Paris Sera Toujours Paris
- Episode aired Sep 24, 2023
- TV-MA
- 48m
The group arrives in Paris, Isabelle confronts her past while getting closer to Daryl; Codron seeks help from the leader of a growing nationalist movement called Pouvoir, putting the Union o... Read allThe group arrives in Paris, Isabelle confronts her past while getting closer to Daryl; Codron seeks help from the leader of a growing nationalist movement called Pouvoir, putting the Union of Hope and Laurent under dangerous scrutiny.The group arrives in Paris, Isabelle confronts her past while getting closer to Daryl; Codron seeks help from the leader of a growing nationalist movement called Pouvoir, putting the Union of Hope and Laurent under dangerous scrutiny.
- Coco
- (as Hugo Bardin aka Paloma)
- Aimée
- (as Naia Pichler)
Featured reviews
Fear The Walking Dead is better don't understand why this and Dead City receive so many high ratings while Fear TWD final seasons receive so much massive hate the TWD fanbase is beyond sick and these IMDB ratings should be completely ignored...worse than critic reviews!
Continuing Daryl's mission to return home, he and his companions need to cross Paris. As soon as they arrive, we meet a group that has developed in the outskirts of the city of light. I'm really enjoying the way the series is portraying Paris, which since the last episode has been approached as a character apart from the series, showing that the city functions - obviously differently - even after the end of the world. The scale and proportion that the technical aspects are taking in this spin-off are exceptional. Simply cinematic. As for the new group shown here, it's what I say every episode: another generic community that doesn't add to the story, except for making Laurent help a grieving woman, which further enhances the belief that the boy is the new Messiah. The leader of the community even shows to be an interesting character, leading the group to a place where Daryl can get the boat to return to the United States. This character was a great addition to the series' cast, and I genuinely hope he returns in future episodes.
Upon arriving at this new location, we discover that Isabelle's ex-husband, Quinn, is Laurent's father, which means he had a relationship with both sisters. I didn't expect anything from this character to reappear (since he was shown as a supporting character in the previous episode) and even less that he would be the boy's father. On the other hand, it seems that this hook left will play a relevant role in the development of the relationship between Isabelle and Laurent, as she now has one more thing to hide from the boy. Hopefully, this will have an impact on the plot and not just be an irrelevant revelation that leads nowhere.
Another scene that caught my attention here in this episode was the moment Isabelle returns to her old home with Daryl. The dialogue and similarities between the two characters create a chemistry between them in a surprisingly quick way, but enough to make us attach to them. With this character's growth and The Walking Dead's history of killing off characters just as they're growing, unfortunately, it is possible that her death will occur at the end of the season.
The scene of the walkers falling from the building and resisting shows the danger of the variants, which have been the great attraction of this series. However, what stands out most in this sequence is the walker child Aimeé, who was Isabelle's neighbor. Before the world fell - as shown in the previous episode - Isabelle didn't want to talk about what was happening to not scare the girl. When we see Isabelle leaving the building to leave Paris, she is looking at the little girl, and her concern about what could happen to the girl is clear - and it happens. This even shows a different approach since we rarely see walker children in all the productions of the universe. Here we see again the issue of experiments with the variants, now with an agile and strong walker, who can easily break free from chains. It is still uncertain whether these variants will actually become troublesome at some point or if they will remain only in these isolated samples, but it is really exciting to see these new walkers, and this ends up giving a breath to the franchise.
But overall, the feeling is of an arbitrary story. If in the first episodes we had those medieval inspirations, now everything here has a foot in the contemporary, especially in the nightclub block. The series' language is random, even in the way the characters' journey is not well delineated, because at one moment they are going somewhere, at another they change their minds, one moment Daryl wants a radio, the next he wants to help Isabelle get a photo of her sister... I understand the appreciation for a more intimate chapter, but better dialogues and a dramaturgy with weight are lacking for the conversations between Daryl and Isabelle to gain emotion.
Furthermore, I am having difficulty understanding the characters' arcs. Daryl seems like a visitor on the adventure, doing what they ask of him and serving as a leader whenever danger comes, but we haven't had any development that advances or makes us reflect on the character's traumas and past events, or any element that shows any kind of evolution. It's the same old Daryl. As for Isabelle, she is a compilation of generic elements from the franchise, and Laurent, well, so far this chosen prophet metaphor doesn't make much sense, and these suggestions that he is special are insufficient to create any dramatic interest in the story.
I'll say if it continues with the humdrum storyline this will be a one season series and sadly DD's character will not be remembered for his time in Paris.
We need to see some of the DD from the original and spice it up with the character and not the zombies (pun intended). Not to be a Debbie downer but if the writers don't ramp it up, they'll lose this viewer.
The group arrives in Paris, Isabelle confronts her past while getting closer to Daryl; Codron seeks help from the leader of a growing nationalist movement called Pouvoir, putting the Union of Hope and Laurent under dangerous scrutiny.
Great establishing shots, the production and art design were fantastic. The mise-en-scene was also quite great, they set up each shot so perfectly and I think the steadicam and the lens choice is perfect for the show. The cinematography is truly amazing. I love how they've finally arrived in Paris, a city I visited back in August and seeing all the landmarks in this show and simply the way they shot it, made me smile. Everything around the filmmaking was great in my opinion. The pacing is good and I would say it's nicely edited. The set design, costume and makeup department, lightning, composition, and so on. Everything about the filmmaking is great, direction too.
This was actually a pretty good episode, not as great as the previous two though, but hey that's completely alright. With three episodes left, the show needed a slow burner for building up towards the final three. The Walking Dead have always been about the characters, which is the true reason it's called The Walking Dead, because of the quote said by Rick Grimes. That's why an episode like this is great to me, giving us time with characters and seeing them grow, it's important. Daryl Dixon has been with the main show since the first season, here he is on his own show and still growing as a person. This episode focuses on Daryl and Isabelle, two great characters. It's great drama. For the last remaining episodes, all characters and groups/establishments have been introduced, now the sole focus can be to tell the remaining story. There's one thing I really disliked and found to be some TWD S11 and Fear kind of writing, the ending. It left a sour taste in my mouth, it's nothing big. Overall, the writing was good, Coline Abert is fairly new to the industry but two things I loved about her writing was the dialogue and knowledge of Paris, her being bilingual is probably the reason for that. Loving the authenticity and the French dialogue throughout the show.
Did you know
- TriviaWhen the group arrives in Paris and passes by Jim Morrison's grave, in Pere Lachaise, the song playing is C'est Étrange by Philonico. It is the French version of "People Are Strange" from The Doors' 1967 album "Strange Days." Morrison was the lead singer of The Doors. The inscription on the tombstone reads "KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY," which translates to "true to his own spirit."
- GoofsThere is a reason Daryl has not been stabbing walkers when there is only a few at a time. Since these walkers have acid in their blood getting close to them is riskier as they can burn with a simple touch, plus it would likely degrade the blade of a knife. Also with access to black powder rifles ammo isn't as scarce, as black powder is fairly easy to make.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Isabelle Carrière: This is the town of Angers. We can radio from here and get directions on where we should head next.
- SoundtracksC'est étrange
(uncredited)
Written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger and The Doors
Performed by Philonico
[French cover of "People Are Strange" plays during Paris scenes]
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Filming locations
- Catacombs of Paris - 1 Av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris, France(Fallou takes Daryl, Isabelle, Sylvie and Laurent through the Catacombs)
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 48m
- Color