The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2, Episode 1, "La gentillesse des étrangers," which premiered Sunday, Sept. 29 on AMC. The following also mentions domestic abuse and violence.
Carol Peletier had one of the best character arcs on The Walking Dead, even surpassing Rick Grimes' own fascinating evolution from Sheriff's Deputy to a morally conflicted leader of communities. Carol's storyline was relatable for those who felt trapped in the circumstances of their lives, and proved that people in abusive situations can escape to become the best version of themselves. Every step in Carol's journey was natural progression in her evolution that made her the fierce woman she is today.
When The Walking Dead ended in its 11th season, Carol's arc was at a good stopping point. She made amends with Ezekiel, regained her love of being a mother by looking after Judith and RJ Grimes and became an important figure in the Commonwealth. The only unsatisfying part of her conclusion was the absence of Daryl Dixon in it. As Daryl rode off into the sunset to find Rick Grimes, fans were left wondering what was next for Carol with her partner-in-crime in her life. That's where the next part of her journey kicks in. Carol's place in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2 isn't just to bring the titular character home from France, but to combine the best eras of her survival to finally confront her unresolved grief.
Carol Goes to Extremes to Help Her Family
Carol's Protective Acts Included Preventing a Prison Outbreak and Exterminating Terminus
People were slowly getting on board with Carol as a character in Seasons 3, but it wasn't until Seasons 4 and 5 that people knew she had to stick around. Having lost her entire family, Carol was desperate to keep her new one alive. She was no longer a fearful person who watched everything from the sidelines. If no one else was going to save her family, she was going to step up to the plate.
At times, Carol's methods of keeping the group in a safe position were controversial. Season 4 saw a turning point for Carol when she appointed herself judge, jury and executioner by killing and burning Karen and David when they got an infectious flu. She overcorrected her guilt for not being able to protect Sophia from harm. Her intentions were good, but the execution was over the line.
You don't have to like what I did, Rick. You just have to accept it. -- Carol Peletier
Over the next couple of seasons, Carol took more actions that were questionably immoral, but ultimately the right call. Carol had to kill an adolescent Lizzie Samuels, who displayed alarming signs when she excitedly killed her sister and threatened to do the same to a baby Judith. But Carol's biggest win -- and what ultimately won most fans over -- is when she destroys Terminus to save the rest of her people. It was that moment when people knew Carol was in it for the long run, and wasn't a person to cross.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's version of Carol isn't quite on the same wavelength as burning innocent people alive or blowing up entire communities, but the inklings of a remorseless warrior are still there. She takes control of the mechanic shop's people with ease, certifying herself as a "crazy woman" who will take on a dozen men with just a crossbow and a dream. Who else jumps head first into a plane despite having intense claustrophobia and being a first-time flier? If Carol will do anything, it's go big or go home.
Carol Still Has a Few Manipulative Tricks Under Her Sleeve
Carol's New Relationship With Ash Isn't a New Rodeo
What made Carol a fan-favorite on The Walking Dead was her eventual acceptance to do hard things to protect herself and her family. Other characters could do the same, but Carol's beginnings as a timid person who shook at violence made her difficult actions more compelling. In what she would consider the lowest point in her life, Carol learned how to psychologically manipulate people into thinking she was someone else entirely to go unnoticed. Carol reverted into her old self at Alexandria -- timid and quiet, dressed like a traditional housewife who baked cookies for her neighbors.
Behind the scenes, she was tormenting a young boy to keep him from getting killed, as a sinister way to protect him from his abusive father and prevent another child's death in her life. Carol has moved well past the need to put up an innocent front, but she's not entirely truthful in her appearance either. When she meets a grief-stricken Ash devastated by the death of his son, the gears are turning in her head. His plane is the only reasonable way she can get to France to rescue Daryl. What if she used his grief to connect with him on an emotional level, and convince him to fly her to France?
On the surface, this doesn't seem like a terribly inhumane tactic, even if her intentions are shady. Both Carol and Ash can easily bond over their shared experiences of losing a young child. But where Carol crosses a line is by lying to him about her daughter, Sophia, being alive. Carol doesn't think it's enough that they understand each other's pain. She needs Ash to believe that he can reunite a parent with her child, something he'll never have the chance to do again. It's emotionally manipulative and absolutely cruel, but she's done similarly horrible things before that other characters couldn't stomach. It just seemed like after years of living at the Kingdom and moving to the Commonwealth, she grew past this.
Carol Is Still Empathetic Above All Else
Carol May Have a Hard Shell, But She's Still a Softy With a Big Heart
As cool as Carol is when she's an ultimate terminator, at the end of the day, she's still a person of compassion. Her life before the apocalypse was one of domestic violence and silence, so she easily sympathizes with people who struggle with any kind of psychological roadblocks. Despite destroying Ash's greenhouse and lying to Ash about her daughter being alive, she's ridden with guilt.
Her insistence on cleaning up the mess she made wasn't a front to appear more innocent to him. That's the real Carol trying to right her wrongs. All Carol really is in her heart is a woman who doesn't want to repeat her mistakes with people who don't deserve it. Ash reminds Carol a lot of herself in the earliest seasons of The Walking Dead: frozen and unable to move on from the past. Maybe deep down inside, Carol believes she's helping Ash by pushing him outside his comfort zone.
This version of Carol in "La gentillesse des étrangers," has a little bit of everything from her arc. She has some great moments, and she certainly has moments that will make herself and others question their trust in her. From what Melissa McBride has teased about Carol's future in Season 2 of Daryl Dixon, Carol will continue to evolve as if The Walking Dead never came to an end. This is a new version of Carol, but will she recycle bad habits, or take her new friendship with Ash as a lesson in decency?
