The Walking Dead – Daryl Dixon – Moulin Rouge

In the second episode of the spin-off, Daryl grows closer to Laurent, acting as a stand-in father while keeping his thoughts on the people back home. This newfound closeness puts Daryl’s safety at the Nest at risk when the Buddhist leader Losang expresses concern over the defense lessons Daryl is teaching Laurent. Meanwhile, back home, Daryl isn’t sure if anyone remembers him (it’s been less than a month—how could they forget?) and that worry is pushing him closer to Isabelle, Laurent, and the idea of staying in France. He could never imagine that his old home had just landed in Greenland with her new pilot friend, Ash, and was on her way to remind him she could never forget. What will this long-awaited CARYL reunion look like when Daryl seems conflicted over where he belongs? Let’s dive into that query and this jam-packed episode filled with twists, turns, and a surprising moment fans can’t stop talking about.

Fly Boy and the Missing Messiah

After Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) group returns to The Nest with the traumatized Emile (Tristan Zanchi) and Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney), we start to see some cracks in Losang’s leadership. Jacinta (Nassima Benchicou), a trusted voice in his ranks, manages to convince Losang (Joel de la Fuente) that not only are Daryl and Isabelle a threat to the Nest but to squash doubt in their people, they must test Laurent’s (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) powers. The people will believe he is their Messiah if he is immune to the walker disease. One bite should erase all doubt, but Jacinta knows that would never happen with Daryl and the nun keeping watch. Speaking of Dixon, he’s oblivious to this plot as he has been busy at the Nest playing father figure to Laurent. We see the young boy questioning his life and destiny—knowing he represents hope for many but also wishing he could just be a normal kid. He is learning how to play baseball thanks to his new American mentor and would much rather play sports and learn knife throwing than spend his days studying to be the Messiah. Daryl and the boy are growing closer and even the idea of leaving France for America isn’t completely off the table–although Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) isn’t on board with it yet. She is still faithful to the idea of her nephew becoming humankind’s salvation. Giving up on her faith would mean everything she did to get Laurent to Mont Saint-Michel would’ve been for nothing.

The following morning, their plot kicks off when Isabelle discovers Laurent is missing. She and Daryl panic as they assume he was kidnapped by one of Genet’s people. The two, along with Fallou and Emile and a few others, form a small rescue group to track the boy down. While Fallou is ready to dive back into the fight, Emile has been acting strangely ever since he returned, and his love, Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard), is having a hard time ignoring it. She gives him a good luck charm, and we also spot Jacinta handing ammo to someone in the group, who then passes it on to Daryl for his rifle. After a few goodbyes, the group sets off to rescue Laurent while Sylvie stays behind—which is a good thing considering what she learns in their absence later on in the episode.

While Daryl is searching for Laurent, his best friend is up in the sky making her way towards France to search for him. Luck is on her side as Carol (Melissa McBride) and new friend and pilot Ash (Manish Dayal) make their way across the Atlantic for an emergency landing in Greenland. There’s a small fuel leak in the plane, but Ash thinks he can fix it and continue their journey to France. While he addresses the issue, Carol, both relieved and amazed at this mountainous and barren landscape, takes it upon herself, with the help of Daryl’s crossbow, to clear the landscape of walkers. This is something she rarely needs help with, but unfortunately, this time, she does, as one misstep gives the dead an advantage over her. Ash tries to help but the walkers get the upper hand on the two weary travelers. Things look dire and when it seems like Carol and Ash might not make it out alive, two women–Eun (Minami) and Hanna (Maria Erwolter) swoop in to save them.

A Population Booster

Even after expressing their gratitude for saving their lives, Carol and Ash are still on guard when the two women offer their assistance with supplies. Their lack of suspicion is suspicious, and Carol, more than anyone knows, that trust and generosity in this world should be earned. The women, who were climate researchers and have a deep respect for Mother Earth, seem enthusiastic about meeting new people, as it’s revealed that they haven’t seen anyone besides each other for years. The women then propose a divide-and-conquer plan: Eun will help Ash fix the plane, while Hanna will keep Carol company with reindeer stew and small talk at their home. Longtime fans of” The Walking Dead” universe know that this plan can’t be good; while the two women appear friendly, subtle concerns begin to emerge about what they want and how Ash, in particular, can provide it. It’s not long before Eun and Hanna’s plans for the new arrivals are revealed. The tall Nordic Hanna lets slip that the fall of mankind was maybe Earth’s way of cleansing herself. The extinction of the human race seems a bit harsh to Carol, who now knows Hanna is a threat when the woman asks to see Daryl’s crossbow and then aims it at her. There was a connection made between the Nordic warrior- Hanna and Carol, so when it is revealed that Eun gave her friend orders to kill, the twists in this story start to unravel. Why would these two seemingly bright and capable women want to kill the first people they’ve seen in years? The answer is chilling: repopulation. While Hanna holds Carol captive, Eun pulls a weapon on Ash and makes a shocking proposition: he must impregnate her or face death. When Ash realizes Carol is also in danger, he panics, and we can assume a fight ensues with Eun off-camera.

Throughout the time in the house, Carol remains calm and attempts to talk her way out of the situation by offering Hanna a chance to leave the barren landscape she has called home. This piques the woman’s interest, especially after Carol notices the power dynamics between the two women are imbalanced in Eun’s favor. She is the one in charge of this baby-making murderous plot and it seems obvious Hanna is less and less on board the more Carol talks her down. Carol starts to sense that Hanna doesn’t want to kill her, and following orders cuts against her grain. Hanna also has a desire to leave Greenland and Carol uses that to make an offer for a seat on their plane. When Eun arrives home, claiming she fulfilled her part of the bargain and left Ash chained to the plane, Carol cleverly manipulates the two women against each other. She tries to persuade Hanna to leave and the more Eun orders her to kill, the more Carol points out how controlling she is. When Hanna hesitates orders, Eun turns her gun on Carol. Escaping this two-person existence is just too tempting, so Hanna makes the split decision to kill her friend before she can rob her of that flight off the island.

With her friend dead, Hanna needs reassurance that Carol will take her to France and likewise, the unstable woman’s behavior has Carol on guard. A threesome was never a part of either of their plans because when they reached the plane, Ash shot the woman in the jugular with a flare gun. Her death allows him and Carol to escape on the now-fixed plane, but the killing lies heavy on Ash’s heart. Carol recognizes that look on his face and asks if this is his first human kill. It is; somehow, he’s gone all these years in the apocalypse, hidden away on that patch of land, only facing off with the already dead. When he asks Carol if she’s been killed before, instead of pulling out her CVS-sized receipt containing a list of corpses, she casually lets them know she has been where he is now and that grief he is feeling “never goes away.”

Back at the Nest, Sylvie catches on to what Losang and Jacinta are up to. She spies on a nun preparing Laurent’s favorite meal. This piqued her interest enough to follow the woman around Mount Saint-Michel until she watched her enter a secret room where Laurent was studying with Losang. Her curiosity winds up getting her captured and sealing her fate. Meanwhile, in the streets of Paris, Daryl starts to realize this caravan of trucks they were tracking is a trap. It leads them to a building, and as they start to clear it, a few members of their group—trusted people from The Nest—turn on him and Isabelle! A fight breaks out until Emile is the last one standing. The young man pulls a gun on Fallou, attempting to kill him, and that’s when we realize why he has been acting differently. Emile was tortured by Genet, and because of it, he is fully invested in Jacinta’s idea of testing Laurent. His trauma turned him into an extreme believer in the Messiah child, and when he lets slip that Losang is going to prove Laurent’s power with a walker bite, his fate is set. Isabelle, who earlier was talking about her faith in Losang, takes her gun and shoots Emile dead for his role in putting Laurent’s life at risk. Not only did that gunshot end Emille, but it also ended her only reason for staying in France.

You’ve Come a Long Way, Carol

After a nap on the plane, Carol wakes to see the land below. Paris is in the distance, alongside an overgrown landing strip near a racetrack. She points it out, and Ash agrees it seems as good a place as any to touch down. If you were thinking of taking flying lessons, save your money and wait for the apocalypse—Ash has taught himself well! The flyboy pilots a safe landing, and aside from that earlier fuel line issue, the plane is in decent condition for a later takeoff.

Now on the ground, Carol convinces Ash to stay with the plane while she goes ahead to find Sophia. This would have been the perfect moment to tell him about Daryl; you can sense that Carol is considering it, but she doesn’t want to anger him. She knows the plane is their only way back to America, so she continues the lie, promising a worried Ash that she will be back soon.

While Carol’s lies may seem necessary, they weigh heavily on her emotionally. She likes Ash—he is a good man and friend, genuinely concerned for this worried mother wandering around France without backup. Having never left America and unable to speak the language, Carol feels at a disadvantage. Ash can translate for her and wants to witness her reunion with her daughter. After some back-and-forth, she finally convinces him that she is more than capable of taking care of herself. However, she warns him that if she’s not back in two weeks, he should go home without looking for her.

Eventually, Carol makes her way to Paris, where she experiences one of the most striking scenes of the series—and perhaps the entire Walking Dead universe. Armed with a crossbow, she stands high above the capital, gazing out at the devastation of what was once a thriving city center. It’s a breathtaking moment that reflects how far she has come. The meek and abused housewife, once too afraid to search for her missing daughter, has been replaced by a determined warrior, hardened by humanity’s trials but still softening at the thought of reuniting with her best friend.

As she weaves through the city’s streets, Carol spots a starving man stealing food from a supply truck. A group of armed guards roughs him up, and she stays out of sight long enough to remind viewers why she’s the ultimate survivor. She takes her blade and rips open a bag of grain on the back of the truck, ensuring she has a trail to follow when it drives away. She also swipes an apple, savoring her first meal in France; while it’s not coq au vin, it mirrors the first meal her friend Daryl had when he washed up on the country’s beach.

Following the food trucks, Carol soon encounters a large crowd lining up for rations. She has no idea what the guards are saying or who’s in charge, but we know this is a scheme by Genet to entice starving survivors into volunteering for her walker experiments—tests that most of the people, including many of her followers, are unaware of. Carol joins the line but quickly senses something is off. As she tries to extricate herself from the crowd, she snoops around another truck, seemingly for supplies, and is caught by one of the guards. She swiftly takes him and a few of his friends down but is ultimately captured again. Her strength leaves an impression, leading them to load her into a truck alongside an English-speaking man named Remy (François Perache) who was separated from his spouse.

A Kiss That Could Change Everything

With only three members left from the rescue group—Daryl, Isabelle, and Fallou—they head back to The Nest to save Laurent. Unfortunately, the tide is high, preventing them from reaching the mystical location until the following day. Waiting is stressful, but it also gives Daryl and Isabelle time to process recent events. The man Isabelle believed would save them all was a fraud, and she risked her and her nephew’s lives for this dangerous liar.

As Daryl quietly listens, Isabelle untangles her faith into something more tangible—the promise she made to her sister to keep Laurent safe. She realizes she cannot fulfill that promise in France, so it’s time for a change of scenery. She agrees to go back home with Daryl. This decision doesn’t change the fact that he has been away for less than a month, torn between the people he loves in America and the feelings he has for this boy and his aunt. The distance across the ocean offers Daryl the perfect opportunity to figure out who he is and what he wants. His experience with women is almost nonexistent, except for a brief and tragic stint with Leah years ago. Now, stuck in France, he has the chance to explore romance, starting with a surprising kiss on Isabelle’s accepting lips. This moment reminds us of how much he has matured during this adventure. He’s no longer the grunting manchild shyly sharing stories about Cherokee Roses; he’s become a man who craves family, and he has found a version of that with Isabelle and Laurent. Little does he know, this new family is about to welcome a soulmate addition. Will it be awkward when he finally comes face-to-face with the only character in The Walking Dead universe he’s expressed love for? Will Isabelle understand the complexity of Daryl and Carol’s relationship—something that often eludes even them, and keeps fans guessing? And how will Carol react to how quickly Daryl has moved on from his family back home? She serves as a reminder of how much he means to them, and that truth could shake up the dynamics between them all.

The Battle Between Faith and Certainty

Back at the Nest, Losang is furious at Jacinta for overstepping his leadership and putting a target on Daryl, Isabelle, and Fallou. While she claims only Daryl was the target, he never wanted him dead. Jacinta is an extremist, just like Genet; she is willing to kill for certainty in her faith, whereas Genet is certain that any faith is the killer of societal progress.

Carol is also starting to see the divide between the faithful and Genet’s faithless as all of the captors in the truck with her have hope that Pouvoir will offer them food and return their lives to some semblance of normalcy. That promise is an obvious lie, and Carol starts to realize it. When the trucks arrive at their destination.By angry armed guards, they are separated into those who are doomed to become test subjects and those like Carol, who have the skills and strength Genet is looking for.

As for Genet (Anne Charrier), it is revealed that she has also captured Codron (Romain Levi) and is torturing him for the truth about Laurent’s whereabouts. Codron finds hope in the young boy and endures everything Genet dishes out while still refusing to give up the location of The Nest. While he is tied to a chair, blindfolded and beaten mercilessly, we see the answer to her question in an engraving of Mont Saint-Michel on Fallou’s pocket watch that her goons stole.