FOR 11 YEARS, ACROSS 177 episodes, AMC’s TV adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s The Walking Dead comic books told just about every kind of post-apocalyptic story you could imagine, while showing the progression of its eclectic set of characters. The survival of sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and those closest to him was the show’s central focus, but it took almost no time for many viewers to zero in on the character of Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) as their favourite.
An original character created for the show, Daryl was introduced in the first season episode “Tell It To The Frogs”, as a tracker and the younger brother of loudmouth bully Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker). A loner, initially loyal to Merle, Daryl mellows by season two and becomes a valued member of Rick Grimes’s found family.
Reedus also nailed playing the Southern redneck version of the Byronic hero. With his signature long locks and soulful (yet chaste) relationships with Carol (Melissa McBride) and Beth (Emily Kinney), Daryl became the show’s sex symbol, a merch-selling machine and the rare season one character to make it all the way to the end of the series alive.
In fact, plans for the future of AMC’s universe began with the development of a Daryl Dixon spin-off series. The continuation of the show’s mythology was always the goal of the franchise’s chief content officer, Scott M Gimple. However, that clarity of, including executive producer/director Greg Nicotero.
