The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – Paris Sera Toujours Paris

By: Kelly Kearney

Paris wailed in pain when the dead forced the city of love underground, and after their run-in with the preschool kids last week, it seems Daryl, Isabelle, Sylvie, and Laurent get a peek at why she cries. After putting her foot down and refusing to take the preferred shortcut to Union Hope’s base camp, Isabelle is outranked as the decision maker when she fails to make good on her promise to Daryl to find him a radio or a boat ride home.

The Lizard King and Music to Die By

After Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) pulls rank on Daryl (Norman Reedus) and makes the decision to go the long way to the Union of Hope’s Northern base rather than the shorter route through Paris, we see the group of four travelers stop off at a theater where Isabelle heard about a man and a radio. Throughout the episode, Daryl seems less enthused with this savior-to-camp mission and more determined than ever to get back home to his family. At every turn, he’s asking about a working radio because he is desperate to get in contact with whom– we can only assume, must be Carol waiting for him back in Virginia. The last time Daryl missed a lunch date with her the woman went full beast mode until she found him. If he stays away much longer she could easily burn down half of the United States while she is out looking for him. He needs to get home soon. The group pulls up to a theater and once inside this amateur orchestra conductor (Éric Frey) gives them the bad and kind of demented news: he does have a radio but the wires have been cut. Why? Who knows, but this guy is unhinged and we see how badly he invites the two to watch his “musicians” perform his masterpiece. It’s an orchestra of the dead with walkers tied to instruments like puppets on a string. It’s immediately clear that this man needs to go touch grass, he has been locked up with the dead entirely too long and it’s really starting to show. Annoyed, Daryl refers to this entire detour as a stupid waste of time. He is done with long roads to nowhere, preschools, and madmen, he needs to be in charge. Move over, Isabelle, Daryl is calling the shots now and the first thing on his agenda is Paris. The capital city is a straight shot to the Northern base camp, and the sooner he can deliver the boy safely the sooner he can find a way back home.

We’re not sure the reason why Isabelle was so hesitant to go to Paris, but one could assume it’s because that the last time she was there it was overrun by the dead. On the road Daryl and Isabelle get to talking about Lily and the High School she graduated from that is not too far away. She never mentions the fact the school is likely her alma mater too because she is still keeping the truth about Lily from Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi). The boy has no idea the nun who raised him is actually his aunt. Daryl gets all Judge Judy about Isabelle’s parenting style when it comes to telling the truth but  the conversation quickly segues to the spray-painted signs on the cars and buildings. The graffiti reads “pouvoir,” a tag painted by the members of a movement that began at the start of the outbreak. This is also the same group who attacked them at the Abbey, so these guys get around. In the nun’s opinion, this group is what happens when society falls apart and people cling to authority as a way to feel safer. Daryl puts his foot in his mouth and points out the fact she clings to God for the same reason. His comparison is insulting because Isabelle’s faith is the most important thing to her– it’s kept her and her nephew alive. The conversation pauses when Daryl sees a famous landmark in the local cemetery and points out Jim Morrison’s grave. It looks like the late lead singer of The Doors had some recent visitors since the site is adorned in fresh flowers in honor of the man his fans called The Lizard King.  Laurent pipes in with his prophetic promise that Daryl needn’t worry, Jim might have died in Paris but Daryl won’t. Maybe Laurent spoke too soon because as soon as they left Jim’s final resting place, an armed man leading a group of survivors creeps out of hiding to block their path. It isn’t until Isabelle recites the Union of Hope’s motto “Truth is hope,” that the man – who we learn is named Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney), puts down his weapons and welcomes them to his home. Fallou knew Father Jean and he admits he has been waiting over a decade to meet this savior-boy. Laurent is a celebrity; his name has traveled the country far beyond the walls of the Abbey where he grew up. The kid is the pop star of hope, the savior of the desperate, and the resurrector of mankind…but no pressure!

Heavy is the Crown the Wears

Fallou escorts the four travelers to his rooftop community of 64 permanent members and a few extras who commute in and out. As Fallou explains their way of life we notice the young Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard) making friends and goo-goo eyes with a man named Émile (Tristan Zanchi). Up on the community’s rooftop, Laurent spots the Eiffel Tower and notices a helicopter jetting outward from the famous structure. Everything he knows he’s read in books so the boy can’t help but dream about standing under the tower and letting the sun shine down on him. He has spent his whole life learning the world’s history so seeing it with his own eyes is almost too overwhelming to comprehend. He certainly isn’t considering the dangers of an overrun city full of flesh-eating corpses as he fantasizes about sunbeams and Parisian architecture. Fallou points out this crying moan they hear radiating off the downtown area is the Eiffel Tower crying when the wind whips through its open steel structure. Profoundly he compares it to wailing from grief as if the city is a living entity mourning the end of human life.

 With his mind dead-set on finding a radio, Fallou takes Daryl to Antoine (Dominique Pinon) – the man who controls the communication system for the entire community. Now we’re talking! Daryl is ready to go until he finds out the sort of system they’re dealing with isn’t your typical phone and receiver. It’s homing pigeons and  Antoine assures him these birds are up to the task. They know exactly where to go and then the handler cracks a joke about the pigeon possibly having a girlfriend who waits for him. When he says this Daryl drops his head in deep thought as if to say that bird isn’t the only one who has someone waiting for him across the pond. While homing pigeons are a great source of communication,  the fact it could take up to a month to get a response isn’t putting Daryl at ease. He turns on Isabelle, snapping as she tricked him into believing there was hope with these people when it’s obvious that hope is dwindling. With the bird on its way, the newcomers settle in with this new group. Daryl notices right away that the survivors are seemingly obsessed with Laurent and it has very little to do with the fact that he’s gifting them food and not asking for anything in return. They seem to worship him as if he is a deity they have been praying to all of their lives. Daryl can’t help himself and questions whether or not this Lil’ Jesus game isn’t too much responsibility for a kid. Isabelle shrugs off his concern by saying “God chooses their burdens.” and Laurent’s burden seems to be empathy. We see him put that to the test when he approaches a grieving widow who is overwhelmed with pain from the loss of her husband. According to Fallou, the woman’s grief was too overwhelming and she hasn’t been able to speak to anyone about it since he passed. We see Laurent embrace her and the woman instantly accepts his kindness. The whole interaction has this cult-like mentality about it and it really bothers Daryl.

Variant Creations

While they’re searching for a radio to get Daryl back home, we catch up with Codron (Romain Levi) at the Maison Mere – The Cause’s headquarters. There he meets with Genet (Anne Charrier) and hands over that audio recording Daryl left behind. This powerful leader has never met this soldier–apparently, she has too many to keep track of, but decides she likes his dedication to her but most importantly finding the American. For now, their agendas align–she wants Daryl to pay for the mutiny on her boat and Codron wants him dead for killing his brother and forcing him to break his promise to his parents. He explains how he swore he would keep his little brother safe, and Daryl stole that promise and now he wants vengeance. The question remains, what does Genet want with him? We get a clue when she shows Cordron what she’s been up to with the walkers. Inside a heavily guarded medical bay, we see a variant walker with super strength chained to a wall. Codron watches as the animated corpse breaks free from its chains but as he approaches the glass walls that keep him a prisoner, his zombie’s skull spontaneously explodes. Genet’s disappointed doctor (François Delaive) records the results, letting us believe this woman is trying to somehow modify certain walkers to create variants she can use for her own nefarious purpose. Codron gets an eye full of her operation and he also gets a job to prove his usefulness to The Cause. His first task: bring Daryl to her at that lab.

After finding out the radio was a pigeon, Daryl feels manipulated but Fallou promises there are other ways to get help–even a boat can be procured for the right price in Paris. The capitol has a thriving underground scene that is present to pre-World War II days where cabarets and burlesque shows lined the streets with patrons looking to party the night away. For the right trade, someone will know something about a radio or a boat and luckily Isabelle has something these traders may want. She takes Daryl to her old apartment where she finds a picture of her sister Lily on her 16th birthday at the Eiffel Tower. She also digs out her stash of drugs and jewelry hidden underneath her fireplace that somehow decades of looters had missed. She plans to give the photo to Laurent and then pockets the drugs and says to Daryl, “ I wasn’t always a nun,” and he responds jokingly with, “Yeah, I can tell” They hate what they came for so the two leave and run directly into that little girl that from the previous episode who couldn’t find her father at the start of the outbreak. She wanted Isabelle’s help, and instead, the nun left her behind. For 11 years the child stood tangled in the weeds growing from the cracks in the concrete and growling with hunger for human flesh. Isabelle barely has time to figure out what to do with this girl when burning walkers start to rain down on them from the apartment’s rooftop. Daryl has no other choice but to grab one of the burner variants and use it like an iron– pressing against the overgrown weeds blocking their exit. With a searing push into the greenery, he can push on through and the two make their hasty exit. They never put that little girl down; Isabelle can’t bring herself to do it and Daryl is too busy fighting back the dead to take the shot..

All the World is a Drag

Once they return with the drugs Isabelle gives Laurent the picture of his mother and then she along with Daryl, Sylvie, Fallou, and Emile, head down to the catacombs of Paris–a winding road of tombs filled with the skeletal remains of the black plague. While we missed the perfect opportunity to reanimate millions of 14th-century skeletons,  the gothic site mesmerizes Daryl and that’s just the start of this mind-blowing night. Once they make their way through the catacombs they end up at an underground black market nightclub called Demimonde. Anything goes at this club and that goes for anything these newcomers might need. From Coco the drag queen (Hugo Bardin), to lounge singers, and scantily dressed dancers, this is an eye-opening moment for Laurent–his prepubescent mind seems a bit blown because a boy doesn’t get views like these from the nuns back at the Abbey. Fascinated by what he is witnessing he wanders off deeper into the club as Fallou introduces Daryl and Isabelle to two men who might be able to find them a boat. The men never say whether or not they have a boat but that they hear things about one and could connect Daryl to the right people if they hand over the drugs. The trade is done but Daryl doesn’t trust one of the guys, Bastian (Elie Haddad) and soon a fight breaks out. That’s when Quinn (Adam Nagaitis)– the man from the beginning of Isabelle’s story swoops in and violently breaks up the fight. We learn he owns the nightclub and is as shocked to see his ex-girlfriend as she is to lay eyes on him. Daryl watches as this drama unfolds and it only adds to his suspicion about this club and the people who are offering to help them.

After introductions are made, we spot Laurent across the bar having his own cringe moment with the lounge singer, and Quinn’s girlfriend, Anna (Lukerya Ilyashenko). The boy proudly shows her the picture of his mother, and after complimenting the singer on her voice she offers Laurent a gift–the Eiffel Tower necklace from around her neck. Anna is a little bit tipsy and Laurent is a little bit out of his element but the weirdness only gets worse when Isabelle introduces the boy to Quinn as Lily’s son. Immediately the man notices that the boy has his mother’s eyes and when Sylvie takes Laurent back to the rooftops with Fallou, we learn the truth about the boy’s backstory. Quinn can’t keep it to himself so he admits– as he cozies up to Anna,  that he feels some sort of obligation to the boy since he had a secret relationship with Lily behind Isabelle’s back! Quinn is Laurent’s father and Isabelle is livid. Not only is he a liar and a cheater but he is also willing to let Lily and the baby die back at that gas station. She never knew who the boy’s father was but she tells Quinn that even if she had she wouldn’t have risked Laurent’s life just to include his father in it. This irritates Quinn who points out that he not only saved her life at the start of the Fall but also found her after her first suicide attempt and rushed her to the hospital. It seems Quinn was Isabelle’s savior in more ways than one but is he someone she can rely on now? She doesn’t seem to think so and winds up taking all of her Quinn-anger out on Daryl, the one who brought them to Paris in the first place. The only reason they took this risky path to Paris was to help him get back home but he had no plans of returning the favor.

Back to Laurent who asks Sylvie why so many people look to him for answers when he is filled with nothing but questions about his mother. Those answers will have to wait because Codron and his fellow soldiers from The Cause show up looking for Daryl. Luckily he is already back at the rooftop community where Isabelle is apologizing for biting his head off, but it is a little too late; he is packing his bags and getting ready to head out on the road. Before going, Isabelle attempts to guilt him into staying with her favorite form of surrogate Daddy manipulation by reminding him of how much Laurent needs him and his guidance. Everything with this nun is about her and the boy but not once has she ever questioned why Daryl is so determined to get home and if he has a family who could need him more. He lashes back, accusing her of using the boy to pump hope into the world when it’s just her selfish way of soothing her fears. Laurent overhears them arguing and interrupts to say he hates them both and then takes off just as The Cause soldiers break down the door. Now The Cause is in hot pursuit of Daryl-who ends up falling through a roof after a brutal wrestling match with Codron. Laurent is gone and Genet’s army is on the hunt for Daryl, so let’s hope that the homing pigeon caught a tailwind and made it to Virginia because our hero could use some help or at the very least, a pirate ship ride out of town.