Why The Walking Dead 1018 upset shippers

Pandemic has affected people’s tastes

In a way, it seems that the reason these episodes exist is the same reason that is the final straw that broke the camel’s back for Carylers – the pandemic.

We have all lived through a horrific year of disease, death and depression. Fans had really hoped that these bonus episodes would give fans and the characters a chance to breathe between the traumas in the show and something light to lift them in this time of darkness. Particularly when show-runner Angela Kang described the Carol and Daryl arc as “fun.”

At the start of 2020, the AMC president revealed to the press that marketing research had shown that The Walking Dead’s viewership had dropped significantly largely due to the “hopelessness” viewers felt from the show following the deaths of Abraham and Glenn. The loss of beloved characters, the resulting end of two happy, loving relationships, and the depression and misery of the characters left on the screen, drove some of the audience to walk away and seek something more emotionally rewarding.

With “Find Me,” it seems like The Walking Dead risks repeating this situation, with some fans – but particularly Carylers – feeling that their hope is gone; the cycle of unhappiness is too continuing; the torture of their favorite character too never-ending, and the relationship they love is being destroyed forever. All at a time when real life is alarmingly close to an actual apocalypse and fans are desperately looking for an escape that brings them the hope they weren’t feeling elsewhere. Sadly, for many, “Find Me” was not that.

Hopefully, with still one more Carol and Daryl-focused episode – 1021 “Diverged” – to come in the bonus period, The Walking Dead can win back the shippers and bring fans to a happier place before the hiatus.