During its eleven-season run, The Walking Dead saw its share of romances, but the one we at first wanted never happened. Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) had such great chemistry that we thought they were meant to be together, but their relationship was something deeper. They are platonic soulmates with a connection so great that now, in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2, with our favorite crossbow-carrying walker killer now trapped in France, Carol is willing to cross an ocean at the end of the world to find him. It’s a similar scenario seen in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, where Michonne (Danai Gurira) goes looking for Rick (Andrew Lincoln). There, she quickly finds him, but The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has done a great job of making fans wait for the moment we want to see the most.
Michonne and Rick Reunite in Episode 1 of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’
Outside of perhaps Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), (who ended up being just fine with nothing bad ever happening to them, thank you), the best Walking Dead romance ended up happening between Rick and Michonne. Rick not only had the burden of being the group’s leader, but also losing his wife, and having to raise his children without her. Michonne went from being a warrior by his side, to his lover, and the mother of another of his children.
When Andrew Lincoln decided to leave The Walking Dead in Season 8, Rick was written off by being taken by the CRM. The Walking Dead was never the same without him, and neither was Michonne. When Danai Gurira left the show, too, they had Michonne leaving the community behind to find Rick and bring him home to her and his family. A reunion was promised in the spin-off The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Fans didn’t have to wait long before the emotional moment because the two found each other at the end of Episode 1.
Daryl and Carol Still Haven’t Reunited in Their ‘Walking Dead’ Spin-Off
In The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, Carol is looking for Daryl and has to find a way to make it from America to France. Once she finds out that he is indeed all the way across the Atlantic, she manipulates a kind man named Ash (Manish Dayl) to take her to France in his private plane. She does this not by telling him she’s searching for her friend Daryl, but instead goes for the heartstrings and lies about looking for a daughter who we know is long dead.
Her plan works, and Carol gets to France, but it would be too simple and unrealistic for her to find Daryl straight away. Instead, she follows the clues, putting herself in danger, and being taken in by the suspicious leader, Marion Genet (Anne Charrier). Again, to get her way, Carol must manipulate someone, so to get what she wants she’s honest about searching for Daryl, but lies about her motive, telling Genet that she wants to kill him in Episode 3.
‘The Book of Carol’ Shows That the Search Is Just as Important as the Reunion
Carol continues to lie, even when it emotionally hurts her, and putting herself in danger shows just how much Daryl means to her. The series could have put them together in the first episode, but there wouldn’t have been much emotional weight to that. It’s better to show how the characters operate without each other, with Carol getting closer, and Daryl having no clue that she’s out there. The building of anticipation will only make their reunion that much more impactful. As they say, all good things come to those who wait.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol is available to watch on AMC+ and every Sunday on AMC.
