Daryl Dixon-The Book Of Carol Episode 5 Review: Survivors Guilt

In the fifth installment of Daryl Dixon-The Book Of Carol it’s all about survivors guilt. Why have Daryl and Carol made it this long? Is it pure fate or superb luck? Daryl is hurting after the death of Isabelle and with that comes an overwhelming influx of guilt. She was supposed to be the one taking care of Laurent and seeing him into the future. Not Daryl. Not the man who has only known him for months and became a quick surrogate father. What becomes of him now? And what if Daryl doesn’t want to face the responsibilities of fatherhood? That is the task that is eating away at Daryl in this episode.

After their car gets fried Daryl and Carol make their way through the desolate city. Finally, Carol admits that she wasn’t so forthcoming with Ash. She lied to him for the bigger purpose of getting to Daryl, and making sure he was okay. Through that lie, there was some truth, but Daryl questioned why she would lie in the first place. Even becoming moderately fearful that she lied to Ash about Daryl being her brother. Which in turn debunks the sibling like vibes that some fans claim exist between Daryl and Carol.

In a strange turn of events Daryl becomes overly protective and states he will be the one to tell Ash what is going on. Carol insists he doesn’t need do that, she knows almost as a matter of fact that Ash will not like Daryl. Eventually, they come upon the racetrack where Ash has made his home for days, and he’s been a busy beaver securing the proximity around the plane. Some locals had tried to get in and to no avail.

Simultaneously, Ash finds himself in a world of trouble trying to depart from a small horde of walkers. He liberates himself to salvation in a car but during an escape attempt, he gets knocked out cold. Will Ash be lucky enough to get out of this mess once more?

After all the loss Daryl has endured and still no declaration for his love of Isabelle Daryl returns to Fallou’s compound to reunite with young Laurent. Daryl must break the unfortunate news to the future of France. He is saddened and in despair, but the preteen doesn’t budge too much when Daryl offers for him to come back to the Commonwealth with him and Carol. He feels at peace and wants to stay with what family and friends he has left.

The Book Of Carol: Welcome to the Demimonde

You won’t find a more exotic and crazier place in the France, than the French nightclub of the Demimonde. And Carol gets to have her first experience of the underground chaos. We meet the current owner, Anna who still seems to have a soft spot for both Laurent and Daryl. Anna wastes no time informing Carol there are people who know about the plane who will do anything to get out of France. And thanks to some stolen gasoline that Carol spots her eye on they obtain enough clues to find out where Ash could be.

The dynamic duo makes it back to Genet’s former stomping grounds. You can tell Carol has some not so fond memories of it. Throughout this journey, there are some nice exchanges and bantering between Daryl and Carol. Daryl is oddly curious if Carol has the hots for Ash. Nothing really brought this to light apart from the fact that Carol said Ash was gentle, and unlike them. Was it jealousy? Or was it simple curiosity? You be the judge. But after Daryl was nearly falling for the former nun it begs the question of why cares so much.

Now there is an interesting parallel that dates back to season 10 of The Walking Dead when Carol questioned if Daryl liked Connie. The archer claimed it wasn’t like that. Carol said she is a good person and that is difficult to find these days. Captivating that she said the same thing about Ash.

A slew of walkers is imprisoned behind glass and Carol has to walk through and make sure Ash hasn’t been taken into it. Fortunately, he’s not, and they spot a car in the distance that’s been surrounded by walkers. While they can get into the car with Ash to attempt to save him, there’s only one problem, how are they all going to get out?

Who will be the last one standing?

They are trapped and in the history of The Walking Dead very few have made it out alive in a situation this dire. Daryl does an incredibly clever move and opens the sunroof to shoot Genet’s serum at two walkers and turn them into variants. In his mind, with any luck, they will do that job at killing the rest of the walkers. The only conundrum was killing the variants that remained. Luckily, this show has Carol who handled that feat. It’s just another instance of Carol and Daryl making such a badass team in a world where only the strong survive.

Carol is incredibly kind to Ash. It’s a shame she couldn’t been as forthcoming with the man, and you can tell it has been eating away at her. She has to tell Ash the truth and take accountability for her actions. Though I don’t think Carol has a sliver of regret about it. She did what she had to do with the tools she had, and it worked.

It all comes down to this

Before Daryl leaves to get more fuel for the journey back home he has a talk with Carol in the stands. Reluctantly, Carol does admit that she used her heartache to connect with Ash on a level he would understand. He lost his son. In the same tragic way that Carol lost Sophia. It may have been a cruel lie to manipulate him into helping her, but there are no costs greater than Daryl in Carol’s eyes.

Daryl finds himself back at the Demimonde to gather fuel for the adventure back home. And surprise the messiah is there. Codron had ushered Laurent out of Fallou’s camp to get him to safety. Ironically, the Demimonde was the one place he knew he could go to seek refuge. Rather a miracle Daryl came at the same time to seek fuel. Unfortunately, that’s where all the fun stopped.

Losang and his band of merry brothers and sisters who are a mixed breed of the Union and the Pouvoir have tracked them down. An intense battle in the catacombs ensues and Codron and Daryl start picking them off one by one. Another villain must go down. Losang is very swift with martial arts, but Daryl is more crafty with the skulls of the catacombs. Losang in time ends up finding his fate from the dead as Daryl goes complete Lucille and bashes his head into the minerals of the cave.

The Book Of Carol: The truth will set you free

Ash may be one of the sweetest men to ever cross our paths in The Walking Dead universe. He sees Carol as his hero. The one who sucked him up from the pits of anguish. He was able to leave his life behind and move on from his son’s death. He would have never had that without Carol. At this point, Carol is even more guilt ridden by this.

Another page in The Book Of Carol unfolds and Carol tells Ash the truth. It was a reaction I wasn’t entirely expecting. Of course, he has every right to be upset, but he was more intense than I had anticipated. But let’s talk about the acting of Manish Dayal for a moment. Truly the MVP of this episode. Sheer and utter raw emotion exploding from the multi-talented actor. It is such a rare thing in this universe sometimes, and when you see it all you can is stare in wonder. I do believe it was a little obvious Ash was catching some kind of feelings for Carol. The man is extremely hurt about the bond they were creating and the relationship that was forming. To him, it all felt like a lie now.

At this point Laurent has finally agreed to go to the United States with the gang. Teenage Laurent will have to wait for another day. The only hiccup is they all will not be able to go back home, the weight will be too heavy. Someone must stay behind. Will it be Carol who moved heaven and earth to get to Daryl? Now that she comes to this great land she sees the father and son bond these two hold. Who is she to break it apart? Or will it be Daryl protecting the two most important people in his life? Just one more episode to go to find out the very answer to that question.

Tune in next week at 9 p.m. est to find out how The Book Of Carol ends on AMC and AMC Plus.

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About the author: Shay has been writing as a journalist professionally for years. Her most common topics to cover are dreams and horror but she looks forward to getting her feet wet with new and exciting genres and projects. @SaltLifeShay