The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

There has only been one episode of the series so far, but damn it was good, and I can see how the shows going to turn out. When this show was announced I thought it would be terrible, keying on how the original show The Walking Dead died down after about 7 seasons, (but did have a good end) and most spin offs were either okay or just bad. But maybe this is a new beginning for TWD universe. Norman Redus plays his role amazing, and I think that Daryl is just such an interesting character. The comics did not even have Daryl Dixon, so I hope this show tells us all we missed in The Walking Dead. I really can't wait for this show to unfold 😃!!

I was a bit weary coming into The Walking Dead: Darryl 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. Darryl 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 Darryl.

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.

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 Walking Dead: Darryl Dixon has absolutely lived up to all the hype. Like most, Darryl was one of my favorite characters from the original show so I've been looking forward to this. It didn't disappoint. This follows the story of fan favorite Darryl Dixon as he travels across the ocean to France. There he's put in charge of protecting a young boy who's thought to be the savior for humanity. Between this, Dead City and The Ones Who Live, The Walking Dead is back and as good as ever. This reminds me of the early seasons of the original where you couldn't wait until the next episode instead of just watching because you put so much time into it and wanted to see what happens but it almost felt like a chore. This show has refreshed a franchise many thought was on its last leg and a show where it can get a few years of being really exciting.