Daryl & Carol Stumble Upon Apocalyptic London in ‘Daryl Dixon’ Season 3 Premiere — and It’s Utterly Devastating
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 1 Review: Stephen Merchant Is The Standout Of A Solid If Unspectacular Season Premiere
Warning! This review contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's season 3 premiere.
Now that they’ve left France, this series is starting to feel like National Lampoon’s European Vacation with zombies. In this episode alone, their sightseeing trip takes them to two more European nations. After Daryl Dixon season 2 ended with Daryl and Carol making their way through a hallucinogen-infested Channel Tunnel, season 3 picks up with their arrival in a mostly deserted England.
As a Brit, I got a real kick out of seeing the Walking Dead-ified version of my homeland. My hat goes off to the VFX and production design teams for creating such a fully realized vision of post-apocalyptic London on a TV budget. They threw in a lot of inventive little visual flourishes, too: a zombie trapped in a red telephone box; a quarantine zone with “SOD OFF!” spray-painted on the wall; Tower Bridge permanently stuck in the “up” position. Big Ben proves to be a handy tool to draw hordes of the undead away.
Guest Star Stephen Merchant Makes This An Episode To Remember
Merchant Gives A Great Turn As The Omega Englishman
Of course, it’s Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride’s show, and their on-screen chemistry is as strong as ever. I appreciated that Jason Richman and David Zabel didn’t overwrite the episode. In a lot of recent TV shows, from The Last of Us to Dune: Prophecy, the writers have felt the need to spell out every little emotional turn in on-the-nose, plain-as-day dialogue. But not everything needs to be said out loud, especially between two people who know each other as well as Daryl and Carol. Richman and Zabel leave plenty of room for unspoken moments between Reedus and McBride.
Daryl Dixon Season 3's Plotting Feels A Bit Rushed
The Premiere Episode Can't Wait To Get To Spain
When it was announced that season 3 would be set in Spain after the season 2 finale established a UK setting, I expected some plot contrivances to be involved in the pivot to yet another new country. But it’s not so much that the plot is contrived; they set sail from England, hit a storm on their way back to America, and wash up in Spain, which all makes sense from a dramatic and logical standpoint. The problem is that the pacing feels a bit rushed.
In the space of just one episode, this premiere races through enough material for a whole season set in England to get to the story in Spain.
Spain turns out to be even more hostile than France. Not too long after they’ve crashed on a beach, their shipwreck is inspected by a creepy cult on horseback, wielding torches and wearing masks made of animal skulls. I can’t remember the last time The Walking Dead franchise genuinely scared me — especially since the characters have gotten so used to killing zombies that it’s become a mundane chore, not a fight for survival — but the first appearance of that group in this episode really creeped me out.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs new episodes on AMC every Sunday.
Teresa Giudice Says RHONJ Cast is Trying to “Ice Me Out” Amid Casting Rumors, and Reveals If She’d Join RHOSLC
Credit: Instagram
Teresa Giudice shared why it’s been “so hard” for Bravo to “make a decision” about the new season’s cast of the Real Housewives of New Jersey – amid reports that she wasn’t asked back. The star also addressed if she’d consider filming the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City as Whitney Rose’s friend.
According to new reports, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, and Margaret Josephs were the only original stars to film test footage with newbie castmates for the upcoming season. One source claimed that Teresa likely won’t film at all.
On Teresa’s Turning The Tables podcast, the star threw shade at certain costars.
“Basically, they were all trying to ice me out [so that] maybe then Teresa won’t come back,” she explained. “So that’s why it’s been so hard for — I guess Bravo — to make a decision [on] what they want to do.”
Her guest Christian Gray Snow added, “[When Housewives’] focus now is, ‘Hey we gotta make sure that we’re not doing this in this scene and we’re not talking to her in this scene,’ it’s like, now we’re focusing on the wrong thing. The self-producing is … what’s caused problems on these shows.”
“Right,” said Teresa. “And that’s why I feel like Salt Lake City is amazing. I’ve been watching Salt Lake City. I’ve been learning a lot. Yes, so I’ve been reflecting and learning and watching, and we’ll see what the future holds.”
Teresa hinted that she’d consider filming RHOSLC as Whitney’s friend.
“I’m so excited [for the new season] because I love Whitney so much. I’m like, I need to come on Salt Lake City. I’m like, ‘I’ll definitely have your back over there, girl.’ I’m like, ‘And you need to come to Jersey and have my back,'” said Teresa. “That’s my girl in Salt Lake City. I love Whitney. In Miami, I love Alexia and Larsa, even Larsa because Larsa and I did House of Villains together. Yes. And then in Dubai, it’s Chanel. I love Chanel and Taleen because I bonded with them. So I have girls in like a lot of cities.”
