Like many things tied to The Walking Dead, the first half of Season 6 was pretty polarizing. The time-skewing structure was a novel enough approach, but devoting entire episodes to splintered-off characters meant weeks went by without regular favorites appearing. Luckily for everyone who cursed showrunner Scott Gimple’s name for keeping Norman Reedus’ Daryl away from his fervent fanbase, the lone surviving member of the Dixon clan is going to be all over the rest of Season 6. No word on his crossbow or motorcycle, though, so keep putting posting those Missing posters.
Here’s what Gimple says we can expect from the outsider-turned-slightly-less-of-an-outsider when the show returns.
We put Norman through his paces. He’s very scary in this back half, but there are a couple of moments where he made me laugh out loud. There is a whole lot of Daryl and a wide variety of Daryl.
It’s possible that this was always the plan, but I can’t help but think that some viewer complaints managed to reach Gimple and Kirkman’s ears. Not that these guys are clueless to Daryl’s popularity.
When the show picks back up, we’ll jump right back into that ”prologue scene” where Daryl, Abraham and Sasha first run into the Saviors. The recent clip teased that the scene might not end without someone getting bloody, and it’s good to know that Daryl won’t be that potentially bloodied someone. Sorry the same can’t be said for both Abraham and Sasha.
Daryl’s return to Alexandria will lead into what’ll hopefully be an exciting mini-adventure, as Reedus told TV Insider that Daryl and Rick are going to have a “little Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid-type thing” to give the two machismo-oozing characters some time together. Here’s how Andrew Lincoln describes the pairing.
It’s safe to say that we get to do the tango, much to everyone’s excitement.
Dancing and Robert Redford roles aside, this all fits right in with what Reedus has previously said about the second half of Season 6 being super intense. Obviously he would know more of what his character is going through over anyone else, and if we’re getting the emotional gamut from Daryl in the next eight episodes, that bodes well for plenty of intense moments. Particularly for Dwight if Daryl ever tracks him down and gets him one-on-one. Depending on how “scary” the introverted redneck gets, he might just rival Negan as far as big threats go on the show moving forward.
Get your Valentine’s cards addressed to Reedus & Co., because The Walking Dead will be back on AMC on Sunday, February 14. To see when everything else is premiering and returning over the next few months, check out our midseason TV schedule.
