Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of CarolThe main hook of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol has been Carol (Melissa McBride) trying to find Daryl (Norman Reedus) in Paris, but there’s a lot more going on than just the reunion of our favorite zombie apocalypse BFFs. Daryl Dixon also had a very strong Season 1 which Carol isn’t even part of. In it, Daryl lands in France, falls for a nun named Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), and tries to protect a boy named Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), who the Union of Hope wrongly believes is a Messiah who will save humanity. Daryl must also deal with Marion Genet (Anne Charrier), a woman creating an army of super-strength walkers. In the latest episode of Daryl Dixon, Carol and Daryl reunited, but storylines with Isabelle and Marion came to a sudden and permanent end. Having so much happen all at once lessened the impact of each pivotal moment.
Carol and Daryl Finally Reunite on the ‘Walking Dead’ Spin-Off
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon had a fine first season, but as good as it was, someone was missing. Thankfully, Carol and Daryl haven’t become a couple, but Daryl is still at his best with Carol by his side. They’ve been there for each other since the beginning, challenging one another, being a source of emotional comfort, and of course, being badass walker killers. The Book of Carol has her on the search for him, quickly finding a plane to take her from the United States all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to France. Unlike The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, where Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) reunite in the pilot, The Book of Carol builds up the suspense and makes us wait.
All the anticipation was worth it, as episode 4 brings Daryl and Carol back together in a very emotional embrace. Okay, but now what? We have our moment, but we still have over two episodes left to go. Certainly, those remaining minutes will be spent on Daryl and Carol, now with Isabelle and Laurent, trying to get back to Ash (Manish Dayal), the man who brought her to France in his plane, so they can flee Marion Genet’s army and return to the Commonwealth in Ohio. Well, about that. Daryl and Carol are trying to get back to Ash, and they want Laurent to come with them, but everything else has been upended.
‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Kills Off Isabelle
Romance never seemed to truly be a priority for Daryl on The Walking Dead, but that felt like maybe it could change when he met Isabelle and was taken in by the Union of Hope. The two end up falling for each other and decide to rescue Laurent from Losang (Joel de la Fuente), a man who is certain that the young boy will save humanity. Daryl and Isabelle kiss and Isabelle even tells him that she loves him, with our hero telling the former nun all about Ohio and how he is going to take her and Laurent there, where they can do whatever they please.
Sounds a little too perfect, right? Daryl sends Laurent into hiding from Losang, but Daryl and Isabelle end up being captured by his soldiers. Neither will give up the boy’s location, even when separated, which leads a frustrated Losang to stab Isabelle in the gut. Bleeding out, she stumbles outside and meets Carol, who is now inside the walls of the Nest, having just escaped Genet’s attempt to turn her into a super walker before they attacked the Union.
A battle is breaking out around them, and in the midst of it, Daryl finds Carol. However, just seconds later, he is at Isabelle’s side, holding her as she dies, with her last words being to protect Laurent. Daryl Dixon has spent two seasons building up their relationship only to take it away when their biggest moment arrives. Isabelle may have always been doomed, but she became a central character to the series. Her death, coming just two minutes after the reunion we’d waited years for, feels rushed and anticlimactic, as if the show is pushing her out because it no longer needs her since Carol is back. Even so, later in the episode, certain instances seem to entertain the idea of Carol and Daryl being romantically involved in some way. Isabelle’s arc deserved more than that.
Marion Genet Literally Gets a Taste of Her Own Medicine
Isabelle might be dead, but Daryl doesn’t have time to grieve because he needs to find Laurent before Losang or Genet does. Daryl and Marion already have their issues (she did force him to fight a super-strength walker in a pit in the first season, after all), so it’s imperative that he stay away from her if at all possible. Marion will want Daryl dead as well as Carol now that her lie about wanting to help Marion kill Daryl has been exposed.
Marion had the chance to be one of the better Walking Dead villains, especially since episodes this season showed her backstory as a janitor at the Louvre who watched her partner die in front of her when the outbreak happened. That deeper insight into who she is sure made it feel like Genet was sticking around for a while, but just like Isabelle, she was suddenly removed from the picture as well. Genet and her forces are able to track Daryl and Carol down to a home where they’re staying at with an older couple. A gunfight ensues, which leads to Carol shooting Marion in the back with one of the darts used to turn the dead into super walkers. Unable to reach it, the serum shows what it will do to the living, as Marion’s face contorts in pain, boils of blood explode, and she eventually dies on the floor.
Daryl and Carol being together again should have been its own moment. The importance of it was so great that it couldn’t share any other moments with it, yet Daryl Dixon chose to kill off not one but two huge characters at the same time. The fact that their demises came out of nowhere lessens the sting. Daryl had an arch enemy, and he had a lover, but now, aside from possibly Laurent, he has no one but Carol, and with a return to the Commonwealth on the horizon, he’s almost back to being exactly where he was before. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has a unique story on its hands, but seems to want to throw it all away for more of the same old, same old.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol is available to watch on AMC+ and every Sunday on AMC.
