Seriously though. You’re getting your knickers in a twist over me dismissing your opinion yet you insult me. I’m glad you’re done with this.

You assumed I’m Carol and Daryl shipper because I used the term Caryl? Oh dear. I don’t have to be a shipper to see how the show promotes them. Merchandise now too is available. That is not nothing. Tell me something Paul, you keep saying Daryl was developing a thing for Beth. Would you have been OK with Daryl and Beth becoming romantic?

Lol. I don’t even have words for this.

Ok maybe a couple.

You’ve “watched more closely” Um. Right. Sooooo in your mind you honestly believe Daryl Dixon would *actually* fall in love — IN LOVEEE — with someone in less than a week? In fact, it works out to 4 days to be exact, given the timeline that Nicotero confirmed. Give me a break! Which one of us is not watching the show here? Sorry but you know nothing about his character if that’s what you truly think. And there is no way you can generalize “someone in their 30’s” to Daryl’s insanely complex, unique and emotionally backward character (who is actually in his early 40’s not 30’s btw) He is NOTHING like the typical male who could or would think that way simply because a young girl was in front of him. That is not who he is, which has been outlined so many times already. He would never have viewed her in that way in the first place. Because she was a young teenage girl (17 not “19-20”.) And that is exactly how the show presented her. Which is exactly how we were supposed to see her. Did you also miss all the associations to young teenage girls (the ponytail, the diary, the music box WITH a ballerina, the “first drink”, even flipping him off in the woods) that Beth was constantly exhibiting? They were all put in there for a reason. They were showing you someone who was young and naive doing young and naive things. And may I also bring up the fact that Daryl was very good friends with Hershel – as in Beth’s Father. Again, you *don’t* know Daryl if you think he would be the type of man to disrespect Hershel’s memory by turning around and schtooping his daughter – his teenage daughter at that – now that he’s dead. I don’t care that it’s the end of the world or that he thought she was “the last one alive”, Daryl is NOT the type to think that way regardless. He cannot be compared to just any other man and for no other reason than because he “was with her”.

Furthermore, the conversation you outlined was about HOPE. It was him recognizing that she was a good person and that there may also be other good people left in the world and that maybe not all hope has been lost after all. He was in a dark place and he recognized that hope in her and acknowledged it in that scene. While Beth responded by acknowledging HIS acknowledgement. That is what it was meant to be about. The show has said that over and over.

Why is it that everything has to immediately turn to something sexual/romantic JUST because the opposite sex shares screen time together – and in this case for all of five minutes? Never mind the fact that the girl in question here was blonde and pretty. Yeah, that had nothing to do with it right? Would you really be seeing this “development” if she hadn’t fit into the superficial goggles you’re sporting? Don’t worry that was rhetorical, because I already know the answer to that.

Anyway, I’m done with this conversation. It’s ridiculous. *I* know what the show was saying. I don’t even know why I bothered typing this.

Once again, you can’t even type three lines of text without trying to discredit me. It’s ridiculous that you think I don’t have a right to state my own opinion without being insulted in the process, when I’ve spent a lot more time explaining why I have mine then you have. You act dismissive and superior, so your opinion now means diddly squat to me because I’ve entertained it for long enough. I didn’t want Beth and Daryl to be together, I just know how to see the surface, and I know how to think deeper. Bloody ridiculous that I have to defend and be insulted over that. I’m done with this.

See, that’s just your opinion, mine differs, in what way does my reply reek of condescending BS? You’re the one who said my opinion means zero to you, or now diddly squat. You say clearly I misinterpreted the foreshadows, once again I disagree, there’s nothing clear at all about anything you’ve stated, other then the fact that you think your opinion is superior. If your point was “Not all Daryl fans want him to shack up with any woman that glances his way.” then you’re completely confused. I never said he wanted to shack up with Beth, nor did I ever advocate him shacking up with anyone else either, including Carol. I said he started to develop feelings for her, which I still think he did, and if I assumed you wanted Carol and Daryl to be together, it’s because you said they’re using ‘Caryl’ as a way to sell the show. I don’t see how or where they ever used them to sell the show, but I’d also never call them ‘Caryl’, so forgive me for my assumption then, but once again, why the hostility Eliza? Why is it my senses that are clouded, instead of just seeing things differently? Why does my opinion mean zero or diddly squat just because you see things another way?

It was about hope. Daryl lost it, Beth had an abundance of it. She showed him it was okay to hope for the best. To stay somewhere, by his instincts was a place too good to be true. Her naivety rubbed off on him and look where it got them. Yawn…… You’re beginning to sound less like a neutral fan and more like a deluded Beth and Daryl shipper.

He cared about Beth the same as he cared about the rest of his family. There was no ‘thing’ unless that’s what you wanted to see. Your reply reeks of condescending BS. You’re assuming I preferred a romance between Carol and Daryl. That’s not that case at all. Not all Daryl fans want him to shack up with any woman that glances his way. CLEARLY between the two of us, your the one that misinterpreted the foreshadows. Like I said, your opinion means diddly squat to me.

Well uh I’m pretty sure that even if he might have viewed her in a Sophia link, that he’s not one dimensional enough for that to be the only thing he felt, that’s not how it comes across on the show when I watch it and when the people I know who watch the show have watched it it came across the same way to everyone. There’s a scene right before she goes missing where he almost tells her how he feels, sorry scratch that, he does tell her, you NEED to go back and re-watch those few episodes. I’m almost shocked I’m having to defend my opinion here when it was pretty freaking obvious that Daryl wasn’t even sure how he felt. Say what you want, but I think you’re absolutely dead wrong. You see him sitting in front of the barn and link Sophia, I link the night they had together where they got drunk and lit a place on fire. I don’t think Daryl wanted to love Beth, I don’t think Daryl even fully knew how he ever felt about her, but there was definitely SOMETHING there any it wasn’t just father/daughter or brother/sister. If it was, then the actors, and writers completely failed, but no, they did not fail and the actors did a perfect job of displaying Daryl being at a complete conflict with his feelings. If you think he didn’t feel anything romantic AT ALL, maybe you’re not watching the show closely enough, in which case I encourage you to go back and re-watch the episodes featuring the two of them.

Not sure where you’re getting your info from Heather, but Kirkman has nothing to do with the show, he wrote the comics but has ZERO to do with the show. So I really don’t care what Kirkman said, or referred to, because Daryl isn’t even a character he created or exists in his novels so his opinion about it matters no more then yours or mine. As someone who watches the show very closely, there is NO QUESTION in my mind that Daryl fell in love with this poor girl, despite the age difference, because guess what there’s an age difference between he and Carol too. Maybe the fact that people are rising from the dead and EATING EACH OTHER makes a little thing like age not matter quite as much, it’s not like Beth was 12.

Even if I stand alone here right now,for you all to say I’m wrong is thinking too narrow. If you think someone in their 30’s can’t fall for, even if just slightly, a 19-20 year old, who is the ONLY person they might believe is still alive and knows them in this world, you seriously need to adjust your thought process. You people who love Carol and Daryl together get so aggressive with your opinions and your want for them to be together, they probably will be eventually, yet you need to realize life is not so simple and especially not in this world. In this time, Daryl thinks everyone he knows is dead, and Beth is the one hope he has left. He’s clearly confused, but not as much as you guys seem to be about the fact that he was conflicted. Just look at the script below, and tell me he’s not confused about his feelings.

Beth: What changed your mind?
Daryl: You know.
Beth: What?
Daryl: I don’t know.
Beth: Don’t… What changed your mind….? Oh.

The answer wasn’t Carol.

Uh, I’m pretty sure Beth was supposed to be another Sophia to Daryl. Did you miss all the parallels they were constantly throwing in? The barn he sits in front of paralleling the BARN from season 2, the “girl he didn’t get to save”, the guilt he felt afterward. He even refers to Noah (Beth’s age equivalent) as “a damn kid” so yeah, that’s how he thought of Beth too. He cared for her, sure, but not in any romantic sense. Besides which, Kirkman has already stated that it was a brother-sister or father-daughter thing (not that it needed confirming because that’s what it was.)

It seems like none of the leg amputations on the show are 100% based on any one character/event from the comic. Between Allen and Dale in the comic and Herschel and Bob in the show, details got mixed around. The same is true for most of the other characters, too.

Well thanks for the rude response, but I don’t agree with you at all. “If it was clear, they wouldn’t have killed Beth and actually pursued that arc.” Um… No. You could tell she was going to die all along. Just because it didn’t happen doesn’t mean Daryl didn’t have the feelings, not every decision is based on “Aww they’d be cute together”, they knew killing her would have more impact and foreshadowed it from the start. She even said to him “You’re going to miss me when I’m gone Daryl Dixon.” He was developing a thing for her, that’s why he was so impacted by her death. You’re thinking about it from a writer’s point of view, but if you look at the character, he CLEARLY cared about Beth to the point where he’d shoot someone in the head without a second of hesitation. Sorry, but your response did nothing to convince me otherwise, it just sounds like you’re mad that I’m not buying into ‘Caryl’, but sorry, I have a right to my opinion and just because you don’t agree with it doesn’t mean I’m wrong in my own thoughts. If I think Tyreese and Carol had better chemistry, then that’s what I think, it does’t mean you have to think that too. Why the hostility?

There are a lot of things that I’m thankful never made it onto the TV show because I find the show a completely different beast. But there is a storyline with Carl that I’m hoping does come into it in some form. And I know it’s always talked about but I have to admit, I’m actually really curious about how they will handle Negan when he comes. They can’t very well exclude him but there’s no way he’ll ever live up to the comic version, imo.

Totally with you on Tyreese and Carol. It didn’t fit on the show at all. And I’m glad they went a different route of friendship instead. And yeah, she did kill his gf I don’t see that being something he could just forget. (and yes, Carol and Daryl seriously need to get together anyway.)

I’m also really interested in seeing Morgan’s upcoming role on the show versus the comic. Hope he’s around longer. I wonder what they’re going to do in regards to him and Michonne…

You see this is where your opinion now matters zero to me. I was inclined to agree with you until you said and I quote “clearly he was developing a thing for Beth.” If it was clear, they wouldn’t have killed Beth and actually pursued that arc. But CLEARLY you seeing that has clouded your senses because there is no way Tyreese and Carol had better chemistry. Just ask AMC who seem to be using ‘Caryl’ as a way to sell the show.

Holy crap, right?

I agree with Stephanie 100% here. That bite and amputation was 100% based on Allen, it happened identically, and they even kind of played to that by having the episode end with his leg amputated and him almost dying in the next episode. In the comic, Allen doesn’t get back up, and so when you watch the show you’re expecting Hershel to die there, but when he does live you’re like “OH SHOOT!”. Totally based on Allen’s death. Maybe Hershel ended up with Dale’s peg leg in the end, but Dale’s later circumstances went to someone else in the show, I’d say more but I don’t want to spoil it for Stephanie.

I meant Carol and Tyreese from the show, their scenes in the house with those kids, honestly they just seemed like a better match to me then she does with Daryl, which seems much more platonic to me. In the comics Carol was kinda needy and Tyreese did what a lot of guys do, accepted her advances but had no loyalty to her. Daryl though seems as if he doesn’t see Carol this way, not yet anyway, he might down the line, but he clearly was developing a thing for Beth there. Hell, at this point I think it’s more likely he’ll end up with Aaron then Carol lol.

What you’ll find interesting is how many “roles” Daryl kind of steals from the comic book characters. A lot of Tyreese and Abraham become Daryl’s spots in the show, and as a result neither character has had quite the same impact they did in the comic.

I think that only always. I thought they were going to in that car scene in the finale.

No I thought that briefly

Am I the only one that thinks him and Aaron are like, super close to making out in every scene they have together?

I agree up until basically the last couple episodes. I think they’re finally giving him a more advanced position outside of “stoic badass”.

I’m sorry that it sounded like I was critiquing you, I’m just super obsessed with the comic. Though, Dale did also lose a leg in the prison, so I guess the biting was based on Allen’s (if I’m remembering right, Hershel was bit by a lazy zombie like Allen), but his later development like the false leg was Dale since they killed him off in season 2 due to Feank Darabont leaving the show. Then Chris and the hunters took his other leg because they’re jerks and apparently hunting animals is hard enough that they’re willing to eat humans. Like jerks.

I feel like Daryl stopped developing as a character after Merle died. Now it just seems like his eyes are getting smaller and smaller and they’ll eventually disappear around season 7 or so.

I am so excited! Thank you :)!!!

I understand your idea of a “developing Daryl”, and it works in some ways but falls flat in other aspects, in my opinion. But everyone has the right to grow which is why I said “If rick and the other members of his group can evolve, why shouldn’t Daryl as well?”. The matter isn’t of whether Daryl is a legitimized character because he is. The question is, was this the artist’s orginal vision? Or just a fan pleaser?

And Carol and Tyreese shacked up in only a few scenes and he quickly jumped onto Michonne shortly after she arrived to the prison…doesn’t sound like there was too much chemistry there. In contrast, the mutual affections between Carol and Daryl has been growing for five years, over five seasons. I would say that’s a bit more significant.

And don’t worry, I definitley am :)!

Yeah I would definitely disagree with you on this one. Allen gets bit in the same exact fashion as Herschel (in the prison) and his leg is amputated by Rick. Dale loses his leg at the hands of Gareth and his people much later on. Allen may have died, but the scenario was pretty much identical to Herschel’s, but thanks for your critique! It’s always great to know that whenever you post something, there’s always someone eager to argue with you 🙂