The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

To begin with, this review is presented from the perspective of someone outside the Walking Dead universe.

The plot is quite interesting, along with Norman Reedus's excellent performance and the audiovisual quality, but it lacks clarity in several aspects.

One of the most glaring flaws is the acting and construction of the antagonists. The actors were often inexpressive; they tried so hard to convey emotion with their voices that they forgot about good body language. The construction of the antagonists is quite vague, incoherent in several scenes, to the point that it's hard to believe they're actually antagonists. As a result, they fail to make us empathize with Isabelle. They present a morally confusing, or even a good, antagonist that takes us out of the immersion.

To be more specific, there are some small gaps in the logic, one of the main ones being the use of weapons. How is it possible that almost all the weapons are pure bolt-action rifles when there is such a variety of European weapons manufacturers?

Those details aside, it's a good plot and a pretty good series, although it's not entirely convincing.

A series on Dixon gives Walking Dead a little more focus without the somewhat dreary dialog that sometimes fills a few episodes. But what is with their take on France? Do Americans really think that old muskets and Napoleonic pistols is all that Europeans have at hand for the Apocalypse? You do know that Glock is an Austrian company, right? Or that everyone is happy to talk English to Americans? I thought the French would have had enough of American tourists with zero language skills to have killed Dixon on the spot....but back to the series: it has a nice flow, some new zombie types and all in all better than expected if somewhat flawed around the edges.

The high ratings and glowing reviews, promoted to the top of the results, exemplify all that is wrong with current fandoms. The fans of an IP are so slavishly devoted to their parasocial relationship with a show/game/movie/book that any criticism of that property is felt as a personal attack and, as such, generates a vociferous defence.

Daryl Dixon, while being an interesting character, has been abused by the writing staff for years and finally pummelled into what we are given in this show: a bland, one-note character that looks the same, says the same old things and performs the same old actions.

To make the character stand out, he is surrounded by idiots acting in idiotic ways. We are expected to believe that these people have survived decades of a zombie apocalypse and then act in the dumbest ways imaginable.

Every egregiously stupid action performed is unnecessary - dozens of alternatives that hit the same story beats exist for each scenario, but in this show the writers have chosen the laziest, tropiest and most idiotic options that it boggles the mind as to how people watching aren't all suffering from vertigo from the constant eye-rolling.

And yet, the fandom laps it up. People wonder why so much dreck is produced these days, and it is because these fandoms accept existence over quality. We need to hold our entertainment to a higher standard and only then will there once again be a drive to produce quality art instead of just producing... something.

There was real potential for this show, a true chance to try something different and elevate the artform. With so many spinoffs it should have been possible to tell interesting stories in interesting ways, to generate some new styles and flavours to complement the existing offerings.

But instead we are given the same dull grey gruel and it is only delusion that makes some think they are eating a delectable ice cream sundae.

I love how they have developed his character through the walking dead, and how the keep doing that in the series Daryl Dixon. He is a man who came out as a better man from the apocalypse. He is well grounded, kind, good-hearted and knows his priorities. And he does what it takes to stand up for himself and those he protect. He has depth. Also I love the European take on this sequel. Have seen Dead city with the New York theme, New York being a city with a strong character itself, gives the quite worn out content new life. So does the European theme in Daryl's story. They capture the culture, the history, the people and the nature in a way that gives the series a whole new depth. Daryl fits right in here and his character grows with it. Well done!

I was a bit weary coming into The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon because of how hit or miss the original and Fear the Walking Dead have been over the last few seasons. Then I saw The Walking Dead: Dead City and got excited again because I really enjoyed that a lot more than I thought I would. The trailers for this didn't give away too much but just enough to get people excited. Like many have said this story is a lot like The Last of Us where a man has to travel with a really important kid across the country and dealing with a bunch of dangerous situations, both alive and dead. Daryl is still the star and biggest reason to watch but the new supporting characters are also interesting enough to tune in. Norman Reedus does such an excellent job as Daryl.