After finishing Season 2 of AMC’s The Walking Dead, I found myself obsessing about what might happen in Season 3. Luckily I have cable through a site similar to infinitydish.com, so I’ll be able to watch it as soon as it’s back on TV. I am not talking about thoughts of next season’s anticipated prison backdrop or how the death of Dale or Shane will ultimately effect the group, but I am absolutely fascinated by what I thought was my own flight of fancy, romanticizing the relationship between Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier. Obviously from the above video, I am not the only one who is anticipating this new love amongst the gore.
What is it about them that has my girly romance meter buried deep in the red? It took me a while but I finally realized why I am ready to sign a petition, if necessary and available, to let TWD producers know I am 100 percent behind this TV hookup. This relationship between Daryl and Carol is everything that I love about Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. The tortured hero, brutal when necessary but with a working moral compass that will always point him to what is right, and although life has been nothing but brutal to him, he still shows kindness to others.
From The Guardian’s Seth, tortured daily for 4,000 years in the hell realm, to Night Pleasure’s Kyrian of Thrace, betrayed by his beloved wife and delivered into the hands of the Romans to be tortured and crucified; from Seize the Night’s Valerius, the Roman General crucified by his own family for not being brutal enough and who has spent the last few millennia being ostracized by his fellow Dark Hunters, most of whom were killed or lost family to the Romans, to Night Play’s Vane Kattalakis, a Katagaria were-hunter raised in a dog-eat-dog (or more to the point, wolf-eat-wolf) world where everything from food to sex is fought for with tooth and claw, these are all heroes who fight to save the innocent from the soul sucking daimons who feed off the living, and after a lifetime of enduring nothing but their own pain and suffering, they meet that one person who shows them nothing but kindness, gentleness and unconditional love that it is so absolutely life changing to them.
After Season 1, I thought nothing more of Daryl Dixon’s character than that he was a narrow minded, hot head, but he was pretty cool with that crossbow. When Season 2 started and Sophia was chased into the woods by the “walkers” and Daryl steps up as the hero to search day after day for the little girl and always offering support to Carol to help keep up her spirits, I suddenly took notice. When he offered Carol the rose and told his “Cherokee Rose” story which brought tears to my eyes, I became an instant fan. But that one moment when Carol leans over to give Daryl a kiss on the cheek, and he actually flinches away, presuming she will hurt him just like everyone else in his life so far, that just broke my heart and since then I have been waiting and hoping for something more to develop between them.
Although Daryl Dixon’s neglectful childhood and abusive older brother, has nothing on Kenyon’s Acheron Parthenopaeus’s upbringing which was so brutal I will never be able to bring myself to read that again, I want to see him realize that Carol offers a kindness and a strength missing from his life.
These two characters definitely deserve a HEA (or as best one can get during a zombie apocalypse), and I believe Carol Peletier is that one person who will be life changing to Daryl Dixon; if only he has the courage to embrace what she can offer him. I am dying to see the changes to his character after finally finding that one person who will give him that unconditional love and acceptance.
I have my fingers crossed, what about you?
I’m glad I’m not alone in my hopes for Daryl and Carol. The highlight of the Season 2 finale for me was Carol and Daryl riding away from the farm on his motorcycle. I can’t wait to see what next season brings for them.
It is definitely an intriguing thought. I am always wondering why he helps her and tries to comfort her in what seems to be the best way he knows how. Then it seems he gets mad at himself for feeling anything.
Every time I tell my friends that I think Carol and Daryl are meant to be or should hook up etc, they laugh! They think she’s more of a mother figure, and I completely disagree. I don’t think Daryl knows what it is like to feel those feelings with a woman. I love that the Walking Dead has built up these interpersonal relationships amidst this apocalypse. While zombie violence is always a delight, I appreciate the depth of this show.
Best on television hands down.