The faithful. Unbelievers. their fate.

Darryl Dixon continues to improve in season two, with “L’Invisible” launching in week three. While I wasn’t particularly excited about Carol and Daryl’s reunion, I was surprised when she met Madame Genet. Here’s why.

I love when showrunners reveal the origins of important characters. The episode begins with Madame Genet’s backstory. Like King Ezekiel, a humble zookeeper, Madam Genet is a janitor who cleans out ill-mannered schoolchildren at the Louvre. A job she couldn’t see. As the janitors discuss a possible strike, Madame Genet (Marion) comments that the government only crushes people.

“The Invisible Man” – “The Walking Dead” Darryl Dixon “The Book of Carol”, pictured: Anne Charrier as Genette and Tatiana Gusev as Sabine. Photo: Emmanuel Guimier/AMC @2024 AMC Inc. All rights reserved

In Chapter 5 Chapter 12 of TWD Remember, Carol is counting on remaining invisible when arriving in Alexandria. As a result, Deanna Monroe gave Carol a job cooking for elderly residents. When Carol arrives at Maison Mere, the man immediately assigns her to the kitchen because he doesn’t see the warrior woman she represents. Upon entering Genet’s compound, Carol witnesses the execution of individuals and their immediate resurrection by injection. Before she was discovered, she heard one of the researchers say, “We need soldiers we can control.” Carol took advantage of her position in the kitchen and, somewhat recklessly, asked if anyone knew American Darryl Dixon. Given that the season is only six episodes long, it makes sense to speed up Carol and Daryl’s meeting. So we can forgive Stefan (the guy with the face tattoo) for taking two minutes to reveal to Carol the purpose of Ms. Genet’s torture. Daryl is in the nest and Carol tells her English professor that she will be leaving immediately. She does it—only to be arrested because her English professor friend exchanged her information with Madame Genet to save his husband.

“The Invisible Man” – “The Walking Dead” Darryl Dixon “The Book of Carol” Pictured: Melissa McBride as Carol Pelletier. Photo: Emmanuel Guimier/AMC @2024 AMC Inc. All rights reserved

In the lair, Sylvie prays for the courage to protect Laurent. Unfortunately, she was running around calling for him. Trapped and struggling, Sylvie jumped from the wall. Sylvie’s death feels like an old version of The Walking Dead, often killing off characters you admired. It’s affecting. Lausanne, the spiritual leader of the nest, showed more brokenness than I expected. His explanation for Sylvie’s death was that “her faith was weak.” Continuing Laurent’s celebration, Lausanne explained that because Sylvie loved Laurent, he used her as a “hunger” to put to the test It becomes even more poignant. Lausanne made a valerian root honey drink for Laurent, but he initially refused. Lausanne insisted, “Drink it no matter what,” ostensibly drugging the boy. Judging from Luosang’s actions, I don’t know whether Luosang’s faith is as firm as Xiwei’s.

Daryl, Isabelle and Falloo now merged into the celebrating crowd. Lausanne pulls Sylvie to attack Rurente. Daryl killed her. Isabelle and Falu capture Laurent, and a chase ensues. Daryl orders Laurent to wake up and take Isabelle and Falu to their secret training location. Daryl injured and killed numerous nest residents. Fallou and Laurent escape. Daryl and Isabel didn’t. They ended up chained and separated by a thin stone wall. Daryl tells Isabelle of his confidence in their return to the United States and of Laurent’s happiness. Daryl confesses that he was once a man who searched for the unknown and found something – a Depaysant. Isabel says “I love you” more like herself than Daryl does. Daryl remained silent. Did she hear it? Does he understand her? Does he feel the same way?

“The Invisible Man” – “The Walking Dead” Daryl Dixon “The Book of Carol”, pictured: Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon. Photo: Stéphanie Branchu/AMC @2024 AMC Inc. All rights reserved

Carol is betrayed by her English professor and tells Madame Genet the truth about her search for Daryl. She recounts tricking Ash into flying to France to find her daughter, landing in Greenland, and nearly escaping psycho-environmentalists. It didn’t matter what Carol said, because Madame Genet knew where Daryl was. When asked why she was looking for Daryl, Carol shrewdly replied that she wanted to kill him. Carol’s strategy was to make herself an immediate ally by sharing common interests with Madame Genet. Madame Genet agrees to take Carol to the lair. On the road, Ms. Genet described Paris’s decline during the virus outbreak. She recalled being locked up in a museum, surrounded by religious artwork depicting suffering. She said she only understood these works after ZA. She explains that art seeks to make sense of the chaos and destruction in the world. “Prayer didn’t help then and it doesn’t help now,” Ms. Genet said. “Religion is not hope; it is control.” It is clear that Ms. Genet has a dangerous distrust of both government and religion, and a lack of faith in other people and institutions. Often leading to anti-establishment radicalism, Carroll sees this in Ms. Genet’s actions, such as killing “volunteers” to create super.

Laurent is horrified when he thinks of all the people who have lost their lives because of his story. Falou said faith is crucial because it brings hope. Laurent replies, “Daryl never believed it.” What does Laurent’s admission mean for Farlow and the Alliance? Lausanne chose Isabel because she was always loyal and open-minded, unlike Daryl. Lobsang and Daryl had discussed faith earlier. Lausanne condemned Daryl, saying: “Without faith, living only for yourself, life must be difficult.” Lausanne believed that the hope brought by faith drove the development of the nest and the alliance, but faith was running out. Laurent should add. Daryl asked Lausanne, “What if you’re wrong?” Like many cult leaders, Lausanne said, “Then there’s no point in continuing.” When they took Isabelle away, Daryl panicked and offered to reveal Laurent’s hiding place, but his pleas were ignored.

“The Invisible Man” – “The Walking Dead” Darryl Dixon “The Book of Carol”, pictured: Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent. Photo: Stéphanie Branchu/AMC @2024 AMC Inc. All rights reserved

I loved Invisible. In addition to how quickly Carol found Daryl in France, the plot of the story was well laid out and well executed. I found a beautiful symmetry between this episode’s focus on the Mona Lisa portrait and Marion’s origin story. Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece depicts Mona Lisa’s smile as hiding something unseen and mysterious. Likewise, Madame Genet’s values ​​and emotions influence her actions but are invisible to others. The same goes for Carroll. This is true for all of us, which is why The Walking Dead is so resonant in all its forms and novels.

What do you think of Season 2 so far? At the end of the show, Madame Genet kills everyone outside the lair, including Carol, who is most likely to become a super walker. We know Carol and Daryl will get back together, but what will happen to Isabelle? Did Daryl say “I love you”? Leave me a message and we’ll discuss it.

Overall rating:

9/10

Lynette Jones