Carol (Melissa McBride) is a character who has faced a tremendous amount of personal losses in The Walking Dead with her most recent being her and Ezekiel’s (Khary Payton) son, Henry (Matt Lintz). His death led her to separate from Ezekiel and move to Alexandria without him.
In last Sunday’s episode, “Ghosts,” Carol was seen taking caffeine pills as a way to stay awake. It became clear later on in the episode that Carol dreamed of her son everytime she went to sleep thus the reason why she chooses to stay up. Her lack of sleep and unhealthy intake of pills has led her to have many hallucinations and doubts from her group on what to believe. As Carol’s anger towards Alpha grows, the more eccentric her behavior becomes and rash decisions are made.
“For Carol, the stakes are so high for her because of what happened to her son, and I think in this episode what we’re really seeing — and Melissa McBride just portrays the role so beautifully — it’s just the depth of her grief and pain and how much of it she’s been hiding away from everybody else in the group,” said Kang. “And that comes bubbling up to the surface in a couple of really key moments, such as when she’s at the border with Alpha. When somebody is going through that much pain, and when they have such a burning desire to have revenge, and when she really wants to see Alpha pay for her sins, that’s going to have a big impact on all our people in various ways.”
Kang continued, “You’re also seeing the start of some pretty self-destructive behaviors in this episode. So the season builds from there with her story. So yeah, it’s a continuing story for us. It has a lot of emotional depth from her character side.”
Before tonight’s upcoming episode, “Silence the Whisperers,” AMC released new photo with Carol from one of the scenes. In this sneak peek, Carol is seen holding a map, but it’s what’s circled on that map that has fans asking questions and creating theories. One suggestion is that Carol could be planning a trip out west or it could be part of Alpha’s territory. The answer is unclear. Nevertheless, the question could be answered this season.
Watch the new episode of The Walking Dead tonight on AMC at 9/8c.