At last, an episode of Daryl Dixon Season 2 that was actually pretty decent, especially if you’re grading on a curve. My biggest complaint about episode 5, titled “Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir” or where there’s a will, there’s a way, is that it felt overly long and repetitive.
Basically, Daryl and Carol track down Laurent where he’s now living with Fallou and his people. Brief aside, but Fallou has the best look in the show. The snow white beard on his dark skin makes him look both erudite and rugged. I like his character and I wish the show had bothered to develop him more thoroughly. At least he’s not dead, though that could change next week, and either way I doubt we see more of him next season.
In any case, this is where we get into somewhat redundant territory. First, Fallout takes Laurent to safety. Daryl and Carol show up and Daryl breaks the news of Isabelle’s death to the boy. When Laurent says he won’t go with them to America, Daryl and Carol head off to find Ash and the plane.
Losang and his goons show up after Daryl leaves and a much-redeemed Codron takes Laurent to the Demimonde. Daryl and Carol had just been there and had headed off to find Ash at Genet’s now-overrun headquarters. Daryl returns to the Demimonde and leaves Carol to look after Ash, who has a concussion. When he gets there, he runs into Laurent once again and once again Losang and his goons show up. This time, Codron, Daryl and Laurent hide in the catacombs. Before we go further, however, I’d like to underscore what we just recapped:
In a single episode, Laurent is taken to two different safe houses, presumably a significant distance from one another, by two different men (neither of whom is Daryl) and both places are then quickly discovered by Losang and his men. Why? Why not just do it once? You could have Codron show up as Laurent and Fallou were making their way to safety. When they’re all discovered by goons, they’re separated and Codron takes Laurent to the Demimonde where he runs into Daryl. Sure, Fallou’s base is very pleasant. All the French folk wear clothes from a century ago and they’re always gardening and weaving and sewing and eating fresh bread. But it’s time wasted and when you start repeating the same thing—safety, goons show up, run away, find safety, goons show up, etc.—it gets old fast.
I did enjoy the catacomb fight scene, though it’s silly that Daryl and Codron could take out all those goons, all of whom have flashlights and are heavily armed, but at least it was entertaining. Losang turned out to be a great fighter, but Daryl was better. I think they should have had the cross fall on Losang in the end, symbolizing his fall from grace and a grave punishment for losing faith and demanding proof instead.
I also enjoyed Daryl being so honest and upfront about everything. When Carol asks what he’ll tell Laurent, he says “The truth.” When she wants to talk to Ash alone, he tells her that’s not okay and stubbornly refuses, which finally prompts her to tell him that she lied and manipulated the man. Daryl tells her that she needs to tell Ash the truth. He’s right, though it obviously doesn’t go well when she finally does.
A few other things:
- It’s unfortunate that Codron didn’t finish off Jacinta. Then again, he was pretty badly hurt and exhausted and he might not even have realized she was Losang’s second-in-command. It’s kind of funny that last week they killed the Big Bad, Genet, and this week they killed the next Big Bad, Losang, and now next we’ll have Jacinta and most likely the Demimonde boss, Anna Valery, as the twin Big Bads. But you know they won’t last.
- Using super zombies to clear out normal zombies was . . . weird? Have we seen super zombies go crazy and kill normal zombies before? Whatever, it was a clever idea, assuming Daryl knew that it would work. At the same time, it feels pretty far-fetched that they’d just happen to have those darts in the car, and Daryl’s weapon of choice, a crossbow, to shoot them with.
- I don’t think you can fly a plane like that using ethanol. I’m also not sure how they have so much ethanol and can power everything so easily, or why cars would have battery charge left, or why so many cars can drive despite having not been used or refueled in years.
I can see the final shape of this season now, very clearly. Ash tells them that the plane won’t fit four people. They won’t even get off the ground. So clearly, Ash will take Laurent with him to America, to be the surrogate son he always wanted. Whoever takes over for Jacinta when she dies will need to find away across the ocean to retrieve the Chosen One, or give it up altogether.
Meanwhile, Daryl and Carol will leave France by land vehicle and/or foot after the big confrontation with yet another Big Bad, three weeks in a row. This might be an all-time record for The Walking Dead.
All told, there wasn’t anything as egregiously stupid or implausible this week, even if it dragged a bit long and felt repetitive—while also feeling like they’re rushing to the end-game, as if the writers have tired of the France storyline and want to just kill everyone and be done with it.
I think Laurent might even be growing on me a bit. I wish I could say the same for Carol. I wish I could say I was glad that she finally told the truth, but the only reason she did was because the far more honest Daryl told her to. That’s not a very good reason—not that Carol’s reasons for lying were good, either. As Ash put it when he learned the truth, it’s not just the lie, it’s using your dead daughter to manipulate someone that’s so horrible.
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