10 Years of The Walking Dead – Daryl and Carol’s journey

In 2010, who could have imagined Daryl and Carol as show leads?

There are some things we couldn’t predict 10 years ago. Okay, scratch that, there are a lot of things we couldn’t predict would be happening in 2020. The future of the Walking Dead is one of them.

When the Walking Dead began in 2010, its story seemed very clear – based largely on Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard’s comic-book, it was the story of Rick Grimes. He was the hero in every sense of the word, and it was his tale we were tagging along with.

A sheriff who wakes from a coma to find a world destroyed, the TV show follows his adventures trying to make his way amongst the zombie-filled land, finding his family and trying to be the good guy he believes this world needs along the way.

It seemed a certainty, based on the source material, and the content of the actual show that this would always be Rick Grimes’ story – and in a way it always will be. Yet here we are in 2020 heading into season 11 with no Rick Grimes on screen.

Many shows lose their lead after a prolonged run, TWD isn’t alone in that, and a lot of shows do cope with this loss as long as there has been a strong ensemble to support and fill the gap. TWD certainly has one of the strongest, on that score.

However, not many shows who lose their lead find the show shifting its weight entirely onto the shoulders of two characters, who weren’t just supporting characters, but were never meant to be characters on this long road, at all.

As TWD heads towards its final season, it is doing so with Daryl and Carol as its lead characters, and even more than that, is looking towards a new exciting future with them at the helm of a spin-off from the original show.

Daryl and Carol would not, in even the most fervent of fan’s minds, been the picks for the future leads of the show back in season 1. Although they are the last two characters standing from the original six episode run, they were at the time not standouts, and frankly had red shirt written all over them.

Carol was the reddest shirt of them all – an abused housewife who was ironing in the apocalypse and had little skills or mindset that would help her survive without the help of the group she had found herself a part of.

Her character exists for a reasonable amount of time in the comics, coming to a tragic and depressing end in the prison arc where she feeds herself to a walker after being rejected by Lori and Rick for a polyamorous relationship.

In the show, she certainly seemed to begin on a similar path to her comic counterpart. Timid and ineffectual, she looked most likely to meet her end in the simplest of circumstances, yet there were a couple of tiny little hints of the character she would become.

As the women do laundry at the water’s edge and the talk turns to what they’ll miss Andrea reveals she misses her vibrator, and with a quick look around to check Ed’s not in earshot, Carol pipes up “me too”.

It’s a little glimpse of the side of Carol we’d get to explore so much more in seasons to come – the sassy, sexy Carol who isn’t afraid to say what she thinks, and has a sharp tongue and quick mind for teasing banter.

Similarly when Ed wants to prevent Sophia from joining the fish fry, Carol’s senses in protecting her daughter from what she has seen in the way her husband has started looking at the girl, kick in. She bravely stands up to Ed, insisting Sophia go with her, risking his wrath.

These little moments go together with the breathtaking moment in the season 1 finale when Carol casually produces a grenade she had saved from Rick’s pocket, rescuing them all from certain death in the CDC.

They are fleeting moments which seem only to give the character color, yet now we can see they were the very building blocks for the woman Carol would become. The writers saw Melissa McBride’s staggering talent and presence, and saw so much mileage in the transformation of the ill-equipped housewife to skilled survivor, they wanted to keep her around.

These things allowed Carol to outlive and outdo her comic counterpart in every single way, and see Melissa McBride go from an “also starring” to eventual lead female in season 11.

Daryl’s beginnings were a little different, in that he wasn’t even conceived of before Norman Reedus rocked up to the audition. Legend has it that when he auditioned for the part of Merle, they felt he wasn’t the right fit, but saw something in his performance and created Daryl Dixon just for him.

It’s fair to say Daryl made a more substantial and immediate reaction than Carol when he appeared on screen, but he was also far from what could be considered leading man material.

The rough redneck with a short temper and the social skills of a raccoon, he was nothing more than the unpredictable, hothead who might endanger any plan undertaken by Rick’s small army.

No one could have predicted that the man who couldn’t even look people in the eye would become a leader.

It’s perhaps only in season 2 that he began to show depth of character and the shape of who he would become, began to form. When Sophia went missing, it was Daryl who took up the search and steadfastly refused to give up on her, both physically or emotionally.

The audience fell in love with Daryl then, and he became the hick with a heart, but still he was clearly a lieutenant in any battle, providing back up whenever Rick needed him.

Without the restrictions of the comic source both these characters flourished thanks to a combination of factors, including the chemistry which the two actors have together.

We saw Daryl become the hero who will do whatever it takes to protect the vulnerable, and who finds a voice to stand up to even his closest friends, including Rick, when he thinks they are wrong.

In Carol we see a woman who becomes a one-woman army, supreme strategist, sharp shooter and who has a core of steel to keep on going despite loss after loss. And together we see them have a truly special relationship that has captured the hearts of a huge part of the audience.

They are so far removed from the characters we saw in season 1, and yet their transformation has been organic and real and built on the seeds planted in the very beginnings of the show.

So while looking back it may be utterly surprising to see these two side-characters move up the ranks to become the leads, for those who have been along for the ride the entire time, it’s not so shocking.

Daryl and Carol are truly iconic characters – in a show which has given us more than a few – and their journey from bit-players to starring leads, while surprising is utterly deserved.

They are compelling heroes, with real heart, and a connection to the audience that’s unparalleled,  portrayed by two hugely talented actors, who have a chemistry you can’t buy. It’s no wonder AMC wants to keep them around.