Melissa McBride’s award worthy moments
Episode 613: Same Boat and Episode 616: Last Day on Earth
Same Boat was a fantastic episode not only for Melissa’s acting but because fans finally got to see Carol and Maggie together in scenes with substance.
Melissa plays each part of the episode using more than just the dialogue.
The Carol in this episode fights her nature to defend herself and those she loves at all costs. She appears nervous and terrified. Her voice and body shakes and she looks on the verge of tears much of the time.
Some of the scenes that show the variations in Melissa’s acting in this episode are:
The scene where she hyperventilates leaves me gasping for breath and is uncomfortable to watch. At first, I thought she was pretending but within seconds I believed Carol was having a panic attack.
The scene after Carol is attacked by Paula’s Boyfriend, Carol is laying on the floor looking up at the window of the door and sees the walkers. It’s a tiny moment but you can read the calculation on her face, she’s already plotting.
Her clinging to the rosary is an interesting choice, to someone who doesn’t know her, it looks like she is relying on her faith to save them, but in reality she is using it to slowly cut herself free.
One of her best lines comes when she says “you wouldn’t want me to stick to my own principles.” The cigarette bouncing between her lips as she says it with a calmness is small but exceptionally played.
Her exhale after Paula and Moll’s leave the room and she starts putting her plan into action showed her resolution despite her reluctance to kill.
The nervous little bird that begging for Maggie;s baby’s safety or saying Paula and her group should talk to Rick disappears when Maggie is threatened. Melissa projects a coldness and hardness when she pulls the trigger on “Chelle.
Channeling Paula to get the others to go to the kill floor. Not just Paula’s voice but her mannerisms as well.
The moment with Maggie when she tries to open up about how many people she has had to kill and how she can’t not think about it.
Her “no” when asked by Daryl if she’s okay, and the shell-shocked look on her face when he tries to comfort her.
This Episode doesn’t get the appreciation it truly deserves.
Last Day on Earth has one of the most haunting scenes and emotionally draining scenes Carol has ever had. We see her laying on the ground with gun shot wounds in her arm and leg. The savior is ready to pull the trigger one last time and Carol LAUGHS and smiles. When asked what’s wrong with her, Carol says:
"There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m gonna die so there’s nothing wrong with me anymore."
As the savior walks away, Carol tries to encourage him to end it for her.
Melissa was breathtaking in this scene. You felt the almost relief Carol felt that it was almost over, that every bit of crushing doubt and fear that she was becoming like Paula would end. Her smile and tone makes the heart ache for this woman we have watched for 6 seasons.
When Morgan catches up with her later and breaks his vow of “all life is precious” to save her in that moment, her cry of “Would you please just let me go?” was a culmination of how much his words earlier in the season damaged her psychologically and how far the weight of everything since Karen and David, the banishment and the Grove has pushed this warrior down.
In the hands of a less competent this scene would have lacked the essential power and would have come across as fake. Several years later, as a carol fan this scene physically hurts to watch.