The previous episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, “Alouette,” ended with many questions regarding Isabelle’s (Clémence Poésy) past and where the group will go next through their journey to reach Paris. In the episode, Daryl (Norman Reedus) got to have a little bit of laughter with the kids that were in the community they were with for a day or so. That was something The Walking Dead fans hadn’t seen in a while.
This episode, which is the third, “Paris Sera Toujours Paris,” opens with Daryl, Isabelle, Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), and Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard) stopping on their carriage to a theatre. Only two of them go in, Daryl and Isabelle. As they do so, a strange man comes to them, who’s someone that Isabelle wants to talk with. When he speaks, he switches frequently from English to French. They needed him to use the radio, to connect and communicate with someone.
The man has them come with him to a theatre room, where he says there’s a show. That show consisted of walkers tied up and groaning, loud music playing in the background. After revealing what his show is, the scene goes to Laurent and Sylvie, who are still outside, waiting on the carriage. Because of the loud music, walkers slowly start to make their way towards the building, which means that they’re in danger. Sylvie grabs a shotgun, which she has never used, and aims it at the walker. Before she can shoot, Daryl and Isabelle exit the theatre, seeing what’s taken place. Daryl grabs the gun from Sylvie and shoots the walker. As they begin to leave, a herd of the dead comes, but they leave in time.
They finally make it to Paris and walk through, having more freedom to explore. As they make it to a graveyard, Daryl notices one of the names on a gravestone. It was Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors. That was a well-done and creative use of pop culture in the episode for the modern era. As they walk past, someone stops them, Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney). The man asks Isabelle, “The child is…?” She just nods at the question. He tells Laurent that they’ve been waiting a long time to meet him. What could he have meant by that? Why is Laurent so special?
Fallou gives them a tour of his community, where there are families, cooks, a garden, and so much more. Daryl asks Fallou about the radios, so he shows them. Another weird reveal, like the show at the theatre, the source of radios is pigeons. Daryl was upset about it. It would take about a month for the message to get across to America.
After this scene, something happens, which would presumably make the audience question more about why Laurent is important. In a certain scene, Laurent walks up the stairs to talk to a woman. Fallou said that she’s been grieving the death of her husband. As Laurent walks up there, everyone watches him. Daryl says something about how Laurent has such a big responsibility at a young age, which makes a thought as to whether Laurent is supposed to be the leader of the community or something within a leadership role.
While they’re in Paris, Codron (Romain Levi) goes to speak with Genet (Anne Charrier) about Daryl, who’s known to them as “The American.” Codron tells her that he will find Daryl and bring him to her, to prove that he belongs in their group. Codron needs to prove his worthiness to Genet. He tells Genet that he promised his parents that he’d look after his brother. Daryl killed his brother and because of that, Codron believes that Daryl made him a liar, because his brother is now dead. Once she tells him that he’s hired, they walk to a different room. The room has a doctor and some other people inside, with a glass window barrier between them and a walker that is chained up. By the looks of things, it seems as though they’re doing some electrical experiment with the walker, but this current attempt failed.
Daryl and Isabelle go off and look around. They find a child who’s a walker, and decide not to kill it, which was requested by Isabelle. As they start to walk past it, the walker knocks three plant pots to the ground, which makes a loud noise. All havoc breaks loose. Isabelle seems to be in shock because the walkers are falling from the building and as they collide with the ground, they sizzle and burn, which was introduced in the first episode of the season. But, it doesn’t affect them. One falls and gets up, reaching for Isabelle as Daryl is trying to pry a door open. Daryl stabs the walker and uses it to burn the gates of the door so that it can open.
Once Laurent, Sylvie, Fallou, and their new friend Emile (Tristan Zanchi) meet up with them, Isabelle gives Laurent a picture. It was a picture of his mother. This answers the question from the previous episode, Isabelle is Laurent’s aunt. To make it to where they need to be, they have to walk through the catacombs. They make it and there’s loud music playing. It was a club, with many people inside. Daryl wanted to find someone who could take him home, to America.
Daryl and Isabelle talk with someone about getting a boat. Trying to make a deal with them, it goes sideways. As Fallou grabs one of the men, Daryl punches the other. A shocking appearance comes in, stopping the commotion. It was Quinn (Adam Nagaitis), Isabelle’s long-lost partner, whom she left behind. He was in charge of the club. When Quinn has Daryl and Isabelle follow him to his office, he hints that he’s Laurent’s biological father. Tension runs high between Daryl and Isabelle when Daryl knows the truth.
In the scene afterward, Isabelle apologizes to Daryl for snapping at him. They start to talk more, but quickly, there’s a commotion. Cordon and his men are yelling, asking for Daryl, who’s already running, and telling Isabelle to leave. As he’s running, he makes it outside, where it’s starting to thunder. Codron and Daryl collide and Daryl puts him in a headlock. He’s close to squeeze him unconscious, but someone shoots at him. On the other side of the event taking place, Isabelle is yelling Laurent’s name, not being able to find him.
Overall, this episode was filled with an equal amount of action and drama. Through the reveals that were made – the group finding a new community – the walkers added throughout different scenes, there were so many things going on. One question that was answered was that Laurent is Isabelle’s nephew. Two questions that have been added to the mix are where is Laurent and how is he Quinn’s son? How did Quinn get to Paris?
Rating: 8/10