The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 5 Recap & Spoilers

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We all need a change of pace sometimes. Recently, the characters have been mostly confined to the settlements of Solaz del Mar and the surrounding areas. But as we’ve learned from sixteen episodes of *The Walking Dead* focused on life within the walls of Alexandria and Hilltop, people need to be outside. Let them explore, even with walkers around – let Daryl ride his motorcycle in the open desert!

Last week’s episode of *Daryl Dixon* was a pleasant surprise, particularly with the action against the Primivitos, and the series seems to be improving with each installment. In “Limbo,” Daryl travels across a desolate Spain searching for a missing friend, and ends up helping a group in need – it felt like a classic spaghetti Western within *The Walking Dead* universe. Back at Solaz del Mar, Carol stays behind to support Antonio and investigate some recent, troubling issues. While fans who ship Daryl and Carol might find the next few episodes difficult as they’re currently separated after a season and a half, *Daryl Dixon* is still delivering an engaging story until they reunite.

Daryl and Carol Go Their Separate Ways… For Now

Okay, so the episode picks right up where we left off, and it’s immediately intense. Daryl, Carol, and Antonio stumble upon a really disturbing scene: a guy named Roberto is hanging off a bridge, clearly being tortured and used as walker bait. The two guys doing this? Definitely from El Alcazar. They’re using this brutal method – I looked it up, it’s called “strappado” – where they tie someone up behind their backs and suspend them. Seriously, a warning if you decide to Google that one… it’s pretty graphic and awful to look at.

After Roberto recovers, he explains everything that happened: they were captured by El Alcazar. We also learn that Fede gave Justina to El Alcazar against her will, because she threatened to expose his cheating at el Ofrenda if he didn’t stop the ceremony. I suspected this would happen as soon as I heard about Justina’s unbelievable luck with the ceremony – even characters who are always protected wouldn’t have that kind of fortune. Now I’m wondering what Fede swapped for Justina’s ribbon. Did he use another girl’s name, or a blank ribbon? And what if the pig with the blank ribbon actually wins the race? There are so many unanswered questions.

To keep Fede from finding out what happened, Daryl asks Carol to bring Roberto and Antonio back to Solaz del Mar, but she doesn’t tell them about Justina or El Alcazar. Carol is a much more convincing liar than Daryl, something we already saw back in Season 2. I keep wondering how Eugene is doing, and if he’s enjoying life at the Commonwealth with some strawberry ice cream. I really miss him! It feels like all the best characters either die or just vanish.

The plan is straightforward: Carol will manage things at Solaz del Mar so Roberto can get medical attention, while Daryl tries to find out what happened to Justina. But Daryl didn’t really agree with that part; he’d rather have just left immediately and gone back to Maine. It’s frustrating – where’s the mature, thoughtful Daryl we’ve seen develop over the last eleven seasons?

Daryl heads into the desert, and while he can be difficult, I’m willing to look past it if it gets him riding again. This episode of *Ride With Norman Reedus* shows Daryl learning about the importance of helping others. He starts by assisting a severely dehydrated and disoriented man who has been blinded. While walkers are frightening, this man – a prophet seemingly lost to the heat – is even more unsettling. Honestly, if I were facing the apocalypse, I’d rather be in Georgia than the scorching Spanish desert! Daryl isn’t alone out there, though. A train full of dangerous, greedy bikers called the Buzzards rolls through, protected by a herd of walkers and a singing cowboy. This leads to a classic Western-style showdown between Daryl and the bikers, with casualties on both sides. Daryl ends up having to continue his journey on foot, feeling a bit like Paul Atreides from *Dune*. He’s also haunted by memories of his difficult childhood.

The Buzzards Get the Home Alone Treatment

A group leads him to a community that has access to water, but the people there all have leprosy except for one woman, Amaia. Daryl starts controlling the water supply, which frustrates Amaia. They only have a single bucket for everyone because of a dangerous group called the Buzzards. Because of their illness, others treat them as if they’re neither living nor dead, leaving them isolated and unable to find safety. Daryl confronting prejudice against people with disabilities is a surprisingly powerful story arc for the show, though it’s unfortunately short-lived. It would have been great to see more of these characters, how they survive in the harsh desert environment, and the emotional impact of being social outcasts.

The main goal of this storyline seems to be shifting Daryl away from his self-centered behavior this season and rediscovering his compassionate side. However, it would be better if the show explained *why* he became so withdrawn in the first place. Amaia and Mateo are challenging him, similar to how Amaia and Laurent did before, so it’s surprising that Daryl isn’t directly addressing the emotional issues this brings up.

Daryl assures the group he’ll help them reclaim their water from the Buzzards, but Amaia is skeptical, understandably so – she’s had bad experiences with strangers, and Daryl wasn’t particularly welcoming. However, he surprises her by devising a plan to fight the Buzzards using only four bullets and whatever resources they have on hand. Through clever use of trip wires, traps, and teamwork, they manage to defeat the intruders with Daryl’s limited ammunition. It’s curious, though, why Daryl didn’t take the Buzzards’ guns after defeating them – it would have significantly improved his chances.

Everyone sees him as the Paul Atreides he used to be, before things went wrong. However, the conflict isn’t resolved. Daryl heads off on a train to face the leader of the Buzzards, who’s been feeding eyeballs to his snake – explaining the strange person Daryl encountered in the desert. Daryl ends up drowning the leader in his bathtub, finishing him off with a gunshot before he can turn into a walker – a bit of a wasted bullet, considering a knife would have done the job after all these years surviving the apocalypse. After saying goodbye and sharing a few last words with a young girl named Rosa, Daryl leaves the group, clearly a different person than when he started.

Carol and Antonio Keep a Secret From Fede

The episode briefly touches on Carol’s story, but the main focus is back at Solaz del Mar. There, Fede’s mother gives a badly hurt Roberto a traditional Galician drink called queimada, which is made with a special incantation to ward off evil spirits. Fede seems much less worried than Antonio and others, pointing out that El Alcazar provided all the medical supplies. It’s clear Fede has made a deal with the devil, and maybe a little queimada would do him some good.

Carol and Antonio only confide in Paz. Based on Paz’s reaction, Daryl likely shouldn’t have pursued Justina on his own. Valentina visits Roberto and can’t help but give Carol and Antonio a disapproving look. She acknowledges she misjudged Carol and Daryl, and realizes Carol is interested in someone closer to home.

She’s now officially in charge, and everyone’s welcome as long as we treat each other with respect. Fede becomes suspicious when he discovers Daryl is spending the night somewhere vague and his mother finds a necklace belonging to Justina on Roberto. He sends someone to verify Carol’s story, but we know it won’t hold up. After seeing how Fede treated his own niece, I wouldn’t want to cross him. However, Daryl and Carol are also dangerous, and Fede is quickly becoming their enemy.

Katie’s Daryl Dixon Observations: Slurpees and Hot Dogs

  • Only one mention of hot dogs. We’re getting closer to actually opening the can.
  • For those unaware of leprosy and need a brain-rotted television comparison, it’s similar to what Viserys Targaryen is said to have on House of the Dragon.
  • Daryl does describe the new group as “dépaysant,” which I guess is the closest we’ll get to him accepting that Isabelle’s death doesn’t have to be the end of him being nice to people.
  • Rosa is the cutest thing ever. And she gives Daryl her water bottle? My heart is about to burst.
  • One thing that I noticed in this episode is that The Walking Dead franchise has often relied on the “sex-crazed villain” more than once. Basically, a person who enjoys non-vanilla sex is almost always a bad person. The franchise can be pretty sex-negative kink-shamer at times. The exception is Valentina and her raunchy lust.
  • This episode got pretty witchy with the queimada. This isn’t your tarot-reading, crystal collecting magic. This is cultural witchcraft and folk healing passed down for generations.
  • Once again, I’m sensing Fede knew Maria, Antonio’s deceased wife, in the past. He was awfully quick to steer the conversation away from her.
  • “You prefer the local wine.” Valentina, you little flirt!
  • Antonio rejects Carol’s offer to come to Ohio. No offense to Ohio, but I don’t blame him.
  • As cool as this episode has been, there’s a big going on. This is nothing new with the series, but it feels even more apparent with people affected by leprosy.

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon air every Sunday at 9:00 PM ET on AMC and AMC+.

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2025-10-06 18:08