With 2027 only a few months away, that means one thing for Walking Dead fans: season 4 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is approaching soon, and we have plenty to look forward to. While one Walking Dead spinoff is in limbo right now—because Dead City hasn't been renewed for season 4 yet—Daryl Dixon is the show everyone is looking to.
But season 4 will be the last season, and potentially the last time we see Daryl (especially since Norman Reedus has finally cut his hair), so what four things does this show need to get right in the final installment to succeed? Here they are.
- Daryl properly facing his own past
- Carol and Antonio’s relationship (if it really happens)
- A possible reunion with Laurent
- The return to Alexandria
Daryl properly facing his own past
This is a big deal, and as a longtime Daryl fan, I need to see it.
Daryl has always had issues with his past. It’s why he was the way that he was during The Walking Dead and why, over the course of the 11 seasons, it was like a breath of fresh air to see him grow into himself and become a leader. He sort of became the opposite of who he was as a young man and how he was raised.
Daryl is still Daryl. He still makes mistakes, and he still does stupid things sometimes (because he’s a human, not some zombie-killing god). However, season 3 of Daryl Dixon starts to dig a little deeper into Daryl's psyche and why he acts the way he does. We even get flashbacks to him as a kid with his older brother, trying to evade their abusive father.
Daryl opens up to Carol (Melissa McBride) in the season 3 finale, and he feels that, because of his past, he’s always on the run and can never stay still in one place. He fears that will be the case when they get back to America, even though the whole show shows he wants to go home.
That’s something we need to handle properly if we’re going down that route. Any abuse from any parent is a sensitive topic for anyone to handle, and if Daryl is looking to face down those demons more, then this needs to be a well-told storyline.
Carol and Antonio’s relationship (if it really happens)
A pleasant surprise in season 4 is that Carol ends up developing feelings for someone—or, at the very least, caring for another survivor in Spain, Antonio (Eduardo Noriega). He leaves with her and a few other survivors to sail across the sea. They even kiss at one point. Adorable. It makes me so happy to see both her and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in her spinoff feel some affection for someone else again.
However, if they keep making this a thing, I really want it done right. I can’t do another season where a main character finds love, only to be killed the next episode. They did that with season 2 with Isabelle (Clémence Poésy), and I can’t get behind that. It hurt too much.
If they’re going to give Carol a love interest, please, for the love of all things good, let that last until the end — or at least a few episodes. Don’t kill him off in the premiere.
A possible reunion with Laurent
Someone we barely talked about in season 3 was Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), a boy Daryl grew close to through Isabelle, then sent back to America with Ash (Manish Dayal), a pilot Carol befriended.
Daryl is the one who convinced Ash to take Laurent back to America so he could be safe, specifically in the Commonwealth, the last main area that the survivors remained in at the end of season 11 of The Walking Dead. At least right now, it still exists.
But what does that mean for Daryl and Laurent having a moment to reunite? We know from the season 4 teaser that Daryl somehow makes it home, as an army guy seems to greet him. But we don’t know where exactly that is. And I'm not sure how that will play into a potential reunion with Laurent. All I do know is that I really want to see them reunite in some way, and I hope it’s done right and we don’t just forget about it.
The return to Alexandria
I mean, I think this is something everyone wants. We all want that Walking Dead reunion where Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), and everyone else reunite with Daryl, Carol, and the whole crew. And there’s been plenty of teasing that it could happen in 2027, even though there's no official announcement yet.
But if it does happen in the finale, I need it done right and not just shoved in at the very end. It has to be an active part of the story that involves every member of this party, or it’ll just feel like fan service. If I can at least get this, I will be happy with how this series ends.
You can watch all three seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on AMC+.
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