Will they or won’t they? Daryl Dixon season 3 really needs to make a decision about Caryl once and for all…

Photo: Stéphanie Branchu/AMC

This Walking Dead article has spoilers for Daryl Dixon.

The desire to see a romantic relationship between Carol and Daryl isn’t anything new, but it has ramped up. Across The Walking Dead and Daryl Dixon spinoff, fans have witnessed friendship bracelets, “I love yous,” and plenty of face-caressing reunions between the two. Carol crossed an ocean to find Daryl in France, and he assured her that he never stopped trying to get home to her. Cute, right? Well, that all depends on who you’re talking to. According to David Zabel, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol showrunner, there’s nothing romantic about it.

When asked about the nature of Carol and Daryl’s relationship in an interview with Collider, Zabel said, “I don’t think it’s romantic,” seemingly attributing the duo’s chemistry to whatever magic exists between Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus behind the camera. This, of course, isn’t the first time Zabel’s spoken against romance. When talking to SFX magazine, he said turning Daryl and Carol into a couple would be a “mistake.”

For “Caryl” shippers, it’s disheartening news. More importantly, it makes The Book of Carol’s romance hints feel a bit like gaslighting. For the series to succeed, it needs to decide what’s going on between Carol and Daryl because, right now, it’s sending mixed messages.

Daryl Dixon’s First Season Made Season 2 Messy

AMC originally conceived Daryl Dixon as a Daryl and Carol spinoff before overseas shooting made Melissa McBride’s inclusion “logistically untenable” for her. While a new direction was necessary, season 1 goes a step further by ignoring Daryl’s past almost entirely. Unlike The Ones Who Live, which delves into Rick and Michonne’s feelings about being separated from each other and their family, Daryl Dixon’s first season establishes Daryl’s bond with Laurent and Isabelle in France. Daryl doesn’t do much lamenting about the gang back home. In fact, he barely mentions them. When Laurent asks about the people Daryl left behind, he responds, “There’s Judith. There’s RJ. There’s a lady named Carol.” We all know Daryl’s tight-lipped, but “a lady named Carol” feels like a pretty big brush-off for someone he said “I love you” to just two months prior.

Watching Daryl choose between the people he just met in France and returning to his found family in the US is painful. The Daryl we know wouldn’t hesitate to return home. Yet, the big choice season 1 desperately pushes for doesn’t matter anyway. Once Daryl and Carol reunite, The Book of Carol kills off Isabelle, making Daryl’s “choice” a whole lot easier. Maybe the series didn’t want to steer into soap opera territory, but it sends a bizarre message nonetheless: Why can’t two women occupy space in Daryl’s life at the same time? The write-off feels like an all too convenient way of pushing Carol and Daryl back into the spotlight, but then, what was the point of season 1? Watching Daryl play reluctant guardian once again didn’t do much in terms of character development. Judith and RJ still exist, after all.

The Book of Carol Sends Mixed Messages

The Book of Carol includes plenty of Caryl moments that aren’t just fantasies of hopeful shippers. The fact that Daryl never returns Isabelle’s “I love you” after telling Carol that he loved her in TWD’s finale practically begs audiences to question his feelings for Carol. Strangers compare them to an “old married couple” and hint at the spark between them. When you toss in the playful banter, the hugging, and all those looks, you get something that feels a lot like romantic foreshadowing. If Zabel is so against romance, why bother including these moments at all? Yes, straight men and women friendships lack representation in entertainment, but the solution to that isn’t depicting a relationship wobbling on the edge of romance. That’s not authentic, either. In fact, it’s harmful.

The best will they/won’t they relationships work because, at some point, the “will they” becomes “they want to, they just haven’t.” This is where Carol and Daryl drip with slow burn potential. Taking the romance route suggests feeling realizations are underway. However, following Zabel’s path of friendship, ironically, makes things a lot more complicated if the spinoff keeps dolling out interactions like this.

Right now, season 3 plans for Carol and Daryl aren’t clear. Perhaps Zabel thinks people will keep tuning in if their relationship stays the same, but there’s too much history between them for that. Romance or not, Daryl Dixon would be wise to choose a side because playing is alienating shippers and non-shippers alike.