‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Season 3 Review: TWD Goes Western But Quality Goes North

It’s been three long years since The Walking Dead ended its decade-spanning run, yet the show’s legacy is far from dead as AMC continues to renew its spin-off shows Daryl Dixon and Dead City. Dead City Season 2 aired earlier this year and Daryl Dixon Season 3 just ended a seven episode run, making the franchise as strong as ever. That’s all fine when it comes to quantity, but quality is another beast. Luckily, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is as strong as ever with its third season. Read our The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 review below.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon follows the eponymous character (Norman Reedus) as he leaves the US in search of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) following his disappearance in Season 9 of The Walking Dead. His journey takes him to Europe, where he spends the first two seasons of the series in France, soon being joined by TWD regular Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride). The third season takes Daryl and Carol to England and soon to Spain, introducing them to a new cast of characters as they make their way back to America.

By now, it is clear the concept of the series is becoming somewhat of a formula, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way, as the repetition makes for suitable cable television. I think the drama this season was quite great and a drastic improvement over the prior one. It does fall into many cliches, but the sheer interest in genre play and move from France (the location of seasons one and two) make for an excellent viewing.

I think for me at least, the highlights of the season are the stories told within the story, such as Daryl’s solo episode (in his solo show, which is kind of weird but besides the point) where the show enters full-blown Western territory and Daryl robs a train to save a people. It’s the exact type of thing you’d expect to see in a 50s Clint Eastwood film, making for incredible viewing, even if it doesn’t drive the plot forward too much. 

I do think they kind of brushed over the English aspect of the series, which was something they heavily set up towards the end of the last season. It’s over within the first half of the first episode, making it such an underwhelming setup in retrospect. The series does leave off at an interesting point, linking back to the start of the series and setting up a very interesting threat. That being said, I do hope we move on from Spain quite quickly as the show enters its final season, the show brings it back home to America, so it can wrap up sensibly. 

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 is a big improvement on The Book of Carol, making for solid horror television, with great turns by the lead cast and an interesting road ahead for our faves to walk down. 

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 stars Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Eduardo Noriega, Óscar Jaenada, Alexandra Masangkay, Hugo Arbués, and Candela Saitta. The show airs on AMC.

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