The Walking Dead franchise, for all its undead stumbles and reinventions, has never felt quite so alive. Maybe it's the jet lag. Maybe it's the way Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier, those battered icons, keep getting dropped into new countries like contestants on some post-apocalyptic Amazing Race. But here we are: AMC just confirmed The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 will premiere September 7, 2025, on AMC and AMC+—and this time, the walkers are sunburnt, the ruins are Roman, and the air smells faintly of paella.
“We're Not in Georgia Anymore”—How Spain Became the New Apocalypse
Let's get the facts out first. Season three is set in Madrid, with location shoots sprawling across Galicia, Aragón, Catalonia, and Valencia. That's not just a travelogue—each region is set to deliver its own flavor of dread, beauty, and cultural weirdness. The production's Spanish partners, Peregrinos SP24, are on board, with local executive producers Silvia Aráez and Jesús de la Vega joining the usual suspects: Scott M. Gimple, David Zabel, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Greg Nicotero, and the rest of the TWD brain trust.
The plot? Daryl and Carol are still trying to get home, but the world keeps pulling them further away. It's a metaphor, sure, but also a logistical nightmare—every step toward home seems to lead to another border, another language, another way the apocalypse has twisted people and places into something unrecognizable. “The path takes them farther astray,” the press release teases. You can practically hear the echo of lost hope in that line.
The “Caryl” Effect—Why This Duo Still Matters
Let's be honest: the franchise needed this. When Daryl Dixon Season 1 premiered in late 2023, it became AMC+'s most-watched premiere ever, and the most-viewed season of any show in the streamer's history—especially in the U.S. and Spain. That's not just brand loyalty; that's the “Caryl” effect. Fans want to see these two—together, apart, fighting, reconciling—because their dynamic is the last beating heart in a world that refuses to die.
Norman Reedus is hyped. “I couldn't be more thrilled to announce a third season and to be working side by side with the brilliant Melissa McBride… Watching Melissa shine along with our brilliant cast and crew has been one of my fondest memories playing this character. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it, and we can't wait to keep the story going.”1 That's not just PR fluff—it's the sound of an actor who knows he's in the good stuff now.
Melissa McBride, never one for empty words, adds: “I'm really appreciating the new challenges for Daryl and Carol being so far from all they've ever known… There's still so much ahead to unpack in France for the coming season two, and a breathtaking finale. And now Spain! I already know that David Zabel's storytelling is making the most of all that is so beautiful and unique to Spain.”1 You can almost see her, script in hand, soaking up the Spanish sun and wondering just how many ways a walker can shamble down a cobblestone street.
The Franchise, Reinvented—Not Just Another Zombie Road Trip
Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer, isn't shy about the ambition: “France made Daryl and Carol's story into an epic poem with what we found there. What's to come in Spain may even surpass it—and we're so damn happy to bring the audience more of the Terrific Two alongside new compelling characters, in a yet unseen, beautiful, horrific corner of their broken world.”1 Epic poem. That's a bold claim for a show that once spent entire seasons in the woods.
But here's the thing: The Walking Dead, at its best, has always been about reinvention. Sending Daryl and Carol to France was a risk. Sending them to Spain is a bigger one. It's a franchise finally willing to get lost, to let its heroes wander, to admit that the world is bigger—and stranger—than a single American wasteland.
Will It Work? Or Is This Just Another Detour?
The safe bet is yes. The numbers don't lie—fans are watching, and the Spanish setting is already generating buzz. But the real test will be whether Season 3 can do more than just change the scenery. Can it make us care, again, about these survivors? Can it find new horror, new hope, in the ruins of Europe? Or will it all just blur into another season of running, hiding, and killing things that won't stay dead?
I'm betting on surprise. Maybe even awe. Because if there's one thing The Walking Dead still knows how to do, it's to find beauty in the broken places—and to remind us that, sometimes, getting lost is the only way home.
