‘Daryl Dixon’ Season 3, Episode 6 Review: “Contrabando”

Do you know that meme, the one with the high school football player saying, “They had us the first half, I’m not gonna lie?” Well, let’s just say that statement adequately summarizes my thoughts about The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3. What started so incredibly strong feels downright tiresome in Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 6. Carol and Daryl’s separation, messy writing, and an abundance of filler turned this episode into a slog.

That’s not to say I’ve given up all hope on Daryl Dixon. However, Daryl and Carol’s needless and, dare I say, uncharacteristic separation in Season 3, Episode 5, “Limbo,” didn’t win the series any favors. The concept of Carol and Daryl hunting down Guillermo (Gonzalo Bouza) and saving Justina (Candela Saitta) together feels like an enormous missed opportunity. But, then again, that seems in line with Daryl Dixon’s bizarre treatment of Carol this entire season (more on that below). Really, if you’re looking for the TLDR of this episode, it’s Daryl bonds with Paz (Alexandra Masangkay), Carol bonds with Antonio (Eduardo Noriega), and Fede (Oscar Jaenada) begins his sudden descent into villainy instead of redemption. 

Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 6 Reveals An Unexpected Big Bad 

While there are numerous plot points in Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 6, most of them lead to the same place: Fede. It all begins when Carol discovers that Roberto’s (Hugo Arbués) sudden health decline is the result of poison, procured and perpetrated by everyone’s least favorite mayor. There’s also the fact that Antonio and Fede were childhood friends pulled apart by their shared love for Maria, Antonio’s late wife and Roberto’s mother.

Thanks to a glorious display of trauma-dumping in which Antonio shows Carol a video recording of his wife’s death in a car bomb stemming from political violence, we can also infer Fede never got over that, either. Oh, and in case you missed it, Fede keeps a picture of Maria in his desk drawer, just to remind you that she matters to him.

So, essentially, we are playing with Harry Potter rules here. More specifically, Snape’s misplaced hatred of Harry for being the offspring of James Potter, the man who “stole” the love of his life. If you don’t get the reference, that’s okay. The point is, Fede harbors a similar misplaced hatred of Roberto, but instead of choosing redemption like Snape, he descends into full-blown villainy. Roberto, of course, hasn’t done anything wrong, but he becomes an easy victim and example to enforce Fede’s rule.

This is where more episodes would have been beneficial. While Fede is already a participant in a vile sex trafficking arrangement with El Alcazar, he had the potential for redemption. Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 2, introduced him as a reluctant participant in El Alcazar’s larger plot. He seems anxious and uncomfortable around Guillermo, but complies for the benefit of Solaz. This is the apocalypse after all, and we’ve seen people do far worse to keep their communities safe. The fact that Fede kept Justina from the “La Offrenda” only adds to his moral complexity. What is it right? No, but it makes sense.

Fede didn’t exactly scream power hungry the way past Walking Dead villains like Negan or the Governor did. Yet, he sent Justina—the niece he “protected” for years—away the first chance he got to ensure he remains mayor. Then, he poisons Roberto to keep that secret and perhaps to exact a little vengeance on Antonio in the process. The bones of a solid villain arc are there, but it feels rushed. It also doesn’t help that Daryl Dixon had other antagonists fighting for screentime: Les Primitives, Guillermo, and that “Prick in the Bathtub.”

In some ways, Fede feels like an afterthought, as if he only broke bad because that’s what the leaders in Walking Dead towns always do. His feud with Antonio provides a secondary motivation to keep Justina away from Roberto. Still, I’d argue it wasn’t entirely needed, and the show doesn’t give us quite enough information about their pasts to invest in it, either. But, luckily, Carol figures this all out (RIP to the poor kitty that helped her reach that conclusion) while breaking into Fede’s office to retrieve medicine for Roberto. Honestly, Carol doing a little breaking and entering feels refreshing. It’s one of the few times she has felt like Carol since the start of Season 3.

MORE: ‘The Walking Dead’ Fandom Has an Ageism Problem with Carol & Daryl

Carol Sits on the Sidelines… Again

Last episode had so many sequences of Daryl soloing it through the desert on his motorcycle that I thought, “Wait, am I watching Ride With Norman Reedus?” Come Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 6, Carol feels forgotten again. Don’t get me wrong. A Paz and Daryl team-up isn’t the worst idea. I like Paz, and Alexandra Masangkay plays her with such believable coolness that I wish she got more screentime. Plus, I genuinely don’t know what Daryl would’ve accomplished without Paz knowing about the refugee group. Still, I can’t help but think it should be Carol in these scenes. (Paz could come along for the ride, too.)

Remember Season 11 of The Walking Dead? One of the best episodes involves Carol and Daryl taking down Lance Hornsby. It’s essentially a Carol/Daryl team-up fest where they’re both equally badass and brutal. With the Carol and Daryl spin-off announced at the time, it felt like a teaser of what was to come. However, truth be told, we haven’t gotten much of that this season aside from Episode 1.

Instead, Daryl Dixon Season 3 seems intent on keeping Carol in Solaz, collecting supplies and mothering Antonio and Roberto. Even when she and Antonio kiss, I can’t help but think that he doesn’t know her at all. He doesn’t know that Carol shot Lance in the neck without hesitation in the aforementioned Season 11 episode. He only knows this “weakened” version of her. And, hey, that’s not his fault (or Melissa McBride’s), it’s the writers.

Relationships have to start somewhere, sure. However, Carol and Antonio’s romance feels one-sided. Antonio has offered vulnerability to Carol, and she has barely said anything meaningful in return. It’s classic Carol, really. She’s more about action than words, which is something Daryl already knows but Antonio has yet to learn.

So yes, Carol feels in character in that respect, but taking a backseat while Daryl does the heavy-lifting doesn’t. The last three episodes have felt like a Daryl showcase. Look, here is Daryl twirling his weapon. Look, now he is on his motorcycle. Oh, wait, here he is again doing cool fight choreography as Carol stands almost out of frame in the background.

I’m always happy to watch Norman Reedus do his thing, but when Daryl Dixon returns to Carol, it’s a much different experience. Carol is talking, flirting, and sitting by the bedside of a boy she barely knows. That’s not to say that Carol hasn’t done these things in the past (the woman made casseroles and wore nice sweaters in Alexandria), but it’s usually balanced by action. That’s the fun of Carol: The juxtaposition between her femininity and hardness, her sweetness and ruthlessness. Here, we get mostly sweetness and little else.

MORE: ‘The Walking Dead’ Is Ready for a Carol and Daryl Romance

Past Mistakes Get Repeated

Listen, before the last episode, I’ve been digging Daryl Dixon Season 3. I’ve probably written the word “small-town” politics a dozen times in my reviews, but that’s where this storyline has excelled. Leave Solaz, and apparently, that small-town politics plotline spins in circles.

If I’m being my most critical (that is my job, after all), nothing really happens in this episode, at least with the Solaz storyline. After his “save the leper colony” side quest, Daryl teams up with Paz, who brings him to a refugee camp right outside of Barcelona. It’s a neat idea, a place that takes in women who’ve escaped El Alcaraz, but, like Fede’s villainy arc, it needs more fleshing out. Instead, we’re introduced to a group of supporting characters who have implied backstories with Paz and become quick kill-offs during the ambush against Guillermo.

Aside from the timeline not quite making sense to me, Daryl, Paz, and Co. slap together a quick plan to save Justina that ultimately culminates with Daryl unable to break the lock to her truck bed prison cell. Why he didn’t just steal the entire truck is beyond me, but apparently, all he could do was hold her hand and patiently wait for one of Guillermo’s goons to drive away safely. Something tells me The Walking Dead’s Daryl would’ve come up with something a little more scrappy in the moment.

Is an unbreakable lock realistic? Maybe, but from an audience’s perspective, it’s frustrating. What it really means is another episode of Daryl and Carol being separated. Daryl has to hatch another plan to infiltrate El Alcaraz in Barcelona, and Carol has to spend more time lying for him back in Solaz. I absolutely want Justina freed from El Alcaraz, but that should’ve happened here. Instead, Daryl Dixon elongates its big plotline while rushing over more nuanced stories like Fede’s villainous turn in the process. Here’s hoping it finds a better balance in next week’s season finale.

Other Thoughts

• Was that little girl very sweet for giving Daryl that canteen? Yes. Do I have concerns that Daryl is still drinking from a leprosy canteen? Also, yes. 
• Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to see Paz, but I have some questions about the timeline. 
• I love that Carol is besties with the cat. 
• Carol looking for a screwdriver and making small talk after seeing Antonio naked is comedy gold. “Oh, God, so many tools.” But also, that cat is her bestie, and she doesn’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl? Shame, Carol.   
• After three seasons of this, I think I’m ready for the Carol/Valentina spin-off. 
• NOT THE CAT! 
• Good thing Carol learned those very specific Spanish words earlier for this very specific encounter with Grandma. 
• Okay, but like, why would Antonio ever save the video of his wife’s murder? I’m not the only one who thinks that’s pretty morbid, right?  
• This might be the strongest lock in The Walking Dead history. 
• Wait! Is someone in the front seat of the armored truck where Justina is being held? Are they just waiting there patiently for Daryl to attempt to pick the lock? Why can’t Paz or Daryl hijack the truck? 
• Antonio and Carol just kissed. Repeat. This is not a drill. 
• At least Daryl and Paz are going back for Justina. I was going to be really angry if they didn’t. 

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

What did you think of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 6? Let us know in the comments below!