BY Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Who would have thought back in the first season of The Walking Dead, that a character that had never been featured in the comic books and had only been invented for the television show would become a bigger phenomenon than the show itself.
Daryl Dixon played by Norman Reedus has become such a character that he survived the entire run and has his own spin off show that is entering its second season. There was always something that made the audience want to stand by Daryl in the apocalypse.
He came from an abusive home and he along with his brother Merle, tagged along with the group of survivors led by Shane. At first he and Rick clashed over handcuffing and abandoning Merle on a rooftop. Merle was a bad egg and he saw this new normal as something to be plundered. Merle looked after himself and while Daryl fell in with him, it wasn’t long before Daryl’s loyalty to Rick and the others grew stronger. Having Daryl under his control is important to Merle.
In one instance, Merle throws being left on the roof and not being rescued by Daryl in Daryl’s face. Daryl tells him he did go back and he was gone. Daryl tells him what happened was his fault. We learn that the only reason they joined the group was to rob it. Daryl never expected to find family there. Daryl angrily leaves him telling him what nationality Glenn really was. It is clear they only had each other during their violent childhood.
When Merle reappears he has replaced his hand with a deadly spike for impaling. He also works for the psychotic Governor played by David Morrissey. Brothers clash again as Merle is now part of this new threat to Daryl’s new family.
All Daryl ever wanted was to be loved, have family and have a normal life. Even in this zombie ocean, Daryl finds a home and a family. Deep down the brothers love each other but what they want in life pulls them apart. When Merle rips the shirt off Daryl’s back he is stopped by the scars he sees there. We get a glimpse into their childhoods as Merle says he never knew. Daryl replies he did to him what he did to Merle except Merle left first. Merle says he had to or he would have killed their father but Daryl is hurt and resentful his big brother left him behind to suffer at the hands of a madman. They are both abused children that grew up poor yet it is not enough to keep them together. Merle wants to kill Michonne and slags off Glenn as Chinese and Daryl corrects him that Glenn is Korean.
When the Governor puts both brothers to fight to the death, Merle realises that he has been on the wrong side. But when the Governor traps him, Merle us defiant.
What follows is so beautifully done that it breaks you heart. Daryle finds a zombie eating a corpse and realises that it is Merle. The Governor killed him leaving him to walk the world as a zombie as punishment for betraying him.
Daryl is such a hardass tough guy that every time he cries, the entire audience automatically move to embrace him. Knowing his background and how he has become a better person with these people than he ever would with Meryl. However when he sees his brother feeding, Daryl breaks down. What is it abut a tough guy crying that make us go weak at the knees? Is it because we know that all they want is to love or be loved? As a weekly series these characters are in our home every week so we get to know them. We connect with them because we have been with them all the way through every trauma they had suffered.
It is this damaged little kid side that comes through as Daryl cries. They look at each other. There is a beautiful close up shot of Merle’s dead eyes before he lurches to his feet. He stumbles, pushing Merle away. Daryl s body language is that of a child shying away from his brother but this time it is in grief. Merle has suddenly become the dad figure bearing down on him. This great big terrifying force is coming to hurt him again. Daryl shies away and you can see how he was beaten in the past.
But this is different this time as Daryl violently stabs his brother time and time again in frustration. Thematically it is the release of his childhood trauma as he loses thee last of his violent past. In symbiosis this is him grieving for Merle’s death. Which is an interesting aspect of living n a world like this. You can’t have a three day wake or display the body in a funeral home like normal so how do you grieve? In this moment, it also continues another theme that life takes no prisoners even in a zombie filled world. Trauma stays with us forever even when faced but up until now it has consumed Daryl. This is is where hi surly and gruff attitude to people. It is, at this point, only the likes of Carol see the real Daryl. Everyone else around him likes and respects him; their full love for him will come later.
For now, Daryl and Merle’s love for each other and abusive childhood explode against the undead background. It is so beautifully done and choreographed to end this particular storyline in a heartbreaking and thoughtful way.
Truly, truly, truly stunning and heartbreaking.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 