'I Don't Know Where We're Going': Norman Reedus Talks TWD: Daryl Dixon's Future Ending & Season 3
Goodbye France, and hello Spain. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is exchanging the dark moodiness of the French atmosphere for a sunnier getaway in Spain in its third season. The spinoff series undergoes a soft reboot heading to the new country, setting up the final two seasons with a nearly completely new cast led by TWD veterans Norman Reedus (as the titular character) and Melissa McBride (as Carol Peletier).
The new season sees Daryl in a place of contemplation, searching to figure out where his happy place is and how he can finally settle down like everyone else around him has. It's been a long journey for the character, who's been on television for 15 years since the first season of the flagship show, and it's seemingly coming to an end in Season 4 of the spinoff. But the door isn't entirely closed either, as Reedus told CBR that he "[doesn't] know where we're going," once Daryl Dixon ends. Additionally, Reedus discussed the different atmosphere of Spain in Season 3, getting back on his bike through the desert, Daryl's complicated history with romance, and the evolution of The Walking Dead over 15 years.
CBR: The vibes are totally different in Season 3. How does being in Spain inform the story, the action, and the relationships in a different way than being in France did?
Norman Reedus: Part of the history of Spain is in the season quite a bit, like Belchite, the Spanish Civil War and [Francisco] Franco. France is a different energy than Spain. France has lots of purples, golds, and burgundies. Spain has a very Western vibe to it. There are oranges and yellows, and the lighting is different. Spanish people love to talk. They love to talk a lot. They like to use their hands. They want to talk all day. French people not so much. Americans probably not at all. There's a different energy there. There's a passion in Spain. When we arrive in Spain by accident, there's a young couple that's in love who are running away to be together. As the season progresses, there are people falling in love all around Daryl. There's dialogue coming out of the tunnel going into London where he says, "Look, all we ever do is run and fight. Maybe there's a better way to live. Maybe we're doing this wrong." That's kind of teased in the trailers.
Daryl's idea of home is changing. He'd never seen anyone fight for love before. You fight to hold onto what's yours or to take somebody else's, or to defend yourself. But maybe there's something better. He's seeing people making lemonade out of lemons. He's kind of rethinking things. He's got a sort of post-traumatic thing happening to him, which continues into Season 4, where he's sort of putting the pieces together. I don't know if he's healing himself or trying to figure out who he is, or what he means. He's gone from this loner guy with a chip on his shoulder with a big brother, to a quiet guy who stands up for you and is your go-to guy to protect you. He doesn't bullshit. He doesn't lie. He looks you square in the face. He says very little, but what he says he means.
He's gone through all these peaks and valleys to get to a point where he's finally looking at himself in the mirror and saying, "Maybe you deserve something good. Maybe you can settle down and not have to look over your shoulder, and you can stop running." The meat of that is where we're at right now in Season 4, which is probably why I'm so fucking tired. At the end, I don't know how I'm going to deal with it. I put so much work into this. It's been such a big part of my life. There's a David Bowie quote where they ask him, "What do you think your last words are before you die?" And he says, "But, but, but, but..." That's probably how I'm going to feel at the end of this, you know what I mean? He's having a come to Jesus moment right now.
Who knows? I don't know. You know, there's a big "we hope Daryl's asexual" vibe. There's a big love for that on the Internet. I get it. I totally get it. You don't see characters with that vibe. So maybe it's not even that. I've gone through a decade of, "He should hook up with Beth. He should hook up with Maggie. He should hook up with Connie. He should be with Carol." It's like, Carol and Daryl have such a strong bond. You jump into a [romantic] relationship, you really roll the dice of whether you're going to hate each other or not in a minute. Why would he do that? Why would he risk it? He's trying to figure it all out.
There can also be so much more to life for Daryl than all of those things and rolling that dice with Carol.
Yeah, yeah.
Daryl and Carol have been through a lot in their friendship. They have really been through some ups and downs over the years. Compared to how their relationship has been in the past, what kind of place do you think they're in now in Season 3?
I can't tell you, but it's large. It's one of observation, realization and unconditional love for Daryl. You know what I mean? It's like that.
Wow, that's a movie right there. We started this show in the woods like a little independent film. Everyone left us alone. We became this juggernaut of a show. We had started off with three producers. In the middle [of The Walking Dead's run], we had 30 producers. Everyone had an opinion about what we should do. We were selling cars, we were selling vacations, we were selling airline tickets, we were doing everything. Every commercial on TV had a zombie in it. I remember I got invited to New York Fashion Week one year, and they were insistent that I go. I'm sitting in the front row, and I'm thinking, "Why the fuck am I here?" Then the first dress goes by, and Daryl's angel wings are on it. I'm like, "Oh, that's what's up."
I've just seen all these variations of this story, the way it's told, the people involved, what it took to get from what we shot to what got on air, and how it got on air, to the point of where the commercial breaks were. It's been a crazy ride. I've seen network bosses come and go. I've seen showrunners and writing staff come and go. I've seen actors have babies and actors pass away on the show. I was with Steven Yeun when he proposed marriage to his wife. There have been so many highs and lows, but the fire has always been there.
What I've been hoping and trying to do with the spinoff since France is taking the show and doing [what we're doing now] to it, right? I want to feel the sun on my face. I want to feel the wind in my hair. I don't want to jump to commercials, jump to the scares, jump to who's going to die. I want to be Terrence Malick. I wanted to take the space and the time to tell the stories in between the stories. I feel like we're doing that in Spain. We're doing it more and more each season in Europe. That's where we are in the story now, but it's not all up to me all the time. Otherwise, this would be some weird fucking slow art film that five people would like, to be honest. But that would satisfy me. It's a wild ride. I don't know how I'm going to feel when it's over. I have no idea.
Speaking of the end, why did Season 4 feel like the right time to conclude this story?
I don't know. That's not a decision I make. It was kind of told to us. We kind of perpetuated that it was always the plan, but that really wasn't the plan. It was kind of the plan in the end. It might just be this version of this. I don't know what's happening. I don't know where we're going. I'm happy with what we've done and where we're at, but who knows. I have no idea. I didn't know the main show was going to go past Season 2.
Is there any specific moment in Daryl's journey, whether on the main show or the spinoff, that stands out to you as a defining moment that really changed him for the better?
His brother [Merle] dying changed him tremendously. Back in America, I think, Daryl was going to be his brother. Then, when his brother died, Daryl had the chance to reinvent himself. Coming to France did that for him. He had no backstory. He could be who he wanted to be. He was obsessed with getting home, so he took on this role to drop off this kid so he could get a boat. But the kid changed him. I think that was a defining moment. What we're doing right now [Seasons 3 and 4] is turning into a defining moment. This is going to be a different Daryl when this is over. There are a bunch of defining moments.
Being on television for 15 years, you'll have a lot of defining moments.
It's a real honor to be on a TV show for this long. When you do a movie, you go to a premiere or a film festival and have a big night, and it's over. With this, you're on people's television in their home every day or every weekend for 15 years. They think they know you. Even on my days off, I go to the grocery store and everyone asks me about Daryl Dixon. It's a seven days a week, 24-hour journey for me. It doesn't happen to people ever. It's very rare.
Talking about Season 3 specifically, how does it feel to be back on the bike as Daryl in the desert?
That was great. [Episode 5 is] my favorite episode of the season. We really leaned into a Western vibe on that. We tried to do it with our key art and our posters. We shot it in the areas where they shot a lot of spaghetti Westerns. The director came in, and I met him in his office. He was playing guitar in his socks, and I was like, "I love this guy." He had a vision he wanted to go for. His name is Paco Cabezas. It felt good to be out. I'm doing all that, I'm flipping guns. It just felt really cool. I felt like a tiny silhouette on a giant poster.
I think they're all different. The thing about the villains on The Walking Dead is they're all doing things they think they're doing for the right reasons, which makes them relatable. Alpha had a whole thing about it. She was doing things for these reasons. Negan does things for reasons. The antagonists are doing what they got to do to keep their shit running. They're not just mustache-twirling evil. They think they're doing the right thing and then get in over their head. It makes them believable.
I want to ask you one more question before I let you go: Would you eat the hot dogs that Daryl and Carol find in Season 3?
No. No way. That can was dented. I don't even like those little weenie things. Those are disgusting. I would've eaten the aluminum before I ate those hot dogs.
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