The Walking Dead
Season 10 - Episode 18 - "Find Me"
Daryl: Poor Daryl--he was hanging on for so long that he would find a sign of Rick,referring to him as his brother.
I disagree with most--or all of his accusations hurled at Carol; he charges that she had "to be right" regarding killing Alpha, but he skipped over the part about Henry. Alpha and The Whisperers were essentially holding ASZ/Hilltop hostage with forced borders and more threats of gruesome acts of punishment. How would anyone deal with that? Carol's means--using Negan--may not have been to anyone's approval, but Alpha had to die to set The Whisperers' destruction in motion.
While anyone can appreciate Daryl searching for Rick, he was shooting misplaced anger at Carol for the Leah situation, and she was correct--he does blame himself for the loss of friends, when any rational mind accepts that in every case tied to his direct action, the fate of his companions might have ended up the same way.
i think Darryl's accusation/anger wasn't so much about Negan.... it was really about Carol going after Alpha half cocked that one time, somehow not realizing that Alpha let Carol chase her ... to trap her(in the cave). That is so unlike Carol, at least the best of her. It is in sharp contrast to her strategic action, such as freeing the group from the cannibalistic Sanctuary. Negan was more like that strategizing...but in that had the choice to inform the group of her plan, but chose not to (The Sanctuary was Carol on her own, but she had no choice then). But the chase -- this hurt Darryl because it resulted in Connie being separated from the group, potentially dead. ANd it is assuming that Darryl told her a lot about Leah, then the Connie situation ripped out his heart all over again. And it hurt more because Carol did cause it.
And my wife and i were caught off guard...we thought Darryl was purposely lying aout Merle....but then realized it was Rick (but it still felt a little off in his description)
Carol:
She had some fun moments with Daryl -- we can definitely see how Melissa and Norman have grown to really work well together... but it also seems like it would be hard to make them into a series. It would be hard to see how they would grow and develop more than they have (like they are almost at the end of their story arcs)"we've had good long run. longer than most."
"..like everything that's good in the world is not on our side anymore." Pretty much The Walking Dead State of the Union, as she is finally realizing that no matter how hard they fight, they end up devastated in one way or another. If that was another nod toward a spin-off, it would not make much sense, as they would simply exchange one overrun Hell-hole for another (presumably in the West), as Morgan discovered.
She's so brokenhearted that the one friend who never abandoned her has now tossed her aside in such a brutal way. As she pointed out, even their luck (as friends) has run out. Still, if there's going to be a spin-off, we can assume they will iron out their differences, but she needs to call Daryl out about his accusations, and how much of it were based on genuine belief or anger.
Leah: Leah was so hurt by Daryl's indecision; she thought she had a chance at romance of a more permanent nature, and it seemed he did finally open his heart to it, after years of never fully going in that direction with anyone before. It was always hints or teases about what could have been, whether it was with Carol, Beth or Michonne.....
I do not see her returning after so long; Dog's greying muzzle hair--more than the on screen notices of how much time passed, would indicate she's been missing for a very long time.
The way they set it up....it seemed like there will be some reunion potential in the future... but if so, it seems like either she or Connie will die soon after, probably sacrifice themself for Darryl to be happy (kinda reminds me of 10K and Red and Sarge in Z Nation). Or i guess maybe one of the stories of Ride with Darryl and Carol.
NOTES:
This felt more like filler for me... I think Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride usually can beAnother strong character episode; just three performers, and it was a compelling, satisfying hour.
GRADE: A.
very powerful together (and usually are), but usually as part of a greater ensemble. It seems like they made the case against a Carol / Darryl series here, with a seeming self-joke about what the show will be about.
Also, the pacing.... i had a hard time keeping track of the time changes...but seemed like a whoooooole light of time Darryl was away. It just seems weird, especially the way Judith seems to be close to him. And if he was looking for Rick that whole time, wouldn't it have made more sense that he was riding/walking/camping around?
For me, this was at best a B...