6 Things We Want to See From the Daryl & Carol ‘TWD’ Spinoff
Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) have long been “The Atlanta Two” — the final two characters who were part of The Walking Dead’s original Atlanta survival camp in the show’s first season. Their stories were the only ones that had been told throughout the entire series; and now, with the announcement of a spinoff devoted to them airing in 2023, their relationship will continue after TWD is gone.
Scroll down to find out what we’re hoping to see when the as-yet-untitled Daryl and Carol spinoff airs in three years.
The Walking Dead, Season 10 Finale, Sunday, October 4, 9/8c, AMC
New Locations
…like New Mexico. The duo joked around in the Season 10 premiere about “taking off” and “heading out west” specifically to New Mexico, but it didn’t seem like they’d actually do it—even though Carol seemed more than willing to leave it all behind with Daryl.
Now, with this spinoff, it seems possible that New Mexico might really happen. If it does, that’d be a great way to expand the scope of the show beyond back roads and dilapidated buildings in Georgia; a different setting would be a breath of fresh air.
New, Unique Characters
Daryl and Carol are great examples of how the TWD franchise can excel when it’s not going off its comics blueprint. Daryl’s not in the source material, and on Kirkman’s pages, Carol (who hardly resembles her on-screen counterpart) died at the prison. Other characters, like Morgan (Lennie James) have also remained relatively interesting without comic source material to draw from.
All of this to say, it’ll be interesting if the show invents its own cast of characters rather than drawing from the comics or retaining most of the TWD cast. Some of the most interesting characters in the franchise—Daryl and Carol, Nick, Madison and Alicia Clark, Troy Otto—didn’t come from source material, and it’ll be interesting to see who Angela Kang concocts for Daryl and Carol to encounter.
Good Villains
If there’s one thing Angela Kang has excelled at in her time as showrunner, it’s been making TWD scary again. The Whisperers were sufficiently horrifying, partially because they wore dead people’s faces, and partially because of how they got inside our favorite survivors’ heads—particularly Carol’s.
If the spinoff is going to be successful, it’s going to need a good antagonist for Daryl and Carol to go up against. That antagonist would fall outside the parameters of the comics, we assume, but we bet Angela Kang can dream up someone pretty awful, who we can love to hate.
Old Friends, From Time to Time
With that said, we don’t want Daryl and Carol to be without any of their old friends. Assuming a few of ‘em make out of the Season 11 finale—and we think that’s a safe assumption—it’d be nice to see them show up on the spinoff. Judith (Cailey Fleming) could certainly make an appearance, as could Michonne (Danai Gurira), Maggie (Lauren Cohan) or maybe even Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Or—dare we hope—Daryl might find his long lost best friend, Rick (Andrew Lincoln)?
Daryl, Carol, Lydia and Dog
We’re hoping the spinoff also allows Daryl and Carol to spend time with Lydia (Cassady McClincy), since she’s Daryl’s semi-adopted daughter and Carol’s… well, it’s complicated given that Carol betrayed her trust earlier this season, but we suppose it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call her Carol’s friend.
They all have so much in common, having suffered through abusive childhoods, and it’d be wonderful to see them get to be happy together and help each other heal from the traumas of their pasts. And, of course, Dog has to be there. Have we seen Carol and Dog interact? On the spinoff, we’d better.
Daryl and Carol, Happy and Together
Plenty of fans still, after a decade, want to see these two as a romantic couple. But whether or not the spinoff sees them take that step, we hope they’re not “just surviving from one fight to the next,” as Daryl said in the Season 10 premiere
Some of Season 10’s best moments have been Daryl and Carol together, relatively happy. Their reunion in the premiere was heartwarming, and them throwing acorns at soda cans while teasing each other was very sweet. Carol has dreamt about a happy life where it seemed she was married to him (which seems to imply she, at least has romantic feelings). We hope the show makes time for lighthearted moments in their relationship, as well as them dealing with whatever darkness might come their way.
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