entire spin-off. Last season, he was given a love interest in a nun-turned-ally (Clémence Poésy), but after building that bond for around ten episodes, the series abruptly and almost nonchalantly killed her off, seemingly to make space for Carol’s return.

I stuck with this season, hoping that, at least, Carol and Daryl’s reunion would bring back some of the old The Walking Dead magic. But even that was anticlimactic and lackluster, quickly giving way to the show’s latest mission: protecting a French child another TWD cult believes is the key to ending the zombie apocalypse, much like Ellie in The Last of Us.

In the end, Carol and Daryl manage to get the French child on a plane with Ash (Manish Dayal), a new character, headed for America—likely not to be seen again, at least anytime soon. Meanwhile, Daryl and Carol fend off attackers to secure the plane’s escape, leaving them stranded in France. Their new plan? Cross the Chunnel to England, eventually hoping to make it back to America. The finale wraps with them heading into the Chunnel toward London, and yet the season preview somehow teases their next location: Spain, now featuring Stephen Merchant.

Maybe Stephen Merchant will inject some fresh energy into the series, but I’m doubtful. The early seasons of The Walking Dead thrived on character churn, gripping new villains each season, and the genuine sense that anyone could die. Now, we’re just following the same, thickly plot-armored characters through new backdrops. Any new faces are glorified red shirts, and while the original show never had a definitive point, these spin-offs are all about finding a way back home, clinging to the “happily ever after” the original The Walking Dead already accomplished.

Until The Walking Dead universe brings in new main characters, shifts its tone, and quits recycling the same storylines, it’ll keep bleeding its last loyal viewers. I’m as faithful a fan as they come, but even I’m mostly checked out, just half-watching and waiting for something — anything — to shake up the status quo.