Episode 3 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon coldly disrupted Laurent’s spiritual passage and Isabelle’s well-earned righteousness with the vile stench of something rotten from the past. This week’s episode of the Daryl-centric spin-off reaps the morbid rewards of the very same touch of bad luck. What else can it be but a blow of sheer bad luck when the one man Isabelle left to die amidst the traces of her despondent past now holds her very fate and the fate of the miracle child in the palm of his cruel hands? Is it a wicked afterglow of love? Or does Quinn have a score to settle? Let’s find out.
Spoilers Ahead
Bye Bye, Birdies
When the ground opened up and swallowed Daryl whole in a freakish turn of events, Daryl waking up from an odd dream was not what you expected to see. That is, unless you truly bought into what Daryl’s exhausted subconscious was comforting him with. And no one would blame you for it either. For it really did look like a pensive foreshadowing of something that I’d bet my money on. The extent of Laurent’s abilities being frustratingly elusive does allow us to entertain the possibility that he just might be able to lead a horde of the undead away someday. But to wake up from such a hopeful dream only to have to stab a couple of bloated zombies underwater—life just isn’t being fair to Daryl.
At least the sight of a French lane that seems to have forgotten that the world as we knew it has ended is eerie enough for Daryl to forget all about it for a moment. Here, a cello sings the notes of the gift that is normalcy, and an old couple goes on celebrating their mundane love languages as though there aren’t hungry, growling walkers roaming the street. They don’t call it the city of love for nothing. And judging by the way Fallou’s sweet old comms guy lays his life down to free the little homing pigeons from the Guerrier’s fatal clutches, Paris really does seem to know a thing or two about love.
Where Is Laurent?
Hurrying through the dead streets of the city, which our scruffy hero finds rather disenchanting, gives Isabelle a chance to mend what’s broken. Tension was at a high, and things were said that neither party was cruel enough to mean. Isabelle never needed a hero. What she needed was someone who’d stick by her side and work as an equal. And as they make their way to the now-broken Eiffel Tower, under which Laurent stands and takes the phantom memory of his mother in, Daryl and Isabelle work as a real team of equals. Even if Daryl’s dream about Laurent’s immunity to the undead’s detection were to come true at some point, that day is not today.
Laurent’s first, terrifying encounter with a ginormous horde proves to be too overwhelming for even the miracle that he is. This sure does give our not-so-meek nun a shot to showcase her brain-stabbing skills, though. But all this toiling only to see Laurent being taken away by goons? His fierce auntie can’t allow that. Even without Daryl having to try his hand at storytelling, Armand probably would’ve cowered after a few punches and spilled the beans about Quinn’s appalling plan. Cheating on your girlfriend with her own sister and kidnapping the child born out of the affair to get your ex back? That level of fiendishness is still shocking, even in a post-apocalyptic setting.
Why Does Isabelle Go Back To Quinn?
If I had to pick one aspect where The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has been outdoing itself with each passing episode, that would be establishing truly menacing antagonists. While the adversities Daryl and co. would have to face along the way were initially expected to come from Condron, the stakes have taken a far more demanding form with Genet’s inclusion in the mix. With a broad smile and eyes that betray just how cold her blood runs, Genet is proving to be quite the thorn in Daryl’s path. But you know what’s really terrifying about this woman who’s taken control of all of France with her merciless, authoritarian rule? It’s the fact that, even if not all the way, the French have somewhat let their guard down around her. Just how cavalier Sonia is as she dares to speak over the formidable leader of the Guerriers does make you tremble at the thought of what Genet can do to these peaceful people.
Sonia attesting to the risky truth that the faithful are awaiting the dawn of a new world under the guidance of the miracle child only puts Laurent in more danger. There are multitudes of reasons why Genet would be threatened by the child whose birth itself was an enigma. At the end of the day, even though he is a mere child now, Laurent stands as a constant threat against the control Genet has established over the apocalypse-ravaged France. And for someone who’s evil enough to acknowledge her nasty truth and still persist in her mission to terrorize, Genet can’t just let things slide, knowing Laurent and the Union of Hope can someday combine their strengths and overthrow her reign.
Despite just starting to manifest as a daunting hurdle that Daryl and Isabella would have to overcome, Quinn can’t be underestimated. Especially not when he’s reached out to Genet and lent his hand in bringing down the American who stands in the way of them both achieving their sickening goals. There’s nothing that Quinn desires more than to be able to have Isabelle be a marionette to his whims again. Abusers don’t take kindly to their victims breaking free. And seeing Isabelle transcend the darkness that’d long been holding her spirit hostage enraged Quinn. Kidnapping Laurent is his way of luring his long-lost victim in. And if Isabelle comes, Daryl is bound to follow. Thankfully, the good guys are one step ahead. Knowing Quinn will be awaiting Daryl and Isabelle’s arrival, Fallou and his people’s well-chalked-up plan of a diversion comes in rather handy.
The one mistake that Daryl does make as sentimentality clouds his judgment is letting Quinn go alive as he escorts Laurent out of Demimonde. With Azlan’s boat counting the valuable seconds until it can whisk Laurent away to the Nest, the group has every reason to make haste. But things won’t be as simple as any of us have been expecting. Genet’s Guerriers steadily guard every port, and news of any suspicious movement would reach their boss in no time. To ensure that Laurent’s Nest-bound passage won’t be halted, Isabelle will have to make a sacrifice that would mean a world of pain for her and her little nephew.
As The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Episode 3 ends with a bittersweet acknowledgment of the affection Daryl has come to harbor for the nun, we are told to brace ourselves for the horror to follow. There’s no other way for Isabelle to make sure that Laurent gets to the people who’d nurture his gifts than to trade herself in exchange for Quinn’s help. As she enters her personal hell in Demimonde, we know that Quinn has won the battle; we’ll just have to wait and see which side wins the ultimate war.
