The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon episode 5 spoilers follow.
Like Thelma and Louise or SpongeBob and Patrick, Carol and Daryl have become an unforgettable pairing, especially for anyone with even a passing interest in The Walking Dead.
When the flagship show came to an end, it was a no-brainer to pair Carol and Daryl together again with their own spin-off, but then Melissa McBride left the project soon after it had been announced.
AMC’s official statement revealed that relocating to Europe for this French-based spin-off had become “logistically untenable” for McBride. Disappointed fans lashed out at co-star Norman Reedus, claiming that he was somehow responsible for Melissa’s departure, and the vitriol grew so intense that AMC had to release another statement to defend Reedus, claiming he had been “unfairly targeted and attacked” for a decision he hadn’t even been involved in.
The statement ended with a promise to try and “find a way for fans to again follow [Carol’s] story, as only Melissa could give life to, in the expanding universe around The Walking Dead.” And now, five episodes into the spin-off, AMC have started to make good on that promise with McBride’s surprise return, albeit with a twist.
Carol’s Daryl Dixon cameo explained
By the time Daryl Dixon’s penultimate episode comes around, any hope of seeing Carol in the flesh is pretty much gone, and by the end of this hour, we still won’t have seen her in the flesh, but that doesn’t mean Melissa McBride is absent from the show entirely.
This is the episode where we finally start to see how Daryl ended up in France, and it’s during these US-based flashbacks that Carol’s voice reaches out over the radio.
The moment in question happens 24 minutes in when flashback Daryl, still in the US at this point, keeps trying Carol on the radio to update her on his whereabouts. He’s about to give up because the signal’s so bad when suddenly a very familiar voice finally comes through.
“Daryl, are you ok?” asks Carol.
The pair check in with each other as Daryl reveals he’s in Maine, by the coast. Carol says everything’s “pretty quiet here”, but Daryl senses something might be up because he keeps asking if she’s okay.
“It just takes some getting used to,” says Carol rather cryptically. What she needs to get used to isn’t made clear at this point though, because she then tells Daryl, “You never have to worry about me.”
Daryl promises to be back in a week once he’s finished gathering enough fuel for the ride home. As we now know, he never gets to keep that promise, and that’s particularly frustrating for him given what Carol says right at the end of their conversation.
“[???] came back,” Daryl hears through static.
“Who came back? Carol. Who came back!? Carol?”
The signal cuts out then completely, leaving both Daryl and us in the dark around this mysterious person’s return… except, if you listen real close, it sounds like Carol said the name “Rick”. And unless she’s made bessie mates with some new random also named Rick, Carol must of course be referring to Rick Grimes, the guy this entire franchise started with all those years ago.
The main gang have presumed Rick to be dead or missing since the CRM stole him away in season nine of the flagship show. But with the Rick and Michonne show coming soon, it looks like Grimes will end up reuniting with Carol and more old buddies in the upcoming spin-off.
Earlier on in this episode, present-day Daryl mentioned the likes of Judith, RJ and Ezekiel to Laurent when asked to list his friends, as well as Carol, of course, so any one of them could show up in this big reunion too.
For now though, Daryl hasn’t got time to think about Carol and Rick and all the rest of them. He’s too busy protecting Laurent and fending off mutated walkers to be concerned with reunions.
But we’re excited nonetheless. Because if Carol can return over the radio, there’s a big chance she can return in person too, “logistically untenable” circumstances be damned. After all, this episode featured a ton of US-based flashbacks, so who’s to say Melissa McBride won’t return in one of these at some point, perhaps even with Rick Grimes in tow?
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon airs on AMC in the US. A UK broadcaster has yet to be announced.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
