[This story contains spoilers from the season three finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Solaz Del Mar.]

After 15 years in the zombie apocalypse trenches,Daryl Dixonis approaching the end of the line. Luckily forWalking Deadfans, the character Daryl Dixon and the showDaryl Dixonare two different things altogether.

The third season finale ofThe Walking Dead: Daryl Dixonhas now come and gone, leaving only one more season of the Norman Reedus-starring spinoff of the flagship series. Does that mean were reaching the end of Daryls story altogether? Almost certainly not, as there are numerous other avenues where the fan-favorite crossbow slinger could appear, from existing shows likeThe Walking Dead: Dead Cityto any number of as-yet unannounced projects. Still, the imminent conclusion ofthisiteration of the character hangs heavy over Reedus; while fans are busy processing the events of season threes finale, in which Daryl and Carol (Melissa McBride) watched their latest attempt to return home go up in literal flames, Reedus himself is in the thick of filming the final stretch ofDaryl Dixonseason four, now well underway on location in Spain.

Were on episode six of season four, he tellsThe Hollywood Reporter, speaking after a whirlwind trip home from Spain, following a whirlwind night shoot. Were getting really close.

In other words, its not time to break out the celebratory can of hot dogs just yet, as Daryl and Carol havent spent their last night in Spain, despite what they imagined for themselves as season three came to an end Sunday night. But its time to start planning which condiments were going to use at the very least. Below, Reedus talks to THR about the journey ofDaryl Dixon, from the recently concluded season three to the soon-to-be-concluded filming of season four.

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Youre getting close to the end. How does that feel? Clearly were here to talk about the end of three, but it has to feel surreal that youre simultaneously close to the end of the show in real time.

Yeah. Theres a David Bowie quote that goes something like, What do you think your last words are going to be before you die? And he said they would be, But, but, but! (Laughs.) And thats kind of how I feel.

Is it shaping up in ways that you expected?Is it surprising you, the final stretch?

You know, its different. This show has always coincided with my life a bit. With season four, Daryl really goes inside [himself], and so, Im inside, too. Im in my head a lot, especially for the episode were filming now. Its filling my head with the future, the past and the present of this character.

Theres this moment in the season three finale where Daryl and Carol are chatting, and Daryl talks about feeling the need to run away every time he finds himself feeling at home. I can imagine in some ways that connects with you, having played Daryl for 15 years now.

Its trippy. Theres always more story you can tell, but this incarnation of what were doing is wrapping up in a perfect way. Its answering all of these reasons why and what all of it has meant, and what have we done to get here? What are the mistakes we made to get here? And what can we do to have a better life for ourselves? So its all very trippy, what were working on right now. Theres a lot of internal fact-checking that Im doing, and that the character is doing, and watching things happen around me that I never expected.

Thats the beauty of the spinoff. Someone asked me recently, when I was doing season one, would I have thought about what I was doing in season four? And we just didnt do it that way. Theres no season in the future already written when were working on the first. Its created organically as we go along. I dont even thinkSouth Parkcan do that. They see whats happening in the world and create from it. So I would hate to do this show any other way. We organically come up with ideas for storylines as were filming.

That conversation you mention came out of a last-minute insert Id come up with alongside [showrunner David Zabel and executive producer Jason Richman]. I knew some of where we could be heading in season four. And this sort of felt like a precipice; the going-off point for season four. We have some stories to deal with that we started in seasons one and two. For me, and for Daryl, that was a big turning point, that conversation on the beach.

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier with Eduardo Noriega as Antonio in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season three finale. Carla Oset/AMC Its juxtaposed with some glimpses of Daryls childhood we see throughout the season, with flashbacks to Merle (Michael Rooker) and the abuse he suffered back at his original home.

Yeah. Theres so much momentum on shows like these, that it can often be hard to find the space to slow down and think about that pre-apocalypse life.

But when youdostop for those kinds of things, you cant help but remember how hard Daryls life has been from the very beginning. There was never a soft point for him. So for him to even open up in this way with Carol and think about his life in this way marks huge progress since we first met him in the woods of Georgia.

Thats a huge point that were in right now, a huge subject of what were filming. Especially the episode were doing at the moment.

Speaking of conversations between Daryl and Carol, theres one I really appreciated earlier in the season: Daryl and Carol making it extremely, abundantly clear theyve never hooked up. Good to have it in canon!

I have to give it up to David Zabel for that. Because there was a time when some people might have written for the show who would read Twitter, and then it was like they were writingforTwitter. I could pick out those moments sometimes. But David, he isnt part of that world. I can do something different, he said.

I just want to be sureDaryl and Carol didnt eat that last can of hot dogs yet, right?

Right. We havent eaten them.

Chekhovs Hot Dogs are still alive for the final season?

Yeah, but I fucking hate those hot dogs. (Laughs.) I would barf if I had to eat that. The cans dented, too! Theres gotta be some botulism in there.

Great premise for the next spinoff!

(Laughs.) Its not going to be good when we open those up.

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The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixonseason three is now streaming on AMC+.