Daryl Dixon’ Has Turned Into ‘The Three Amigos’ Basically

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

Credit: AMC

During the previous two seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, I often remarked on how odd it was that so many people in France (where the series began) dressed like people from a different era entirely. This costuming direction has amped up considerably in Season 3, when Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) find themselves washed up on a beach in Spain, and later travel to a lovely hilltop village. Spoilers follow.

Here, the people all dress like they’ve been plucked from the set of Zorro or The Three Amigos.

It looks to me much more like a town in Mexico circa the late 1800s than a town in Spain in the late 2020s (or later, I’m not entirely certain what year the show takes place now). You could argue that people now have to make their own clothing, so it reflects a more “old-timey” feel, but that’s more than a little absurd. There would be plenty of clothes still around from before the apocalypse. If anything, most styles should reflect a hodge-podge of pre-2010s clothing that’s been patched up.

Regardless, fashion in Spain in the late 1800s was radically different from fashion in Mexico, and this looks much more like Mexico.

In this village, the people have a custom called La Ofrenda. In it, they race pigs who have the names of young women stitched to their collars. The girl with the winning pig is sent as an offering to the King of Spain, who takes this rather grim tribute in return for protection and unity. When Carol calls out this custom – after being grudgingly given shelter and medical aid by the residents – an old abuela dresses her down for sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Carol is right, of course. The custom is barbaric. But the abuela is also right: Carol is far too quick to judge. This is a woman who has participated in the destruction and downfall of countless communities. Nearly every single community of survivors she’s come into contact with has died en masse as their settlements fall to ruin. I’m almost entirely certain a similar fate awaits our new Spanish NPCs.

La Ofrenda is actually a Mexican tradition that has nothing to do with offering up daughters as tribute to bullying kings. It’s actually an offering made to the dead as part of the Dia de los Muertos celebration, welcoming spirits of deceased ancestors back to the land of the living. Apparently The Walking Dead’s writers just borrowed this custom to plop down in this Spanish setting and made the Spanish all look Mexican, because hey, one Latin country or another, what’s the difference?

It’s clear where this is all headed. Seven Samurai, the classic 1954 film from director Akira Kurosawa, has spawned many imitators. One of the most famous was The Magnificent Seven. The best parody of that film was The Three Amigos. All these films have a common plot: A village is being oppressed by a ruthless local warlord and brave heroes come to its defense. In The Magnificent Seven, this takes place in a small Mexican village. A group of American gunslingers are hired by the villagers to protect them (and discover the women of the village have all been hidden to protect them from being raped by the bandits).

In The Three Amigos, a trio of American actors who have played heroic gunslingers in a series of popular silent films, are accidentally hired by the villagers of Santa Poco to protect them from the villainous bandit leader, El Guapo, who kidnaps a beautiful villager to be his unwilling bride.

You can see where I’m going with this. Daryl and Carol are American saviors here to help the poor villagers of Santa Poco, Spain, a 19th century Mexican village that’s been dropped into the Spanish hillsides. It’s very much a Spaghetti Western and I realize they’re going for this look and feel and vibe, but it strikes me as incredibly silly.

On the other hand, I did think they had some nice shots of Spain.The village is filmed in Sepúlveda, north of Madrid. It reminded me of the Basilica de Montserrat northwest of Barcelona, a gorgeous cathedral up in the mountains that you reach via gondola.

I also enjoy the music in this series, and really the production value all around is quite good. Even the goofy Mexican costumes are well-made and pleasant to look at.

Daryl was enjoyable this episode as well, trying his best to save Carol – first from her injuries, then from her big mouth. When one of the bandits they saved Romeo and Juliet (sorry, Roberto and Justina) from earlier shows up in the village and recognizes Daryl, hunter becomes hunted and Daryl makes quick work of the bandit and his allies in a fun fight scene that’s easily the best part of the episode.