La Gentillesse Des Estrangers – The episode begins with Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Laurent Carriere’s (Puech Sscigliuzzi) training session being interrupted by Gilbert (Mouloud Ayad), acting under Losang’s (Joel De La Fuente) orders. Laurent is apparently late for a philosophy lesson and Losang wants to speak with Daryl. Daryl arrives just as Losang has broken the news to the others about their Paris Camp being raided by the Pouvoir Des Vivants (Power Of The Living). The announcement is extremely troubling for Sylvie (Lakia Blanc-Francard) due to her being acquainted with one of the three hostages. Although Losang asks Mathis (Theo Costa-Marini) for a scouting report, he gives the impression of being more concerned about the hostages leading Pouvoir back to them.
Knowing that Marion Genet (Anne Charrier) will kill the hostages if they don’t provide any useful information, Daryl uses the opportunity to announce his arrival. Losang disagrees but doesn’t address it until later during a private meeting with Daryl. He’ll also tell Daryl that if he is to stay, he’ll need to be less of a distinction to Laurent. Daryl shares this with Isabelle Carriere (Clemence Poesy) later and admits that he doesn’t know if he’s interested in staying. Isabelle gives the impression that she could be happy at the camp.
By this time, Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) has tracked Daryl’s bike back to a repair camp that she approaches under the guise of needing to get the transmission built. It doesn’t take her long to confirm Daryl as the original owner until he got mixed up with someone named Juno (John Ales). One of the more outspoken men, Grady (Craig Gellis), makes the mistake of referring to Daryl unkindly. A brief fight ensues and ends with Carol leaving in one of the men’s cars, Daryl’s crossbow, and learning that Daryl got sent to a boatyard, several miles up the road.
Carol comes up empty at the boatyard but shortly after leaving, she spots a plane flying overhead that causes her to take her eyes off the road a second too long. After rendering her car inoperable, she’ll track the plane back to its owner’s secure compound much later that night. Whether it’s intentional or not, she’ll get into a position where she requires help from the compound’s owner, who will shortly introduce himself as Ash (Manish Dayal). After learning that she is traveling alone, he lets her spend the night in a barn and even provides breakfast the following morning before rushing off. At her request, he will also offer to look for car parts when he takes his plane out for his regularly scheduled afternoon run.
While Ash is gone, Carol snoops around the compound but things turn bad when an electrical fluctuation in the compound’s generator disables the perimeter defenses. Carol has the opportunity to reset the generator but instead chooses to use the power outage to pry in his atrium. She discovers a small gravesite memorial for a small boy hidden in the back. By this time, the noise of the returning plane and the lack of perimeter security has attracted a mob of walkers. Although Carol escapes from the atrium unharmed, there is massive damage.
Once she cleans up her mess, Carol attempts to apologize to Ash, claiming that she was lonely and in need of a friend. Although he claims it isn’t a friend he’s looking for, he will share the grave’s origin story with her as well as a bit about himself. In the grand scheme of things, he blames himself for letting his son, Avi Patel, wander off and get killed. The plane was a dedication project that Ash took on in Avi’s memory. In light of this, Carol will later share only a modicum of truth about her origin story with him over dinner that evening. It doesn’t take Ash long to realize that she is asking for a flight to France.
Daryl interrupts Losang’s training session this time to offer his help with rescuing the hostages from the raided Paris camp. Mathis’s scouts apparently received reports that Genet is relocating them in a few days and that will be the best time to strike. Losang appears grateful and will eventually accept the help but not before sternly reminding Daryl that they are a pacifist movement.
By this time, Carol has left the compound but is very shortly surprised by the arrival of Ash, who agrees to help her. As they spend more time together gathering fuel and supplies for the trip, Ash continually asks about the supposed Ed and Sophie in France. Carol continues to mislead him but clearly feels bad because at one point she asks him if he really wants to leave Avi.
Mathis and Daryl stage for the ambush on Genet’s convoy while Jacinta (Nassima Benchicou) pleads with Losang to move a ceremony forward. Losang is hesitant, claiming that Laurent is not ready and they still have lots of work to do. A bad lighting storm causes major problems for Carol and Ash as they prepare to leave that evening. A random bolt of lightning will not only knock out the generator but it’ll cause an electrical fire that blows up his ethanol reserves. It isn’t long before the plane is at risk of the fire and a proceeding mob of walkers.
Things immediately go south at the ambush when the trip wire fails to go off. Daryl will immediately step in and shoot the convoy driver. A short exchange of gunfire will follow that ends with one of Mathis’s men dying before Fallou Boukar (Eriq Ebouaney) and Emile (Tristan Zanchi) are rescued. Daryl will have the opportunity to kill Genet and is about to take it when a nearby explosion draws hi attention. When he redirects his attention back to her, she is gone. Although Carol and Ash had a close call, they are not in the air.
The episode ends with Carol and Ash in the air. Carol doesn’t appear to be much of a flyer.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Review
I can’t say that the episode was horrible. I certainly felt that it’s got much more potential than season 1. This biggest drawback, which has become a recurring theme with the TWD series is that things seem to come a bit too easy. Carol’s fight at the car lot, the information about Daryl, and the discovery of the plane. That said, a lot of random bad happens as well, such as the lightning strike. I can’t fault the series too much for that but at the same time, I would appreciate an attempt at something different.
Plus, how many characters have we seen with a similar origin story as Carol and Ash? I guess by now everyone in the world would have likely lost someone close to them. Either way, not a horrible start but far from spectacular. I’d have to give it a 5.3 out of 10.
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