The Walking Dead: Melissa McBride on Carol's New Development
Season 6 of The Walking Dead has proven to be one of, if not the, best of the bunch, and the latest episode gave us one of the show's frequent detours to follow the exploits this time of Maggie (Lauren Cohen) and Carol (Melissa McBride).
And this time, the detour mattered profoundly to the ongoing narrative of the story. Carol, who has featured on the show since season 1 and has experienced development to rival Rick's own throughout the course of the series, has encountered a crisis of identity as she tries to maintain her humanity.
"She's really struggling with what is the right thing to do," McBride said to Variety. "With Paula she waited for as long as she could to see how it was going to go. That was very different for Carol. Usually she doesn't hesitate and just eliminates the threat right away."
On what's causing her internal struggle, McBride ponders that it's many things. "What Morgan has put on the plate in Alexandria is something. From that whole Wolf attack going all the way back to losing her daughter. It has been non-stop for them. [Carol] has sort of shoved everything back and not dealt with it in order to do what she had to do.
"I think all these experiences are coming to a head in the quiet time, the time to reflect. She's reconsidering things about herself and this world."
McBride also offers a fascinating insight into the lack of screentime her character has shared with Daryl (Norman Reedus) this season. "...It's hard for him to see her like that," regarding the domestic, mothering persona Carol has adopted in Alexandria. "And it's hard for her to be like that with him looking.
"I can't speak for Daryl but I would imagine it's very difficult, and yet theye've always had an unspoken understanding and it's still there for sure."
