The Walking Dead: Carol’s biggest moments as a mother

Sam – Cookies with a side of death threats

Carol thrived in the early stages of the group’s time in Alexandria, managing to maintain her survival instincts while portraying herself as happy to live the calm domestic life behind Alexandria’s walls.

There is no better example of this than the dynamic between Carol and Sam Anderson, Jessie’s young son who had been in Alexandria for a while. Their first real interaction involves Carol threatening to feed Sam to walkers if he tells people about Carol breaking into the armory to steal some weapons. This frightens the child who has lived his whole life behind walls, and the menacing way that Carol makes this threat only adds to the intimidation.

Later on, Sam becomes clingy, begging Carol to make cookies with him. Carol eventually caves and talks with the boy while they bake, once again highlighting Carol’s ability to fit in at Alexandria even if it isn’t how she really wants to live.

While Carol’s motherly dynamic with Sam showed her ability to adapt to Alexandria while staying on her toes, it also touched upon a dark time in her life. During that conversation with Sam, Carol begins to realize that he is suffering from abuse at the hands of his father. This doesn’t sit right with her after she suffered from something similar with her former husband Ed. She informs Rick about this, and while Rick did not necessarily handle the situation in the best way, Carol did help to get Sam out of an abusive life.

They may not have shared too many moments on screen together compared to her other children, but Carol’s relationship with Sam was a reminder of Carol’s ability to be a hardened survivor who can still care for others.