Do you miss Carol? I do. I miss pragmatic, cutthroat, makes tough choices, “eat your cookies or I’ll single-handedly destroy everything you love” Carol. But she’s been missing on The Walking Dead for a while now. I’ve suggested before that the show hit Melissa McBride’s character with the Nerf bat specifically to sideline her from the first round of skirmishes with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). After all, what chance does a monologuing gym coach have against a woman who destroyed a settlement of cannibals without breaking a sweat?
But, based on the trailer above for the upcoming episode “Bury Me Here,” Carol is back with a vengeance. In the clip, the facade of the demure housewife is once again replaced with Carol’s true form: Hulked Out Mama Bear. No zombie will stand between her and finding Morgan (Lennie James). To what ends isn’t revealed, but having her use the “One Way” sign to easily dispatch a small herd of walkers is a nice touch. There’s only ‘one way’ to deal with people like the Saviors: The Carolocracy.
What could cause this change in demeanor? My guess is Daryl (Norman Reedus) finally spilled the beans on what really went down when the Group met the Saviors. Carol even said herself in “New Best Friends” that she would go down a dark path of murder should it ever come to light that more people she cared about had been hurt, to say nothing of being brutally murdered. Oftentimes, The Walking Dead episode names have layered meanings. Perhaps someone will die in “Bury Me Here,” but I’d bet a shiny bottle cap the title alludes to Carol finally putting her solitary, pacifist life to rest.
Carol is dead. Long live Carol.