The Walking Dead: Nine Great Things That Came Of Merle & Daryl's Story

Warning: Spoilers ahead for AMC's The Walking Dead, including tonight's episode

When Merle and Daryl Dixon headed off on their own last week, we ran a story that talked about what good could come of losing such a key player just at the moment. As it turned out, many of the things that we considered came to pass--and even a few more. And that's just this week! Here's what we liked about the Walking Dixons thread: We got to see more Rambo-Daryl This may be another fan-favorite episode, if only for the bits where we got to see Daryl kick ass and take names. The group's influence on Daryl was laid out While we noted last week that Daryl's presence made everything easier for the group, leading us to question how much of a threat the Woodbury Army could be if Daryl was there to keep things under control, we never considered a possibility that Merle states pretty plainly here--that while the group is weaker without Daryl, he's a bit weaker (or at least softer) because of the group and the lifestyle they've lived together. The relative safety of the farm and the prison have turned a survivalist into somebody who's much less patient with the slow pace of the unpopulated world. Daryl managed to surprise Merle and himself with his goodness Another thing that the group have taught him--this one unambiguously good--is that there's value to being a "good guy," whether or not there's a reward for it. This isn't an attitude that Merle can get behind in the world of The Walking Dead (and frankly probably wasn't even before the zombies), but when he vocalizes his objections, Daryl (like the audience) realizes how petty, selfish and childish his brother sounds. We got huge insight into Carol - how will this affect their relationship? Things with Carol didn't pan out quite as we predicted; rather than her depression deepening when she lost her support system, she latched onto another man almost immediately. This, one could argue, lays bare a problem on Carol's part: after years with her domineering, abusive husband, she doesn't seem to be able to stand on her own, even within the group. Will she realize this, now that Axel has died and Daryl is back? And if she does, how will it impact her relationship with Daryl? Daryl finally stood up to Merle One of the things that we (and many fans) worried about when we saw Merle and Daryl saunter off together last week was the possibility that they would fall into old patterns and the assertive, badass Daryl everyone loves would become "little brother Daryl" and allow himself at least temporarily to be dominated by Merle's big personality. Luckily, this wasn't the case--not only did Daryl not back down when Merle made unreasonable demands, but he did so in pretty impresssive fashion. Of course, he had to do it by standing up for somebody else rather than himself...but baby steps. Daryl got his Han Solo moment Daryl may not have stayed gone long, but while he was away, things at the prison got ugly--fast. The end result is that even though he was hardly way for long enough to bake a pie, he managed to return at a key strategic moment for Rick and the group. Of course, it might have been more effective for the viewers if, like Han Solo, he had made that decision off-camera. Knowing that Daryl was right around the corner dulled the impact of the big heroic entrance a little. We got some insight into Daryl and Merle's past We got a few key pieces of information about Daryl and Merle, including one that really gives depth and texture to the way Merle and Daryl will interact with the group down the line: They meant to rob the original camp and run off, before Rick inadvertently put a stop to it by locking Merle on the roof, and Merle hasn't forgotten that fact. Whether he'll try to act on it later now that he's at least close to Rick's inner circle or whether it will even come into play is an interesting question. It helped to break up the pacing on this episode The material at the prison was very heavy, from the word go. Rick was losing it, Glenn was losing it, planning an attack on Woodbury, and fighting with the Greenes. Carol was growing closer and closer to Axel, who continued to reveal little fibs he'd told about himself in the past, making him seem at once likable and possibly dangerous.  Nothing seemed to go right, and that's BEFORE the shooting started. Meanwhile, things at Woodbury were no less tense, and Tyreese's group didn't even show up onscreen. There was really no let-up from the crazy, and while things with the Dixons were a bit hot at times, they were pretty standard Walking Dead stuff--killing zombies, arguing a little, etc. Oddly, the super-intense Daryl, the childhood abuse, the fraternal conflict...it all paled in comparison to the rest of the week's insanity, so every time it cut to the Dixons, it was like a break. It resolved the Merle-in-the-prison conflict (for now) Fans have been wondering how they would clean up the problem of Daryl and Merle wanting to stay in the prison while Merle was a bona fide arch-nemesis to a couple key players in Rick's group. The solution? He comes in a hero, stays for "temporary," "survival" reasons, and it's wartime so it's not safe to either lose people or kick them out to fend for themselves. If he survives the season and the Governor doesn't, maybe we get to have the whole conversation again at the end of the year.