Fans love the new 'Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' spinoff, especially those butt-kicking nuns

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the first episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

The fifth spin-off and sixth overall series in the popular Walking Dead franchise kicked off Sunday night with The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and judging by the reactions from viewers, this could be one of the strongest installations yet.

Featuring Norman Reedus reprising his role as Daryl Dixon — an actor and character that quickly became fan favorites on The Walking Dead — the first of what will be six episodes opened with Daryl washing ashore in France, with seemingly not much clue as to how he got there.

From there, Daryl had his first run-in with French zombies and learned that, in some, their blood and touch will burn a person like acid. They’re called ‘burners’ as opposed to the common term ‘walkers’ that has been used most frequently in the franchise.

Daryl also began to meet some other humans, including a convent full of nuns who are armed, trained and dangerous (more on them in a minute). And it's at that convent that he came across a boy the nuns are raising who they refer to as, “the cure for a sick world.” It’ll be Daryl’s duty this season to help transport him to a better place.

Daryl also crossed paths with some other not-so-trustworthy folks who ultimately blamed Daryl for a death he didn’t cause and put a target on his back. And at the end of the episode we learned that Daryl had caused – or was blamed for – a mutiny on some sort of ship and went overboard, hence how he washed ashore in a strange place. But that put another target on his back by the people who are upset about the mutiny.

With plenty more questions to be answered and character backstories to unravel, most viewers reacting on social media already seem hooked and ready for more, besides the one or two who took issue with Daryl sporting suspenders for this iteration.

But the part of the episode that had people the most excited were the nuns, with their impressive use of medieval weaponry and fearless attacks on their enemies.

The good news for viewers is that while Daryl did leave the convent, he took two of the nuns, played by Clémence Poésy and Laïka Blanc-Francard, with him on his journey. So their story and their butt-kicking ways are not done yet.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.