Welcome back, Multiversity readers; we’ve finally reached the season one finale of TWD: Daryl Dixon. The Last we’d seen of our man Daryl Dixon was him getting ready to put on a show for Genet and her army of degenerates, with Sister Isabelle and Laurent as unwilling spectators. Let’s jump right into how Daryl makes his escape and if they can make it to The Nest in “Coming Home.”
1. Gladiator Time
We start right where we left off, with Daryl facing off against a burner inside Genet’s coliseum-like battleground. It’s clear they wanted a show more than to kill Daryl because they gave him a weapon. Once he figures out it’s a burner, he maintains a small distance, but once he grabs the French flag, he plants it right into the head of the zombie and is victorious. Round two is more of a twist with more zombies, four in total, and he is also handcuffed to Quinn. The two initially think it’s a battle to the death, but once the spotlight showcases the zombies on every wall, they work together. Daryl takes the lead, but to Quinn’s benefit, he manages to hold his own against the zombies. Survival makes friends out of anyone, and after the last zombie is killed, Genet once again tries to figure out her next move, but thankfully, Fallou snuck a gun in and helps with their escape out of the structure.
2. Wait, What?!
The real kicker from this episode comes once again from Stéphane Codron, the man who has had Daryl in his crosshairs since episode one. After Daryl, Laurent, Sister Isabelle, and Sister Sylvie escape from Genet’s, the van breaks down, and Codron and three other soldiers immediately surround them. Their objective is to kill all of them, starting with Laurent, so Codron aims the gun at Laurent and, with his hand shaking, shoots all of the soldiers rather than Daryl and his crew. Codron even gives directions to The Nest to help them, and it feels so out of left field for him since he’s been on a revenge kick the entire time. Hell, he didn’t even aim the gun at Daryl during the whole interaction; you’d think he’d have gone for a flesh wound or something. Once he returns to Genet, he explains he couldn’t go through with killing a child, but it still feels out of his character; maybe they’ll work on a redemption or more background next season, but hey, it worked out for Daryl.
3. The Nest
Before we credit Codron for giving them directions, one of the soldiers stabs Isabelle near the neck, so Daryl’s crew must patch her up for the rest of the walk to The Nest. However, similar to the Abbey at the beginning, it’s in a giant, secluded castle with many people waiting for Laurent and Daryl. It’s filled with children for Laurent to play with, adults ready to take Daryl’s advice for weapons training, first aid for Isabelle, and, most importantly, a connection to get back to the United States. There’s this slight Nacho Libre vibe to this scene as Daryl feels ingrained with The Nest’s people despite him being the odd man out, religious-wise. It’s pretty easy to tell that Daryl wishes to stay and play a similar role to what he did in Alexandria as a protector, but he also knows that his friends and family back home are waiting for him.
4. Leave At Dawn
The leader of The Nest, a man named Losang, gives Daryl the information on how he can get back home. Losang does his best to persuade him to stay, but in the previous episode, we’d been shown that when he was in Maine, he made contact with Carol, which feels like a guiding light for him back home. Daryl journeys to meet the boat, which coincides with a graveyard filled with American soldiers, one of whom is his grandfather. It’s a weird connection; they once again forced into the storyline for this finale. There was a brief flashback of a soldier dying on a beach, and then it jumped right into Daryl in the fight, and he mentioned the connection to Isabelle while he was fixing the car. Back to the boat, as he sees it pass by, the graveyard is suddenly filled with zombies, so he has to fight his way to the beach. Of course, he makes it, and right before he walks to the boat, Laurent comes out of nowhere and says, “Daryl!” then the scene ends. Although it’s supposed to be a sweet moment, considering the bond they have formed, it feels more awkward and forced.
5. One Last Thing
The final scene of season one shows a man on a motorcycle being chased down a road in Maine. This man is someone new, and we’re unable to see the driver’s identity until the man blocks the road and shoots into the car to get it to stop; it’s Carol behind the wheel. Despite having a shotgun at her the entire time, anyone watching waits for the moment he drops his guard so she can capitalize and knock him out. The bike he was riding was Daryl’s, so after Carol ties him up in her trunk, she gets the information on where he supposedly traded it and heads back into Maine. The primary focus for this first season was Daryl, so it looks like season two could have Carol’s perspective to find out what happened to him and his attempt to get back…or not. It’s funny since Carol was initially supposed to be one of the leads of this spin-off but backed out for understandable reasons, she is now back in to protect her friend. Overall, it was an interesting season showing a different side of Daryl, but this finale had too many storylines or moments forced into it to feel like a good send-off.
