The Odd Couple: Surviving The Walking Dead, Episode 6
LatestLast night on The Walking Dead, we finally caught back up with our beloved, crossbow-slinging non-couple Carol and Daryl, as they continue their quest for Beth while avoiding obvious sexual tension. Carol and Daryl: On The Run.
Walking Dead likes to play with the idea (and perception) of strength and weakness, and much of that is reflected in the women characters (and Tyreese). The post-Apocalypse version of Carol was forced to access a toughness that was dormant during her years with an abusive husband. This mental reboot was good for her. “At the prison I got to be who I always thought I should be, thought I should’ve been,” she says in one of her tête-à-têtes with Daryl, mid-Beth-Search. Getting a do-over is a weird, welcomed side effect in this world, where everyone’s morality evolves by necessity.
“Consumed” also fills in the blanks of how Carol survived alone after Rick banished her from the prison. It’s all about the power of a second chance, which Carol earned after her Terminus stunt and which she passes onto the likable-then-hateable-then-likeable Noah, who’s the third wheel in this episode. Here’s What Would Jezebel Do?
1) Would we shoot (to kill) Noah as he’s trying to escape?
Yes. Our first instinct, like Carol’s, would be to shoot at him. Before we get there, though, the cliffhanger from a few episodes ago picks up with Carol and Daryl pursuing the car that kidnapped Beth. It turns out to be cops from Grady Memorial (aka the Hospital From Hell). While Caryl is spying on the cops at a stop, the car breaks down but Carol knows a safe place nearby.
That place is a shelter, where she once stayed for temporary refuge from her husband. After scoping it out, Carol and Daryl end up in an office full of tufted chairs and get to talking about, you know, life and how much they’ve changed. “How did we get here?” Daryl asks. It’s another bonding moment. There’s talk of starting over and Carol mentions “burning” her former selves. After the episode, I listened to Sam Smith’s “Restart” twice.
In the morning, as they’re heading out a narrow door, Carol puts her gun on the floor outside the crevice and crawls out. I sigh. There to greet them with a gun in their face is Noah, who jacks Daryl for his precious crossbow. Carol, a G, tries to shoot at Noah as he’s fleeing. She claims she was aiming for his leg, not to kill. But I don’t underestimate Carol’s kid-killing potential. She would’ve done whatever was necessary. It’s a good thing she didn’t. “He’s just a damn kid,” says Daryl. “Without weapons, we could die,” she reasons.