The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, or simply Daryl Dixon, is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series created by David Zabel for AMC, based on The Walking Dead character of the same name. It is the fifth spin-off and overall sixth television series in The Walking Dead franchise, sharing continuity with the other series and set after the conclusion of the original The Walking Dead television series.

In Daryl Dixon, Norman Reedus reprises his role as Daryl Dixon from the original The Walking Dead series. Reedus stars alongside Clémence Poésy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Laïka Blanc-Francard, Anne Charrier, Romain Levi and Adam Nagaitis, all of whom portray new characters. Development of the series began in September 2020, and its title was announced in October 2022. Filming began in Paris that month, with additional casting taking place starting in November. The first season was planned to feature the character Carol Peletier under the series name The Walking Dead: Daryl & Carol, but Carol was written out of the series due to logistical issues involving actress Melissa McBride.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premiered on September 10, 2023. Its first season consists of six episodes. The series was renewed for a second season in July 2023. McBride appeared as Carol in the first season finale. The second season of the series is titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, and features McBride as a series regular in a return to the show's original concept. The second season is set to premiere on September 29, 2024. A third season is also in development.

Premise
Daryl washes ashore in France (the origin of the zombie virus ) and struggles to piece together how he got there and why. The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan.

Main

 * Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon: A skilled hunter and former recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone who was once a part of Rick Grimes' group on The Walking Dead. After departing the Commonwealth, he is captured and taken across the Atlantic Ocean before arriving on the coast of France.
 * Clémence Poésy as Isabelle Carriere: A headstrong nun and member of a progressive religious group who encounters Daryl.
 * Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent: A highly intelligent young boy who is viewed by a religious group as the future Messiah destined to lead humanity to a renewal. It's later revealed that he is Lily and Quinn's son as well as Isabelle's nephew.
 * Laïka Blanc-Francard as Sylvie: A soft-spoken nun and friend of Isabelle. Flashbacks reveal that Sylvie was a student at the abbey when the apocalypse began and she was raised by the nuns after her parents had died in the initial outbreak.
 * Anne Charrier as Marion Genet: The leader of Pouvoir des Vivants (Power of the Living), a paramilitary group of survivors in France.
 * Romain Levi as Stéphane Codron: A high-ranking guerrier (warrior) for Pouvoir who develops a personal grudge against Daryl.
 * Adam Nagaitis as Quinn (season 1): The British owner of an underground nightclub in Paris called the Demimonde who has become a powerful figure during the apocalypse. He is also Laurent's biological father.
 * Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier (season 2; guest season 1): A hardened survivor and former member of Rick Grimes' group on The Walking Dead who begins searching for Daryl in America after losing contact with him.

Recurring

 * François Delaive as Dr. Lafleur: The lead researcher for Pouvoir who experiments on walker variants.
 * Eriq Ebouaney as Fallou Boukar: The leader of a small rooftop community in Paris that is part of Union de L'Espoir (Union of Hope), a resistance network working against Pouvoir.
 * Tristan Zanchi as Emile: A young member of Fallou's community who befriends Sylvie.
 * Lukerya Ilyashenko as Anna Valery: A Russian singer at Demimonde and Quinn's girlfriend.

Guest

 * Catherine Arditi as Véronique (season 1): The Mother Superior at an abbey in southern France affiliated with the Union.
 * Faustine Koziel as Lily Carriere (season 1): Isabelle's pregnant sister who appears in flashbacks set during the early days of the apocalypse.
 * Kim Higelin as Lou (season 1): The de-facto leader of a group of children who live in an abandoned preschool.
 * Dominique Pinon as Antoine (season 1): A member of Fallou's community who cares for a flock of messenger pigeons.
 * Paloma as Coco: An entertainer at Demimonde.
 * Joel de la Fuente as Losang: The American leader of the Union of Hope from their main settlement at Mont-Saint-Michel.

Season 2: The Book of Carol
The second and third episodes were written by Keith Staskiewicz and Lisa Zwerling, respectively; episodes four through six were written by Jason Richman and David Zabel, with Laura Snow receiving story credit for episode six.

Development
The series was announced in September 2020 by Angela Kang and Scott M. Gimple. Reedus and McBride signed on to reprise their respective roles from the television series.

In April 2022, McBride exited the series due to logistical reasons as the show was set to film in mid-2022 in Europe and it wasn't possible for McBride to be with the show with this setup. The series was reworked as a sole Daryl project. Days later, Kang had left the role of showrunner and was replaced by David Zabel. The deal had reportedly been sealed in recent weeks before McBride's exit from the show. In October, the series was given the title Daryl Dixon. In January 2023, it was announced that the series would be titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and premiere later in 2023. In July 2023, ahead of the first season's release, the series was renewed for a second season. The second season has the subtitle of The Book of Carol. A third season was in development by February 2024.

Writing
In September 2020, Kang was hired as showrunner after she had helmed the final three seasons of The Walking Dead.

In April 2022, Kang stepped down due to other commitments and Zabel took the role. Scripts were already being written by this time but needed to be reworked following McBride's departure. In September, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Reedus explained that the series would be going an opposite direction from the main series having it being a completely different story from what we have already seen with Daryl. The following month, Reedus said that there would be familiar faces from the main series in the spin-off.

Casting
In November 2022, Clémence Poésy and Adam Nagaitis were added to the main cast. In February 2023, Anne Charrier, Eriq Ebouaney, Laïka Blanc-Francard, Romain Levi and Louis Puech Scigliuzzi were announced as additional cast members. In June 2023, The Walking Dead alum Jeffrey Dean Morgan indicated in a tweet that Melissa McBride would reprise her role as Carol Peletier in some capacity. In October 2023, at New York Comic Con, McBride was confirmed to return for the second season, as well as guest starring in the first season finale.

In November 2023, Manish Dayal was confirmed to recur in the second season.

Filming
Principal photography began on October 24, 2022, in Paris, France. Filming on the second season had begun in Europe, continuing during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike due to an agreement between AMC and SAG-AFTRA to continue filming on the series. Filming for the second season wrapped on December 21, 2023.

Release
The series premiered on September 10, 2023, on AMC and AMC+. The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 13, 2024. The second season, subtitled The Book of Carol, is set to premiere on September 29, 2024.

Reception
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has received positive reviews from critics, with several calling it the best Walking Dead content in years, although some noted its similarities to The Last of Us television series. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 71% based on 38 reviews with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus is, "Centering Norman Reedus' fan favorite character in a fresh setting, Daryl Dixon can be a wobbly shot across the crossbow but still gives The Walking Dead faithful plenty more to chew on." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

David Opie of Digital Spy gave it a 4/5 rating and called it "The best Walking Dead has been in ages". Chase Hutchinson of Collider gave it a "B" rating and applauded Norman Reedus' "stoic performance" that has a "renewed energy to the character and making the spin-off worth watching" and that the series "focuses more on character and emotion rather than empty spectacle, giving the story a greater sense of depth." Aaron Pruner of TheWrap gave it a positive review and noted Clémence Poésy's "standout performance" and concluded that it "is a surprisingly gorgeous, soul-stirring, and riveting watch. Norman Reedus said they were making art with this show. And you know what? He wasn't lying."