In this week’s episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon…Daryl gives out the best advice of the week. “Mind your fucking business, and just think hot dogs, beans, and home.” Will Carol listen? Does she ever?
El Sacrificio
When Guillermo (Gonzalo Bouza) realizes that a few of his men are missing, he threatens Fede (Oscar Jaenada): no supplies if his men aren’t found. While Carol lays plans to somehow save Alba (Hada Nieto), Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Roberto (Hugo Arbues) meet with an “old sailor” Valentina (Irina Bjorklund) to get the boat fixed. On their journey to find a rudder, they fight off a few harbour walkers. I love how TWD special effects department expertly ages the walkers and has them become part of the environment.
We are definitely in the apocalyptic version of a spaghetti western, and I keep waiting for Clint Eastwood to ride into town. As always, Carol (Melissa McBride) has this need to fix things and people. Daryl wants to go home. It was in this episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon that I finally understood Carol’s personality through the lens of a spiritual life coach.
Both Carol and Daryl have survived childhood drama. Daryl’s flashbacks to his abusive father explain his anger and his need to keep moving, be it moving away from danger or moving away from community. Daryl is the lone wolf because every single time he thinks that he or his friends are safe, disaster happens.
We don’t know much about Carol’s childhood, but we do know that she was in an extremely abusive marriage. This led me to realize that Carol was not valued as a child. When a child does not feel valued, they become “people pleasers”. Narcissists and sociopaths, who I feel that Carol’s husband, Ed Peletier, was, know how to spot a “people pleaser”.
People pleasers feel the need to fix people and situations. The death of Sophia changed Carol in that she finally found her inner warrior. Carol became a deadly assassin whenever the situation called for her to step in and save someone. But unlike Daryl, who instinctively knows when to walk away…that part of Carol that still carries the scars from her abusive marriage is the part that gets Carol involved in fixing other people’s lives. Carol needs to learn to let go. If she were sitting in front of me, this is what I would advise her. “Let it go. It’s not your job to fix people!” Or as Daryl so expertly said, “Just think about the hot dogs and getting home.”
Justina (Candela Saitta) feels guilty after learning a dark secret that her uncle Fede has kept from her. And in a true Romeo and Juliet scenario, Justina makes a decision that will interfere with Daryl’s plans to get back home.
Conclusion and Spoilers
I really enjoyed this episode, and it wasn’t so much about the situation that Daryl and Carol have found themselves in. I loved seeing how the people of Europe have found a way to survive and preserve their history of humanity. Fede must sacrifice a young girl every year to the remaining Spanish royalty for protection, supplies and spicy olives.
No one is happy about this arrangement. Paz (Alexandra Masangkay) has lost her lover to this yearly event. The girls who are taken as wives may not be treated well by the royal family. That said, what is evident is that the people of this small coastal town have found a way to survive the walkers and live as close to normal as possible. The townsfolk are able to have celebrations, and because they live close to the sea, there is food to eat, and cupboards are full.
There is a scene where Carol discovers that Antonio (Eduardo Noriega) has his own version of Cinema Paradiso going on. He explains that he is a lover of art and arthouses and that he has collected a huge selection of films to keep the record of humanity alive.
Right there. In that one sentence. We are made to realize what a wise decision it was to have Daryl and Carol travel around Europe. America is a young country, and as Roberto talks about Bruce Springsteen, Jersey, and life with Justina in America…Daryl tries to explain to the boy that the music has died back in the States.
Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and the others are way too busy surviving to even worry about keeping alive the memory of humanity. There is a difference between survival and life. We haven’t learned that yet. Not here in the States. Here, we don’t value history. Here, we bury it with lies.
