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The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon E05: Carol, Rick Grimes & More TWD Talk

Let's take a look at how AMC's Norman Reedus-starring The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. S01E05 "Deux Amours" could impact the TWD universe.

Okay, now this is more like it. Just so there's no confusion, we really enjoy doing our real-time thoughts on each episode of AMC's Norman Reedus-starring The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. But when an episode gives us a chance to pause our review coverage (the episode was great, by the way) to dump some gasoline on our "'The Walking Dead' Dumpster Fires on Random Speculation," we're going to jump at it. And that's exactly what "Deux Amours" (directed by Daniel Percival and written by Jason Richman & David Zabel) gave us a chance to do by dropping a whole lot of TWD Universe-related references that could give us a better sense of where things stand – and left us obsessing over who "came back." With that in mind, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer before deep-diving into what it could all mean moving forward…

Daryl Reveals His "Friends" to Laurent: After Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) asks Daryl to share who some of his friends are, Daryl hesitates before naming Judith (Cailey Fleming), RJ (Antony Azor), Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), and "a lady named" Carol (Melissa McBride). Why was this well-played? Because it gave both "Donnie" and "Caryl" fans something to hang their hopes on. Can you read into Daryl naming Connie first? Sure – just as much as you can read into the personal lead-in he gave Daryl. Well-played, Richman & Zabel. Another silver lining? At least we know that they were all seemingly doing okay when Daryl left them – so there's that. Side note? It was a sweet moment seeing Laurent offering a protective prayer for Judith & RJ.

Daryl Offers More Ominous Geographical Updates: After referencing Texas not being in the best of shape, Daryl makes it clear to his walker-hunting partner that California might not be in any better shape than the East Coast.

So About That Phone Call…: Yup, it was the ten-ton spoiler that hit social media not long after the episode hit AMC+. Daryl puts out a call to home – and it's Carol who ends up responding. After establishing his location as being on the coast of Maine, Carol shares with Daryl that it's "pretty quiet" back at home. Daryl asks if she's okay, asking again after some concern over her initial response. Carol responds, "It just needs some getting used to, that's all" (we're assuming she's talking about Daryl being gone for so long?). "You're sure you're okay," Daryl asks again – and after a long pause, Carol tells him that he never has to worry about her. After Carol asks Daryl how things are up in Maine, he responds by telling her that he can go into that when he returns. And that's where the promise comes in – that he was gathering fuel and would be back home in about a week. And it was a promise he made to Carol. And that's when Carol adds, "[static] came back," with Daryl unable to hear who it was that returned.

Okay, some quick thoughts. First, the phone call came across as oddly intimate – but I'm still not sure in what way. Along with that, were we the only ones who felt like Carol might've been having that conversation with others around her – maybe some folks who aren't too friendly? And what was Daryl tracking that brought him that far north? As for the "came back" part, I know a lot of folks are going with it being Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) or possibly Rick Grimes & Michonne (Danai Gurira) that was getting cut off – but I'm not buying it. For a return or returns that big, it wouldn't be something that Carol would hold off on revealing until after saying everything was "pretty quiet." I'm thinking maybe Morgan (Lennie James), or maybe Dwight (Austin Amelio) & Sherry (Christine Evangelista).

But one last thought… what if Rick & Michonne are back – and that's the reason why Carol can speak comfortably on the phone? Is it possible that CRM followed them back home – and that Carol was attempting to signal that things were definitely not "pretty quiet" after all?

Creepy Side Note: There's no way Daryl doesn't have Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) flashbacks anytime he's on his knees, facing near-certain death – especially when Laurent kneeled next to him. Well, I know I had them…

Daryl Didn't Exactly Travel Disney Cruise Lines to France: We learn that getting kicked out of the job in Maine gathering walkers so he could have enough fuel to return home has landed him a prisoner aboard what will turn out to be Genet (Anne Charrier) & Pouvoir Du Vivant's (Power of the Living) ship. And let's just say that there is some shady walker experimenting going on.

WTF??!?!? Ummm… they took Daryl's wings? The vest that Judith fixed for him? Uh-oh… never mind. He got them back. Ouch. That shit made my neck hurt…

"Loki" Isn't the Only Show with Variants: Well, we can add "Predator Walker" (the one Daryl got a nasty introduction to on the boat during the flashback) to our growing list of walker variants.

Random Thoughts: Wow, do big bads in the TWD Universe love putting on gladiator-style walker fights. Someone should put together a compilation clip on all of them…

Game-Changing Variant Alert: So Genet's folks have found a way to essentially steroid-up walker to like three times their strength, speed & resiliency? Aside from that being a problem, it also begs the much larger question. How many more variants have they created – and how many of them are out there on the loose?

And on that note, we will see you next week for the season finale of AMC's The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, S01E06: "Coming Home" (written by Laura Snow & Jason Richman)!

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