The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon episode 1 recap: Union of Hope
Daryl Dixon takes center stage in the latest entry in the TWD Saga, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Here’s our recap of episode 1, “L’ame Perdue.”
The long and winding road
After washing up on a beach, Daryl has the daunting task of figuring out where he is when all of the signs are in a foreign language. Eventually he comes upon a boat where some English-speaking refugees left a tape recorder that explains how they came to be in France. Unfortunately, their journey ended in tragedy like so many others. But thanks to their maps and notes, Daryl has a good place to start.
He makes his own recording, offering that he’s from the Commonwealth in America and he’s trying to get home to his family.
From the port, Daryl starts trekking across France. He doesn’t know where he is or where he’s going, but he’s on his way…somewhere.
Burning walkers
Daryl learns the hard way that French walkers have evolved somehow when he runs into several walkers at an abandoned market. Their blood is like acid. It burns through anything and everything, and even their skin will burn human flesh.
He stops to tend to the wound on his arm, and that’s when he sees a figure draped in robes. There are signs all around him that read “God loves you” according to his French dictionary. Is the woman on the hill responsible for these signs? (She is, but why?)
Help, and help!
Daryl stumbles upon a woman, Maribelle (Carmen Kassovitz), and her uncle, Guillaume (Bernard Bloch). They seem innocent enough, offering food in exchange for the medicine Daryl found. When they find out he’s American, the woman switches over to English. Guillaume brings up World War II and how the US and France fought together. Daryl reminds them that there aren’t any more countries.
A truck pulls up and men get out. Maribelle explains to Michel (Andy Deschamps), the lead soldier, that Daryl doesn’t speak English. When the men get rough, he springs into action and kills one of the men. After they have been overpowered, Maribelle kills the other man. Daryl has a wound in his neck and asks her to bring his bag, but Guillaume knocks Daryl out and they flee. Thankfully, the woman he saw on the road appears before he passes out.
Union of Hope
Daryl dreams about Judith and Carol. It’s a fever dream, because his arm is infected. He comes close to waking up, spotting two nuns nearby. They cauterize his arm, which leads him to pass out once more.
The next time he wakes up, he meets Isabell (Clémence Poésy). She speaks French, and she assures him that he’s a guest. They had to tie him up earlier for his own safety because he’d been attacked by a “burner,” a type of “hungry one.” She knows all about him thanks to the tape recorder. How did you come to be in France, she asks. “A bunch of bad decisions,” he replies.
Later, Isabelle tends to his wounds while he bathes. She sees his scars, and he sees hers. She says she lost a sister. Once he’s dressed, they walk through the abbey and Daryl asks about the boy, Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), he saw earlier in the courtyard. She shows him their impressive stash of weapons. “We can defend ourselves if we need to,” she says. Daryl sees a radio in Père Jean’s office, but the good father is nowhere to be found. While he eats lunch, he sees Laurent mirroring his actions.
Before he finishes lunch, Laurent comes to introduce himself and tells him all of the knowledge Père Jean has taught him. He asks about Daryl’s family because he knows he’s sad and homesick. “You deserve a happy ending too,” he says, using the same phrase Judith used before he left.
Codron
Maribelle and Guillaume are walking along the road laughing at Daryl’s dictionary when another truck pulls up. Codron (Romain Levi) gets out and asks about two of his men who disappeared on the road. When they say they don’t know anything, Codron attacks Guillaume. Maribelle reveals what happened back at their camp, and that a mystery man had attacked the soldiers. Codron kills Guillaume and takes Maribelle with them.
They go to the camp site and it turns out that Michel was Codron’s brother. He’s a walker now, which means Codron is on the warpath and he wants revenge against the American. They find one of Isabelle’s flyers and decide to go to the abbey. They leave Maribelle behind as a sign of their mercy.
Père Jean
As Daryl works to get into Père Jean’s office, he hears the unmistakable sound of a walker. He finds Laurent reading poetry in front of a jail cell, where a walker is locked up inside. It’s Père Jean, Laurent says. They’re waiting for him to rise again.
Daryl has had enough of the creepy convent. Isabelle pleads with him to stay and help them deliver Laurent to safety. They believe he’s the messiah, meant to guide humanity to a new age. He’s a miracle because he was born after his mother died, and he must be nurtured so that he can be the savior of humanity. He realizes the radio is broken; when she says there might be ports open in the north, she says it won’t be easy since he doesn’t speak French.
Killer nuns
Isabelle tries to plead with Daryl to stay with them and help Laurent. As he gets to the gate, Laurent says they will see him again. He’s not wrong. While he’s on the road, Codron and his men drive up. Daryl hides and watches them pass.
Codron knocks on the gate and asks about an American. He won’t take no for an answer and demands to come inside. Isabelle locks Laurent in the office and tells him not to come out.
Naturally, as they search the abbey, Codron heads directly to Père Jean’s office and he hears something inside. Thankfully, one of his men finds Père Jean in the cell. Codron orders his men to kill the walker in exchange for information about the American. The Reverend Mother pleads with the soldiers; she knows them and knows their families. Laurent runs out just as Père Jean is killed.
Codron wants to know why they have a boy with them and decides to take him with them. That’s when Daryl arrives and kills one of the men. This gives Isabelle time to get him to safety. The nuns face off with Codron’s men, including Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard), who stabs one of the men in anger after they shoot several of her sisters.
Daryl and Codron fight inside the abbey. After managing to shoot him in the shoulder, Daryl chases Codron outside and watches as he retreats. After surveying the carnage inside the abbey, Daryl starts to see things differently. Codron’s men were willing to kill a group of nuns. Can he really turn his back on Laurent?
Daryl finds Isabelle with Sister Veronique (Catherine Arditi), who is dying from a wound sustained in battle. She asks Daryl if he still struggles to believe in the mission.
Later, Isabelle, Sylvie and Laurent sing to honor their fallen friends. “They’re with the angels now,” Laurent says. While Sylvie sings, Daryl tells Isabelle that he got there after running into some bad people and “that didn’t go well.” Then he ended up in France and he ran into a nun. He asks if she can take him to the port, and then he agrees to take them to safety.
Below, Codron watches them.
Up north, in Le Havre, Genet (Anne Charrier) arrives to talk to the boat captain. Her father used to fish those same waters and she knows that a crew is only as good as their captain. The doctor tells her that their experiments are almost all ruined. We see a bunch of walkers being led from freight containers.
She’s upset that one man, one American, ruined everything. He says he stopped the mutiny, and she’s not impressed. He thinks the man went overboard. His name was Dixon. She sends her men to find him.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC.
