The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season one comes to a close as our hero is conflicted about his future. In “Coming Home,” Daryl (Norman Reedus) is determined to complete his mission as Genet (Anne Charrier) attempts to solidify her power.
Last week’s episode ended with Daryl in Genet’s arena getting ready to face off with a jacked up walker. But this is Daryl, so you know one walker is no match for him. Round one ends with Daryl planting the French flag into the walker’s head. Round two starts with the addition of Quinn (Adam Nagaitis) to the game. The two men are chained together at the wrists and are given weapons. Daryl makes it clear that he has no intention of dying.
Just as the two start to fight, four walkers are brought out. Genet smiles, thinking the American will surely die in her arena. Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) and Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) pray for Daryl’s safety as the guards inject the walker juice. Things don’t go as Genet planned when one of the walkers explodes immediately. Two of the walkers start fighting each other, ending in one death. That leaves two against two. One of the walkers has a steel plate in his head, making it hard for them to kill. The other attacks Quinn but is an easy kill for Daryl. Daryl and Quinn work together to rip the head off of the steel plate walker.
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The crowd starts cheering for Daryl, easily entertained by his prowess. Genet is clearly upset that Dr. LaFleur (Francois Delaive) experiments are of no use to her. Daryl throws the head at Genet and she signals for her guerriers to kill him. Fallou (Eriq Ebanouey) is in the crowd and shoots one of the guerriers, causing mass hysteria. Everyone flees the arena, giving Daryl and Quinn an opportunity to escape.
Genet puts Isabelle and Laurent in a cell, but Isabelle was able to lift the keys and they escape. Daryl notices a wound on Quinn’s shoulder. Quinn says it’s a burn, but a few minutes later, he gets extremely tired. Daryl needs to get to Laurent and Isabelle to help them escape. Quinn is just slowing him down and they are both aware that he will be dead soon. The only way for the two to be separated is for Daryl to cut off Quinn’s wrist. Quinn’s only request is to let Isabelle know what he did for her.
Eriq Ebouaney as Fallou – The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Emmanuel Guimier/AMC
Daryl escapes and finds Fallou outside. Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard) and Emile (Tristan Zanchi) are with him as they make a plan to find Isabelle and Laurent. Emile removes the chain from Daryl’s wrist before Daryl goes back inside. He immediately finds Laurent and Isabelle, but they are separated by a locked gate. To make matters worse, Walker Quinn shows up and attacks Isabelle. Daryl gives Laurent an ax and tells him to kill Walker Quinn to save Isabelle. Laurent hesitates, because he believes the walkers are still God’s creatures. Daryl says that God will forgive him and Laurent kills Walker Quinn.
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Fallou and Emile lead the others out of the city and say goodbye to Daryl, Isabelle, Laurent and Sylvie as they leave for the Nest. Isabelle apologizes to Laurent because he had to kill Quinn. Laurent says the thing he killed wasn’t Quinn anymore. Plus Quinn was never really his father. He says sometimes you have to do horrible things. Sometimes you don’t have a choice, but God will forgive you.
They get pretty far before the car dies. Laurent and Sylvie take a nap while Daryl works on the car and talks to Isabelle. We find out that Daryl’s grandfather died in France, causing their family to fall apart. Isabelle reflects on how much Laurent has changed since meeting Daryl. He never had that kind of influence in his life. She says growing up with no father was better than growing up with Quinn. Since she mentioned Quinn, Daryl fulfills his promise to let her know that Quinn thought about her before he died.
Isabelle admits two things to Daryl. She was afraid of him when they met. And she lied to him about a picture that Laurent drew. She said Laurent drew a picture of Daryl on the beach before he came to the abbey. Isabelle actually told him to draw it after Daryl arrived. She thought it would convince Daryl to help them.
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Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent, Laïka Blanc-Francard as Sylvie – The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Emmanuel Guimier/AMC
Daryl is under the car and asks for a wrench, but Isabelle doesn’t answer. Daryl climbs out from under the car and finds Codron (Romain Levi) standing above him. Codron pulls Daryl out and the guerriers already have the others. They say Genet ordered them all dead, starting with Laurent. Isabelle reaches for Laurent and a guerrier stabs her in the shoulder. The guerrier gives Codron a gun and tells him to kill them all for his brother.
Codron points the gun at Laurent. Daryl tries to tend to Isabelle while pleading with Codron not to kill the boy. Laurent looks Codron directly in the eyes and says God loves him. Codron turns the gun on the guerriers and kills them all. Then he turns the gun on Daryl. Codron lowers the gun and says not today. He picks up the watch and sees the picture of the Nest. He says the Nest is less than a day’s walk. Codron says the truck is easy to track and tells them to burn it before walking away. And that’s exactly what they do.
The next day, the group makes it to the Nest. It’s an old castle, separated from the mainland with lots of room for people. And it’s safe. There are no walkers anywhere in sight. As soon as they walk through the gates, the people greet Laurent, knowing exactly who he is. They meet Losang (Joel De La Fuente), an American from New Jersey. He sends Isabelle to the doctors for medical attention and then shows Daryl and Laurent around. Daryl says Genet will come for them, but ??? says they will be ready if that day comes.
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Several days go by as Isabelle recuperates. Daryl sleeps on the floor next to her bed. He teaches some of the locals how to shoot a gun, while Laurent makes friends. Daryl admits to Isabelle that the Nest isn’t what he thought it would be, but he likes it. Losang tells Daryl that they found him a way home. There is a fisherman in Dover that can get him to England. From there he can find passage to Newfoundland, Canada. The fisherman leaves in two days. If Daryl leaves the next day at dawn, he can make it in time. Losang tries to convince Daryl to stay at the Nest for Isabelle and Laurent, and because they need him. Daryl says he has a family to get home to and the fight with the Pouvoir is not his fight. Losang says sometimes when a person leaves home, he finds he belongs someplace else.
Anne Charrier as Genet – The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Emmanuel Guimier/AMC
Codron reports back to Genet. His story is that they were ambushed. He ran after the boy and heard gunshots. When he got back to Genet’s men, they were all dead. Genet doesn’t believe him. She says the Union offers fairy tales. They have to snuff out everyone who joins them. She is building the future for those who come after them. She says they have to do hard, unspeakable things so the future generations don’t have to. Genet asks for the location of the Nest, but Codron pretends not to know. The guerriers hit Codron, making him fall to his knees. Genets ays it will hurt worse and signals for her men to take him away.
Daryl prepares to leave early the next morning. Isabelle finds him packing and is a little upset that he would leave without saying goodbye. She accuses Daryl of abandoning Laurent, like his father did to Daryl, but Daryl says it’s not the same. Isabelle tries to convince him to stay, using the things he told her on their journey. Daryl makes it clear that he always intended to go home. She wishes him well and leaves the room. Daryl goes to Laurent’s bed and looks at him. He places the rubix cube on his bed and leaves.
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Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon – The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Emmanuel Guimier/AMC
Daryl walks along the coast and through the countryside. Along the way he sees the American flag flying nearby and walks toward it. The flag marks the graveyard of US soldiers who died in France. Daryl looks around and finds his grandfather William T. Dixon’s grave. Daryl looks around and sees the fisherman’s boat in the distance. He walks to the beach and yells at the boat. The fisherman signals with a flashlight that he sees Daryl. Several walkers emerge from the rocks on the beach and Daryl has to fight them off. Once he gets clear of the walkers, he makes his way to the water. Daryl hears someone call his name. He turns around and sees Laurent. He stands on the beach looking at the boat and then the kid.
Back in the US, a stranger (Paul Zies) rides Daryl’s motorcycle when a car pulls up to him. The stranger speeds up to get away from the car. He stops and shoots at the car. The car dies and stops just as it gets to the stranger. The stranger points his gun at the car, forcing the driver out. The driver is Carol (Melissa McBride).
Carol says the stranger is riding her friend’s motorcycle. She wants to know where he is. The stranger says he found the bike, but Carol doesn’t believe him. He tells her to open the trunk. While he looks in the trunk, Carol pulls out a wrench and hits him over the head. When the stranger wakes up, he’s tied up in the trunk and Carol is pointing the gun at him. He says he traded some things for the motorcycle and tells her where to find the people he traded with. She says if he’s lying, she won’t be back and closes the trunk on him. Carol hops on the motorcycle and rides into Freeport, Maine.
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