From Tremendous Walkers to Spaghetti Western
If Season 3 was imagined to be Daryl and Carol’s epic voyage residence, “La Ofrenda” tacks onerous into style cosplay, abandoning the emotional ballast of homecoming for the spectacle of a stylized detour. The transatlantic intrigue that after linked France to America through Madam Genet’s super-walker experiments and CDC callbacks has been buried with Genet herself. As an alternative? A dusty village, suspicious locals, and Carol and Daryl enjoying cowboy in a Spaghetti Western pastiche. Cue the tumbleweeds and narrative whiplash.
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| “La Ofrenda” – THE WALKING DEAD DARYL DIXON, Pictured: Óscar Jaenada as Fede. Photograph Credit score: Manuel Fernandez-Valdes/AMC @2025 AMC Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Narrative Whiplash Is Actual
The issue isn’t simply the aesthetic shift; it’s that the present traded a compelling arc for a cinematic spaghetti western veneer most viewers could not acknowledge or care about. The stakes have shrunk. The strain’s gone mushy. Daryl’s emotional evolution has been sidelined in favor of moody standoffs and cultural confusion. To the viewers who’ve been using shotgun for the reason that CDC days, this episode may depart their neck sore and their endurance thinner than a ‘hole one’s’ (aka walker’s) pores and skin.
Carol: From Strategist to Wandering Critic
Carol, as soon as the mastermind who conned Ash into flying her to France, now wanders off like a bored vacationer. Her skepticism of “La Ofrenda”—a lottery the place women are exchanged for village safety—lands with all of the subtlety of a sledgehammer. As a substitute of the decided survivor we noticed final season, we get the basic know-it-all American trope. Daryl, bless him, stays a real minimalist, grunts his method by his scenes with a transparent message: “Repair boat. Go residence.” Through the city’s celebration dinner, he tries to get Carol to cease speaking, however she’s too busy being a buttinsky to note.
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| “La Ofrenda” – THE WALKING DEAD DARYL DIXON, Pictured: Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon. Photograph Credit score: Manuel Fernandez-Valdes/AMC @2025 AMC Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Facet Characters, Facet Issues
Roberto and Justina are beautiful and sympathetic but not compelling sufficient to derail Carol and Daryl’s journey residence. Their dilemma appears like filler, not gasoline. Even the one second of actual battle—when Carol says, “If we hadn’t compelled them again, they’d be free,” and Daryl responds, “No, they’d be lifeless.”—appears like a velocity bump on the street to nowhere.
La Ofrenda: Civilized or Simply Misguided?
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| “La Ofrenda” – THE WALKING DEAD DARYL DIXON, Pictured: Candela Saitta as Justina, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Hugo Arbués as Roberto. Photograph Credit score: Manuel Fernandez-Valdes/AMC @2025 AMC Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
La Ofrenda is the neighborhood’s lottery that exchanges its women for its continued safety. The observe is disturbing however not misconceived. In comparison with the randomness of everybody claiming “I’m Negan” on the Sanctuary, it’s nearly civilized. The showrunner takes care to determine that this observe hyperlinks again to medieval, aristocratic traditions. That is the form of layered and morally ambiguous storytelling that after outlined one of the best of the Strolling Lifeless. However right here, these particulars get buried beneath aspect plots and style confusion.
Romance by Numbers
The Paz and Elena romance tries so as to add emotional depth however finally ends up feeling like a checkbox train. Elena is basic lipstick, styled like a fragrance advert—soft-spoken, elegant, camera-ready. Paz just isn’t. She is rugged. She rides a horse, wrangles pigs and walkers. She’s trusted to protect the perimeter. Daryl’s line: “You do all of it,” was meant as admiration, nevertheless it solely highlighted how cartoonish her characterization was. Paz and Elena’s dynamic leans unwittingly into lesbian stereotypes with out providing nuance or shock. It’s not unwelcome; it’s simply weak sauce.
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“La Ofrenda” – THE WALKING DEAD DARYL DIXON, Pictured: |
Backside Line: Repair the Boat, Repair the Plot
The trustworthy are right here for Daryl and Carol’s return to America. That’s the draw. That’s the arc. Season 3 feels removed from it, although. “La Ofrenda” is a detour that doesn’t earn its mileage. The surroundings’s beautiful, the performances are strong, however what do you concentrate on story thus far? Is it getting misplaced in translation or am I lacking one thing?
Right here’s hoping somebody remembers to repair the boat earlier than the plot sinks with it—however that’s simply me. Let me know what you suppose within the feedback.
Total Score:
5/10
Lynette Jones