I’m not too updated on the general popularity, or the lack thereof, when it comes to The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Which is funny, considering this is the only The Walking Dead spin off I’ve enjoyed and worked on for the 3 seasons it spans. The reason I’m even mentioning this is because I don’t think people have a whole lot of faith in the mother show or its spin-offs anymore. So it’s entirely unfair that Daryl Dixon’s popularity doesn’t reflect just how good the spin-off has been at worldbuilding. It’s a tedious, and often impossible job to detach a couple of main characters from the narrative and drop them in whole different worlds with whole new people and convince you of their attachment with these fresh characters. In the 3rd episode of season 3, Daryl Dixon pulls you into its complicated attachments and makes you care about a bunch of people you had no business getting to know. The same goes for Daryl and Carol. Like I said in my previous article on the show, I don’t think these two are going home anytime soon.
Spoiler Alert
Solaz del Mar fears El Alcazar
Solaz didn’t feel simple even at first glance. But it didn’t seem as contrived and tragic as it does in the third episode. Remember the goons Daryl took care of in the ending of the second episode? They followed him from the river, where Daryl saved Roberto and Justina from a bunch of people Justina referred to as bandits. But Guillermo’s fury directed at Fede and Solaz, the place where he’s apparently lost three of his men, does suggest that the goons who tried to loot and kill Roberto and Justina weren’t just bandits. Pests like them clearly belong to someone as awful as Guillermo. But they’re probably not supposed to go around bullying and looting people out in the open. It looks bad for El Alcazar. That’s why they tried to kill Roberto and Justina, so that they couldn’t come back and spill El Alcazar’s dirty doings to the people of Solaz. I don’t think Fede’s naive enough to actually believe that Guillermo’s men are still alive. And something tells me he knows exactly who killed them too. And even if he didn’t, Guillermo’s mention of his men running into trouble by the river should clear things up for him in a blink. The Americans he’s hosted have killed men who worked for someone as nasty as Guillermo. I mean, it should come as no shock to you when you see that the father who was pleading for news on his daughter in the previous episode is now a Walker. Guillermo had him killed. And he isn’t the kind of person who minced his words when it comes to getting his point across. He was already pretty bent after Carol crossed the line and openly questioned and insulted El Alcazar at the celebratory dinner. He’s not the kind of “royalty” who tolerates criticism from the guests of people he sees as mere peasants. Add that to his anger over losing his people to the same guests, and you’ve got a man who’s ready to abandon Solaz at the first sign of any insubordination again. Fede summons as much false sincerity as he’s capable of when he reassures Guillermo that he’ll get his men to look into this right away. But Guillermo had already taken care of that. All he really came into Fede’s office for was to enjoy watching a good man squirm under his thumb. Guillermo owns Fede. So much so that he can basically come out and say that he can find another town and other girls. Solaz is disposable to Guillermo. So if Fede wants to continue enjoying the perks of the Alliance, he has to not only continue ripping young girls away from their parents’ arms, but he has to get everyone to respect El Alcazar as their one true savior. Fede’s not a terrible man selling off young girls in exchange for power. The tragic thing is, he has no power. That’s why Guillermo can insult him and his cognac in his face and walk off all proud. You gotta hand it to Fede for still doing this job. Poor guy probably only still holds the position of mayor so that he can make sure that the exploitation they have to compromise with is kept to the minimum.
Antonio is a guarded man
Yeah, it sure would’ve been nice if it was actually possible for Carol to take Daryl’s advice and stay out of it. His worries about being entangled in other people’s troubles aren’t baseless. But Carol has actually been around these people more than Daryl has. Moreover, instead of being mad at her for speaking out of turn at the dinner and endangering his family, Antonio is glad that Carol is the kind of person who can speak her mind. It’s true that being an outsider who will leave this place and not face the consequences makes it easier for Carol to speak against the heinous tradition they call La Ofrenda. But it took guts to speak up against the royal family in a foreign land. And knowing Carol, I know she is thinking about how she was once a person who could never think of doing something like that. The romantic tension between Carol and Antonio is palpable. The shots of the pictures of his family, complete with his late wife and Roberto, don’t just remind you of his continuous devotion to her. It’s also possibly a suggestion that Carol reminds him of her in certain ways. They find it easy to talk. Antonio is anxiously careful about changing her bandages at the first sign of blood. It’s been a while since someone has cared for Carol this way. Be it curiosity or genuine interest in getting to know him better, she couldn’t keep herself from asking him about the scar on his face. In her defense, it only comes up because he mentioned the accident that killed his wife. So it’s a natural connection that popped up in Carol’s mind. But there’s something about his scar that Antonio doesn’t necessarily want to talk about. And to make sure just how serious that boundary is, he’s practically a little defensive when he tells Carol that they know each other enough. Carol feels bad enough as it is. Worse yet because they’ve been stealing from them–food, supplies, and Daryl even wants to nab their solar panel. So crossing that boundary makes Carol feel all the worse. It’s a good thing they run into each other in the makeshift movie theater that he’s built. He’s quite the fan of cinema. But it’s not just about art and entertainment for him. He sees old movies as the last remaining account of how people used to be and how lives used to be before the disease came. So yeah, he is shut off, for sure. But only about certain things. I think his scar has something to do with Fede. Carol was just saying how there’s no love lost between Antonio and Fede. And Antonio mentioned a fight they had back when they were young. It’s understandable that Antonio doesn’t want to get into it now that he has a home thanks to Fede’s generosity. But he seems like someone who’d really open up to Carol if he could. It’s like he has all these things to say. And after a long time, he has someone he wants to say these things to.
Why Does Justina Sacrifice Herself To El Alcazar?
Daryl would’ve done anything to leave Solaz and go home. But he’s been lucky so far. And this time is no different. He’s no sailor. So the supplies he’s gathered to fix his boat might not even be the right ones. But he’s hopeful. And Daryl knows better than to ever let it on that he doesn’t know how to do something. So he’s lucky that Antonio knows just the right person who can help them, someone who used to be the captain of a ship and now lives in a lighthouse by the beach. Why’s Antonio helping him? Well, for starters, he wants to get the hell away from this place, and Daryl is his ticket to America. It’s adorable how confident he is about the things about America he’s learned from Bruce Springsteen songs. He thinks he’s got the whole place figured out. Daryl has taken up this almost paternal personality ever since he’s met Laurent. So the idea of Antonio leaving his father is probably what Daryl protests when he tells the kid that he should listen to his dad. But frankly, I’m over his whole “love isn’t everything” bit. That doesn’t feel very Daryl. So I’ll just chalk that up to lazy writing and move on. Daryl isn’t necessarily sexist. But the last thing he expected Roberto’s “captain” to be is an old woman with sass for days. Valentina may seem a little scary. But she’s sweet enough to help them out in exchange for a jar of spicy olives Roberto has brought. I mean, who wouldn’t love this kid? He’s brought Daryl to Valentina because he genuinely cares about him. But he doesn’t want to pretend that he’s helped entirely selflessly. Before Valentina can stop making out with her crewmen and help them, Roberto wants to make sure of the deal. By the looks of it, and Valentina’s amusement at the sight of Daryl’s lack of knowledge about the boat, he can’t fix it with tools. There are parts that he needs that only Valentina and her truck can lead them to. And since he clearly needs Roberto’s help with his job, the kid wants to make sure that Daryl and Carol don’t leave him and his girlfriend behind when they set sail. However quick Daryl may be with his “no,” he can’t do without Valentina’s help. That’s where she comes in with her deal-breaker. Either Daryl takes Roberto and Justina with him, or he doesn’t get her truck or the part for the boat that he needs. Daryl’s got no choice but to oblige. It’s obvious that someone as cool as Valentina is supportive of Roberto and Justina’s relationship. Living so close, she must know what happens inside the seemingly-functional walls of Solaz. But it’s not like Daryl didn’t want to help them. He just didn’t want to be responsible for their well being. I mean, a group of inexperienced people taking an old, battered boat through the Atlantic doesn’t sound particularly safe. So how can Daryl promise Antonio that he can keep his son safe? But now that his hands are tied, Daryl’s on board with the idea. The last time they passed this road, Roberto showed him the statue of the Camino de Santiago, a landmark pilgrims have crossed for hundreds of years in search of peace. The fact that it’s a spot where people leave messages and wishes for their loved ones has stayed with Daryl. So on his way to the boatyard, he stops to drop off the rubik’s cube that belonged to Laurent. They were forced to part ways. But Daryl has been changed by just knowing and loving Laurent. That’s not someone he can just forget. The situation at the boatyard is a mixed bag. They do get the part that they need in a boat that’s half submerged in the water, but the water’s infested with the undead. Daryl can kill the ones that he can see. But he can’t stop one if it pops right out of water and gets in his face. So he drags Roberto away. But then he has a whole other bunch of Walkers to deal with. It’s pretty cool to watch him swing that anchor and blow some zombie skulls. But that gives Roberto the time to slip away and try to get the boat part from the water. It’s easier for Daryl to be patient in the face of danger. But to Roberto, this feels like his only shot to be with the girl he loves. We would’ve lost him to a sentimental cliche had Daryl not come back with his shotgun and taken down the Walkers that were just about to grab him. And the best thing is, Roberto grabbed the part that they needed just in time.
Things back in Solaz are moving faster than anyone could expect. Justina hasn’t been the same ever since Alba got picked in La Ofrenda. She can’t get the picture of Alba’s devastated mother out of her mind. When she hurts herself with the needle while sewing with her grandmother, she spoils her darling granddaughter with a secret. She tells her where to find the key to the supplies cabinet where Fede stores bandages and chocolates. But in Fede’s cabinet, Justina finds something that brings it all back for her. Fede keeps the ribbons with the girls’ names after they’re sacrificed for La Ofrenda. Justina may have held bitterness in her heart for her uncle so far. But now she knows that her heart breaks just the same when a girl from Solaz is taken to El Alcazar. Fede knows that what he’s sending these girls to is far from the golden lies they concoct for their parents. He keeps the ribbons as a way to remember the girls, as a way to acknowledge his weakness and guilt, and to mourn the pain of their departure. This devastates Justina more than even she expected. It would’ve been better had Roberto been around to comfort her when she was a mess. But it falls on Carol to hold Justina when her heart breaks for Alba. Her survivor’s guilt has convinced her that she deserves to have a life less than a girl whose parents love them. Justina’s parents are dead. But Alba’s mother will be destroyed when she will watch her little girl get driven away into a world of uncertainty and abuse. It’s abuse, alright. Elena’s lie isn’t very convincing when Paz asks her about the scar on her back. They’ve just woken up from a dreamy night. And it crushes Paz to let Elena go knowing she won’t be able to see her after a couple days. But it understandably concerns her when she sees the scar on Elena’s back. While Elena claims that it’s from an accident, I think she’s hiding the truth about her husband’s abuse. El Alcazar isn’t a place any girl deserves to go. And Carol does a pretty good job at explaining the helplessness of their circumstances to Justina. Her guilt over being spared for the last 6 La Ofrenda is normal. But she also has to accept that there’s no way that she can fix this. Carol is wrong, though. There’s only one way Justina can keep Alba from being stolen from her mom. She has to take her place in the carriage that will drive her to El Alcazar. By the time Carol gets to know about it, it’s already too late. Carol thought that her words helped Justina. But all they did was remind her that by sacrificing herself, she could save Alba. Carol was rather enjoying the romantic dinner that Roberto surprised her with. But then they got to talking about Justina. Antonio may be against the relationship for the sake of his son’s life, but he feels terrible for Justina and loves her deeply. He knows how selfless Justina is. She is, in fact, so helpful that she will give her own life to save someone else. By the time Carol and Antonio run to Fede’s court, Justina’s already made the switch.
In Daryl Dixon episode 3’s ending, Fede’s voice cracks as he tries to compose himself to announce the departure of Guillermo and El Alcazar’s convoy. Even though he’s terrified of Guillermo and wants to sound as respectful of El Alcazar as possible, Fede can’t help but say that he protested his niece’s decision to be sacrificed for La Ofrenda instead of Alba. This will shatter Roberto when he comes back home and learns that Justina is in El Alcazar. I don’t think Daryl and Carol are the kind of people who’ll leave Justina and Roberto behind when they’re facing the worst thing that could happen to them. It will be difficult to hold Roberto back from going to El Alcazar and trying to bring Justina back. Hell, Daryl might just stay back to help him out with that.
