The Walking Dead: 6 Things That "Us" Did Right (And 3 It Didn't)

2. Daryl Du Jour

No character suffered from the rush as much as Daryl. His plot in "Us" is one that really would have benefited from developing over multiple episodes, especially considering his fairly complex journey over this second half. After the fall of the prison, he regressed into a state more feral and ferocious than we'd ever seen him before. By "Alone," he managed to progress to a point where he was using silverware and eating at a table. The problem with his arc, however, has been that much of his transition has been left to our imaginations. Daryl has always been a character whose self-worth was measured and his persona shaped by the company that he keeps. It's actually a great (and consistent) character flaw, particularly for one who was beginning to feel like a superhero rather than an actual person. Nevertheless, the emotional growth that he experienced via his immersion with Beth is somewhat cheapened by how quickly he seems to fall back into his old habits without her. Of course, it would be ridiculous for him to spend all of his time mourning Beth's absence in his life. He clearly spares a few moments of thought for her €“ one of which almost ends with him stabbing another man €“ but there's really nowhere for him to start if he wanted to look for her. Judging by the fact that he had already traded in his plaid button-down of burgeoning optimism for a black shirt of moral ambiguity by the beginning of "Us," at least a few days have passed since we last saw him, and he obviously needed to regain some of his roughness to survive with Joe's gang. Still, his internal turmoil ultimately came across more as a clash between Joe's and Beth's influences than his own personality, and the character came across as weak rather than flawed. That this entire new plot needed to be introduced, developed, and established in an already packed episode denied us the opportunity to get any real sense of Daryl's struggle.