We didn’t learn from Sunday’s particularly excellent episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon how to say “backstabbed” in French, but we sure as [bleep] discovered what it looks like.
In “Moulin Rouge,” even as Daryl was returning Fallou and Emile safely to The Nest, forces were conspiring against him. Jacinta, fearful that if the American said au revoir, Laurent would want to leave with him, urged Losang to move up “the ceremony” (which sounded more ominous every time they said it). Jacinta wasn’t necessarily wrong, either, that Daryl posed a threat. He pointed out to Isabelle that “you’re not like them at all, you’re like us” and suggested that when he took off, she and Laurent could accompany him. However reluctantly, she rejected the idea and remained committed to the cause.
Meanwhile, Emile, traumatized from his experience in the clutches of Pouvoir, shared with Sylvie that he had made a deal with God in order to be returned to her. (More like a deal with the devil, but we’ll get to that shortly.) The following morning, Isabelle discovered that Laurent had been kidnapped, apparently by Genet’s guerriers. Immediately, Daryl took off in pursuit of the boy, with Isabelle, Fallou and Emile determinedly tagging along. This was where things got treacherous.
While the rescue party was out, Sylvie discovered that Losang had hidden away Laurent at The Nest. Daryl & Co., it seemed, had been sent on a wild-goose chase. But it was even worse than that: They were about to be attacked by their own people! By the end of the fracas, Emile had turned a gun on Daryl himself and revealed that “the ceremony” involved allowing Laurent to be bitten by a walker. When he didn’t turn, it would prove to all of the faithful that he really was the messiah.
Needless to say, Isabelle and Fallou weren’t going to let Emile shoot Daryl. The former wrecked Emile’s shot, and the latter fatally shot the young man herself. In the aftermath, Isabelle told Daryl that she was ready to leave The Nest with him and Laurent. They stared at one another. And kept staring. And finally, it happened: Daryl and Isabelle kissed. At that very moment, Jacinta disclosed to Losang that she had amended his order and arranged for Daryl never to return from his mission. And Isabelle? Fallou? They hadn’t been supposed to go with Daryl, Jacinta noted. Losang was troubled, but in Jacinta’s mind, it was all for the greater good.
… AND IN THE BOOK OF CAROL | During a stop in Greenland, Carol and Ash ran afoul of seemingly friendly Eun and Hanna. In reality, they weren’t friendly at all but nuts. Eun wanted to mate with Ash to repopulate the world while Hanna was tasked with killing Carol. When Hanna instead took out Eun, Carol agreed to take her with her and Ash to France. The trouble was, he didn’t know that when he saw the two of them approaching the plane, so he fatally shot Hanna with a flare gun. D’oh.
The next thing we knew, Carol and Ash had landed in France. He balked at the idea of staying with the plane while she went in search of (cough) her daughter but ultimately relented. In no time, Carol’s show of “guts” in front of guerriers had gotten her thrown in a truck along with Rémy, whose husband Julien had been put in a different vehicle (one that seemed likelier to be filled with future victims of Genet’s experiments than potential recruits for Pouvoir).
In the episode’s final moments, we discovered that Genet was still torturing Codron — and, miraculously, he was still refusing to disclose Laurent’s whereabouts. Your thoughts on “Maison Blanche”? Did you see the kiss coming? Did you hope or fear that it was? Comment away.