The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 marked a big change for the spin-off. For the first time since the series started, Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) started the season together. For fans of the duo, it was a dream come true. With a plethora of angsty hurt/comfort moments in Season 3, Episode 1, even “Caryl” naysayers seemed to wonder if the longtime besties were inching toward something more romantic. However, flash forward to Season 3, Episode 6, and Carol’s kiss isn’t with Daryl, but with Antonio (Eduardo Noriega).
At this point, it seems silly to even hope that Carol and Daryl could end up together before Daryl Dixon wraps with Season 4. Carol has a new love interest, and Daryl seems intent on avoiding romantic feelings for the foreseeable future. Yet, parts of Season 3 actually set up a competent Carol and Daryl romance… should Daryl Dixon choose to go that way. And, yes, I might be just delusional enough to suspect it might.
Daryl Reserved His ‘I Love You’ For Carol
To understand the dynamic Carol and Daryl are in now requires a little backtracking. Season 11 of The Walking Dead memorably ended with them exchanging “I love yous.” Daryl’s declaration is gruff, deep, and deadly serious. Had the two kissed right then and there, I don’t think many fans would’ve been surprised. However, Carol’s return “I love you” is more light-hearted and gigglier. The two embrace, and Daryl rides off, kickstarting the setup for Daryl Dixon.
Filtered through a shipping lens, I wonder if Daryl thought about kissing Carol, but decided against it because of her reaction. But then, Season 1 of Daryl Dixon happens. Carol isn’t there (filming in Europe didn’t work for Melissa McBride at the time), and Daryl slips into a slow-burn romance with Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) that reaches its climax in Season 2 when Isabelle tells Daryl she loves him. The interesting thing? Daryl doesn’t say it back.
Now, there are a couple of reasons this could be.
One, Daryl is the king of emotional unavailability. Two, Daryl realized he didn’t actually love her. And we all know Daryl doesn’t like to say things he doesn’t mean. Norman Reedus seems to agree with the latter, believing Daryl didn’t truly love Isabelle, but liked the idea she represented: Someone to settle down with and to live in the moment with, hence their “carpe diem” discussions. Reedus even described their kiss as “experimental” in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, suggesting it wasn’t so much romantic feelings that pushed him toward it, but the seduction of settling down, to stop running.
What’s undeniably compelling about this whole thing is that Daryl said “I love you” to Carol first. And yes, before everybody clacks angrily away on their keyboards, I acknowledge that there are many types of love. What Daryl and Carol share can, and very well may, be platonic. However, Daryl not saying “I love you” to Isabelle, not long after saying it to Carol, feels purposefully significant.
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Daryl Gets More Vulnerable With Carol in Daryl Dixon
Come Season 3, Daryl’s exploration of settling down continues. In the opening of Daryl Dixon Season 3, Episode 1, Daryl turns to Carol and says, “Now all we do is run and fight. That ain’t no way to live. Do you ever think about that?” The conversation comes full circle in Season 3’s final episode when Daryl confesses, “This whole time I’ve been trying to get home, but why the f**k did I leave in the first place?”
Here, Daryl seems to realize that he already had what he fantasized about in France: a home and people who love him. In a pretty staggering display of vulnerability from Daryl, he continues to tell Carol that he’s fearful he’ll just keep “running and fighting.” Carol, who has a newfound sense of peace since finding some closure about Sophia in Season 2, offers, “Maybe it’s finally safe to go home and stay.” This was the theme of Season 2. The possibility of Daryl settling down, maybe even with a woman. He didn’t seem sure of Isabelle.
However, the long, intense stare he gives Carol suggests he is considering it for her.
Blame Reedus and McBride’s easy chemistry if you want. However, the moment feels important, even a little electric, like the prospect of a future different from what they expected exists between them. Who knows, if Daryl and Carol ever do get together, this could be the scene fans point to. Maybe it’s the moment Daryl realizes he has deeper feelings for Carol.
At the very least, it proves Daryl listened to Carol in Episode 1 when she claimed that he hides his thoughts and feelings from her. Not long after, he shared the contents of his bat guano-induced hallucinations from Season 2 with her. Here, he lets her into his heart again and tells her he’s afraid. Vulnerability isn’t easy for Daryl, yet he makes an effort with Carol. He clearly feels safe with her, just like she feels safe with him.
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Valentina’s Carol and Daryl Romance Confusion Feeds the Theory
Perhaps one of Season 3’s most compelling moments occurs in Season 3, Episode 4, when Valentina (Irina Björklund) confuses Carol and Daryl for a couple. (Not the first time this has happened, might I add.) Carol quickly stumbles over a correction while Daryl utters a big, awkward, “Nope.” While it’s easy to view Daryl’s response as dismissive, it also reads as a bit aggravated. Whether that aggravation comes from the misunderstanding or the idea that he might have missed his shot at romance with Carol is up for debate.
Let’s also point out that Valentina’s earlier remarks about Carol needing companionship end with a shot of Daryl standing off in the distance.
Here, the camera almost acts like a glimpse into Carol’s mind. When Valentina suggests companionship, the camera immediately jumps to a close-up of Daryl. Daryl Dixon didn’t need to give us that shot. It could have just as easily inserted Antonio instead. Just like Carol’s contemplative look after Valentina’s “think about it” comment makes it seem like she’s thinking about the possibility of romance with Daryl. As Melissa McBride herself said in an Entertainment Weekly interview, “… there’s something still a little ambiguous about it.”
Even so, Carol ends up locking lips with Antonio—and it makes sense. Antonio has shown romantic interest, and he’s been vulnerable with Carol pretty much from the get-go. Still, I can’t help but think he doesn’t know Carol yet. He’s barely seen the badass, ruthless, and often manipulative version of her responsible for some of The Walking Dead’s best scenes, and I’m not quite sure how he’ll react to that side of her. Right now, Antonio seems like a sensitive cinephile who isn’t particularly fond of confrontation. However, every relationship has to start somewhere, and apparently, theirs officially starts in Season 3, Episode 6.
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Daryl Dixon Season 4 Has the Bones of a Compelling Love Story
Even if Carol has entertained something more with Daryl (Thinking about you domestic Daryl dream in TWD Season 10!), he hasn’t shown the same level of overt interest as Antonio, even with all the intense stares, desperate hugs, and “I love yous.” But that’s always the hang-up with friends-to-lovers stories, isn’t it? Usually, when two people start fantasizing about something more, they fear that the addition of romance will result in the loss of friendship. Ultimately, though, the two people realize they’re the only people who truly understand each other and finally take the leap.
Right now, Daryl Dixon isn’t too far off from delivering that kind of story. Carol crossed the ocean to find Daryl. If Daryl realizes he didn’t love Isabelle because he has feelings for Carol, and Carol comes to the same conclusion about Antonio, bang, you’ve got a romance for the ages. Interestingly, Antonio possesses the very thing Daryl and Carol lack: the desire to stay, not run. He loves Solaz despite the bad things happening in it. Really, he only “runs” in Season 3’s finale because he has to. Perhaps our heroes will learn a lesson from him in Season 4.
However, as I see it, a Carol and Daryl romance lives and dies on Daryl. If he shows romantic interest in Carol, she’ll take that leap. As Carol admits to Valentina, “I tried being on my own a few times. I thought it was the answer, but it wasn’t.” This version of Carol has already learned that running and fighting aren’t the answers to long-term happiness. Maybe that’s what she finds so enticing about Antonio. Still, Daryl seems to be reaching the same conclusion on his own, which could draw her eye.
What I suspect, and what I hope, is that romance will bloom when Daryl and Carol realize it’s okay to settle down at the same time. They’ve never really existed in that headspace together. Usually, they just take turns running, fighting, and chasing after each other. So, don’t count Daryl Dixon Season 4 out yet. Yes, showrunner David Zabel doesn’t love the idea of a Carol and Daryl romance, but sometimes, the characters end up telling the story they need to tell anyway.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has been renewed for Season 4.
It’s sad but Caryl is never happening
Daryl told Carol he loves her in season 11 but he didn’t say as a friend because he already thinks she thinks of him as a best friend. He doesn’t have to use the words. I think he meant it as I’m in love with you because he keeps looking back at her. He wanted to say something else but he’s a wimp and didn’t.
At the end of my page about this episode I have a comment Norman made after the show ended about that scene. He said the subtext is heavier than the text. That means he meant in love. Carol also made the comments during the goodbye scene “ I know… But this is gonna be good, for you, for me” and that implies something happened.
I personally feel Angela Kang had a lot to do with season 1 because Daryl spent the entire time trying to get back to Carol. They made it known she was why he wanted to get back so badly. By season 2, Zabel and Norman took over and it’s obvious they had no intentions of following through with what season 1 set up.
The problem here is that was 4 years ago. It has nothing to do with the here and now. Norman Reedus is running this show and he has made it crystal clear that the Caryl fan base will never get what we want. It’s why I won’t be watching season 4.
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