The Walking Dead: Melissa McBride talks Caryl and Carzekiel (interview)

Melissa McBride talked about the future of Caryl and Carzekiel in season 9 ahead of the LA premiere of The Walking Dead.

While the newest season of The Walking Dead was informed by such famous battles as World War I and the American Revolution, there’s one topic causing a downright civil war among some of the show’s fans: Caryl vs Carzekiel.

For those not familiar with the shipper lingo, Caryl fans cheer for a relationship between Carol and Daryl while the Carzekiel fandom roots for Carol and Ezekiel. The Caryl camp’s roots go all the way back to season 1, but Team Carzekiel got a big boost over the summer when new showrunner Angela Kang announced on the preview show that the romance between Carol and the King would be strongly featured in season 9.

Hearing about Carzekiel was a devastating blow to the Caryl fans who have maintained hope and faith that after all this time Carol and Daryl were destined to be together. For the record, we’re not claiming one fandom is any better than the other. The Caryl fans have been waiting for a long time to see a longtime friendship based on loss and mutual respect develop into a relationship and the Carzekiel fans have been watching a relatively new romance blossom out of the ashes of war. Both groups are justified in their opinions and beliefs.

During The Walking Dead press day in Los Angeles I had a chance to talk with Melissa McBride about Caryl and Carzekiel. She addressed where Carol is at this stage of her journey and why a relationship in season 9 finally makes sense as Carol finds herself in a good place:

"I do think there is a bit of her being in the moment, and doing the best she can to be in the moment because that’s how they’ve come to live anyway. And it is just carrying her evolution through the first time we’ve met her. It all makes sense that she would be at this point to allow some intimacy into her life and put trust into someone. So that makes perfect sense."

Later, McBride talked directly about Caryl and Carzekiel:

"I don’t see that [Carol and Daryl] is not happening anyway. They are what they are. Whether I say she’s pining for him, whether I saw he has secret feelings, whether I saw they’re just best friend, whether I say they already did have something. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter for them…whatever they are they have each other’s backs, they trust each other more than probably anyone else in their lives. It’s come as you are. They meet each other where they’re at and it’s been that way since I’ve started having to discuss them. That they’re each other’s breathing room. They’re resuscitators. They’re best friends.But then Ezekiel comes along and we saw that in the episode [901 preview] that [Daryl] is happy for her. She confides in him that it’s difficult…what does that mean?I want to see it from where the fans are. Sometimes I get that glimpse, like I understand it as a viewer. I don’t know what else to say. They have a beautiful relationship."

And maybe there’s some truth to that. Carol’s in the enviable position of being with the King and having Daryl as her best friend.  That’s not too shabby!

Stay tuned for the continuation of this interview as McBride discusses filming her scenes with Khary Payton. We’ll also weigh in with showrunner Angela Kang about Ezekiel and Carol and Daryl after the season premiere. There’s a lot happening in the premiere and we’ll have a lot to talk about after it airs. (I’m sorry I can’t say more, but spoilers and all that!)

The Walking Dead returns on October 7 on AMC.