Back in the Season 2 premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) told a big, terrible lie. In order to convince Ash (Manish Dayal) to fly her to France, she said her daughter Sophia might be alive there. She’s not, of course; Sophia (Madison Lintz) died in The Walking Dead Season 2 midseason finale, which aired in 2011. And this week it all comes spilling out in a heartbreaking confession that explains Carol’s PTSD… And why it will never go away.
Spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 5 – “The Book of Carol: Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir” past this point.
Early in the episode, as Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol head towards Ash, she confesses she lied a little. A lot, actually, but she takes her time slow-rolling what she did to Daryl. She does eventually lay it all out for her friend after they rescue Ash from the walker-surrounded car he’s been in for two days. And Daryl, laudably, tells her what she did was wrong, but she should come clean and move on. It’s a testament to the bond between the two, and what they’ve been through over nearly 15 years of television that this isn’t a blowout fight. It’s: you screwed up, make it right, let’s get home.
Unfortunately, Ash doesn’t take it that way. To review, Ash’s son died, and he has been in mourning ever since until Carol came into his life. She lied about Sophia potentially being alive in Paris to convince him to take her on the plane. She also conveniently left out info about Daryl. Ash agreed, and since then he’s been attacked by crazy Greenland scientists who wanted him to impregnate them, French mercenaries, and as previously mentioned was trapped in a car for two days after a zombie bonked his head. This has not been a great trip for Ash! Though he does tell Carol that it was good to get out in the world. So maybe he enjoyed all of that?
While all this has been going on Carol has been having PTSD flashbacks of Sophia. In “Pretty Much Dead Already,” the episode where Sophia died, she’s seen emerging from a barn, zombified, as Carol looks on in horror. Carol is about to run to her undead daughter when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) shoots Sophia in the head. It’s something that Carol had to live with for multiple seasons of The Walking Dead, though subsequent tragedies have taken the place of Sophia in the narrative as the show continued.
But three times in Daryl Dixon Season 2, we’ve seen Carol freeze, terrified, as it seemed like Sophia was once again emerging from that barn. Why now? Carol explains during her tear-filled confession to Ash.
“Sophia died 12 years ago,” Carol says, sending TWD historians to their official timeline to see if this all squares up. “It’s like she never went away. It’s like I never let her go, because I never forgave myself. I think you get that. I know that we share that feeling. And, lately, that feeling has gotten worse. And when I met you… I told you what I needed to, to convince you to help me.”
Ash flips out, of course, and though it seems like he’s somewhat come around to bringing someone home on his plane at the end of the episode. But the real takeaway here is what this says about Carol — and PTSD, in general. Specifically, what this contextualizes is that pain and tragedy never go away entirely, even with time. And in this case, Carol found that things were hitting a routine in Ohio. She was calm. Perhaps even somewhat happy. And that’s when the feelings of guilt from Sophia’s death started to creep back in again. Her whole mission to save Daryl is reexamined through this lens… Yes, of course, she wanted to save her friend. But giving herself an impossible, deadly mission was also a way of pushing back the intrusive thoughts of Sophia’s demise.
Even if we never have to deal with the zombie apocalypse, that is something we all go through: in the moments when we’re calmest is when the bad thoughts start to creep back in. It’s something that The Walking Dead doesn’t always have time for. But here, we get to see it in full effect. And for those of us who have been watching Carol since the beginning, it’s a punch in the gut to see how far she’s come… Yet even flying to France, can’t escape the devastation of her past.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premiere on Sundays on AMC and AMC+. The episodes premiere at 3 am ET / 12 am PT on AMC+, and 9 pm ET on AMC.
Here’s the full list of episodes in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2 with premiere dates:
- Sunday, September 29, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 1 – “The Book of Carol: La gentillesse des étrangers”
- Sunday, October 6, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 2 – “The Book of Carol: Moulin Rouge”
- Sunday, October 13, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 3 – “The Book of Carol: L’Invisible”
- Sunday, October 20, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 4 – “The Book of Carol: La Paradis Pour Toi”
- Sunday, October 27, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 5 – “The Book of Carol: Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir”
- Sunday, November 3, 2024: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Season 2, Episode 6 – “The Book of Carol: Au Revoir Les Enfants” *Season Finale*
Where To Watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
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