Hopelessly, I'll love you endlessly...

My Interpretation:

Carol hesitates when replying. If there was absolutely no feelings, a person would reply simply with: "No, we're good friends though." But Carol hesitates and appears unsure.

Then Daryl says "Nope." in a very quick and abrupt way. He appears agitated/mad, and quickly walks away. This could be him dealing with his own feelings and unsurety.

Overall, when two people have genuine feelings for each other (which is unspoken) there is so much fear involved. Sometimes people can just blatantly deny their feelings because they are afraid.

I know it's been a chaotic weekend for Daryl and Carol fans and I know that there's a lot of dread surrounding the likelihood of a bad ending whether that means Caryl going their separate ways, one of them getting left behind, or one or both of them having random love interests. The male EPs have made it very clear that they have no intention of honoring the characters or their bond, so unfortunately, yes, I do think it's a good idea to expect pretty much anything.

The thing is though, while the male EPs may have the power to put their offensive headcanons on screen, that doesn't mean we have to make them our canon too. Fans do not, for any reason, have to torture themselves watching something that hurts them. That is exactly what the guys are counting on, so why give them the satisfaction? If the show is already canceled, why does it matter if it gets low ratings? I've said this before and I'll say it again. Rejecting this spinoff will do no harm to Melissa's career or Carol's legacy or Caryl's chances of future stories. You know what causes harm? Other EPs sidelining Melissa, talking over her, not listening to her input, trying to intimidate her, trying to throw her under the bus, leaving Carol out of the title, writing her from a misogynistic perspective, and constantly insulting her fans. That behavior deserves cancellation a thousand times over.

With the end of the European travesty comes opportunities for a major reset. A new showrunner. A new title. A new show that blows this one out of the water. The messaging throughout SDCC has been very specific, suggesting that while S4 will close out Caryl's story in Europe, AMC is open to investing in future projects for them, whether or not they already have something in the works. Personally, I remain hopeful that we'll see Daryl and Carol again and that their new journey will honor the flagship show. The Daryl Dixon show can be buried deep in the woods for all I care.

ETA: Factions still survive

It’s common for actors to play younger than their real age and maybe that’s the case here. I personally find it more believable—and frankly more compelling as a story—that both Daryl and Carol were in their 40’s at the start of the ZA. In any case, we know that Daryl was emotionally immature due to a life of trauma (When an adult’s trauma is triggered, it brings them back to the age they were at the time of the initial incident). We know that there’s a conversation in Consumed where Carol brings up Daryl’s behavior. We can even argue that some of Daryl’s story reflects certain themes of Bildungsroman, but there are also many elements that resonate with adults, specifically adults struggling to heal from abuse years after the fact, such as the many instances we see Daryl trying to be a good parent/role model to kids despite never getting that himself when he was their age and the way he’s able to establish a mature bond with one woman instead of being promiscuous. It’s the combination of Daryl reaching emotional maturity, dealing with his trauma, and learning to form deep relationships at the midpoint of his life that makes his story unique. That’s why so many people rooted for him.

Now if we’re analyzing the spinoff, we unfortunately have to use what Norman is saying in interviews as context because, clearly, he’s the one with the keys to this entire operation (🤨). Norman frames the spinoff as a literal coming of age story about a “young adult,” which usually implies 18-20 something, who never got the chance to be a young adult because he was always “running and fighting” but now he finally has a chance to grow up and think about what he wants for his future. He’s erasing the role that Daryl’s abuse plays and he’s erasing the emotional growth we’ve already seen in the flagship show. His arc is strongly tied to a woman who is played by an actress in her early 30’s though she looks younger, so that’s his cohort, not Carol. The voiceover of Daryl saying he was “pretty young” when everything started without any other context is deliberate. It helps attract male viewers in their 30’s or younger who can resonate with a story about “young” Daryl doing cool things and hanging out with women they’d be attracted to. Or at least, that’s the goal, but frankly it reads more like a midlife crisis, so I wish them luck with that 🥴 While I don’t expect anyone to explicitly say that Daryl is 30 in S3, all the evidence points to an age regression and that to me is unwatchable. It’s not Daryl.

Don't you know I'm no good for you?

I've learned to lose you, can't afford to

Tore my shirt to stop you bleedin'

But nothin' ever stops you leavin'

Quiet when I'm comin' home and I'm on my own

I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

Don't you know too much already?

I'll only hurt you if you let me

Call me friend but keep me closer (call me back)

And I'll call you when the party's over

Quiet when I'm comin' home and I'm on my own

And I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

Yeah, I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

But nothin' is better sometimes

Once we've both said our goodbyes

Let's just let it go

Let me let you go

Quiet when I'm comin' home and I'm on my own

I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

I could lie, say I like it like that, like it like that

It was carol.

When I was in my FearTWD era for years, do you know which character I thought of first when I remembered the flagship show existed?

It was carol peletier.

I know I know, Rick was the main character. And Daryl was literallyyyyy my favourite character for the longest chunk of the show. But in my subconscious, Carol was still the face of The Walking Dead for me.

That woman is a force of nature.

She carried the whole TWD universe when it couldn't carry itself.

It's called charisma.

Magnetism. Talent. Melissa McBride.

Bye.

She can have gray hair and wear men’s shirts and still be sexy. She can make the same tough decisions that men make, make the same mistakes that men make, and still be attractive.

Carol is nuanced. She’s strong, she’s sexy, she’s dangerous, she’s emotional, she’s powerful, she’s feminine, she’s scary, she’s beautiful.

And everything is right with the world again. So now that y'all seen the reunion, we can finally talk about it.

There's something primal, raw and heart-wrecking about the way Daryl just stops cause he cannot believe his eyes, drops his weapons, fuck it, he doesn't need anything, except to run to that one person who means everything to him - Carol. Thanks Norman for letting us know, this is exactly how you meant to play it.

It may or may not get long, so more spoilers after the jump...

If you don’t ship it move on. Creeps. Only thing worse is when they follow up with “she’s like his mother. They have a mother-son relationship.” Wtf show are you watching?! They’re the same age??? Carol has adopted many children. None of them were a middle aged man named Daryl who she flirts with a dreams about being married too.