Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 finale.
After a strong opening episode of the third season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which found Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) in London, the besties crashed their boat onto the coast of a small Spanish village. The remainder of the season has seen them trying to repair their ride, while also getting sucked into the drama taking place in Solaz del Mar as Guillermo’s (Gonzalo Bouza) El Alcazar forces hold a lottery that will see one of the town’s women married into their army. In the penultimate episode, “Controbando”, Daryl and Paz (Alexandra Masangkay) begin their journey to rescue Justina (Candela Saitta) and Elena (Greta Fernandez), while Carol and Roberto (Hugo Arbues) head to the lighthouse as Antonio (Eduardo Noriega) is left behind in his showdown with Fede (Óscar Jaenada). In the finale, “Solaz de Mar,” will Daryl and Carol be able to save their new friends and finally start heading home?
Antonio Is Taken Prisoner by Fede
The episode begins at the statue by the sea, where people leave gifts for loved ones. Codron (Romain Levi) walks up to it and picks up Laurent’s Rubik’s Cube. Meanwhile, Carol and Roberto go to Valentina’s (Irina Björklund) lighthouse, where they wait for Antonio. Carol is worried because he stood up to Fede, and she should be, because his men now beat him, as the mayor of Solaz del Mar demands to know what Daryl Dixon is up to. At the lighthouse, Carol talks to Roberto about his father keeping the details of his mother’s death from him. He doesn’t even want to wait to see if his dad comes back. Once Justina and Daryl get back, he’s ready to go, but Carol’s not going to do that. She comes up with a plan to sneak back into Solaz del Mar by hiding in the back of a truck driven by Valentina’s men.
We first see Daryl with Paz on the outskirts of the city where Guillermo and El Alcazar await. She remembers when Guillermo beat her the first time she arrived here. Paz gave up then, but not again. She’s going to get Elena back. Inside the El Alcazar compound, Guillermo confronts Elena about how she looked at Paz. Sitting in front of a mirror, Justina watches how Elena looks down in fear. She approaches her about getting out of there, but Guillermo’s wife is resigned to her fate. There is no going home.
In Solaz del Mar, Marga (Yassmine Othman) confronts her son over rumors from Carol that he sent Justina away. Fede denies it. She says she believes him but the others, who are getting angrier, need to be convinced. As he talks to them in the streets, an armed Carol and Valentina’s men watch from an alleyway. He blames the Americans for all the troubles and calls Antonio a traitor. He’s brought out, hands tied behind his back, and pulled up into a torture device as a warning. The only way Fede will let him down is if he tells him what he wants to know.
Daryl and Paz Rescue Justina and Elena in a Walker-Filled Scene
Daryl and Paz are inside El Alcazar, where they now wear masks for a matching ceremony. There, walkers in makeup are hooked up to strings and pulled around in a twisted marionette act as a way to entertain the rich and powerful. Daryl and Paz wear their masks as they go around their tables, serving them. Music is played, and the lottery “winners” are brought out, including Justina and her friend. The matching ceremony has begun, as men hand roses to any woman they want to make their bride. “This must be hard for you,” Guillermo tells his wife with a sneer. Justina puts her hair down so that a young man will choose her instead of her friend. Having spotted Daryl in his mask, she puts a knife up her sleeve, ready for what may come next.
Daryl gets backstage with the marionette walkers and sets them free. The undead immediately begin to eat the rich, sending the survivors scurrying. Daryl tells Paz to go for Elena while he takes off after Justina, who is being pulled away by her husband-to-be. Paz makes it Elena and the lovers embrace, but there’s no time to celebrate, because Elena’s young son walks into the room. Now, Paz knows why she had to come back, but Elena is ready for both of them to leave. Before they can, Paz is attacked and taken to Guillermo, just like years before. He puts a sword to his neck, ready to kill the woman who took his wife before he kills her next, but he won’t get to, as Elena kills him with her knife. Meanwhile, Justina is in a room with the man who chose her. She pulls out the knife, demanding his vehicle, but he throws her to the ground. Daryl runs in just in time, slitting the man’s throat. The two escape, then go to save her friend.
At night, Carol and Valentina’s men cut Antonio down, but Fede and his soldiers fire at the group. Carol and Antonio manage to get away, and Antonio tells Carol that she shouldn’t have come back, but she did it for Roberto, for him, for us. Fede’s men begin knocking at the door of the home they’re staying in, so they sneak out of a basement door into an underground tunnel and out into a side street. There are none of Fede’s men there, but several set loose walkers they have to take out.
Daryl’s doing the same thing, slicing up the living and the dead as El Alcazar burns. There’s nothing for Paz in Solaz, so this is where she and Elena will part with the rest. She says goodbye to Daryl, and Justina gets on Daryl’s motorcycle. When he says that she should come with them on the boat, all she can do is smile. It’s now morning as they ride across the Spanish countryside. Justina can’t believe that her uncle turned bad, but she sees the good in Daryl. Why did he do so much for them? Dixon doesn’t think he has a hopeful future with love, but he wants Roberto and Justina to have that chance.
Fede Prevents Daryl and Carol From Going Home
They arrive back at the lighthouse, and Justina runs up the steps calling out Roberto’s name. Inside, however, men point guns at them, but Valentina is there, fighting back, giving Daryl a chance to kill them. Others took Roberto back to Solaz Del Mar. Valentina tells them that something must be wrong with Carol, because she should be back with Antonio right now. Daryl immediately leaves to find his best friend. He’d better be quick, because she now stands as a restrained prisoner with Antonio in front of Fede. Surprisingly, he cuts them loose and tells them they are free to leave Solaz.
Outside, Roberto is in the street, chained to two men who have been killed by Valentina’s men. A crowd watches as Fede’s soldiers release a group of walkers. The mayor watches with joy as Antonio and Carol fight to loosen the restraints, but can’t. They begin fighting with their fists and knives, but are saved by Daryl and his rifle, who takes out Fede’s men one on one. Justina walks up the street, her eyes only on her uncle on the balcony. She doesn’t have to do anything but be visible, as the townspeople can see her. Even Fede’s own mother slaps him, and her son backs down from his fight.
Justina hugs Roberto, and Fede’s remaining men leave on horseback. She tells the town that Daryl burned down El Alcazar, and there is nothing left to fear. Fede is now brought out in restraints, but Justina says they must show him mercy. He’ll be imprisoned, but he won’t be hurt. They’ll come to regret that very soon.
At the boat, it’s almost time to leave for America. Daryl tells Carol that he’s spent his whole life running and fighting. He always feels like he has to go when he gets there. He’s afraid he’ll want to do that again when he gets home, so Carol tells him that maybe it’s finally safe to go home and stay instead. Later at night, Daryl is standing outside in the darkness when Fede, released by his concerned mother, sneaks up behind Daryl with a rifle. He tells him that the Yankees will die here, but as he shoots, Carol tackles him to the ground, and his bullets hit the boat, setting it ablaze. Everyone is able to quickly restrain Fede, but the damage is done as the boat explodes. They won’t be going home. From afar, Codron sees the flames rise into the night.
- Release Date
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2023 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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AMC
- Showrunner
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David Zabel
- Franchise(s)
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The Walking Dead
- The walker marionettes were a nice touch of gory originality.
- The finale convingly ends most of the loose plotlines.
- Carol and Daryl continue to spend too much time apart.
- The end scene that keeps Daryl and Carol from going home is horribly executed.
