The Walking Dead: Top 100 Moments
13. Carol Saves the Day
Episode 501 “No Sanctuary”
Original Airdate: 10/12/2014
Submitted By: Charlotte Anne
The season 5 premiere of The Walking Dead, or when Carol won her “Queen of the Apocalypse” credentials. In a series that has so many badass ladies, that has Michonne, Maggie, Sasha or Rosita, Carol proved to everyone that she, too, had to be reckoned with.
Carol may not be the strongest, or the fastest, or the best at shooting, but boy, does she know how to create mayhem! And what makes it even more enjoyable, is that she can do it in a way that feels realistic. Carol does not give the “superhero” vibe that Daryl, Michonne or Rick can give. She does not have one iconic weapon that she wields better than anyone. She is just very, very good at keeping her head cool in a crisis, and improvising with whatever she has at her disposal.
And this is exactly what she does. All hope seems lost: our team of superheroes has been locked up and several are about to – literally – get slaughtered. Rick remains typically defiant, but his “that’s what I’m gonna use to kill you” to Gareth seems rather delusional in such a context. We have rarely seen the group in such deep waters.
But in comes Carol, and she quickly devises a plan. Covered in walker guts, blood and mud for camouflage, she observes the compound. She notices the gas tanks and a herd of walkers coming towards the fence, uses a flare to blow up the gas tanks and destroy the fence. The explosion is already enough to distract the “Termites” and allow Rick and the guys to escape what seemed to be their fate. Walking among the dead, she infiltrates the compound and even manages to retrieve Rick’s watch and Daryl’s crossbow among the pile of stolen items. Though she cannot get any information from Gareth’s mother as to where Rick and the others have been taken, the job is already done: the confusion allows everyone to escape.
The reunion that follows is just as memorable as the fighting. Daryl is the first to see her and their silent hug is full of the raw emotion that all their scenes are filled with. Daryl does not need to say anything: all he cares about is that Carol is back. His emotion also shows the pain he felt at losing Carol as a result of Rick’s decision – a decision that had visibly upset him, but which he had never been able to discuss with Rick because of the Governor’s attack on the prison.
Carol’s reunion with Rick is no less memorable: they both know he was the one who banished her, but he is so impressed by what she has just done that he cannot believe it. Unlike Daryl, he feels the need to ask her, before hugging her: “Did you do that?” But he already knows the answer and they do not need to speak any more words to know that their relationship is mended.