Where does The Walking Dead news leave Connie?

A new spinoff in The Walking Dead world leaves questions for Connie fans

It’s been a minute since anyone has seen Connie on The Walking Dead. After the cave in at the cave (pun intended), the last person to see her was Magna and Magna didn’t paint a very positive picture of what happened to Lauren Ridloff’s groundbreaking character. Does the news of a Carol and Daryl spinoff impact Connie’s story?

AMC’s decision to announce the end of The Walking Dead in 2022 after an extended season 11 is an interesting one. The long-awaited season 10 finale is in less than a month and fans have been eagerly counting down the days, so even the prospect of 24 episodes in season 11 isn’t exactly the kind of news fans wanted right now. (And come on, hasn’t 2020 been hard enough?)

However, it’s the news of a Carol and Daryl spinoff in 2023 from Angela Kang that has fans buzzing. This news instantly changes the way fans look at the season 10 finale, Connie’s fate and Lauren Ridloff’s role on the show.

Did Connie survive?

What is the nature of Connie’s connection to Daryl?

Does a Carol and Daryl spinoff mean that Connie dies?

It opens up more questions than anything, and unfortunately it also casts a pall across the fandom and how the season 10 finale is perceived and, possibly, received.

Shipping and ships aside (I’m not a shipper), Lauren Ridloff’s role on The Walking Dead has been groundbreaking. Just as Daryl “Chill” Mitchell’s Wendell demonstrates that someone in a wheelchair can survive a zombie apocalypse in Fear the Walking Dead, Ridloff’s Connie proved that being deaf is a superpower and an asset in the apocalypse. It was Connie who navigated a cornfield to save the Whisperer baby, taking visual cues and signals from Luke, after all.

And whether or not Connie was romantically tied to Daryl matters very little when there is zero question that the duo shared an understanding and a friendship that carried them through some challenging times.

Announcing the Carol and Daryl spinoff before Connie’s fate is revealed is an interesting decision. I’m not one to criticize it until I see what happens in 1016. (And that assumes Connie’s fate is revealed in 1016, which may or may not be the case) It points to so many possible outcomes that won’t be denied or confirmed until the moment her fate is finally revealed, but the frustrating part is that it changes the way we view what’s coming.

My hope is that revealing Connie’s fate hasn’t been spoiled by this announcement. Connie, and Lauren Ridloff, deserve better.