The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2, Episode 1, “La gentillesse des étrangers,” which premiered Sunday, Sept. 29 on AMC.

Daryl Dixon is back for more action on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, this time with Carol Peletier. But the two are still an ocean apart, meaning Carol is going to have to conjure up some old, deceitful skills to find her way to France. Meanwhile, Daryl’s story kicks off with a slower start that promises more potential enemies hidden in his new home.

The Daryl Dixon Season 2 premiere opens with the titular hero training Laurent how to kill walkers. Laurent is not confident in his ability to master the art of walker-killing, but Daryl assures him it’s only been two weeks. Nobody’s a perfect killer right off the bat. Losang has been teaching Laurent philosophy lessons in the meantime, while also juggling his duties as the leader of the Nest. Reports from Paris report that a Union of Hope camp was raided by Genet’s people, the Power of the Living. Several people were kidnapped, including Fallou and Sylvie’s boyfriend Emile. Losang is exercising patience to Sylvie, Isabelle and Daryl’s frustrations. If Fallou and Emile don’t give up the Nest’s location, Genet will just kill them.

There’s some tension between Daryl and Losang. Daryl is on the offense, whereas Losang prefers to stay on defense. Losang also doesn’t seem to want Daryl hanging around for long, but Daryl assures him he’s out of here as soon as he gets another ride to America. Of course, he shouldn’t have blown off his first ride in the Daryl Dixon Season 1 finale if he’s so desperate to get back home again. In exchange for hospitality, Losang asks that Daryl stop teaching Laurent self-defense lessons because it’s too violent.

Thankfully, Daryl has Isabelle on his side, who’s steadfast on keeping Daryl in France. Is it out of desperation for companionship, or because Laurent clearly idolizes Daryl? The latter can’t stop thinking about his people back at the Commonwealth. This then cuts to Carol at the mechanic’s shop that stowed Daryl on a boat to France. Seeing Daryl’s crossbow and riding in on his bike, she takes Daryl’s advice to Losang to throw the first punch, or at least, shoot the first bow. The best line of the episode comes out of this interaction with Classic Carol:

Survivor: “Lady, are you crazy?”

Carol: “Certifiable.”

One man’s definition of crazy is another woman’s lifesaver. But these men aren’t on Genet’s level of viciousness, so they easily give up Daryl’s location after a few hits. After informing the men of their friend’s life-or-death situation in the trunk of a car, and a false lead to a deserted boat on shore, Carol cruises down the road with a cassette stuck on a meditation guide.

Carol crashes the car when she fails the meditation course and sees a small plane flying overhead. She follows the plane to a secure hideout where she’s confronted by the sole resident, Ash, who lets her inside. It’s hard to tell if Carol has genuinely softened up since settling in the Commonwealth, telling Ash that she believes good people are still willing to help a stranger, or if she’s faking the pity act. However, later events in the episode assume she hasn’t gone all sweet yet.

Ash seems to be the entire package in the apocalypse. He’s well-meaning, courteous and knows his way around a rifle. The only problem is that he’s a bit oblivious to Carol’s facade. Not every survivor can be perfect, and even Carol has her own demons. She’s still haunted by the death of her daughter, Sophia, and is triggered by the sight of Ash’s barn. Long-time Walking Dead fans will recall how Carol and the rest of the gang spent weeks looking for Sophia in Season 2, only for her to be a walker in Hershel’s barn the entire time. For the few new viewers, there’s a convenient recreation of the painful scene.

The next morning, Ash promises that he’ll look for car parts when he takes his daily plane ride. Suspiciously, he checks his watch when asked if he can fix her car. He rushes to the locked greenhouse in a frenzy, and Carol has that look on her face that obviously shows she’s cooking up a plan. Later, when Ash takes to the sky and Carol sneaks around to find a map, the power cuts out, unlocking the gates to the property and greenhouse. Obviously, Carol has to snoop around. She didn’t find out her daughter was dead for weeks because of a secret. She won’t let something similar surprise her again.

Inside the greenhouse isn’t a walker or anything damaging. It’s just a memorial for Ash’s 7-year-old son, Avi. She churns a music box that plays “You Are My Sunshine” that she sadly sings along with thinking about Sophia. Fans might also catch onto it being an Easter egg from when Carl sang the song to Negan in Season 7.

Walkers ambush the greenhouse, completely destroying all the plants and trapping Carol. She escapes on the rooftop, and meets a rightfully angry Ash. One thing about The Walking Dead survivors is that everywhere they go, they destroy a home or community. Carol helps him later on by cleaning out the walkers, and seems truly ashamed about the mess she made. He allows her to clean up the mess, but demands that she leave once she does.

Ash explains that he goes to the memorial at 8:23 AM every day because that’s when Avi died. The story of Avi’s death is eerily similar to Sophia’s; Avi wandered off one day and died because of it. About a month after his death, Ash found the plane crashed in a field and took it as a sign, since Avi loved planes. Talking about his son must’ve brought out a forgiving streak in Ash, because he later invites her to dinner. He has a cherokee rose in a vase, the same flower that Daryl gave Carol after Sophia’s death.

Carol talks about her previous life — her difficult marriage with Ed and their daughter Sophia. This is where Carol starts to cross the line. She lies to Ash about Sophia’s fate, saying that Ed took her to visit his aunt in France before the outbreak. Ash immediately catches on that Carol needs his plane to fly to France to find her “daughter.” Cruelty comes in all shapes and forms, and exploiting Ash’s grief of his dead son is one of them. But sometimes cruelty works in this world. Ash agrees to help her because that’s just the sweetheart he is.

The unsuspecting Ash is so excited about the prospect of Sophia being alive, and Carol is just stringing him along like a little puppet. But she’s not entirely heartless; she clearly feels guilty and questions him once again if he’s willing to give up his home and Avi’s memorial for her. Back in France, Losang and Daryl have their usual squabble about defense vs. offense. Both men’s methods are valuable in this world, but Losang’s is much less practical.

As Daryl conducts an attack against Genet’s people to rescue Fallou and Emile, Losang’s closest advisor, Jacinta, recommends moving up the “ceremony” to sway over their people once and for all. Whatever this ceremony is, it sounds like bad news for a boy who’s claimed to be the immune messiah of the apocalypse. Daryl and Mathis’ bomb fails to explode, which triggers a gunfight against Genet and her soldiers. Fallou and Emile are rescued, but Genet escapes from Daryl in a sacrificial moment.

Carol and Ash are preparing for takeoff when walkers swarm the area and a fire sets the place ablaze. But that plane is carrying one of The Walking Dead‘s heroes, so it takes off without any damage. When they’re in the sky, Carol struggles to catch her breath due to her claustrophobia and general fear of flying. Like the meditation tape she ignored before, Ash advises her to center herself and take a deep breath in and out. With that, Carol and Ash are on route to France.

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premiere every Sunday at 9 PM ET on AMC and AMC+.