Warning: spoilers ahead for Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is boldly pushing the idea that Daryl and Carol will link up romantically in the very near future, despite the controversy that would inevitably follow. Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon and Melissa McBride’s Carol Peletier have always shared one of the most unique and fascinating relationships across all shows in The Walking Dead‘s universe. Calling their bond a friendship feels like an understatement, and while comparing the pair to siblings feels more accurate, even that fails to properly convey the depth of understanding between Daryl and Carol.

Naturally, the closeness Daryl and Carol share has sparked plenty of theories that both survivors are suppressing some kind of romantic flame for each other, and are destined to become post-apocalyptic lovers at some point in The Walking Dead‘s timeline. Stranger things have happened, certainly within the wild world of The Walking Dead, but the main show never offered any real suggestion that passion was on the cards. Daryl Dixon season 2, however, gives the most overt hint yet that Daryl and Carol will return to the United States hand-in-hand as a proper couple.

Daryl Dixon Season 2, Episode 4 Feels Like It’s Teasing A Daryl & Carol Romance

Love Has Blossomed From Much Less In The Walking Dead

Isabelle’s blood is barely dry when Daryl Dixon season 2 begins dropping subtle clues that could potentially push Daryl and Carol toward the verge of confessing their love. The foreshadowing begins immediately after Reedus and McBride’s protagonists take refuge with a French couple, Theo and Didi, and their hosts wrongly assume Carol is Isabelle. This case of mistaken identity immediately creates a setup worthy of a post-Friends Jennifer Aniston movie, whereby the French couple believe Daryl and Carol are secretly in love, and the guests must act coy in order to avoid giving away Carol’s real name.

Within that overall premise, several specific moments from Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4, “La Paradis Pour Toi,” stand out as promoting the idea of Daryl and Carol falling madly in love. The first comes when Carol is chopping vegetables with Didi, the latter still convinced her culinary assistant is Isabelle. Laurent informed Didi all about how Daryl and Isabelle were refusing to admit their love, and Didi repeats this to Carol, who deftly tries to change the subject with, “It’s a little more complicated than that.” The wise and insightful Didi is undeterred, hitting back with, “Not to a child… and not to me.”

“Not to me” implies that even if Didi believes Carol is Isabelle at this point, she still senses romantic vibes between her two guests. The line suggests that Didi, an experienced woman well-versed in love at this time in her life, has seen enough of Daryl and Carol in the flesh to detect a certain frisson bubbling beneath the surface.

Other Moments From Daryl Dixon Season 2, Episode 4 That Suggest Daryl & Carol Are Headed For Romance

It Isn’t Just Didi Who Thinks Daryl & Carol Aren’t Being Honest About Their Feelings

Continuing her agony aunt role, Didi also points out,”sometimes children see things we’re afraid to look at.” At a glance, this line refers to Daryl being torn between settling down with Isabelle and returning to his friends back in the United States. It could, however, apply just as readily to Daryl and Carol refusing to seriously acknowledge what their relationship has been throughout their time together since The Walking Dead‘s zombie outbreak began.

The Walking Dead ‘s French spinoff is dropping strong hints that its two main characters love each other.

“La Paradis Pour Toi” then doubles down on Daryl and Carol as a potential couple. Attempting to start a car, the pair begin bickering with Carol occupying the driver’s seat and Daryl under the open hood. Their back-and-forth gives the impression of an old married couple, and just to underline the similarity, Theo emerges from the house and makes that exact observation.

None of this evidence is concrete, of course. Nevertheless, by placing Daryl and Carol with two aged lovers who are well-versed in the ways of the heart, and then having those characters point out the romantic aspects of Daryl and Carol’s friendship, The Walking Dead‘s French spinoff is dropping strong hints that its two main characters love each other.

Why Daryl & Carol’s Relationship In The Walking Dead Shouldn’t Be Romantic

Not Everything Has To Be A Love Story

From one perspective, Daryl and Carol’s staunch refusal to hook up is one of the last unresolved plot points from The Walking Dead‘s ending. From another angle, however, that platonic connection is something Daryl Dixon would be foolish to meddle with. The tether linking Daryl and Carol is unlike anything else in The Walking Dead, and the fact that it’s so difficult to define using conventional social labels is a major factor in why the chemistry between characters is so compelling.

In Daryl and Carol, The Walking Dead holds a golden opportunity to cast aside those tired tropes.

A lone wolf and an unassuming mother-turned-killing-machine becoming inseparable companions defies convention, blood, stereotypes, and even death itself, as Daryl and Carol stick together against the odds to create an unbreakable force. That story represents one of the most powerful character progressions The Walking Dead has ever pulled off, perfectly highlighting the importance of “found family,” as well as of having a companion who will fly across the Atlantic in a plane literally held together by tape in the name of love and loyalty.

The Walking Dead is filled with love stories, from Rick and Michonne to Eugene and Stephanie, while an entire spinoff could be spent chronicling Gabriel’s trouble with women. To lump what Daryl and Carol have into that same category would feel awfully reductive, effectively taking something that has no parallel and diluting it into the kind of dynamic that occurs multiple times in every season of every The Walking Dead TV show.

To sour the truffled eggs even further, Daryl and Carol getting together would feel painfully predictable against the backdrop of a wider storytelling landscape. Despite the progress that has been made in terms of diversifying roles for women, movies and TV shows retain an unshakable habit of rarely letting male and female leads forge a bond without their clothes coming off somewhere along the way. In Daryl and Carol, The Walking Dead holds a golden opportunity to cast aside those tired tropes and simply focus on two characters who would cross the globe for each other, but have no desire to share a bed.

Daryl Dixon’s Showrunner Hints Romance With Carol Will NOT Happen

A Definitive Answer From Daryl Dixon’s Big Boss

Curiously, the notion of Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier getting together has been shot down by none other than the spinoff’s own showrunner, David Zabel. Speaking ahead of Carol’s comeback, Zabel went so far as to admit Daryl and Carol becoming a boyfriend-girlfriend couple would be a “mistake.” As well as acknowledging that the trope is well-worn by this point, Zabel also pointed out how typical love has never been what defines the protagonists’ relationship, arguing, “there was never a question that [their bond] was something other than what it is.”

As someone who loves Daryl in a more platonic way, Carol could begin reassessing their friendship in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2.

Given the strength of Zabel’s comments, it is somewhat surprising to hear “old married couple” jokes thrown in Daryl and Carol’s direction during Daryl Dixon season 2, and for Didi to allude toward a spark she notices between the pair while they stay in her home. Such moments inevitably raise the question of romance, and will only fan the flames of speculation that already exist among The Walking Dead‘s audience.

Perhaps the real intention, however, is not to foreshadow Daryl and Carol becoming lovers, but for Carol to question where she stands when Daryl finds someone he does love romantically. Dead she may be, but Isabelle captured Daryl’s heart in France, and Carol can see that plainly. As someone who loves Daryl in a more platonic way, Carol could begin reassessing their friendship in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, pondering whether their unconventional, indefinable dynamic can compete with real, true love.

Episode
Release Date

“La Gentillesse des Étrangers”
September 29

“Moulin Rouge”
October 6

“L’Invisible”
October 13

“La Paradis Pour Toi”
October 20

“Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir”
October 27

“Au Revoir les Enfants”

November 3