#twd speculation

Of all the controversial characters on the show, Leah sticks out because of the giant pipe wrench she throws in our understanding of Daryl’s character. We all had to scramble to reconstruct him after “Find Me” aired, and though I maintain he still only has one woman in his heart evidenced by the physical and emotional parallels between Leah and Carol in both the past and present, there are some dents. The biggest one for me is Daryl’s capacity for intimacy. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the hell out of the visual subtlety. I did not need a magnifying glass on whatever Daryl and Leah got up to in the bedroom, but what I did need was some kind of acknowledgement that it would’ve been a struggle for him. That way, we honor all of the effort over the last ten seasons to distinguish him from the typical virile hero while also juxtaposing the awkwardness with the far more mature relationship between Daryl and Carol. Having glossed over it, Kang unfortunately eradicates a major quality that always made Daryl special to me, and with it the opportunity to see how he grows out of it.  

Some say the damage was done once Leah was introduced and the only solution was to erase her from the narrative as quickly as possible so we could erase her from our memories. I completely disagree with that approach. Storytelling 101 dictates that if you’re going to send the audience into an uproar, then the payoff better be damn worth it. And it could’ve been. Considering she came into the story as Daryl’s love interest, considering *that’s* what got the majority of his fans riled up, Leah had the potential to be pivotal for Daryl’s love life going forward. After proving she’s hopelessly broken, she could’ve been the catalyst for Daryl finally confessing his feelings for the woman who isn’t. That opportunity was missed in 11A, and you know what? That’s forgivable. Chalk it up to it being too early to pull that trigger (no pun intended). 

But see, storytelling 101 also dictates that if you’re going to expand a widely-hated character’s arc beyond its natural ending point, then that too has to be damn worth it. If the protagonists and the audience for that matter aren’t going to get anything more or different out of it, then why not just let Maggie and Daryl end her in “No Other Way?” Why not just use trained assassin Toby Carlson as a plot device for Lance to gain power over the communities, which would have felt far more organic than him conveniently tracking Leah down?  

Instead of adhering to the emotional tension between Daryl and Leah, and Carol by way of her starring role in Daryl’s life, we fall victim to the contrived plot set up in 11A, where Maggie seeks revenge on the Reapers and Leah by mere association, thus establishing grounds for Leah to seek her revenge on Maggie. The mirroring between them doesn’t run any deeper than that. Yet, we have to sit through this cat and mouse game between them, repetitive of “No Other Way” to the point of Maggie shooting Leah again, until they end up back at Leah’s cabin – a place that means absolutely nothing to Maggie. 

Maggie herself has become somewhat of a polarizing character, the reasons for which I’m not about to get into here. Like her or not, it’s impossible to deny her character is the centerpiece of season 11 with a far more substantial story than the show’s top two billed actors, though of course Daryl still gets a huge amount of screentime. Sadly it’s not a good story in my opinion, particularly her subplot with Negan which has basically been one long stalemate up until the scene in this episode where she admits she’s starting to trust him because he saved Hershel at the apartment complex. I feel like I have to suspend some disbelief to make that make sense emotionally, but the point is, the favoritism is there.  

Let’s get one thing straight. It isn’t lost on me that Maggie’s “promotion” was probably a hard-won battle for Lauren Cohan. I don’t resent her for standing up for herself and wanting more for the character she’s put years into fleshing out. What’s inexcusable is Kang and co thinking that accommodating her (or rather trying and failing to do so) means minimizing another character, namely Carol, who has been a *consistent* part of the story since season 1, who played the most integral role in the show’s top-rated episodes like “The Grove” and “No Sanctuary,” and therefore has fully earned her spot as the leading lady. 

Melissa McBride can do a lot with very little because she is just that talented, but to Carol fans, it is still disheartening that the woman who can single-handedly save everybody’s asses in five minutes has become the woman who wrangles horses, fetches wine, and basically just plays sidekick to whoever she’s with while any exciting action or crucial emotional beats all take place offscreen. For example, taking out a room full of walkers with Mercer in order to save Daryl and Rosita literally happens behind closed doors. The guilt from trapping Connie in the cave, the guilt that plagued her (and us) for nearly twenty episodes was resolved in the subtext of her quick little exchange with Connie in “For Blood” and her observation of Daryl’s and Connie’s reunion. The acknowledgement that her best friend has had to come head to head with an ex-girlfriend he blamed himself for losing is…well, non-existent despite the demands of emotional realism. 

The argument could be made that Carol herself wants to stick to the sidelines after the trouble she caused during the whisperer war, and that’s fair to a certain degree. There does come a point though when it reads like TPTB are merely punishing her for poor audience reception to her arc last season, and that is absolutely not fair. Especially considering a large portion of that audience carries misogynistic and ageist viewpoints. If anything Carol should be getting *more* screentime to show how she is recovering from her lowest point, to remind us why we love her and why we should empathize with her. 

Daryl has been there for Carol through all of her biggest challenges, if not during the time they occur then after the fact, and Carol always reciprocates, so why that pattern is suddenly being broken with Leah, I can’t quite put my finger on. What I can say is Daryl makes his allegiance crystal clear from beginning to end this episode with no room for second guessing. He, Aaron, and Gabriel know the Commonwealth, or at least those operating under Lance, are the enemy. They initiate a gun fight with the soldiers and then after finding Leah’s camp and her discarded bracelet, split up to track her down. Emotionally, Daryl’s rescue plays out the way it easily could have and to some level did at the end of the Reaper arc. Seeing his friend Maggie wrestling with Leah who’s about to drive a knife into her chest forces him to accept that through no fault of his own, Leah simply cannot be saved. Earlier in the episode, Maggie tells Hershel that everything she does is so they have choices and I think that applies to Daryl’s predicament with Leah. Shooting her in the head isn’t a difficult choice, perhaps not a choice at all, but it frees him to choose the future that he wants, which we know will be with Carol eventually.

“Choices” as a running theme is juxtaposed with “acts of god” symbolized by the locusts to show how each of the characters are taking control of their own lives. Daryl does so by fighting against the Commonwealth and Leah, both of which represent things that at one point or another controlled him. So it stands to reason that with this new consciousness of having power over himself, we will see him actively pursue what he really wants. Intrinsically, that means we should not be seeing anymore “hints” towards a certain other pairing. Though it was hard to tell at the time, I’m now convinced the look Daryl gives Connie in “New Haunts” is functioning alone as the “bait” before the inevitable “switch” that Daryl is finally primed to deliver. With Carol convinced that he has feelings for Connie after witnessing their reunion and that look, she’s justified in bringing it up again, but this time, Daryl will have to shut it down in the spirit of not accepting any alternative courses in his life that others try to push on him. 

For the record, I do find the removal of Connie’s agency in her own relationship status somewhat problematic, but I’m glad she’s taking charge elsewhere. Helping her friends expose Pamela Milton’s corruption is a bold move that I imagine will have severe consequences, most likely leading to eventual arrests. Connie writes the article, but a lot of other characters are doing their part including Kelly, Eugene, Ezekiel, Magna, and Max who steals the files from Pamela’s office. 

How much of a role Pamela actually plays in the mass disappearances is still murky, though for the most part it seems like her biggest crime is continuing to hold elitist values. While Pamela rejects a scholarship fund in favor of financially supporting Founders Day, Lance is going behind her back to seize control of the communities and when Leah fails him, ends up capturing all of the Oceanside residents. We see him constantly flipping his coin, establishing himself as the decider of fate, like a god or force of nature. The ugly graze on his face from Daryl’s bullet emphasizes the monster that now lives on the outside. He can no longer mask how dangerous he is and since the show dropped the ball with Leah and Carol, I hope Carol at least gets the honor of taking him out. 

I don’t think I’m only speaking for myself when I say season 11 has been quite disappointing so far. Minimal Caryl/Carol definitely spells disaster in my book. As far as Leah goes, I tried to give the show the benefit of the doubt and though I do still find value in the implicit connections to Carol, I think I’m ready to just forget about her now. While I hoped for a bigger takeaway overall, I personally don’t feel like I’m going into the hiatus with nothing. Daryl’s and Carol’s suffering relationship has been woven into the fabric of their story. We’re shown how much they’re struggling to fix things with each other, but more importantly, we’re shown how much they miss each other and how badly they *want* to fix things. They’ve been set up to finally do that in 11C and I am very excited to see that play out. 

People are asking me why I still trust Kang and the answer is simple. I can see the bigger picture. The ending in store doesn’t work unless we build up to it first. Maggie and some of the smaller characters have had time to shine this season, but it seems like a lot has been resolved for them. Eugene is in a stable relationship with Max, Ezekiel is cured of his cancer, even the Maggie and Negan tension seems to have shifted, leading me to  believe Caryl will be the final block’s top priority. There’s plenty of filming evidence to back that up even if we can’t say for sure what their story will entail. I’m going to do in-depth character arc breakdowns to better articulate where I think Daryl and Carol are headed next, but for now friends, I must rest. It’s been a grueling eight weeks, and to be honest I’m relieved to get a break from all the drama. At least all the buzz and late nights will be worth it when we get to 11C. I feel it in my bones. Have faith. Or don’t. That’s your prerogative.

11x09 “No Other Way” Review

11x10 “New Haunts” Review

11x11 “Rogue Element” Review

11x12 “The Lucky Ones” Review

11x13 “Warlords” Review

11x14 “The Rotten Core” Review