There has been a lot of sending within the “Walking Dead” fandom, and it hasn’t all been in vain. For example, some fans were getting Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) on board together long before the characters actually connected in Season 6 of “The Walking Dead.” It wasn’t safe either, as the pair never became a romantic couple in the original comics.
Unlike “Richonne,” however, many “Walking Dead” fandom ships failed to work. The clearest case would be Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride). In making the case for “Caryl,” shippers went back to Season 2 of “The Walking Dead,” noting that it was Daryl who put the most effort into finding Carol’s lost daughter, Sophia (Madison Lintz), and was also the one who comforted her when it was discovered that Sophia had been transformed into a walker. They would also highlight Carol’s brilliance in Season 4, when she seamlessly evolved from a near-background character to the show’s toughest survivor; from that point on, she and Daryl were equals, and every scene between them was delightful.
Alas, this was not the case. Not only did the two never meet during “The Walking Dead’s” 11 seasons, but the spinoff series “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” (which reprises Daryl in France) has since explicitly put that fan theory to rest. When a character named Valentina (Irina Björklund) wrongly assumes that Daryl is Carol’s boyfriend, Carol responds, “Never.” Daryl agrees with her, adding a definitive “No” and leaves. Of course, they don’t just feel like they’re talking to Valentina; it feels like they’re speaking directly to those watching at home.
The Walking Dead Franchise Will (Probably) Never Explore a Daryl and Carol Romance
McBride spoke about the scene in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in September 2025, saying, “It’s kind of a big step forward. [showrunner] This is David Zabel talking about it in one way or another. This gives rise to all sorts of things online. »
She added: “I think we [Reedus and I] both enjoyed this scene and I think it was handled well. It was light, it was fun, it was unexpected. ” She apparently couldn’t help adding: “And yet, if I may say so, there is still something a little ambiguous about it. » And with that little comment, the window opened once again, and thousands of Caryl shippers rejoiced.
Meanwhile, Reedus shared his thoughts on the scene. “I wanted to be light, but I definitely wanted to have an exclamation point,” he explained. Rather than lightly hint at the possibility of a romantic relationship, Reedus made it as clear as possible that it would never happen:
“We’ve never let on that we’re a couple in 16 years. You have fans who just want to see this one thing, and if you give it to them, it’s done forever. We really tried our best to take this show and make it original and less about zombie scares and who’s going to date who. […] You can’t really write for YouTube comments. You just can’t.”
Daryl and Carol continue a centuries-old television tradition
Daryl and Carol’s friendship over the past 15 years has scratched an itch similar to the relationship between Don (Jon Hamm) and Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) in “Mad Men” or the friendship of Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sidney (Ayo Edebiri) in “The Bear” or the dynamic of Tony (James Gandolfini) and Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) in “The Sopranos”. Viewers tend to like and respect television shows in which a leading male and female character are allowed to be friends, enjoying an emotional but never romantic connection. The Tony/Melfi example is a bit iffy (Tony makes a few attempts at seduction over the years, and she’s technically not his friend but his therapist), but the show’s complete refusal to cater to the more horny sections of its fan base is still notable.
You could argue that television has actually veered too far in the other direction lately, turning away from romance to the point where platonic relationships between men and women are starting to seem as clichéd as the forced romances of old. This is why some of the “Bear” fandom’s overly congratulatory tone towards Sidney and Carmy has annoyed me a bit over the years; in 2022, when the series premiered, their lack of romance wasn’t as unprecedented as some fans claimed.
Still, the point remains: Sometimes a pair of male/female characters are better off remaining friends, even if they are both ostensibly heterosexual and single. The “Walking Dead” writers’ choice to keep a Caryl romance off the table because it didn’t feel natural to them, even though fans pushed them for it for over a decade, is commendable. The connection between Daryl and Carol has always been special, and the show has never needed romance between them to achieve it.
