The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – La Dame de Fer

We are four episodes of six into The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon spin-off where our favorite stranger in a strange land finds himself fighting back hordes of hungry walkers by land and sea to save the little miracle boy who seems to be testing his commitment to finding a way back home. With epic visuals of the French capital and moments of heartbreaking violence, what “La Dame de Fer” lacks in story development, it makes up for in action-packed heart-stopping moments that will leave you hungry for more.

Fantasy or Foreshadow

“La Dame de Fer” is French for The Iron Lady, and in this case, it could be referring to the Eiffel Tower–the structure Laurent dreams of seeing now that he has a photo of his mother posing in front of it. The title could also be a nod to the famous French female icon who stands on Ellis Island welcoming immigrants into New York–both iron, both dazzling to the eyes. The two towers factor heavily into this episode, but before Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard), Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), and Daryl (Norman Reedus) can lay eyes on either of the structures, the episode begins in a dream, or so we are led to believe. It starts with Daryl locked behind a gate and yelling for Laurent, who we see staring at Daryl from the other side of the bars. The boy is surrounded by hungries and a panicked Daryl tries desperately to break free to save him but Laurent doesn’t need saving– he is invisible to the dead. Whether it’s his prayers that kept him safe or his hybrid zombie/human blood making him immune to their hunger, we are left wondering about this dream, or would-be prophesy of things to come. Daryl doesn’t have time to ponder the what ifs on this because when he wakes up he finds himself underwater with the dead grabbing at his feet! Last week during his fight with Codron (Romain Levi), Daryl fell through the roof and sank into a watery canal grave. The lack of oxygen must’ve sent him into this hallucinatory dream state which slowed his reaction to the underwater walkers who almost took a bite out of his boot! No toxic canal zombie is going to stop our Daryl, who manages to fight the thing off with his brass knuckles knife and climb his way out to the streets of Paris. He is on a  mission to find Isabelle and the others but being new to the city has him at a disadvantage. Winding his way through the city streets, we catch glimpses of iconic landmarks in their post-apocalyptic states with each sweeping shot more epic in size and disbelief than the last. Paris has survived fallen kingdoms and wars but this zombie apocalypse finally brought her to her crumbling knees and Daryl is lucky enough to witness it. Not bad for a redneck from Georgia. Through the rubble, one thing stands out, for such a large city there is a noticeable lack of zombies. Daryl does come across a few wandering the streets but they never feel as threatening as the sheer numbers we would assume were devouring Paris. The threat level is so low that Daryl spots people living their normal lives behind the windows of some of the city’s apartments–he even spots a motorcyclist zipping down the street and the sound of that engine perks him up–although not enough to make himself known to the driver.

While Daryl searches for a way back to Isabelle and Laurent, we head over to the Union of Hope’s base in Paris where Genet (Anne Charrier) questions Sonia (Sabine Pakora)–the widow Laurent pulled from her depression last week, about the miracle boy. Sonia never once denies that Laurent is their savior, and yes, that includes Genet and her soldiers for The Cause too. Her faith is unshakable and immediately we see the power dynamics shifting between this leader and the savior-child. Both Laurent and Genet wield their power with their armies of believers–and in Genet’s case, non-believers, and it’s setting up a war between good boy and evil warlord. In one of the most tense scenes in the series, Genet grabs a screaming baby from its mother and waxes poetic about a symbol of hope that allows people to delude themselves from the scary truths they are trying to avoid. As she displays Sonia and her fellow Union of Hopers’ beliefs, she clutches the crying baby tightly to her shoulder as if she’s trying to prove to herself that she can fill some maternal role in this society, while also secretly wishing to be rid of threatening Laurent. After seeing the level of faith these people have in him, she orders Codron to bring the boy to her along with Daryl. We don’t know what she’s planning to do to the boy but she makes it clear that false hope is dangerous in this burgeoning new society, and it “must be rooted out.”

Free Birds and Penned In Hungries

Back to Daryl who happens upon the pigeon-man, Antoine (Dominique Pinon), and the man agrees to help him find Isabelle’s old apartment. In last week’s episode, the two planned to meet back there if anything happened in Paris. Antoine knows the way but the trip is cut short when The Cause rolls down the street in a tank! The gunman peeking out of the top of the vehicle forces Daryl and Antione to hide, but unfortunately, there is no time to grab the pigeons! When the gunman in the tank spots the boxes of birds he tries to steal them Antoine pops out of hiding to try and reason with the soldier. It doesn’t work and the gunman shoots in the chest. Loyal to those pigeons until his last breath, he whispers to Daryl–who kills the gunmen, to free his birds, as he must know that’s their best hope for survival. Maybe Fallou can care for them because his community needs that mode of communication and Antoine was it!

Eventually, Daryl makes it to the apartment and Isabelle is there with the bad news: Laurent is missing and he has no understanding of the city or its dangers. She’s not even sure where to start looking but Daryl instantly knows where the boy is. Laurent wouldn’t stop talking about the Eiffel Tower; that is where they’re going to find him.

Not if someone finds him first! We catch up with Quinn (Adam Nagaitis) who gets a visit from Genet’s people looking for Daryl and the boy. Now that Quinn knows he’s Laurent’s father, he is faced with a choice between making a trade – what his whole business is known for, or protecting the boy. He chooses Laurent–for now, and tells the soldiers he hasn’t seen the kid but the minute his men find them both he will hand them over to The Cause. Now, whether or not this is Quinn stepping into his paternal role or he just wants Isabelle back and is willing to risk his kid to get her, it isn’t totally clear,  but he does tell his girlfriend, Anna (Lukerya Ilyashenko), that he envisions a future with his ex and the child. From the look on her face, she doesn’t love that idea.

Back to the search for Laurent, and sure enough, Daryl was right, and the boy was standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower basking in all its historic glory. When he catches sight of something behind a barricade of sandbags surrounding the tower, we see a hungry eye and hundreds–if not thousands of other hungry walkers coming to life behind the makeshift wall. The dead push their way through and go after Laurent– who hides under some rubble until Daryl and Isabelle show up to take on the horde. We see one zombie sniff him out–grabbing at him and putting his immunity into question. The hungry walker was interested in turning Laurent into savior-snacks so immune to their hunger he is not! In the heat of the fight, Laurent is grabbed by a group of men who whisk him away by car before Daryl or Isabelle can stop them. Daryl does manage to grab one of them and later we see him torture the truth out of the guy about who has the child and where they took him. This man,

Armond (Genc Jakupi), isn’t a soldier working with Codron for The Cause, he is one of Quinn’s men. The retaliation hits Isabelle that she might be the key to finding her nephew. Daryl hurts Armond enough that the man finally caves, giving up the secret location to an entrance into Quinn’s underground club.

Back on the Boat

With the help of Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney) and his people tossing Molotov cocktails at the entrance’s guards, the incoming attack distracts them enough for Daryl to slip by them and make his way to Laurent. He is holed up in a backroom with Anna while Quinn meets with Genet. He won’t be getting any father-of-the-year awards but Quinn does throw Genet off of Laurent’s trail but it isn’t out of love for him. Isabelle was right–this is about her and Quinn cannot lure her back to him without using Laurent as bait. In the backroom we realize Anna was the one who told Quinn where to find Laurent, thanks to that photo of Lily he showed her the first night they arrived looking for a boat. Daryl eventually breaks into the room to take Laurent back to his aunt and that’s when Anna pulls out a gun, but she has a last-minute change of heart and lets the two go. Quinn might want this instant family but Anna wants them far away from her life–and lucky for Daryl and Laurent, her jealousy out-ranked her loyalty to her boyfriend. Speaking of the club-Daddy, he realizes Laurent is missing and gets into a knockdown fight with Daryl as the two cross paths on some rickety old scaffolding. The two trade brutal blows until Daryl gets the upper hand and finds himself faced with a choice: kill Quinn and traumatize Laurent who is watching this all unfold, or let the man live and risk another run-in later. He chooses to let the man live but historically this is a move that has always come back to haunt Daryl. His mercy is often at the cost of someone close to him. Let’s hope spin-offs can break curses because this kid is too important to the people and the future of humankind to go out like Denise or Glenn–two deaths from his past that hit Daryl hard.

While all this death and life stuff is going on at the club, Isabelle and Sylvie have a heart-to-heart about love and devotion. The young woman’s love-torn feelings for Emile (Tristan Zanchi) have her confused and she needs Isabelle’s guidance. We see Sylvie kiss the young man goodbye as he heads off to help Daryl at the club’s entrance and admits she wants to stay and help build up Fallou’s community. Isabelle supports this plan because “I had a life before I took my vows. You didn’t.” This pushes Sylvie to ask the nun about Daryl and how close the two seem to have gotten since they set out on this adventure. She sets Sylvie straight– denying any romance, and blames any misunderstood feelings on her concern for him and them all. While that might be true, her need to push Daryl into the father and partner role, begs the question if she is telling the truth. The second she meets up with Daryl she does it again and tells him Genet’s men blocked all the exits out of Paris. She knows their best chance through a roadblock is Quinn–so it’s a good thing Daryl didn’t kill him! Her ex is as powerful as Genet and his influence could help them escape and get to the Nest. She decides to stay behind–essentially giving Quinn what he wants and this angers Daryl–who will now be in charge of navigating their escape by boat down the Seines. It’s another detour on his mission to get back home but he hasn’t completely tossed his family aside to play daddy to a French miracle. We see his face drop when the boat he and Laurent are on floats by the city’s replica of The Statue of Liberty. It’s the other Iron Lady of the episode–this one is a reminder of home and a symbol of freedom and the price humans pay to protect it. Daryl’s grandfather paid that price on the shores of Normandy and Daryl is following in his footsteps to save the living–just like the father Laurent thought he had.