Melissa McBride’s award worthy moments

Episode 710: New Best Friends and Episode 916: The Storm

In season 7, we see a Carol who has done pretty much everything she could to isolate herself from others.

Living alone in a little house away from the communities, but still close enough for “visitors” or if she needs supplies.

The difference in Carol’s reaction to her back to back visitors was stellar acting by Melissa.

Using mostly facial expressions, body language and tone, you feel her frustration while Ezekiel and company visit but she also can’t help but take the cobbler.

After she walked back in and picked up her book, I knew exactly how she felt at hearing the knock at the door again. the next bit was beautifully done by both Melissa and Norman.

The entire sequence from the moment she hears the knock till right after Daryl leaves deserved a nomination.

She opens the door. the shock on her face, the hitched breath and the tears in her eyes as she sees Daryl standing there. However you see their relationship, that moment was powerful because of the characters bond and all the realism in how Melissa played it.

The next big scene for her was her sitting by the fireplace trying to explain why she left:

"I couldn’t lose anyone, I couldn’t lose any of them.  I couldn’t lose you. I couldn’t kill them, I could, I would…. If they hurt any of our people, any more of them that’s what I would do. And there wouldn’t be anything left of me after that."

The rest of the scene showed many of the nuances of her acting ability that I have mentioned before. The quavering voice as she asks about the others, the desperation to hear they are ok.

Her joy at having Daryl there at the table and his words that everyone was ok.

Her holding on when he hugged her goodbye and the clear indecision on her face after he left were astonishing to watch.

In “The Storm” we see the after effects of the loss of Henry and the loss of the Kingdom. Her grief over Henry is  different from her grief over other losses. You can feel the devastation but also the underlining anger she feels. Her comments about how they never agreed to “those boarders” set up her actions in the next season.

It was her scenes with Lydia that really packed a punch. The way it was played by Melissa, I feel Carol saw some of who she was in Lydia, the statement by Lydia about being weak and “I don’t know” when asked what she was doing seemed to resonate with Carol.

Melissa was able to still show her grief but also offer words of comfort to Lydia and reassure her that she wasn’t weak  while offering her hand to return to the group.  Like the scene in “New Best Friends” the  indecision on her face about  whether or not she would grant Lydia’s request to “end it” told the story in ways words never could.

Her confession to Daryl that she feels like she’s losing herself again was another scene that shows no one cries better than Melissa. it’s not weakness but the fear of that loss of self that once again shows the struggles Carol faces with the duality of her nature.  It was also a bookend to their scene in 9.1 on the dock.

The final scene with Ezekiel as she tells him she’s going back to Alexandria with the others and gives him his ring while telling him she doesn’t regret the “fairytale” was a perfect example of how some marriages just do not survive the loss of a child.

This episode was not well received by some after the events in 915 but it was a much needed episode.