I love Carol with all of my heart.

"Slugger"

"We're just having fun"

"Good times"

Honorary mention for the original script draft for 2x01 that had Daryl saying "how does that kool aid taste?".

THE WALKING DEAD 11.24

CAROL & DARYL and their LIL’ ASSKICKER aka JUDITH GRIMES

Well, I think I have finally put my thoughts together about Caryl. 

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN by Angela Kang: Carol & Daryl ride off together!

The change with Melissa not going into the spin-off happened pretty late in the game. So we’d always planned that the two of them were going to ride off together. In the original version, they would’ve gone on the bike and pointed west and then would’ve gotten sidetracked.

And then when we were running the finale, we were like, “Okay, let’s reconceive how they end.” So it becomes, he rides off, and she’s there to support him because there’s no anger or anything between them about it. It’s just he’s going to go off on a mission, and she has a different mission right now.

First of all let me say, that I know everyone’s reactions are basically all over the place and that’s okay. 

I will be expanding on my thoughts in the coming days, but it’s Thanksgiving week here in the US and baking holiday goodies beckons. I want to give my thoughts and ideas some percolation time. 

That being said. I cannot tell a lie. My expectations were basically in the basement for this episode. I am not a writer of fics and I probably don’t know how to structure a story. But for me the entire episode did what it needed to do and it hit some very strong emotional beats for me.  

Now for Caryl.  Daryl loves Carol and she loves him back. I think she, like us, was taken aback that he actually said the words. Kudos to Judith for nudging Daryl about grabbing on for his happy ending. (I will have more thoughts on this later when I have more time to put pen to paper).  I know everyone would have loved a kiss, myself included. But I honestly believe that their story is not over.  

Bonus addition from another of the show’s writers:

CAROL & DARYL + 3 words, 8 letters only meant for each other 9x16 // 11x04 // 11x24 [request by @satireplz]