Walking Dead Primer

Okay, I’ve mentioned it before…the Average Dude’s wife has become a total zombie-fan, and I only have myself to blame. See, I introduced her to The Walking Dead just about a year ago. Since that time we’ve journeyed through 11 seasons of TWD, Fear TWD, Tales of TWD, World Beyond and now…Daryl Dixon (*note – and we both eagerly await The Ones Who Live, the Rick and Michone spinoff). That is a LOT of zombies. I will occassionally stay up after she goes to bed and watch Lower Decks just to cleanse my mental palate.

Zombies…its science!

As mentioned, Daryl Dixon is the eleventy skillionth spinoff to the amazing Walking Dead journey. Sure, I know that TWD was probably 2 or 3 seasons too long and we were all kind of ready for humanity to outlive the zombies which just kept unliving in massive herds with nothing to gnosh on, but whatevs. We all pretty much decided to suspend all disbelief when we accepted that the zoms could see, hear, think, ambulate and use their vocal chords to make raspy growls all without the benefit of a working circulatory system.

To be honest, the shock and horror aspects of TWD had pretty much worn off by the end of season 2. What captivated us was the sociological element of the show, which was infinitely more entertaining and, at times, repulsive than rotting corpses hell-bent on chowing down (without a digestive system).

TWD, the Early Days

One of the biggest draws to TWD was knowing that your favorite character could – and probably would – die at any moment. We tuned in to make sure that everyone we had grown to love were still upright, still taking nourishment (and not…you know… BECOMING nourishment…I guess…). My friends and I actually had a pool going on called Next One Dead. A little dark but whatevs. Monday morning we all commiserated at the coffee pot as someone’s emotional avatar bit it. It was both bonding and cathartic.

There were, of course, a precious few characters that would forever be immune to dying, lest the masses revolt and the show tank. Rick Grimes, the titular leader and soul of the post-zompocalypse world. Carol, for reasons I never really understood but accepted anyway. And then there’s Daryl (not to be confused with the other brother Daryl. There’s your obligatory Daryl joke. Lets move on). Daryl Dixon, maybe even moreso than Rick, is beloved by all. Certainly worthy of his own spinoff.

Daryl Dixon is Batman…sort of

The legend that is Daryl Dixon grew from humble beginnings. His brother Merle (played by the awesome Michael Rooker) was an abusive, bigoted drug abuser, dealer and possum-eater. Short on ethics but long on survival skills. He was an alpha male in the most primal sense (so, not the good kind). And he was intentionally hard on his little brother. Partly because he wanted to make his little brother tough, partly because he was a sadistic douche-hammer. Many of those fine qualities he imparted to Daryl.

But in spite of (or possibly because of) that role model, the intrinsic good guy bad @$$ at his core emerged. In a world where only the hard would survive, Daryl Dixon absolutely became the hero everyone needed. And if he ever got dined up on by the undead, there would be rioting in the streets.

Daryl Dixon goes international

Fast forward to episode 1 of the Daryl Dixon solo adventures. We find DD afloat on the wreckage of a boat, washing up on unfamiliar shores. Within a short time he discovers road signs in French. Daryl has somehow and against all logical odds found himself on a right European holiday. The how of it will be (hopefully) explained during the course of the series.

And now…the shark

Here is where things get interesting. Daryl quickly learns that the European version of walkers have a dangerous new feature. Not only are there the ‘climbers’ (first seen in season 10 or 11 of TWD) but there now appear to be ‘burners’, whose internal goo is acid that burns human skin. Why doesn’t the zombie-goo burn the skin of the zombie? No clue but we are jumping the shark so we are going with it. And the upgrades don’t stop there. It looks like the tribal, tin potentate warlords that always sprout up when society implodes have created a drug that turns average zombies into uber-zombies. The zombies 2.5 are rageful and even more powerful than your standard undead.

*Note: The standard zombies seemed able to shred human skin to find the crimson treasure inside with superhuman ease. I’m waiting to see if the 2.5 version can actually leap tall buildings in a single bound. The point is, the price of survival just went up. That’s inflation, I guess.

Daryl Dixon is also Snake Plissken

Clearly, the writers of TWD ran out of compelling storylines and have switched gears for the Daryl Dixon series. And I’m totally fine with it. Sure, it’s over the top. Way over the top. But we still love Daryl and are not ready to say goodbye. This new series is no longer a study in sociology, it’s now a full-blown sci-fi epic. It was surprisingly easy to slip from one model to the next. Watching DD stab, skewer and swing a morningstar (SOOO cool) in tunnels, castle ruins or dead of night is less cerebral but no less satisfying.

Daryl Dixon Season 2 has already been greenlit and the final episode of season 1 has set the stage for what looks to be a 5 star kick@$$ ride that I for one am really psyched to watch. I’m giving Daryl Dixon Season 1 a 3.5 (knocking off .5 because reading subtitles gets tiresome) and am expecting Season 2 to be even better. And Mrs Average Dude can stave off her zombie withdrawals a little while longer. Makes me happy.

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