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Daryl & Carol

Discussion in 'The Walking Dead TV Characters' started by sdg6259, Jan 23, 2014.

  1. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I think we can safely say the TWD tv series is fanfic: they take an original story and characters and play around with them creating different outcomes from the same scenarios and/or let them go onto new adventures. It's also kinda fun for writers of source materials to get involved in tv adaptations: they get a second chance to tell their own stories differently and also allow other writers to spin them. Of course, in case of original characters created for the tv show, like Daryl and Beth, the tv show is in fact the source material.

    Daryl and Beth... well, I could happily talk for hours about what this was and what it could have become and why I have found their story so endearing, if you're interested in my take.

    I'm not at all surprised that new Bethyl fanfic is still being written. I prefer Archive of Our Own as a fanfic site, and there are a handful of excellent writers there who have written some brilliant fanfic about this pairing.
     
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  2. PepperAnn

    PepperAnn Well-Known Member

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    I will never understand the Bethylers (lookin at you @zombiemom62 )

    He could have been her father!!!!
     
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  3. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    Lol, but he wasn't. They were two people stuck together in the apocalypse, only one another to rely on, to find comfort in. They opened up to each other, they began to enjoy each other's company. They were getting closer and closer. They both made a decision together to stop moving in search of the rest of their group and stay put at the funeral home. Just the two of them. The last time we saw them together, they were having fun, happy, practically playing house. Had they not been separated, given a few weeks, months together, who knows how things might have evolved between them. A man and a woman. Substantial age gap, yes, but what does that matter when you love someone? And given these two people in particular: a young woman who's an old soul, and an older man who is emotionally childlike? They were both strong in different ways, and they complemented one another perfectly.
     
  4. Chr1s

    Chr1s Well-Known Member

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    I think that connection, between Daryl and Beth, sort of backs up the idea that Daryl bonds with people in different ways and up to now none of them have been romantic.

    His connections with Rick, Michonne, Beth, Carol, just about everybody. None of them have been romantic, they have been situations where Daryl was needed for something. Protection, emotional support, a partner.

    Which is why I think his connection with Connie is so interesting. She doesn't "need" Daryl, he doesn't fill a role in her life. She doesn't need his protection or emotional support. I think he sees someone who is actually emotionally stronger than he is, and it might be the first time he has needed someone else. Plus it's the first time I have seen him connect with someone where I thought they would work as a couple.
     
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  5. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    I agree, this is why this might work out. Connie's completely self-contained. And so is Daryl. But Connie is self-contained within a loving close-knit group and a sister by her side. Daryl removed himself from his group for so long, and only now that circumstances have forced him back, he realises that, whilst he doesn't "need" them, he is happier with them. And he actually says to Carol, he doesn't want to leave with Lydia. He wants to stay, and be part of the family again. So now, he might also open himself upto something else, an actual relationship. My head canon is that he has never had a meaningful relationship, he has no experience of it, other than from observing Maggie and Glenn, Rick and Michonne. He never thought he could have anything like that. Who would even want him? Relationship was just something other people had.

    But perhaps now, he might reconsider his stance on this. We have seen him develop a bit of a crush on Connie. At this stage it's nothing more than a combination of a shed load of admiration and respect and a whole lotta wow, but if she were to pursue his company, I think he might be awkwardly open to it. It would be a relationship on very equal terms, purely based on enjoying each other's company. Not wanting anything else from the other, like you said.

    Regarding Beth, I respectfully disagree. I believe there were stirring romantic undertones to their scenes in the funeral home. Daryl set the table for breakfast for her, with two of everything. He was so eager for Beth to see what he'd done for her, that he couldn't wait for her to shuffle in, even if she was literally by the door by then, he had to sweep her up in his arms to bring her in quicker. By that time they have developed such ease with each other, that touching her came easy. Even holding hands. When did he ever hold hands with anyone? Interlacing fingers? He settles into being with her, whatever this is. He can see themselves staying there like that for the indefinite future. He acknowledges that she's filled his heart with hope again, in good people, in some kind of future, with her. He's just about to tell her that, when they're interrupted, and Daryl, the most danger-conscious person in the universe, just leisurely strolls to the door of his house mid dinner and opens the door because he's expecting it's the dog coming back. When has he ever let his guard down like that? Where was his head?

    I loved the heck out of this gentle undefined slow burn possibility. But sadly it wasn't to be.

    So now, 8 or so years later... I believe he might just have found his match in Connie. I'm totally down with it. Loved every scene they shared.

    But maybe he is destined not to have a love relationship ever... Perhaps he will just be in this beautiful platonic relationship with Carol for ever more. Or maybe they will finally cave in to the fans and develop his relationship with Carol into a romantic one. Who knows? Though I believe there is considerable fan support out there for Daryl and Connie, even amongst the long suffering Caryl fans?
     
  6. PepperAnn

    PepperAnn Well-Known Member

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    Your last few sentences is me. I was and still am to a degree, a Caryl fan. But I really feel that ship has sailed. And as much as I didn’t get Connie at first, she kicks ass now and I have all the faith she’s gonna rock it for a long while. And her and daryl feel just as right as daryl and carol did.

    More Bethyl talk......:eek::p

    But, @BlackBird i love reading your thoughts. You have great insight.
     
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  7. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    Thanks, @PepperAnn. We can't help who and what we love and what we don't, and it's always interesting to see things from different points of view. It would be terribly dull if we agreed on everything, can you imagine? Plus we have plenty common ground. :)
     
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  8. zombiemom62

    zombiemom62 Well-Known Member

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    or not
     
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  9. Rapscallion

    Rapscallion Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]

    The TWD S10 trailer was released last night, and it had several Caryl scenes, especially this one.

    I couldn't help but wonder, "Why didn't this happen in season 6?!" :mad:

    AMC teased Caryl more than they ever have before in that trailer, but I think they'll save it for the Rick Grimes trilogy, which will now be shown in theaters. :rolleyes:
     
  10. Rapscallion

    Rapscallion Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The moment when Carol and Daryl realize TWD is just one big loop. :p
     
  11. Chr1s

    Chr1s Well-Known Member

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    Carol will tell Daryl, in so many words, that he should pursue Connie. Basically it will be her blessing or something she says that convinces Daryl to actually open up to Connie.
     
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  12. Rapscallion

    Rapscallion Well-Known Member

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    Ugh. I hate that idea, really enforces the teen fangirl rant that Daryl sees Carol as a mother figure. :mad:
     
  13. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    I don't think Carol encouraging Daryl to build something with Connie would enforce Carol as a mother figure. It enforces that she's his best friend, the person who knows him best and wants him to be happy, and sees a way for him he might not be equipped to see for himself without a little guidance.

    I get that it's really challenging to contemplate the possibility of a relationship that involves someone else besides the two on one's 'ship', but I keep coming back to the same question: why would a romantic dimension between Daryl and Carol be better than the beautiful thing they have already? Why would it be a bad thing if they continued to have this beautiful thing whilst Daryl found romantic love with someone else, like Carol did before?
     
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  14. Chr1s

    Chr1s Well-Known Member

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    Exactly all of this.

    I think Carol and Daryl's relationship is one of the purest and most endearing relationships of the entire series. They have such amazing chemistry and I honestly think it would be cheapened if they were romantic. To me it's not about Daryl seeing Carol as a "mother". He sees her as his best friend and the person he feels closer to than anybody else. Just because they are a man and a woman, that doesn't mean they have to he romantically connected.
     
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  15. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    Of course this could be easily turned around: why would we want Connie and Daryl develop a romantic relationship? What makes one relationship better suited to be friendship and another to be romantic love?

    I guess a lot is tied up in the freshness of it all, with Connie. No history. Just being in the moment. A blank canvas to draw on. And they seem to be just ridiculously compatible.
     
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  16. Rapscallion

    Rapscallion Well-Known Member

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    I think Carol encouraging Daryl to pursue a relationship with Connie makes him into a follower; he followed Merle (he was his big brother after all), he followed Rick, he almost followed Joe and the Claimers, he refused to follow Negan. Altogether it makes Daryl look weak and that he has no independent thought.

    You know I'm a Caryl shipper, and I'll ship them regardless of what happens on TWD, but it's been teased so many times in the past, I probably couldn't smile if they were ever made official.
     
    #836 Rapscallion, Jul 25, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2019
  17. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    Carol and Daryl always gave each other advice. Their relationship is built on that level of trust. Neither is weaker for listening to advice when they both know it comes from the best place. So I don't think that's a matter of "following". They make each other think, they dish out some home truths, they support each other.

    This situation is so unique, because Daryl has very little personal experience (if any at all) in romantic relationships, and embarking on one must terrify him more than being thrown in a pit with a thousand walkers. Like he knows how to deal with the latter but ... a girl? And a lot of that is rooted in his lack of self esteem. A good friend can give you a little confidence boost...

    I mean, if Daryl and Carol were ever gonna turn romantic, that would have also needed plenty of encouragement from Carol, wouldn't you agree? ;)
     
  18. Rapscallion

    Rapscallion Well-Known Member

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    I've joked to friends that Gimple (who's still in charge of TWD) will reveal that Carol showed an interest in Daryl, but he's too stupid to realize it.

    Gimple hates Daryl; when he got control of TWD, he turned Daryl into a stupid, crying EMO. :mad:
     
  19. BlackBird

    BlackBird Well-Known Member

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    Whether Gimple hated the character or not, I don't know, but one thing for sure, he didn't know what to do with Daryl. Having said that, I liked what they did with him upto the end of Season 6, it all made sense. It's after that when things went to the dogs, but not just with Daryl. :mad:

    But now? We are in the Golden Era for Daryl, because Angela Kang loves the character, and Rick's departure has freed some space for him to spread his wings more, in every sense.

    I never thought though that Daryl was a "stupid crying EMO" though. :p I just wanted the writers to ease off him, instead of pushing him further and further down the rabbit hole, year after year. It was a miracle he ever stopped crying after everything they'd put him through under Gimple's lead. It was just relentless
    torture.
     
  20. Rapscallion

    Rapscallion Well-Known Member

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    @BlackBird,

    I agree that Daryl wasn't the only character that Gimple burned from season 6 to season 8 (Carl's sudden pacifism and later death spring to mind), but I think Gimple's really had it out for Daryl, and wanted him Lucilled in the infamous S6 cliffhanger.

    Watching S6, it's clear that Daryl was being set up to take the fall. Prior to S6, Gimple was AMC's golden boy, and none of his decisions had shaken TWD severely. But after the fan backlash over Glenn and the "Dumpstergate" episode, I think AMC reined Gimple in and made him spare Daryl.
     
    #840 Rapscallion, Jul 25, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2019

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