When a character on The Walking Dead is going through an existential crisis, it never means good things for his or her future. Unfortunately, that character is currently Carol, who left Alexandria during the March 20 episode, "Twice as Far." For the last three episodes, Carol has been conflicted over her own past actions, culminating in her struggle over whether or not to kill Paula. Then, the events of "Twice as Far" pushed her over the edge and though it wasn't clear where Carol was going, a letter she left indicated that she plans to be on her own.
Since the beginning of the episode had Carol chain smoking cigarettes, getting a kiss from Tobin, and praying the rosary on her front porch swing, I knew Carol was not in a stable place. One of the best character transitions in The Walking Dead's history belongs to Carol, who started in Season 1 as a shy victim of domestic abuse and blossomed into the strong willed, badass defender of her group at Terminus by Season 5. Yet, she has often been an outsider, like when Rick banished her from the prison after she killed Karen and David or even now, as she goes through Alexandria pretending to be a meek person.
After counting the number of people she has killed in March 6's episode "Not Tomorrow Yet," Carol seemed to be haunted by her past deeds. So when Daryl returned to Alexandria after a run with a dead Denise and an injured Eugene, Carol decided it was time to leave the compound. In a letter to Tobin (I still cannot express how angry I am that this is the man she chose to start a relationship with), she expressed that she needed to leave the walled-in town. Since she did pretty well on her own when she was forced to leave the group by Rick, she's not new to the whole lone wolf thing. And while her decision makes no sense to me, I know she can handle being on her own and that she needs to escape the community to be on her own for awhile.
Unfortunately for her, but oh-so fortunately for us, the preview for the March 27 episode looks like Daryl will be headed out to find her. Although I think Carol is sincere in her need for space, Daryl may be emboldened by Denise's speech to him before she died about letting go of fears. And not to go all 'shipper on you, but Daryl and Carol belong together — even if that just means platonically killing walkers and living threats side-by-side. Let's just hope that both of these characters will live through The Walking Dead Season 6.
Images: Gene Page/AMC
