It's true Carol has been dealing with a lot since the church and because she never took time to feel those things and process them, they just built up over time until they completely consumed her and she felt like there was no way out but to abandon the people she loves. Overall I think her conversation with Paula really helped open her eyes and show her what she could become when Paula said that when her kills started getting into the double digits she stopped caring.

So looking back on that moment when Carol was counting her kills you could see she too was already in the double digits, so she had a lot more in common with Paula than she realized. Even more so after leaving and then continuing to use Tobin as a warm body in her bed. I think she finally realized she can't live like this, with all the guilt and decided it was best to leave. She feels like she's ready to die and would rather it happen where her loved ones won't see it.

That said I know a lot of people hated the writing for Carol this season and I get why, but it was time for Carol to deal with her emotions. It was time for her to feel it herself, and she has and its obviously eaten her up inside. Hopefully she will become stronger now and learn to deal with things in the moment rather than allowing them to build up inside again.

 

She can't find her purse.
Lost it when she dropped her anal beads.

 

Oh yes, it's definitely been bubbling for a while. She's been carrying a lot of visible guilt since 4B.

Problem for me is that it came to a head quite abruptly. Carol didn't make a steady progression from killer to the point of guilt she reached in 6B. It just kinda... happened.

 

I actually liked her developement in season 6 and I agree, that it was necessary for Carol to address her problems. Maybe those knights can help her come to terms, maybe finding some kind of moral codex she can resort to, if neccessary. It' a while, since I read the comics and I only read a few issues after Negan was introduced, so I don't know much about that knights, but my impression was, that they are good guys. Maybe they can help both Carol and Morgan with their issues.

 

Well based on an interview with Gimpy Boy, he explained that Carol is going to continue going through her phase of wanting to be alone and being okay with dying. Maybe Morgan can help her I don't know, but at least he broke his code and killed that savior. I just hope Carol becomes stronger after all this. I don't like the idea of her being suicidal or wanting to die, period.

 

I'm glad I saw this thread - was beginning to worry I might be the only one who understands and enjoys watching carols recent arc! This definitely has been bubbling under the surface for a while - since the girls and tyrese for sure. I was surprised when she left Alexandria but I didn't think it was out of place - I actually found it more jarring when we found out she'd killed tyrese's girlfriend at the prison! Rick said 'did you kill them?', and carol goes 'yep'...I was like wtf?!!
I'm also looking forward to where carol (and Morgan) will go from here - they are like 2 sides of the same coin and have been perceived by the audience to have complete personality changes, but I think that's only because they are in an ensemble cast, so obviously we don't get to see ALL of their journey. If it was just the 'Morgan and carol show' then the audience would understand their struggles with morality a lot more.

 

As with the finale and most of the things this season, I totally understand the IDEA behind Carol's arc, it's just that the execution is done so poorly that I can't support it. I can buy Carol feeling remorseful about killing, totally. Sam's death being a catalyst for that to come to a head? Sure! The Same Boat is where things start getting muddy, but hey, it's still plausible. Carol meeting a parallel of herself that has become nothing but a killing machine who has no sense of actual human emotion anymore is a good thing, and while the writing during that episode was "ehhh", Melissa McBride managed to sell it. Carol contemplating who she wants to be now after that is a logical jump.

Then Carol decides she just can't kill anymore, nope, never again, and since she can't do that, she's gotta leave all of her friends, leaving her whole town at risk, and be alone forever, and hey, wouldn't you know it, she's also suicidal, haha!

There's something missing there. Something along the lines of an entire episode. It's just not logical, and I can't buy it. Carol contemplating who she wants to be, and deciding she can't kill anymore is reasonable - talking to nobody about it and leaving, knowing without a doubt that people will come looking for her, no. It's just a stupid decision. It makes no sense and is the type of weak and stupid thing you'd expect from a Season 5 Alexandria redshirt. The conclusion Carol arrives at- "To live in this world with people you care about you have to kill for them, and because I won't kill anymore, I can't be around people" MAKES A LOT OF SENSE, but she jumps to that conclusion way too fast. It's rushed and doesn't feel natural, after 3 seasons of Carol evolving beyond her basket case of a comic character into a strong and powerful woman - it's literally all thrown away in the span of 4 episodes. And Carol suddenly wanting to die in the finale comes out of nowhere. Can't get behind that at all. I see what they wanted to do, Gimple and his team. They just did not do it well.

It took them a whole season to turn Carol into the badass that took down Terminus without a second thought. It's sure as hell gonna take more than a few episodes to believably reverse development like that.

 

I agree the execution has been poor - the note she left Tobin was ridiculous. 'Don't follow me' when obviously they are her family and will. Duh. Would have been better if she'd confided in someone about leaving and then gone - though undoubtedly that would have taken up valuable screen time with boring emotional convincing carol to stay type scenes. At least this way the plot gets to where it needs to go and we see the carolnator take out bad guys with a gun up her sleeve!
regarding her suicidalness, I don't think she actually wants to kill herself as such - I think she's been waiting for something/someone/some situation to best her, and frankly that hasn't happened yet. She is a one woman army (didn't rick call her something similar?) and when that wounded saviour catches up to her, she puts up a fight but he manages to get the best of her and shoots her twice. It's at this point that she holds up her hands and embraces what's about to happen - she genuinely didn't expect that guy to live after shooting him, never mind pursue her all those miles on foot and take her down, so she says 'kudos' and capitulates. This is why she yells at him to finish her when he walks away, because she wants a fitting end to her journey - not to be left to limp away feebly and live to fight another day. Carol is tired, her soul is heavy, burdened by all the horrible things she's seen and done, and she's running out of fight, but at the same time knows she can't just give up.

 

Carol had been suppressing her feelings about killing with the justification that "it needed to be done to protect the group". Although that technique is effective short term, the suppressed emotions eat away from the inside and take their toll. That all came to a crashing halt when she saw the Wolf she shot save Denise. Not only did she realize that not all the kills were necessary and the "right thing to do", but she realized that even those who seem evil can "come back".

Although this event is what initiated her current breakdown, it may also be the root of her salvation. The realization that the Wolf deserved a second chance will hopefully lead her to understanding that she is worthy of forgiveness and deserves a second chance too. IMO, accepting and forgiving one's self is the hardest part, just ask Morgan.

I know a lot of people hate the Carol breakdown and Morgan's arc, but I love them and think that most of it was well done.

 

Great thread. Count me among those who have enjoyed Carol's arc this season (heck, the entire show). In the context of a zombie apocalypse, I think it is hard to expect or predict how people will behave or react. What might seem "unrealistic" or "implausible" could be a completely normal reaction to your current hellish environs. I don't know, RickyGrimes, the OP and others in this thread have said it way better than I can. Just wanted to chime in.

 

I agree, that's my issue too. She has shown the weight she carries occasionally, but it just eventually exploded, I guess..and I guess that's possible because who really knows? But I think they could've done a better job of showing her rapid decline.

 

Carol's change does seem to be somewhat abrupt.

On the other hand, there was a famous former football player, Junior Seau, who killed himself because he was suffering from CTE. He gave no indication that he was planning to commit suicide, or that he was even in pain. He even appeared at a charity golf event a day or two beforehand.

 

Good point.

Oftentimes, people who have made the decision to commit suicide actually seem very content and downright happy right before they do it. Which makes it all that more confusing for the people who have to live with the results.

 

I have to agree this transmission in my opinion was a bit sudden and not fully executed. I get that there is only so much time in each episode and they need to push the story, but to go from leaving a cookie on Sam's grave to not kill to save the ones you love baffles me. I get that Sam's death rocked her, even though she did her best to show she didn't care about him nor did she want to get close to him cause she new he would not survive this world, but she had no problem go all out trying to kill the captive wolf and go toe to toe with Morgan. She was like the terminator and would not stop til he was dead. So for her to do a complete 180 and just stop killing to protect her loves one seemed a bit unusual to me.

Perhaps there were scenes left out where she learns that the wolf guy was actually good and you see her feel guilty for that and rethink her must kill mentality, but I don't feel that Sam's death is what led to her killing conflict.

 

Something has been bubbling, but they could have represented it in a way that gave the character dignity. Carol wouldn't just break down into a squabbling mess and protecting the people she loved was imperative #1 for her. Running off is not in her persona and Paula was not on her level in anyway.

A mental breakdown is just such disrespect to a great character.

 

There were scenes that showed just that. Right after she shot the Wolf guy, she saw him save Denise. Take a look at her facial expression when the camera goes back onto her face.

 

I think if we had fewer characters to show, as they had in seasons past, we would have a slower, more detailed progression. The sheet amount of characters in season 6 meant less time spent on each characters development.

 

I'm half and half on this. I've had my moments thinking the turnaround was very abrupt and out of nowhere, so to speak. But I also agree that people can kind of lose it on the flip of a switch without much of a warning. From the outside we're left scratching our heads wondering why, but it's hard to relate when you're not in that person's head. Carol has be through a lot and has done a lot. Sam's death may have been the thing that kind of tipped the Jenga pieces and it all came crashing down on her. I think she would have been more successful in her efforts to separate from the group without a note. It probably would have been a lot longer for others to go searching. Still, a part of her had to know her family wouldn't just shrug it off and not go looking for her. I think Carol is struggling hardcore right now with what her purpose is. She is still one of my favorites.