Dwight, Daryl, the Pole Walker and Alpo
Dwight serves up a dog food sandwich to Daryl at the beginning of “The Cell.” Let’s take a look at why the Alpo sandwich is symbolic of Dwight’s relationship with Daryl.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that the Sanctuary is a well-oiled machine. I would expect nothing less from a guy like Negan, and as a fan of the show (I have yet to read the comics, so for the purposes of this article I’m only going to talk about the television show) it was great to finally see where this guy comes from. I’m certain we’ll continue to see more of the Sanctuary as the season continues.
At the beginning of “The Cell” Dwight makes himself a big sandwich, and then he sits and eats his sandwich and ponders the Walkers in the pen. One Walker in particular catches his eye because he has been impaled on a pole. Pole Walker has a pole going through his chest, and he struggles to stay upright. He gets up only to fall back down. But Pole Walker is determined, and he gets back up every time. No matter how many times he falls, he always gets back up. This strikes a chord with Dwight, who has been through a lot, and viewers also know that this really represents Daryl as well.
After watching Pole Walker, Dwight delivers a dog food sandwich to Daryl, who is naked and alone in the pitch black cell. Daryl accepts the food without complaint, just as he accepts whatever happens to him throughout the episode.
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The dog food sandwich was meant to break Daryl down. Dwight expected Daryl to throw the food back, but instead Daryl ate it without complaint. We already know that Daryl is at the lowest point we have ever seen him. We’ve seen Daryl at low points, such as when he lost his brother, when the group found Sophia in the barn, and when Beth died. But this experience has done something to him. He’s different.
The Daryl that Dwight knew was exactly like Pole Walker. No matter what happened while he was in the woods with Dwight, Sherry and Tina, Daryl got back up. At the Sanctuary, Daryl eats the dog food because he won’t back down. Dwight has something up his sleeve. He knows what Daryl is capable of and it would seem that he’s hoping Daryl snaps out of this misery fest and gets back to the way he was.
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Could it be that Dwight sees Daryl as his method of escape? Possibly. Dwight saw Daryl’s survival skills firsthand. Dwight is after something, and Daryl plays a role in whatever he’s hoping to do. The big question: What is Dwight planning to do?