Will ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Debut Its Own Daryl Dixon This Week? 

Will ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Debut Its Own Daryl Dixon This Week?

After taking a week off due to Labor Day, “Fear The Walking Dead” is about to roar back to life, and with its return comes the possibility for greatness.

Here, let me explain: Daryl, easily the fan-favorite character on “Walking Dead,” even if he pales in badass-ness to Carol (DO NOT FIGHT ME ON THIS), didn’t arrive on the show until three episodes into the run. The episode was called “Tell it to the Frogs,” and it focused on Rick reuniting with his family at the Dale Horvath Trailer Park, and grappling with the guilt he feels over abandoning Merle Dixon on a rooftop. Daryl is equally angry about this development, and so he joins Rick on a journey back into Atlanta, and finds little more than Merle’s hand where Merle oughta be.

It’s not the most memorable or noteworthy episode of the series, if not for the fact that it’s Daryl’s debut; that alone makes it a milestone moment for the show. Likewise, we’re hitting that same point here with “Fear the Walking Dead,” coming right up against episode three — and there is not a clear-cut Darylicious character in the midst.

Sure, Madison and Travis are solid and strong, but they are more in the Rick Grimes mold than anyone else. Yeah, Nick and Alicia Clark are troubled siblings with their fair share of in-fighting, but they don’t come close to touching the Dixon dynamic. We need someone new, someone fresh, someone fierce to enter the mix soon if we want to find ourselves a new Daryl dude or dudette.

Here’s what we’re looking at with “Fear the Walking Dead” episode three, called “The Dog”:

“After they escape a riot, Travis, Liza and Chris seek refuge with the Salazars; Madison defends her home.”

Sounds like we’re picking right up where we left off last time, with Travis’ side of the family on lockdown, and Madison’s neighborhood blowing up with zombie fever. Two possible stories for a brand new badass to emerge — it’s easy to see some sort of bandit popping up to help defend Madison and the Clarks, or someone from the streets joining up with Travis and the Salazars.

It’s also possible that a Daryl type can emerge from within the group as it exists. What if Daniel Salazar rises as the show’s best new character? Give him a barber’s blade instead of a crossbow, and watch him go to work.

Or maybe, just maybe, we will once again stand and salute the show’s de facto hero…

…Tobias, the greatest survivor the zombie apocalypse has ever known. Lincoln A. Castellanos is not listed in the credits on IMDB for this one, so maybe that’s a no. Here’s someone we will meet, however:

Strand, played by “Selma” star and prolific stage actor Colman Domingo, described on the “FTWD” Wiki page as “a smart and sophisticated man with a mysterious past.” A buttoned-up badass? Sounds like everyone else on “FTWD” so far, but we can roll with it.

Point being, if there’s one thing this show does not yet have, it’s one breakout character with a serious amount of edge, not to mention greasy hair. We don’t need an exact Daryl doppleganger — no such thing exists, and how could it — but we do need one “FTWD” hero, or antihero even, to spice things up just a touch. Let’s see if we get it in “The Dog.” In fact, a zombie-eating dog would do the trick. Daryl Dachsund, anyone?

Likes pizza, punch and pie. Dislikes the Chitauri.