The Walking Dead: The best Carol moment from each season

10. Carol manifests Alpha: Episode 1014 – “Look At The Flowers”

Throughout season 10 we see Carol is struggling to move forward with her life, much as she wants to. As long as Alpha is alive, she is unable to put Henry’s death behind her, and she is tortured by the need to do something, anything, to end Alpha and let Carol rest in peace. So much so that it is revealed she released Negan, to use him as a tool to get close to Alpha and kill her.

Yet, this plan took time, and in the meantime Carol was compelled to do everything she could to take out Alpha’s biggest weapon – the horde – resulting in unrest, blame, and the possible loss of Connie. Carol is almost addicted to the need to take action, no matter the risk, and in the process pushes everyone – including her closest friend Daryl – away from her.

So, when Negan finally delivers Alpha’s head to Carol, it isn’t enough. It doesn’t quieten the tide of grief and hate roaring inside her, and she contemplates once again taking flight to attempt to find solace in solitude.

While she begins down the path to departure, Carol’s own mind steps in and we see a physical manifestation of her self-hatred and doubt in the form of Alpha. Her arch-enemy appears as a hallucination to taunt and question Carol on what she is trying to do, and ultimately what is it she wants.

Trapped under a collapsed half-rotted shed where she’d gone to steal a boat, Carol’s guilt and misery reach a peak as she finds herself in the same fate she may have left Connie under. She wrestles with her mind and heart, with Alpha representing her worst thoughts about herself and her greatest fears. Eventually she must decide how much she is willing to fight for her own life, and for those who she loves back in Alexandria.

In another brilliant pairing, Samantha Morton is a perfect foil for Carol, and McBride matches her line for line as Carol triggers herself with thoughts of Henry, Ezekiel, and Daryl, before an epic moment of decision. She is forced to dislocate her own shoulder in order to save her life – an injury that connects back to her life with Ed – as she breathlessly announces “it’s never too late”, and Carol makes the decision to start getting her life back.

Who knows where Carol’s journey will lead both in the season 10 finale and beyond, but from 10 years viewing experience we know that whatever it is Melissa McBride will give it so much heart, warmth and brilliance we won’t be able to tear ourselves away.