The Walking Dead And The Daryl Dixon Dilemma
The Walking Dead, a story about lead man Rick Grimes as he makes his way through a world that he once knew, a world that is now occupied by zombies. The story features Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes, who wakes up from a coma to find that the world he once knew is now gone, and his only task at this point is to survive and make sense of the reality. While the story is centered around Rick and Carl, now that Lori has died, it is funny that there is another character that has grown beyond the main character, which is Daryl Dixon.
Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus, is a redneck that shows strength, ruggedness, compassion, and the will to survive. The character played by Reedus has taken on a life of its own, and one can argue that the fan following of Daryl is now larger, and more intense, than that of Rick Grimes which is played by Andrew Lincoln. So the question is how did a secondary character in the story become bigger and larger than that of the main character? Could it be the character in the show, the fact that more people know Reedus, or simply his good looks?
So how does AMC, and Kirkman, eventually kill off Daryl without angering too many fans? I mean we all know that “nobody is safe”, but the fanaticism behind Daryl Dixon doesn’t make this easy. Should he be a character that makes it to the final season, and then has his day, or will they find a way for him to die in season 4? Nobody really knows except for the writers and the people who are planning its ultimate outcome.
Personally, being on Twitter and Facebook, you can easily see the fans that are gung-ho about Norman Reedus. However, you do not see the same for Andrew Lincoln and Rick Grimes. There has even been slogans made up such as, “If Daryl dies, we Riot!”. In fact, if you simply type into Google, “If Daryl”, it auto-completes for you with just that.
Google – “If Daryl”
The question remains, how do you eventually kill off one of the shows biggest characters without alienating the people who watch the show? Should AMC even be concerned, or is there really some backlash that could take place in which could eventually drive the show down in terms of viewership. While it could just be nothing, what if the killing off of Daryl Dixon actually does do in the show in the end? Would it be something that AMC should chance, or just ride out the character as long as possible?
While some can say it doesn’t matter if Daryl dies, and that nobody should really care or really give a hoot, isn’t it really the fans that help to keep the show around? Norman Reedus has either killed the role as Daryl Dixon, or it was bound to happen with the character. People could just be naturally drawn to his character in the series, drawn to his personality, his demeanor, or as I said before his good looks. The fact that Daryl Dixon has grown to such fanaticism is something that cannot be overlooked.
There was a saying during the banking crisis that happened in the US, and worldwide, which is “too big to fail”. We know now that even in the banking industry there is no such thing as “too big to fail”, and we know that AMC has said that “nobody is safe”, so we can assume that one day Daryl will die. The only question that people can truly wonder about, is when. Daryl will die eventually, and for all we know it can happen in season 3, season 4 or maybe in the shows final episode, but we just don’t know.
What fans should be doing is ultimately preparing for when their fan favorite will die, because it will happen. In the meantime, the fans may actually have some weight in terms of when that day will come. There may be some truth behind the thought, the bigger the character, the longer they last. However, only time will tell.
Daryl Dixon Tribute Video
Axel
01/24/2013 @ 9:08 am
Jakobi!! Thank you so much for this 😉 Loving the tribute video hahah
TWDRumors.com
01/24/2013 @ 12:09 pm
I REALLY don’t want him to die, but it will HAVE to happen at some point I would think. Either way, the show has enough going for it to survive. Yes, it will piss a lot of people off, but the show will add new things to keep the fans hooked.
labpar
01/25/2013 @ 6:50 am
simple if Daryl dies people are sad but the show still makes sense, if Rick dies people are sad and the show makes zero sense. TWD is the story of Rick and he is the heart and soul of the show. Lose him and the show loses its reason for being.
Sonya A. Willis
04/07/2013 @ 10:32 pm
Rick and Carl may be the heart and soul of the graphic novel but the T.V. show is a different animal and is following its own path.
Tony
01/25/2013 @ 2:19 pm
The show splits and follows Daryl, Daryl lives. Easy way to move away from the comic. We all know TV people love to do spin offs to try and make more money.
Jay
02/01/2013 @ 8:51 am
Daryl dying in by the end of this season (season 3) would obviously exist for the shock value. Not a smart move. I think the feasible time for him to die would be during seasons 5, 6, or 7. If I were doing the show it would probably be the season finale of 6, with the show itself ending at 8 seasons.
Lewk00t
02/02/2013 @ 7:50 am
Daryl is my favourite character, but there will always be other characters you’ll favourite if one dies, it used to be Shane for me, in the future it might turn out being Tyrese or Abraham. So the death of Daryl in future seasons wouldn’t bother me much, though I do want him to live as long as possible.
Tina
02/11/2013 @ 10:36 am
This Show is Way too Predictable, everyone dies in this show, it’s so predictable now, it’s like I didn’t want any of the main characters to die, but after Shane and Lori, it’s become the norm wow everyone dies, that’s so not exciting (not) after it’s over I won’t be purchasing this to put on my shelves either.
mlbukowski
02/11/2013 @ 7:20 pm
AMC owns the show and they would never let the producers do it. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave Daryl a spinoff show.
Alb4175
02/20/2013 @ 6:58 pm
They don’t have to kill Daryl off. He could easily survive to the end. And to assume Rick makes it to the end is ridiculous. If no one is safe then how can we say Rick won’t die?
Double Standard
02/26/2013 @ 11:20 pm
The reason why people like Daryl more is because while Rick loses his remorse and sense of human decency, Daryl is able to retain his compassion, help his family, others’ families, and isn’t afraid of bonding with the rest of the crew. Rick tends to isolate himself emotionally from everybody else other than Carl. i.e. Daryl stops Merle from stealing food from a family with a baby, i.e. Rick passes by a hitchhiker desperately needing help without a second thought. Who are people going to gravitate the most to? The individual that’s strong yet is still able to retain their humanity. Daryl has found that balance thus far. Rick is the opposite-unbalanced right now, so to speak.
Celas
04/01/2013 @ 10:08 pm
There are several characters that have been alive in the comic for nearly ten years. There is no reason he has to die before or even during the final season. That being said, I like Daryl but I really don’t care if dies at some point. I think AMC is going to hold on to him as long as possible.
Jesika Nicole
04/02/2013 @ 1:16 pm
I say we still riot lol…. But the fact that Darly character’s is well rounded most people can identify with his normal emotions and reactions plays a large portion, not to mention that he is also a very good actor, a lot of TWD fans were also fans of his in other movies.
Lisa
04/07/2013 @ 10:07 pm
I believe they should bring in Olivia Munn as a love interest for Daryl. She is a tough girl and her character would be just like him. I would love to see that. I love the character Daryl and would love for him to have a love interest
. Just saying….
Christina Banks
09/27/2013 @ 12:35 pm
why does he have to die at all???????????? If they kill off Daryl then they have to develop another character to be Rick’s right hand man. I think it will be show suicide if they decide to kill Daryl off the show for any other reason besides natural causes. Rick can always be replaced by Carl (eventually).