A few pictures of Norman and Melissa in Scotland for RIDE. The third season premieres February, 10th.

 

A few more pictures.

 

love these.

 

Norman and Melissa's adventure in Scotland premieres on tomorrow night's episode of Ride.

 

Norman and Melissa in Scotland for Ride.

 

Pictures from last Sunday's episode of Ride.

 

Daryl and Carol, in the season 9 finale "The Storm".

The episode itself was pretty good. It was great to see the group struggle against a blizzard.

I'm glad that Carol ended her marriage with Ezekiel. I'm still hoping Caryl will finally go official in season 10, but nothing is for certain with TWD!

 

There were so many great Caryl moments in "The Storm", especially this one when they killed walkers threatening the caravan.

I would've loved it if Caryl teamed up like this to kill Saviors during the War.

 

Such cute screenshots of Melissa and Norman from Ride. The one with the bagpipe has to be my favourite.

And awesome double act, Daryl and Carol taking down those walkers. I think we will get a lot more of this kind of treat in S10 as they are finally living in the same community again.

 

I was really sad Carol and Ezekiel broke up, I thought they were a very well suited romantic couple, balanced, complementing each other beautifully.
The breakup came out of the blue completely, as the last time we saw them, they were still very much in love and happy.

Carol and Daryl... I don't ship them as a romantic couple (for me the possibility of that ship sailed way back in S3) but this relationship is one of my favourite things in TWD, because it's so deliciously layered, and just so beautiful in its undefinedness (is that a word?). Every single scene they share together makes my heart sing. But I love them as they are. Undefinable.

So here is a question for you. Why would you like them to become a romantic couple at this late stage, after ten years of being whatever precious thing they have been for each other? Would you say romantic love trumps the love they already have between them? Or do you think they always had this potential?
I'm genuinely interested, because I've never talked to anyone who shipped these two as a romantic couple. (Fancy joining a TWD forum at the end of Season 9?)

 

Rapscallion is me taken to the extreme. Lmao

I was a HUGE Daryl and carol shipper too. But see them now as you do. So beautiful the way they are. I think now it would just be weird to put them together. They are perfect how they are. The rest to me at this point would be forced.

Raps is fierce in his wants tho. Lololol

 

@BlackBird, in season 2, Daryl had surpassed Rick as my favorite character and Carol was a background character. Most fans know by now that Carol was supposed to be killed off in season 3, but Melissa McBride, along with Sarah Wayne Callies, convinced the producers to keep her on the show.

I've been a Caryl shipper since season 3, when it seemed both Daryl and Carol had a mutual attraction and a romantic relationship was in the future.

Norman Reedus has often talked about Caryl being a "slow burn" relationship, and I was fine with that. The best time for Caryl to happen was in season 6.

Remember that book on treating survivors of childhood abuse Daryl took from the women's shelter when he and Carol went into Atlanta to rescue Beth? Daryl knew Carol was upset that Lizzie and Mika died, and I thought he was going to use that book to help Carol get over her grief. That would've led to Caryl going official, and it would've balanced out the Lucille execution in the season 6 cliffhanger.

Why didn't it happen? Because of former showrunner Scott Gimple.

Believe it or not, some of my favorite TWD episodes were written by Gimple, he helped make Carol into a great character, and he earned a lot of praise from the critics and the fans, but he sucked as a showrunner. He tried to make TWD into some kind of art house movie and he failed miserably.

I believe Gimple hates the character of Daryl. Watch TWD from season 6 to season 8, and you'll see a sharp decline in Daryl's character: he goes from a street smart, resilient hunter, to a stupid, grunting EMO.

I also believe Gimple plotted out season 6 to end with Daryl being Lucilled. But after the fan backlash over "Dumpstergate", AMC reined Gimple in and made him spare Daryl.

I love Carol, but Gimple gave her too much of the female drama from the comics. I'd have preferred if Sasha (who was suffering from PTSD) left Alexandria and discovered the Kingdom. At least Sasha might still be on TWD.

After the dismal season 8, Gimple was "kicked upstairs" and replaced by Angela Kang. But Gimple left Kang with a host of problems, one of them being Carol's relationship with King Ezekiel, leader of the Kingdom.

Kang knows that Carol is a character who will put the happiness of others ahead of her own, so I believe she decided to make Carol marry Ezekiel to give Henry a family. When Henry died, the marriage fell apart, because it was Henry that brought them together. Carol knows it, Ezekiel is too naïve to see it.

I'd love for Caryl to finally go official in season 10, but the showrunners have waited too long to approve it. The "slow burn" Norman talked about years ago has been snuffed out. If Caryl happens, why did it take this long? And does this mean one or both of them are the next to depart the show?

Thank you for your question. I hope you found my answer satisfactory.

 

Thank you very much for taking time to answer my question, @Rapscallion.
I've found it a really interesting read, both regarding how you've been viewing the potentials of the relationship between Daryl and Carol, and also Gimple's part in it. I don't necessarily agree with everything you've said, but you've made some very good points about Gimple stuffing Daryl in the background and basically putting his character development on hold. It was soooo frustrating.

I also very much like your idea of sending Sasha out there with her PTSD, and getting her to the Kingdom, instead of Carol. That could have worked very nicely.
I wish they had done that. The Sasha/Abraham thing never really worked for me. (Except for right at the very end, when Abraham broke my heart.) Oh, I miss them both so much.

Sasha at the Kingdom could have given us a very different story.

Don't you just wish sometimes we could have parallel episodes/seasons where things would have turned out differently? I guess that's why we have fanfiction, lol.

Well, I'm sure there will be loads of awesome Daryl/Carol stuff coming up next season, whether or not you will get what you've been waiting for all these years.

Personally, I don't think there is much story in it, if they were to go there. Because their relationship is already so strong and complex, that the only new element in it would be a physical dimension. Which, let's face it, might be quite an awkward dimension after ten years of being "just" friends. Whereas if they were to put Daryl and Connie together, there would be scope for a whole lot of discovery for both of them, and the forming of an entirely new relationship. So I'm rooting for the latter. But I'm still going to enjoy every single Carol/Daryl scene and hope we will have plenty. We'll see what they have in store for us. Main thing is we want them both happy, right?

 

@PepperAnn, & @BlackBird.

Well, it's that time of the year.

Time to start filming a new season of TWD, and tease Carylers with the possibility that THIS could be the season.

Norman did his part today and posted this picture on his social media account of Daryl's and Carol's chairs placed side-by-side.

I hate how the showrunners have teased Caryl for all these years, but I honestly hope they finally go official. I hope the writers acknowledge how long the fans have supported this couple (and the show) by writing a scene where Daryl and Carol talk about all they've experienced, suffered, and denied before saying they love each other.

 

Lol. I just shake my head at all the teasing too.
I hope Norman will post a picture of him studying a book of sign language soon too. Oh, and Daryl wearing Beth's knife again. Just to keep all fans happy.

 

Yeah, the teasing is infuriating. It was foolish of the showrunners to do that, because most of the general audience were Carylers. You can't keep teasing fans with something they want to happen on a show and expect them to not get frustrated and stop watching.

Daryl studying a book of sign language? I just hope Norman doesn't post a picture of Daryl carving a wooden arm for Aaron, you follow me?

Yeah, I wonder if Daryl still has Beth's knife, because I wouldn't be surprised if she staggers into Alexandria in season 10 with a nasty headache. Like Madison said on FTWD: "No one's gone until they're gone."

 

@Rapscallion

I always think it's best not to take these shows as "the ultimate" stories. It helps to think of them as one possible way they could have gone.

Stories are basically live organisms. Even what we see on tv, we all interpret differently (e.g. you feel there's romantic possibility between Carol and Daryl, whilst I don't). But the tv show is of course already fan fiction, based on the comics. Like GoT is fanfic of the original books. Etc. Everyone adds their own spin to the original stories, the writers, the actors the directors... and then us, the viewers. Depending on our own experiences, preferences, wishes. So it's terribly complicated. Of course it's very satisfying when a film, book, tv show gives you an endgame you want, and it's frustrating when it doesn't. But we are all free to play things out differently in our minds.

Beth... oh, that's still a sore point for me. I can joke about it, but I'm still pissed how they've screwed Emily and her character over, not to mention the potential romance between Daryl and Beth. (Again, I know fans are totally divided on this too, lol.) I'd have loved her to come back, there were ways it could have happened, but I think it's probably way too late for that. So, I'm all for Daryl to perfect sign language at this stage.

 

@BlackBird,

It's interesting that you see TWD show as a form of fanfiction. It reminds me of Frank Darabont's vision for the show: that it was inspired by the comic, and not an accurate translation of the comic.

I never saw the possibility of Daryl and Beth having a romantic relationship. I saw that Daryl was surprised that Beth could remain so hopeful after the prison fell and the group was separated.

But yeah, the Bethyl fans are still going strong; check out FF.NET, and you'll find new or updated Bethyl stories on the first few pages!