The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – Alouette

After Daryl Dixon hopped off an enemy ship and washed up on the beaches of Marseilles, he finds himself mixed up with a nun and a pint-sized Messiah who need his help to save the human race. Hoping to find his way back to Virginia and the family who’s waiting for him, Daryl agrees to detour his voyage home to escort what many consider to be “The Cure” to a training camp in the North. If this kid is going to save humanity, he is going to need training, but the road to the camp is dangerous and Daryl is the warrior who can keep him safe. This week kicks off the first leg of that mission, but first, they agree to help a group of kids they meet along the way. Led by the teenager, Lou, Father Daryl (more on that later) agrees to help find medicine for their ailing teacher and caregiver. “Alouette” is chock full of action, and story-building flashbacks,  that deliver as many edge-of-your-seat horror moments as it does leave us with questions about who this kid-savior is and how he became the one who’s fated to save the world.

Paris: Before The Fall

The episode begins 11 years in the past–before the world was overrun by the dead. There, we meet Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) – a party girl who seems to be paying for her drug habit in stolen watches and credit cards she’s plucked from the clueless men she flirts with in the club. She is a far cry from the holy- habit-wearing woman we know now.

After a hasty exit from the club with a nose full of cocaine and a purse full of stolen goods, Isabelle makes her way through Paris–stopping off for a smoke and a late-night view of the Eiffel Tower. Illuminating the streets, the famous landmark shines a spotlight on a group of people scurrying and screaming nearby. The attack followed by a car accident catches Isabelle’s attention and the scene quickly becomes too chaotic for her to stick around. Everything that night feels off, and the confused Isabelle hurries below into St. George’s station to catch the subway out of that mess. It isn’t long before the trouble above finds the subway riders down below as we see cars full of blood-soaked madness go whipping past her stop. It seems like an outbreak of violence is taking over the city and little does Isabelle know this is the beginning of the end. The dead are walking, eating, and killing, and the sight is too shocking for her to believe. She flees the station only to find the streets above are descending into Hell on Earth. Cars are crashing and people are eating each other in the streets. Luckily, a car comes barreling at a teeth-chomping pack of the dead ready to make Isabelle their next meal, and a man jumps out to save her. The two know each other and it seems intimate, so his timing couldn’t have been better. She owes him her life–which will be a theme throughout her story this season. We learn the man’s name is Quinn (Adam Nagaitis) and other than the luxury car he’s driving, we don’t know much else other than Isabelle was out dancing with other men and this guy seemed to know exactly where to find her. After a quick stop at home for clothes we find out that Isabelle has a sister, Lily (Faustine Koziel), and she is insisting the woman come along. It’s a good thing she did too, because later we find out Lily is pregnant and has been keeping it a secret for seven months. Now the shocked Isabelle knows and we know how Laurent came into the world. With a deadly unknown virus attacking the living, Quinn tries to convince Isabelle to leave Lily behind at a gas station when she starts having contractions. Where they are going there are no hospitals for a delivery. Isabelle pretends to agree long enough to pick up Quinn’s pocket and steal the car keys. She and Lily take off in his car leaving Quinn screaming in their dust. While on the road Lily’s contractions are getting worse and it forces Isabelle to pull over and ask a parked ambulance for help. When the two women exit the car they are instantly attacked and Lily ends up getting bit on the arm before they can drive away.  Having no idea what is causing this chaos the desperate women make their way to the Abbey of St. Bernadette. There the nuns welcome them inside and help prepare Lily for her delivery. “Promise me you’ll look after my baby” she begs Isabelle before she succumbs to the virus and turns, but not before giving birth to Laurent! The child is birthed in the blood of death–and now we know why his aunt thinks he is the cure. Coming to that Abby saved her and the baby’s life so Isabelle names the child after a statue she sees of Saint Laurent. Along with Father Jean (Hugo Dillon)–who helped deliver Laurent, Isabelle dedicates the next decade to keeping her promise to Lily.

Nanu-Nanu

Back to the present Isabelle, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Nun Sylvie/(Läika Blanc-Francard), and Laurent (Louis Puech Scihliuzzi) are traveling by mule towards the camp up North. The question is: should they take the shorter and more dangerous route, or the long and winding safer option? Daryl isn’t concerned about the danger but Isabelle insists they take their time. As we saw in her flashbacks, she knows any road close to Paris is too overrun with the dead. Soon their safer route winds up blocked by the hungry ones so Daryl cuts Laurent’s favorite mule loose hoping the animal will make it to safety while the dead follow. The mule takes off and so does the threat and a worried Laurent wonders what will happen to the mule if it gets lost. Isabelle tries to give the boy hope that all will be well but Daryl knows better and questions why she won’t tell Laurent the truth. “You don’t have children, do you?” she asks, “the truth can wait.” This is the first of many lies we see in this episode and the next one pops up when they run into a group of kids living in a preschool. The kids–who get the better of Daryl after he falls into their trap, drag him and the other three to their hideout deep in the woods. Lou (Kim Higelin) is the oldest and most resourceful of the kids is in charge and she doesn’t trust outsiders. Nuns Isabelle and Sylvie ease her fears by reciting a prayer – proving they are religious people, but what about the silent and currently tied-up Daryl? Isabelle lies and claims he is an American priest who was on a mission when he got trapped in France. She also makes sure to tell the young woman how Father Daryl doesn’t speak French–even after the 11 years he has spent in the country. The two crack a joke about Americans’ inability to learn a second language and the joke eases the tension enough for Lou to order Daryl to be released and then invite them all inside to tell them their story, ironically, in her practiced English. The preschool houses eighteen kids and that’s eighteen more than Laurent has ever met. They hunt and grow their food under the tutelage of their nurse and only parent, Madame Dubois. Unfortunately, that woman has been bedridden and unconscious for six months, but Lou insists with enough prayer the woman will recover. Father Daryl the nonbeliever knows that’s naive but he keeps quiet while she gives them the tour. After their walk-thru, the four guests are invited to a sit-down supper where Laurent has an awkward encounter with one of the boys at the school. After bragging about his many Messiah skills he makes the mistake of sitting in a missing boy’s seat– offending one of the boy’s brothers, Moof (Durel Nkounkou). Laurent’s social skills when it comes to his peers could use some work.

After Daryl leads the supper prayers and some slurped soup– his manners are a big hit with the kids, Lou and Moof fill them in on where to get a horse. La Tarasque–The Dragon as the kids think of him, is the name they’ve given to a man who terrorizes the locals while picking the villages clean of food and supplies. He is a monster who lives in a castle nearby and has horses and anything else they might need. It’s too dangerous for Lou to show Daryl where this man is, and that’s when lie number three comes tumbling out of the fake priest’s mouth. They need Lou’s help, so Daryl convinces her that Madame Dubois needs medication to survive and this castle monster can provide that more than any prayer. Daryl manipulates Lou into thinking there is hope when he knows there is very little to none just so she will agree, and she does. First thing in the morning the two will make one perilous trek to the castle.

Next up, everyone sits down to watch an episode of “Mork & Mindy” thanks to a bicycle-run generator the kids hooked up to a TV. They’re all laughing along with Robin Williams’ Mork, and Daryl can’t help but smirk at their reactions. The kids cheer “Nanu-Nanu,” Mork’s famous alien goodbye, and it reminds Daryl of his brother, Merle, escaping their horrible father to watch their favorite show. Later, he and Isabelle share a bed for the night and talk about why he lied to Lou about the medicine. “The truth can wait. Right?” He reminds her, and while she can’t help but agree, she also feels sorry for the kids when their mother eventually dies.

Texas Falls

The next morning Daryl and Lou set out towards the castle. The young woman isn’t as gullible as she seems–she knows Daryl isn’t a priest and asks him how he got to France and where he is heading. He tells her the only important part of his story is that he gets back home to his people. She responds with something that would make any original series fan scream “NO!” with, “Madame says the people in your family are the people you are with.” Madame Dubois sounds smart but Lou has no idea how loyal Daryl is to his family in America, or how determined he is to find his missing brother, Rick.

Back at the school, Laurent is still trying to fit in by bragging about his father–the great French hero who fought to free France in the war against the “Hungry ones.” The kids laugh thinking he made it all up, but that’s when we realize Isabelle lied about who his father is and why he was born special. Lies–they might keep people safe but they won’t protect them from the truth. Next, the kids all head into the woods to hunt and Laurent stumbles on a dog eating what’s left of his mule. The hope Isabelle filled him with just got sucked out by the reality of a world he was unfamiliar with. The boy is sheltered, and what protected that baby of Lily’s before, won’t keep him safe now.

After making their way to the castle’s barn, Daryl tricks Lou and locks her in while he goes to slay La Tarasque. It’s a good thing he thought to keep her safe too, because after he lowers the bridge across the moat he hears the cries from one of his child captives–a missing preschool teenager named Hedgehog (Milo Mazé). Just as he reaches the boy, bullets go whizzing past both of their heads. Daryl finds some bullets and hands Hedgehog a gun while he makes his way up to where the sniper is nesting. He quickly overtakes the man and instantly the fear of La Tarasque becomes almost comical. It’s just some stir-crazy Texas redneck named R.J. Gaines (Ned Dennehy) and he’s full of patriotism and smiles for a fellow American. R.J. Can tell Daryl wants answers and he claims he was raiding all the supplies and kidnapping the kids just until he can make his way back to Lone Star State. Daryl is disgusted by R.J., so he takes some satisfaction in telling the man he has been from one side of the country to the other and everything is gone–including Texas. “Everybody you know back home is gone. Been gone a long time.” The guy freaks out so Daryl and Hedgehog tie R.J. up and then fill up a cart full of supplies. As the horse crosses the castle’s bridge the wheel axle breaks and oxygen tanks and supplies for Madame Dubois fall into a pit of hungry ones. Daryl has Hedgehog watch R.J. while he tries to fix the wheel and that’s when the Texan makes a move for Daryl’s gun. With the rope tying him to the cart, Daryl flips R.J. over the bridge, but in the scuffle, he winds up going over the side with him. Now the Texan is hanging above the hungry ones and Daryl is on his back surrounded by gnashing teeth. Luckily, R.J. is a loud and proud American–no, he tries to tell zombies not to eat him because he is a patriot, and all that yelling lures the dead into a feeding frenzy. As the horse rips R.J. to shreds, Daryl takes a moment to pull out his mace and start smashing his way through the crowd. Realizing he can’t take them all in with that ball and chain, he grabs a gun and shoots one of the oxygen tanks causing an explosion of corpses! The sound grabs the attention of a free Lou, Hedgehog and Moof, who toss down a rope for Daryl to climb up. Once he is safe, Moof spots his brother, Julien down below with the dead and he is devastated because Lou lied when she said everything would be ok. She attempts to do the merciful thing and puts the turned Julien down, but Daryl also shows mercy and takes the kill out of her hands.

Back at the preschool, all the kids are cheering for the return of their friends and the cart of much-needed supplies. Unfortunately, they were a bit too late, as Madame Dubois just died. That’s when Daryl is forced to admit he lied to Lou for a horse because he knew she was never going to get better. This time, Lou, the new leader of the preschool, does the mature thing and puts their mother and teacher down. Next, we see the children all gather to say goodbye to the woman who taught them everything. The funeral ends with tears and one last “nanu-nanu.” That’s not the only teary goodbye. Laurent finally managed to make new friends and now he wants to abandon his education up North and start with Lou and the others. He argues with Isabelle but eventually listens to Sylvie when she tells him they are leaving. Rather than sit in the cart, the stubborn savior decides to walk off his disappointment.

Back at the Abbey, and the scene of last week’s deadly shootout, we catch up with Cordon (Romain Levi) – searching the place from top to bottom for any clues on the American. He finds one – Daryl’s tape recorder and it has everything he needs to figure out who the man who killed his brother is and exactly where that man came from. He takes the recorder and the information he finds on Laurent and we can only assume his next stop will be to deliver that information to his boss, the mysterious Genet (Anne Charrier). The story is moving along quickly–with next week our travelers making their way to Paris where Isabelle runs into a familiar face.