A Deep Dive into Season 10 of TWD (Part 7)

[Music] hi I'm shalaka marketing expert and certified dork hi I'm Laura graphic designer and all-around artistic golf trick and this is n lives mik every episode we discuss our two favorite characters and relationship from The Walking Dead darl and Carol this episode addresses debilitating mental health issues struggles with addiction suicidal ideation and attempts and psychological repercussions of abuse and Trauma so please take care of your mental health in this episode we cry for 45 minutes just kidding we discuss the aftermath of find me and dig into one of the most underrated Carol and Daryl episodes of all time diverged as it's called let's get started that's a good way to start this underrated of all time the 10 in this episode could be carved with a butter knife so yeah for sure so let's dive into it so this episode picks up directly in the aftermath of Carol and Daryl's fight at the end of find me they're making their way back home uh at what looks like the next morning and it sort of starts off with you know this quiet trudge through the woods and Carol's struggling to open uh the water jug and Daryl hands her Leah's knife so that she can pry it open and there's a lot of attention on that shot of him handing her the knife and we almost see it from first person so we're immediately just sort of introduced to a key symbol of the episode in a way that we're going to remember being shown it in this way there are a lot of little nuances to this episode that dive into so much of the symbolism that was following Carol and Daryl through the whole show but especially in this season you know so I'm not even surprised that we have uh many questions for this episode I think the abundance of questions for this episode really shows that there was a lot of interest for it yeah for sure there's a lot that can be pulled from here from a symbolism perspective from a cinematography perspective from a character study perspective and everything you know yeah we have a lot of questions for this episode and we're going to panp pick a few here and answer them due to time constraints we have to sometimes only pick a few yeah unfortunately but all the questions were lovely so thank you so much for taking the time to do that just to condense it I would say that this that diverged is a study into Daryl's and Carol's characters and their relationship because both of them fully Retreat into their own coping mechanisms neither of them can really wrap their heads around what just happened you know he isolates and does what he knows best it's hunting and providing and being out in the woods and where he feels comfortable and safe because that's where he used to retreat when things went wrong and Carol goes into fixing mode because she wants to mend what's broken literally and they're both in a place where they kind of need space from each other to process but it's interesting because they also in in that first shot where we see them walking right a little bit further away from each other and Daryl is just consistently giving her the puppy eyes and she is very deliberately looking away almost feels like she's telling herself not to cry yeah that's sort of what creates a lot of the tension because it's that idea of needing space from someone but depending on that person so much that it's hard to Fathom taking space from them if that makes sense it's that constant right yeah this is the person that's grounded you when things have gone wrong so you cannot fathom what it's like without them because you never expected things to go wrong with this person that's the fear there yeah and I think what exemplifies it in this scene is um you know when Daryl actually initiates that separation the energy between them was just killing him so much at this point because you see you see there's a few instances um where he's just kind of glancing at her and kind of feeling Out The Vibes yeah and just things are off and they can't fix it right in the second so he maybe feels that taking physical space from each other will be better because then they can you know process without that feeling of oh things are bad between us and I can't stand it especially when she's right here reminding me of it every second right mhm and I think that's why he decided not to follow her all the way home and I think he decided that in that moment what do you think oh definitely I think they're both too wounded right now you know he's very fidgety and it's such a Daryl thing that lets you know that he is nervous right now mhm you know he's on edge and Carol is completely withdrawn which is also a little scary because we've seen her like that too so but it's it's interesting because we've never seen them like that around each other they always around each other so it's just very different him saying you'll make it work you always do or him asking her if she wants a ride home is very very important MH this is him trying to give her an olive branch the roles are now reversed he is fully afraid now that he's broken this and that if she leaves now he might never see her again and even though he mentioned earlier that if she wanted to run he wasn't going to stop her he's going to he's going to Care he's going to stop her he's going to care because now when he realizes oh she's actually going home alone what if she is gone by the time I get back yeah what if I drove her away right and that's why the longer the silence continues the closer he gets to apologizing it was so important for him to say his peace because it had just bubbled up to such an unhealthy level of compartmentalization by that point point he needed to express his needs in their relationship but not in the way he ended up doing it if that makes sense and he crossed a line and he knows that but like you said it was bubbling up to the surface and he just snapped I think In This Moment the reality is crashing into him and he is also worrying that he may have broken this yeah but in saying his piece he's also terrified that this is it right so it's a very comfortable situation to be in yeah I think they're also kind of misreading each other's cues right because they're both dealing with a similar insecurity right now yeah um like Carol obviously you know at face value tells him he doesn't need to apologize as kind of like a formality and darl thinks she doesn't want one because of that so he kind of doesn't know what else to say at that moment besides just good luck and and then Carol takes that as meaning that he doesn't want to apologize right so it's this it creates this feedback loop because they never let these characters talk long enough yeah God yeah I think that's the moral of the story is when things like this happen when conflicts happen they don't know how to regulate themselves and help each other regulate because they've never been here before this is New Territory for them too and they don't know what it's like to not understand each other's physical cues verbal cues and I think the episode does a really great job of establishing that for us the viewers it's it's a very clear call out to the viewer that this is bad yeah this is bad yeah and it's it's very clear when we get to that fork in the road and we see both of them consciously take front roads and that to me personally seeing that was very difficult yeah that's another very deliberate shot right yeah the imagery of darl and Carol splitting down literally down the middle mhm at a literal fork in the road and then at this point Daryl whistles for dog to follow him dog opts to follow Carol instead which is pretty funny because he literally just went father I'm going home with Mama I'm no no longer dog Dixon I'm dog pel now bye but I think it's important to talk about why dog chooses Carol right what is your theory about that for me personally I just think it's dog's way of saying she needs me more right now I think so and he's also maybe a little angry about the way his dad talked to her he heard Daryl yelling at Carol right him being the one initiating a lot of the frustration and and and fighting and and loud voices so maybe he's just a little off-put and he wants to go home with the person who got yelled at I think they they portray dog as being very intuitive right and if we look at the way he's introduced right and find me he's always the one who's seeking out Daryl yeah yeah right and this is dog again consciously making a choice and going with Carol and then you know becoming part of her Adventure instead of Daryl's Adventure I think dog can sense you know what the people in his life need and and who needs him more yeah at this point you know Carol goes home and Daryl stays out to hunt but that idea of luck weaves through into this moment which then carries throughout the rest of the episode I think it's a it's a really big theme in this in this particular episode and and find me this is the end of this first portion of the episode where Dar and Carol are still together and then we move into their separate Journeys so the next thing we see um is that Carol and dog have made it back to Alexandria and Carol finds this scarf and she kind of hangs on to that but then she takes dog home to into Daryl's room and her first comment when they get in is that it smells like Daryl in here and I was like girl I know I know that broke me that line broke me it was such a casual little sentence that she tossed out it instantly sets the expectations for this episode it's very much like what I mentioned in Morning Star she's surrounded by him his scent and all his things and Daryl isn't even near her right now and that's why it's so painful because you can see Daryl in every little nook and cranny of his face mhm at this point to Carol kind of sits with dog and starts telling him about what she did and didn't need from Daryl so in this case needing an apology it's the for the record that gets me and she says you know I didn't need an apology from him I know he meant what he said an apology is just a truce it doesn't fix anything and this may be an unpopular opinion but I am actually glad she did that in this instance just an AP apology was not going to fix anything they needed to sit down and talk period mhm I think you know granted Carol did it because she fully believed she had broken their relationship and I think both of them because of their history of abuse probably had the habit of apologizing to end the conflict yeah I think it's it's part of the reason why she didn't let that happen in that moment too yeah I think you're right on The Mark with that analysis I think in a ology right would have just been kind of a surface level it would have been like slapping a Band-Aid on it yeah yeah and they both know I think deep down that things kind of can't go back to the exact way they were between them at this point there needs to be something more intuitive that comes from that no I agree I agree but Carol is also right about another thing belly rubs fix everything AB absolutely if you have a dog if you have a cat just go give them a little belly rub and just fix your life all better all better you know dog is 10 out of 10 he's the best dog ever so he deserved the belly rubs in the little treat after um dog has gotten settled in Daryl's room Carol goes back outside to talk to Jerry and she asks him for any chores that she can do to be helpful and make herself useful in Alexandria right now yeah and he kind of lists off a few things but she's kind of in that awkward situation where oh you know we don't really need you to do much like right this second but for Carol it's super important that she has something to do yeah and then eventually he says you know what I'm pretty hungry and Carol decides to take on the task of making food it's important though that he gives her exactly the same line that Daryl does when she says oh I'll wrestle something up and she says I'll make it work and he says you always do as the audience we immediately think back to moments like you know the acorn cookies and and things like that right where Carol's always come in clutch with when it comes to food yeah she is that's something that she knows how to do best right and we've seen that she turns to cooking when she is stressed out so this is her way of genuinely relaxing herself and it's important that Daryl is following her around even though he's not there and Carol is very aware of his presence I think just dog being there right is a reminder of Daryl and every time he comes to the Forefront of her mind she doubles down with her coping mechanism at this point Carol also tells Jerry that she picked up that article of clothing mhm and she wants to try to fix it for whoever lost it yeah with no plan of how to figure out who this is but it kind of just becomes a proxy for a lot of the problems that need solving and yeah this little scarf is a very tangible but yet kind of easy to remedy um you know like Placebo for that and it becomes one of many inanimate symbols in this episode for what's going on with the character psyche I think there are so many moving Parts in this episode like I said earlier dog becomes a reminder of Daryl and his p and the scarf is a reminder of Carol's mistakes and the consequences of those mistakes and she is weaving a story of what could have happened to the person who lost this scarf right it's not about the scarf it's about everything else that it represents and it's again a chance to fix something anything and the knife which we'll dive into properly later when it comes up again is also a Keepsake from Daryl because it helps her through the rest of the episode the way he would if he were around and then Jerry in my opinion is the most important aspect of this episode Jerry is the differentiator and what I mean by that is Jerry offers the viewer a clear example of a friend Carol's friend he's known her for a very long time he's seen her through some of the darkest parts of her life mhm he clocks very early on in the episode that she is coping and that something's wrong and he knows immediately what's wrong his existence in this episode explicitly positions him as the friend that Carol needs right now yeah and that explicitly positions Daryl and Carol into the category of friends but clearly more than that because the complication is in that relationship MH I also really liked uh the stone soup story that comes up at this point in the episode it also becomes um sort of a a reference for you know the looming threat of starvation that they're dealing with in Alexandria but but it also sort of highlights Carol's MacGyver esque culinary skills that we were just talking about right so it's it kind of exemplifies how she's going to lean into her rights she is telling a story that would connect with Daryl but it doesn't connect with Jerry because you know it's not what he needs right now and he's just standing there trying to work and trying to figure out if she's okay but then she finally decides that she's going to go make soup but then we cut back to Daryl at this point yeah we get a quick scene of catching up with what Daryl's doing and it's basically just to show us that the the bike is breaking down and and he's going to have to go the next little portion of his journey on foot so this little quick scene also um initiates what the main conflict is for Daryl in this episode I think the bike breaking down and leaving him stranded acts as a metaphor for you know just things breaking down in the community but also in his life and his the most important relationship in his life I think in that way this episode really brings forth a lot of different subtext for you to dig through which becomes very interesting for people like you and me who love subtext but yeah I don't know how many people were able to get that level of value from it yeah it doesn't resonate with everyone and since you brought this up I'm actually curious to kind of get your take on you know the polarizing feedback that this episode got from a marketing perspective diverse is a great episode for studying the characters and their relationships and from purely a marketing lens Their audience too and by there I mean the Walking Dead's audience people either absolutely loved it or they did not a lot of the feedback was very extreme yeah I think it basically breaks down to uh people not liking that the main antagonist of the episode was just a rat but I mean there's nothing wrong with having you know episodes that are more character-driven that slow down a bit and and are a little bit more filler esque but I know like when it comes to certain things especially long shows people despise filler right yeah I can see how viewers who aren't fans of Daryl and Carol specifically would be bored during this episode oh for sure and I think that kind of hits on my next point which is this is a great example of niching down your audience when you're focusing on just two characters in this Flagship show especially one that has a huge Ensemble it doesn't really translate well for the full spectrum of your audiences that may or may not have the same motivations for tuning in not everybody's going to tune in for darl and Carol like you and I do but this was also a CO episode right so it came out during the time when it was very difficult to shoot I'm sure and I think it just gave them an opportunity to focus these Filler episodes on the cluster of characters who were going to go off and have a spin-off of their own yeah and I remember that was one reason why I was very into it but especially when it comes to find me um you know when we learned that without that episode we were going to be missing that context uh of Daryl and Leah yeah she was just supposed to show up right yeah with the in the reaper Arc so I think that would have made it worse and I'm glad we at least got that to give us some more context into you know where Daryl was at with that so there were some there were a lot of benefits to these episodes too and this episode came out when the original carolly and Daryl spinoff was still in the works right mhm it honestly feels like diverged is targeting the fans that love Daryl and Carol specifically and people who love the relationship who love the subtexts around these characters and who've been tuning in just for them yeah exactly and it clarifies their core audience for the spin-off so that they can build on that because you're not going to be able to pull in the entire audience of The Walking Dead for a spin-off that's only focusing on two characters that's not possible you have to clarify which group is going to go there and then cater to that group and then grow that group based on the kind of feedback that you get I did a little bit of research on the ratings and reviews on IMDb for this episode and people who did not like it straight up said they just don't get it they don't understand why Carol is chasing the rat and they don't understand the plot or they just don't understand the lack of the plot and the ones that had the highest ratings and and the reviews that were focusing on just praising the episode instantly resonated with it and instantly went on to discuss some of the things that we're talking about here and it's funny because pretty much every review is praising Melissa not surprising which is not surprising at all but people were talking about Carol's character and the overall performance in this episode and it's very close to 50/50 which is huge yeah it's really good and I pretty sure also there was a lot of review bombing going on too because people were because because again this episode was just so different so that kind of factors in it as well yeah you're right I didn't think about that so that's a good point to bring up too and in a way if the original spin-off had gone as planned right this probably would have given them a clear guideline of what kind of numbers to expect for that spin-off but it is important to note that even in the reviews Melissa shines in this episode mhm I think overall the the thesis of all that was that you can't appeal to every possible audience for a show this big right because there's so many different characters with different fan bases and there's people that watch the show just for their one favorite character right so those people are obviously not going to tune in for a character that is not that character I think in this case right they just needed to find the elements that just overlap with what the core audience wants and what the ga wants the ga means the general audience in this case because that's what helps you build on the core audience and just grow that I think that applies not only to the original spin-off but to the book of Carol and Beyond now because it's I think this episode is a great study into that to look at what was working at wasn't working and the couple of years when people were not sure what was happening I think that's kind of changed where the audience is at now but garnering that support and that trust again is easy when you're leaning on people who understand the characters deeply I think everybody has been very vocal about how much they appreciate Melissa having more creative control over the story and how much they want to see Norman and Melissa's Vision play out that's why it's so important that they're both kind of treated equally in the eyes of the media and just in the promotion of the show and in Billing too mhm okay I'll step off the marketing soap box and we can continue reel me back in Laura all right I'll reel you back into the house because Carol goes back in the house and she begins putting together ingredients that she scavenged from the ground and the pantry just around Alexandria when she hears a noise before that even happens she throws some salt over her left shoulder which is adorable because it's again that was so cute it was so cute and it's this idea again of luck right because for people who are not spiritually inclined as I am throwing salt over your shoulder is a way to cancel bad luck I think there are different interpretations for different religions and different spiritualities but the general idea is you're wording off Spirits um evil spirits or you're canceling out bad luck and there's the closeup of the knife that we get to see before she goes to check on the noise right the noise is coming from Daryl's room and it's dog acting like a jumpy boy and and he made a mess and Carol immediately freaks out at him and she's like look what you did to Pookie's room this is not acceptable she's just like I cannot have more things breaking in Daryl's life on my watch I can't do this exactly and while she's cleaning she spots a book about Pirates among Daryl's collection that she puts back on the table and she sort of gives a little smile um while she looks at it before she puts it back down and I think we all know what this symbolizes I think it adds on to the point that I made earlier where I was talking about Daryl saying something to Carol and then his actions show that no matter what happens he's always going to be there for her and he's always going to be he's always going to want a future with Carol the moment she steps off the boat she asks did you miss me and he says not really yeah which is a lie which is a lie then she says should we should we have matching bracelets and he goes oh my God forget it and then immediately weaves a bracelet for her and the next question go out on the boat with me next time and his response is cooped up in cabins all day that's not me 20 episodes later here we are and Pooky has been actively considering the pirate life he's been actively pirate pilled yeah totally consuming pirate media he's ready to be Pirates heck yeah this book is such a nonverbal way of showing us how much Carol means to Daryl it's kind of him saying okay if this is really what she wants to do to be happy I'll do it just so I can be with her right yeah yeah it's I don't care where we go as long as I'm with you Melissa's comedic timing is priceless we know this but we really get to see it in this episode and that makes me so happy because especially in this moment right Carol's face visibly softens and you can see that her heart warms when she sees just how much Daryl loves her and then suddenly she remembers she's mad at him and yeah she just snaps out of it and puts the book down and walks away um mhm so at this point they kind of break us out of that rev um with a very closeup shot of rat [ __ ] which is just really funny to me and that tells us that Carol has spotted the rat poop on the floor and then she realizes what dog was spooked by and that there's a rat loose in the house so that's a problem and when dog gets spooked again and knocks over the pot of ingredients on the stove now Carol's thoroughly pissed because she really needed something to go right here and that the ingredients in that pot were potentially some of the last few scraps of soup ingredients that they had lying around right so now everything's just really screwed she goes into full dog mom mode right now and I'm here for it yeah I love the way she chats with him yeah it's just the fact that she's casually talking to him that just warms my heart and it's something that every pet parent and pet caretaker understands it's a it's a mode that we all understand deeply mhm um and dog gets it you know dog understands what she's saying so at this point Carol goes outside the walls again to find more ingredients for the soup and I love her energy throughout this whole ordeal from the point that she leaves to the point that she comes back um her energy just reminds me of you know when I get stressed out with work and I I don't want to show it so I really appreciate that little Nuance but it's the resourcefulness that gets me and we all know that Carol is resourceful but there's something about the way she crafts that rat trap uh before she leaves to get more ingredients every single instance the knife is used is very visible yeah and it's very intentional yeah it's very intentional that we're seeing her make good use of it we revisit the last scene with the pirate book and we see her go back into that space and she grabs the things that she would need for the Trap that we didn't even know no were there the first time around mhm you know she grabs the pliers from the floor she grabs the rubber band from the book a couple of other things and she goes inside and that's Carol for you right it's a very effective way of showing us who she is in a very subtle way it's she was able to see these things even when she was preoccupied but we also get the instance of c a later [ __ ] here but in a Carol voice which was adorable mhm at this point we get a a cool fight scene between Carol and a small herd of Walkers who try to cut it on her Scavenging time and again it's just really well shot and you know they intercut with some shots of you know bees pollinating flowers kind of in the background it's really interesting I know she's just like get back here it's hilarious to me it's just Ian just hearing stabbing noises and Carol just being like where are you going get back here to the walkers I don't know if this happens to you there are times when I remember glimpses of Carol from season 1 cuz I'm not even afraid for her anymore I'm just I was just praying for the walkers at this point because she was so angry and I remember going oh you guys chose a bad time this is there's a new sheriff in town I don't know what you're doing literally I think in a more wholesome sense uh this scene also has an added element of personal relatability for me because Scavenging has always been uh you know a sort of oldw world cultural practice of workingclass Italian people so this scene really reminded me of the um I guess rewarding feeling of bringing home things like you know wild fruits or dandelion which is specifically one of the things that Carol forg for this episode that I used to scavenge with my grandparents as a little girl so a we again kind of get that reminder of who Carol is and where she comes from but that transl into a resourcefulness that's kept her and so many others alive for so long in the show mhm and it's the thing that's going to keep them alive now during this famine I relate to this from a cultural perspective as well even though I didn't personally do any foraging which is adorable that you did that but I grew up in a culture where food anxiety was real and we um in India we have a very strong respect for food of any kind because people live paycheck to paycheck and I think this episode really leans into that that ideology of you don't know where their next meal is going to come from and they're in a way sent back to the early days of the Apocalypse right now they have more infrastructure but the infrastructure isn't going to save them from Hunger MH I think that's a more Primal Fear it's it's something that a lot of people can resonate with if you come from a background of a workingclass family or if you grew up in a culture where you've seen hunger or you've witnessed it in some way I think it's uh it really Taps into that fear mhm and I think at this point in the show too there's an added layer of um unease there with with that you know story node because if they're getting to a point where they're just sort of running out of food because of the lack of you know widescale agriculture infrastructure and just like maybe over hunting in the areas that they're in it's genuinely terrifying right so I I kind of likeed that little added element attention to detail so that takes us to another check-in with Daryl and who is also Scavenging for parts to fix his bike and he stumbles across an array of old cars and basically gets to work looking for parts so at first it seems kind of convenient but of course it's the one car with a walker trapped in it that ends up being useful and while Daryl's sort of crawling underneath it to take it apart the Walker inside the car follows Daryl's scent and its movement tips the car basically trapping Daryl underneath but after a little tussle he makes it out with the part he needed and kind of keeps going so it's a relief that that ended quickly yeah I think it's in interesting how Daryl is stumbling through his story while in Carol's story her resourcefulness is what shines through but it is it is very clear that there are parallels between these two stories right the way Carol is talking to dog and the Walkers Daryl is also fully talking to Walkers right now where Carol is continuously able to fix things while Daryl keeps struggling to fix fix them it's faster for her because she has the knife but it's very difficult for Daryl who has to go through the extra steps to find the new Solutions because the knife becomes a missing piece for his narrative we get a cutaway um where Daryl remembers he gave Carol the knife that he needed where they literally replay the scene from the beginning and there's kind of this oh [ __ ] moment on Daryl's face where he's like oh yeah I did that and Carol returns from Scavenging again her energy when she comes back through the gate is so relatable that sort of like fake chipper she's covered in blood spatters as she is being this chipper yeah everything's fine yeah this is fine she's fine Carol then realizes when she gets into the kitchen that she has to fix the power now mhm we get a shot of her fixing one of the solar panels which is really cool she apparently knows how to do that Jill of all trades I love that and can I just say Carol is stressed and working hard this whole episode but she looks absolutely radiant in all of these scenes especially when the power finally comes back on and she has that triumphant little smile and huff she's especially stunning in this episode I have to say we get another catch up with Daryl and he stops and leaves the bike at some train tracks when he hears dozens of Walkers up ahead the shot of him stepping on The Twig is kind of extra but I think it highlights you know something very important it it's it highlights another thing going wrong that's working against them because they're not working together right so we see Daryl explicitly making little mistakes that he otherwise wouldn't that are almost uncharacteristic because he's not in the right head space right now and it's really a stark reminder that he needs Carol with him yeah fine and simple she's the missing piece mhm I think the implication also is that this is happening right after he clocked that he doesn't have the knife and I think he is also preoccupied because of that right now because they made a point of showing that shot the exact shot of how of when he gave her the knife and he's worried that he doesn't have a reliable weapon with him right now too yeah but I think it's also a tool I think would be a better word right um yeah I think what it does is it serves the purpose of showing us that she's brought back to the Forefront of his mind because she is more clear than the knife is in that shot so it's yeah I think it's is very important in that way Daryl has a tussle with one of the Walkers and he eventually claws his way out of this I guess Ravine that they've fallen into and back to the bike with a new Swiss army knife thing that he can use to fix the bike the military also give again give us a hint into the Reapers that are going to come up soon right yeah he he realizes that this group of Walkers he stumbled upon were military personnel because they're all in military gear and then he finds some MREs as well with that the community can use it's another illusion to the Reapers like you said but yeah and and sort of hinting at the the storyline for that first episode in season 11 yeah it's a potential loot right yeah but for right now um it's it's also another win that Daryl gets while he's out here that is going to help the community so I also just really loved uh see you later [ __ ] just something about the way he said it I feel like I want to make that my catchphrase now I get it but for me it's Carol sing songi see you later [ __ ] it just I don't know it just wins me over every time yeah what I we were hinting at earlier uh with Carol having her own version of that earlier in the episode and then now Daryl gets to say it yeah explicitly but I also think that the implication is they're probably saying it around the same time too because these events are happening simultaneously right we're seeing them out of order yeah it's all concurrent it's a really good instance of that connective tissue that shows us how they almost operate as as one unit right One Singular entity I think the issue is that many people often think that Daryl and Carol are two halves of a ho when in reality their relationship is a tapestry it's so interwoven that the threads are interlined and looping around each other and just caressing each other and holding each other tightly and just weaving through each other's lives so seamlessly that you can't even tell which thread is Carol and which one is Daryl anymore mhm breaking them doesn't work because it's not a clean cut when you're cutting a tapestry in the middle you're ripping that tapestry and you're ripping both stories into shreds there's no way they can ever separate from each other at this point they're that linked together and their story is only complete the tap is is only complete when it's both of them weaving it does that make sense at all did that get too poetic no that was perfect so at this point in the story we are moving into the showdown between Carol and the rat and we actually have a question that is perfect for this point in our discussion it's from Paula on Twitter who asks if Carol could name the emotions going through her head throughout season 10 taking all of her traumatic events into account do those emotions repeat themselves knowing her background story are there new emotions which are some of the words unspoken between Daryl and Carol in season 10 that's an amazing question I think throughout the beginning of season 10 it was just incoherent screaming in her head and I wish I were joking right now but for the majority of season 10 Carol is drowning in her grief because she has never actually processed any of it right because she doesn't know how and that goes back to losing Sophia it's just been snowballing since then mhm grief that emerges from the loss of someone important to you presents itself in a unique way every time you face it your brain doesn't know how to comprehend it no matter how much experience you have or how prepared you feel to handle it a lot of your energy funnels into that grief to hold it together and that can disregulated you and unleash all the other emotions you're usually good at keeping in check in Carol's case it's pure un adulterated rage towards Alpha and it blinds her Carol is essentially plonked in the middle of a dark tunnel every time she loses a child and unless she trudges through that tunnel she won't find the light Daryl has always been her port in the storm he's been shining that light from the other side and beckoning her home but Carol has to walk the rest of the way herself to get to him when she's on the other side she'll be ready to speak some of those unspoken words and you know start processing her trauma with Daryl by her side but I think it diverged in Carol's mind that light has finally been snuffed out because she's worried she's the one who did it because she drove Daryl away she didn't but she's worried that she did and I think there's a lot swirling in her mind right now so everything that's happening is coming from that place of not knowing what to do next because her tether's gone or she feels like her tether is gone and she is just lost and I think to add to that why we're bringing this question up at this point in the discussion and where this becomes relevant to The Showdown with the rat is that the rat becomes a physical manifestation of a lot of that right a lot of those unspoken words those un parsed emotions and this is a chance for Carol to physically confront them um in a way that's not as you know overt but the the turmoil of of trying to get this rat out of the house um is a literal manifestation of Carol trying to uh reconcile with all those emotions and and you know just be be upfront with herself be honest with herself and and all these things right so it's a really cool met before it's a distraction but it's not a distraction you know mhm the dog is just watching the whole struggle and she's trying to catch this rat and he's doing nothing but it's also the show telling us very clearly that this is Carol's problem dog can't fix this she has to fix it right yeah and she tries and struggles to draw it out but ultimately she decides to turn in for the night um with dog and resume when the sun comes up mhm and then we get a really really beautiful wholesome bottle scene between Carol and dog they're about to go to sleep and Carol once again just talks to him while they're kind of cuddling on her bed this time um about missing Daryl and she makes the distinction that Daryl always comes back but she doesn't I think it also gives her a moment to just air out some of her thoughts that she's been keeping to herself all day and contemplating what to do next next because she is genuinely worried that she's lost Daryl forever and I think she's really struggling not to just run away because that's such a strong coping mechanism for her and she is adamant at keeping the promise of sticking around and fixing things dog is aware of how much she needs that support right now and he weirdly becomes the support that Daryl would be to her dog almost becomes this extension of Daryl's character and dog literally kisses her on the lips in this scene right yes I loved how he gave her that little like swatting kiss when she suggests leaving again for even a second yeah um he's kind of just like don't even play with me right now you're not leaving yeah and I just have to shout out you know Seven's phenomenal acting in that scene it's great I know seven the best boy he was the best boy mhm I think it also enables Carol to be a little bit more vulnerable about how she misses Daryl too just like dog does and we've never seen her speak about anybody like this on the show we are moving into the final showdown with the rat and this time it doesn't waste any time it wakes them both up in the middle of the night and suddenly it's go time again yeah it's just like we you need to deal with this right now yeah it's like all right I guess we're doing this at 3: in the morning or whatever time it is um Carol hears it behind a freshly drywalled wall I don't know how else to phrase that and what starts as this kind of small incision an almost curious incision to see if just getting that vantage point would help um SPO the rat it immediately turns into this very therapeutic drywall punching Fest where slowly but surely she's taking the whole wall down because she's just it with things not working out it's it's very cathartic to watch I have to say it's very cathartic to watch yeah I think the in the little incision though is a great shot because it is a visual reminder that Carol is literally trying to Peak within herself to figure out what's going on and like you mentioned earlier the rat is literally this idea of the blockage that she's been trying to deal with and she isn't able to grasp bit if you will it's in her space it's in her walls and it's literally ruining her life right now right um and she's just not going to find peace until she's dealt with it mhm just think about that for a second Carol builds walls around herself to protect herself so when she just lets go and starts punching that wall it's this visual representation of her actually breaking those walls down down once and for all to start getting to the root of what's really going on in her life because she's still in the thick of the coping mechanism blanket if you will and she doesn't really find the rat that night either because she's just frustrated right and she's just trying to do the last thing that she can think about right now to get this done and she just sits down defeated because at the end of the day break the walls around her doesn't change the fact that she has to face what's scaring her the most to start that healing process and the fixing process you can't just get to the fixing process directly right mhm yeah the rat really that little rat bastard he really had see he's so much more he had a lot of character he's so much more than just a little rat yeah I'm actually surprised she didn't name him but you know after all that I know yeah I think she just wanted it gone on um anyway the drywall dust beneath Carol's fingernails is also a symbol here um it's a symbol of her crumbling relationship with Daryl and you probably just said that in a way more eloquent way but Carol's lashing out against that feeling of powerlessness that's permeated this whole season right weirdly I think you got to the point a lot quicker than I did so I did I did I know I did I appreciate that yeah you did this sort of brings us to um I I wouldn't really call it a climax but it is sort of the resolution of this episode we're catching up with Carol the next morning and she's patched up the wall already you know like she does and Jerry comes by through the garage and wants to have a nice little one-on-one chat I think this is a good point for us to bring up the next question which I think also fits in really well in this moment and this question is by wind pixie in diverged we see Carol and Daryl go their separate ways then they both struggle alone with their daily tasks do you think each characters realized how much they need each other that day or do you think they were both still too stubborn to realize no I'd like to think that Carol and Daryl are both intuitive enough that I I think in the back of their minds they know that that they know what their problem is they know that things are going wrong at the Forefront of their day because there's a part of them in their mind that's absent right that's yeah struggling to reconcile with the fact that things aren't okay in their personal life and that takes such a toll on you emotionally that it then bleeds into how you conduct yourself physically right yeah I don't think it's hard for them to piece together why they're both so on edge and why they're both kind of off I I agree I think they've realized it it's more about being open about that realization at this point I think they're both definitely very stubborn but I think yeah it's more about when are they going to talk about it right and that is still a question that hasn't been answered so at this point Carol is still in her resistance phase when Jerry shows up to check up on her he just wants to be a friend to her right now we again you know with with this interaction we again get that positioning of Jerry as the friend in her life yeah I feel like everything you mentioned earlier really becomes apparent In This Moment In This scene yeah she very quickly realizes that he doesn't have any motives to try and fix what's going on he's just here for her that gives her an opening to say yesterday wasn't my best day and just to talk about what a bad day it was and something about the way she said it resonated very deeply with me it's when something hurts you so badly that you cannot even put words to that pain you're not sure how to ask for emotional support or even accept it because you're just floundering these cluster of episodes are marking the end of that storm in Carol's life and she's literally struggling with the aftermath of it so it is very important that Jerry is able to see her through that I think it's what she needs right now because she doesn't really know how to explain what she's going through to another person I also think it's really interesting that we get to just see Carol and Jerry kind of in their raw most honest form yeah and it becomes really apparent in this scene that we're you know we're seeing them in a different light than we see them in the Kingdom right where they're kind of dressed up in these kind of caricature roles this is just them and it's really interesting to see you know who they are when all of that is just kind of washed away and it's it's really genuine and wholesome Jerry basically calls her on the fact that Daryl didn't come back with her and cites that as the reason for why he really felt it was important to check up on her and so again he's ackn he's being that voice for the audience and acknowledging the deeper bond that darl and Carol share yeah it's also funny that Jerry is the one who's missing Ezekiel in this moment and he is talking about how Ezekiel might have a saying and she immediately shuts it down yeah it's essentially I don't need a saying right now I need a I need to face the reality and it's showing how far She's Come yeah she's really you know detached herself from that past it's in the past whatever happened and that's not going to help her she doesn't need that right now she needs to fix what's going on with Daryl it's very sad she's worried that she might be broken for real this time and that it can't be fixed I think this is also the most vulnerable moment in the episode for her you know she's finally accepting the part that terrifies her the fact that she might be broken that she broke her relationship with Daryl and I think as I mentioned earlier it's important that Jerry doesn't try to fix it because that's the moral of her Arc in this episode sometimes you can't just fix things you can't just spend all of your time trying to keep this forward momentum going because it's a pattern that many people learn from abusive relationships I think it's a thing that a lot of survivors carry with them you keep trying to fix things because when you don't you're blamed for it and then you're abused for it so I think it's a behavior that a lot of people nurture in a way to just keep the peace if you will and it's not a pattern that's going to leave you you have to unlearn it and it takes time and many times you just have to sit with what hurts and you need to hold space for that the fixing comes later and the second that realization hits her the rat leaves Jerry also gives her some really wise parting words he says a friend thinks you're perfect when everyone else thinks you're broken and it's really an eloquent and significant way of positioning Daryl as the topic of discussion here um in that camp of someone who's always going to be able to look Beyond Carol's own perceived flaws right MH I I agree but I also think that in Carol's eyes she's broken something so precious in her life the only concept thing in her life which is this relationship with darl and Carol's response here makes it really clear how difficult it is for her to hear it right now yeah because I don't think she's going to believe it until Daryl himself says these words to her he is her best friend and that is always going to be the foundation of their relationship and that's what this calls to like you said and I think this is the moment that haralds A New Beginning for Daryl and Carol because they have now officially crossed that boundary and they're in the territory of what are we to each other going forward because we can't go backwards anymore that's sort of the exact dilemma that Daryl's going through right he he needs to set certain boundaries which he tried to do and find me but even that that thought is killing him right because he wants to be there for her no matter what and that just you know serves to highlight this unconditional love that they have for each other right that they both have their own I think self-perceptions about their worthiness but in each other's eyes they're just this perfect Flawless being who can do no wrong and it's really beautiful mhm Carol In This Moment is just covered in dirt and debris from the wall and her hair is just having a moment it's not cooperating and yet she looks stunning the lighting team in season 10 just got it because every time Melissa is on screen the lighting is just impressive In This Moment specifically right her eyes are absolutely breathtaking they're glowing yeah I know exactly what you're referring to there's certain shots where her eyes just light up and just pull you in and become the focal point of of what's going on in the scene yeah so this takes us into the final scene of the episode Daryl's return there's also an interesting tidbit in this scene um just before her and Daryl reunite where Carol makes peace with the fact that she's not fixing that scarf and she tosses it in the trash and she almost looks you know just at peace to do it m and in you know in sort of mental health terms this is an overt sign of healing yeah um the scarf not working out doesn't have to mean game over in all facets of life right and that's sort of what I think this little scene represents interestingly by the time Daryl returns right the objects that were very important to her Arc in this episode suddenly just become objects and they no longer hold the same significance as they did in the beginning of the episode if you notice or not just objects but you know creatures um or characters the rat is gone the wall is just a wall because she's fixed it the scarf is just a reminder of how sometimes you just need to let go of some Endeavors because it's not worth it and dog returns to his dad and uh it's the final piece of her narrative coming to a close in that uh in this episode yeah he alerts her to the fact that Daryl has arrived yeah and they both make cute little snide comments about the state of each other's clothes yeah which is again another important reference to look how much you struggled without me yeah well it it's it's interesting because I saw this as them trying to Veil their General worry for each other but the inability to bridge that Gap right well that's what comes to the Forefront yeah are you safe are you okay but without actually saying it because they're both mad they're still stubborn yeah and it's the moment that Carol realizes that she still has his knife mhm because to her it's not that significant she just it was just a thing that she was carrying with her right yeah and after everything that happened in this episode darl tells Carol to keep it because like you just said the knife no longer represents what it did before mhm I think this is a perfect time to bring up our final question of the episode about the knife specifically it's from Emory on Twitter she says I'd love to hear your take on what you think Leah's knife represents in this episode specifically the way it's passed on from Daryl to Carol I think in a simplistic overt way darl handing off the knife to Carol represents that he's that he's moved past that period of time between him and Leah because I think going back to the cabin uh and find me kind of tied up a lot of loose ends for Daryl and you know it's evident that she never came back to read the note right so that kind of aspect of It kind of closes off death whole segment of his of his life and and his isolation period so I think at this point the knife just represents you know a period of time where there was a lot of emotional turmoil in his life and he doesn't need it to be by his side every day yeah and you know the last time he saw it Carol was making a use of it and he feels that it's going to do more good with her right helping out someone else he cares about than just kind of burning a hole in his pocket the knife has just become a tool in his life right now just like dog is now just his dog this knife is just his knife um I don't think he feels that dog's dog has any connection to Leah anymore because that connection and that loyalty has been transferred over to him just like with the knife and I think when Carol is standing right in front of him holding that knife and saying I forgot to give this to you and Daryl gives her that odd look that cryptic look of just intense longing for one brief second Daryl is thinking about the entire Journey he's faced in this episode from finding out the bike is broken wanting to fix it knowing he doesn't have the knife because he gave it to Carol and going through all the [ __ ] that he went through to get that bike fixed and he realizes that in the grand scheme of things it was so easy to replace this knife and it was so easy to just find another solution to fix the bike and come home to the woman who is now standing right in front of him holding the knife and saying I forgot to give this to you it's his moment of realization it's Carol who he missed the whole time and she is the Irreplaceable part of his life and I think even though you know he's going to let Carol keep it I think it's still very significant that she tries to give it back to him right because the knife is a key tool in Daryl's Arsenal at this point and she tries to give it back which kind of draws on that whole if you love something let it go and then it'll come back to you kind of thing yeah so I think it allows it to come full circle but it positions Carol and Leah in an interesting light at one point in this situation while Daryl is out lost and alone Carol has the knife and dog again in a weird way it's positioning them in this parallel way too you know tying back into what I said before he's asserting new meaning onto it by giving it to Carol now and kind of giving it a fresh start he doesn't want the knife he wants her but if he also cannot have that moving forward I don't think he can stand the thought of him there being nothing in her life that represents him you know mhm I think it's also making sure that he is still going to be somehow helping her through her journey and it's really sad when you think about it that way it's really sad throughout this scene they're both trying to play it cool and it kind of kills me MH um Daryl being like I don't need soup I'm good it's significant because yeah he's refusing comfort and nurturing from Carol and it's him pulling away darl does this little hesitation at the gate before he's about to go um into his room from the back of the house that just eviscerates me because he waits right he waits until he can hear that she went inside that she's closing the garage door and it just makes me wonder do you think there was a part of him genuinely hoping that Carol would just follow him back through that gate to his room so they could talk more or do other things God that was The Hope wasn't it for everybody but um I 100% believed that he was still holding out hope because again the wavelengths are scrambled they don't know what to do right now and when she watched him leave she realized okay well I guess I'll just give him space but Daryl actually did want her to follow he did want her it's so frustrating him waiting there it just it breaks me it just breaks me because it's just it's an opening it's a clear opening right if she went with him but he she can't see it she can't see it we we can see it as the audience but she can't see it but she can't see it because she's at the garage door and she is ready to close it and the second that door closes he's thinking okay the literally the door has closed right he can't you know he he can't wait anymore he has to go and he leaves I'm telling you what d diverged it's the little things it's all the little things that compound into the big stuff and it really tests your knowledge of these characters and their relationship but in a beautiful way where it I think is very thought-provoking that encourages a lot of discourse on it you can very clearly sense Carol's absence and Daryl's narrative and you can see Daryl's presence in hers right which is what amplifies his absence there are these beautifully crafted threads of subtexts that weave into each other and hold on to each other and don't let go and I think it's also the writer telling you how deeply they know these characters in their relationship and I think this kind of writing is what sets a really high bar for the spin-off because diverged very clearly sets off cues and narrative hooks for many different arcs that could still be explored it's going to be interesting to see how they navigate this new separation that's between them what do you think Laura yeah I think that makes it a little bit exciting for me because it's obviously kind of frustrating that you know we're going to have to wait for them to reunite so we can see them integrated on screen again but I think if they draw on you know really rich subtext and that presence that constant presence of them being in each other's story lines throughout the time that they're separated I think there's going to be a lot that they can explore so yeah we want to see this kind of Storytelling um in the book of Carol because there's going to be a place for it and you know we wish they could be together in every single scene they're in because they just light up any scene together but when they can't be together we still cherish that spiritual connection in their story arcs right and they're always when they're not together they're always thinking about each other and longing for each other and all that beautiful stuff yeah I think it's it's that sense of being the missing piece for each other's story right again that tapestry it's never going to go away and I still hope that his longing for her specifically comes out and I think that's a good place to end this episode I'm just going to put it out there for those that think this episode you know had no value look at how much content we were able to draw from it I think you and I could still go on for a couple of hours about this we're stopping ourselves yeah that's what concerns me at this point we're just like we have to eat we have a life we need to stop so we wanted to take more time to cover the find me and diverged Arc before moving on to our season 11 breakdown where we focus on how the rest of the show would have changed if Carol were a part of the reaper Arc so that's what we'll be focusing on next week yeah we're super excited for it so we will see you next week bye by he [Music] [Music]

Channel: Nine Lives Two Mics

Views: 116

Keywords: daryl and carol, caryl, twd caryl, carol x daryl, caryl podcast, podcast, daryl x carol, daryl dixon, carol peletier, nine lives two mics podcast, daryl and carol moments, daryl and carol podcast, daryl and carol season 10, caryl season 10, caryl diverged, carol and daryl diverged

Id: EJPHNNgop8A

Length: 70min 44sec (4244 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 09 2024