‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol’ Review: Dangerous Game Of Cat & Mouse

The latest season in The Walking Dead universe, Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, has just concluded and with it a somewhat downgrade from its predecessor. Read our The Book of Carol review.

Picking up straight after the show’s first season, the second season, titled The Book of Carol, follows Carol (Melissa McBride) as she journeys from America to France in the middle of the zombie apocalypse to look for close friend Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). In France, Daryl is facing a crisis, being hunted by forces who seek to claim Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) and give him martyrdom.  

Dixon’s story is more or less an obvious continuation of the first season’s storyline. I think that they could have gone in a more interesting and compelling direction because the middle portion of this season feels like one big repetitive game of cat and mouse. About halfway through, Carol and Daryl meet up and reunite, a moment that I thought should have had more impact, and I did have hopes that the plot would take a turn for the better, but it didn’t really until about the last episode. 

Carol and Daryl’s dynamic works a charm as usual, with the two of them last interacting in a very special moment in the final minutes of the original The Walking Dead series. It’s great seeing these two characters back together again and the actors behind these names, Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus do great work throughout. 

Visually, the season has a lot going for it too, playing around with lighting a lot with the unique production design. Particularly the last episode, which largely takes place indoors is really cool to watch right up until the conclusion. The introduction and further inclusion of weaponized and superpowered Walkers really is a cool concept that sets this show apart from the other instalments in the franchise too. 

A big thing that was said to pay off this season was who exactly Carol was talking about over the radio last season. The thing she was talking about crackled over the radio leading audiences to theorise whether a fan favourite had returned from the dead (or lost!) whether that be Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes or Corey Hawkins’ Heath, with the former being found in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live earlier this year and the latter being lost following the discovery of Oceanside. But, sadly and most disappointing was the reveal that it was just a figure of speech on Carol’s end. It’s great bait, considering it led most fans, including myself, to be excited about a reveal that sadly won’t happen. 

Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol works enough as a continuation to the story of these characters, and the way it ends up has me excited for the third season of the show, but if the plot doesn’t change drastically next season (which I can’t see why it would stay the same), things will become stale fast. 

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol stars Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent Carriere, and Clémence Poésy as Isabelle Carriere. It is now streaming in full on AMC and AMC+. 

Thanks for reading this The Book of Carol review. For more reviews, stay tuned here at Feature First.