(TO HEAR MY THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON 5 MID-SEASON FINALE AND THE IMPACT THE TRAGEDY WILL HAVE ON THE GROUP AS WELL AS DARYL, THEN MAKE SURE TO READ THE BETHOCALYPSE: WHAT WILL DARYL DIXON DO?)

I THINK I’ve waited long enough for you to catch up on all the “Whoa.” of the past two weeks of The Walking Dead.  Two weeks is ample time and if you aren’t caught up and keep reading then you’re about to get a heaping helping of spoilers.  So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

SO WHY, after several seasons of the show, am I posting about it now?  Because I must discuss the topic that has everyone’s tongues wagging:

 The Budding Romance of Daryl and Beth on The Walking Dead

SO AS WE KNOW from “Still” (the previous episode) Daryl and Beth had some MAJOR bonding moments and some real breakthroughs as far as coming to terms with the mountains of emotions they’ve been dragging around with them; his wounds old, her wounds fresh.  And when I say major, I mean MAJOR.

I DON’T KNOW about you but when they were outside the house having their drunken scream-fest (and the least affective archery lesson ever) I kept waiting for them to kiss…the sexual tension was more out of control than Justin Bieber’s driving.

THE FIGHT, which could have gone wrong in oh-so-many ways, turned out to be a beautiful, pivotal moment in their relationship.  (And am I the only one who could hear every woman with daddy issues that was watching collectively think “I can fix him…” during this scene?  Surely not.)

And how does a perfect episode end?  With the perfect scene, of course.

IN WHAT was, quite possibly, the best scene in Walking Dead history, Beth and Daryl share an ultimate moment of uber-catharsis as they symbolically destroy their pasts and give birth to new beginnings with the complete torching of their hideout followed by a beautiful one finger salute to all the bullsh*t and pain they’re leaving behind.

Enter last week’s episode, “Alone”:

 
DARYL’S feelings for Beth emerge and it’s written all over his face as he watches her sing.  That man is so head over heels it isn’t even funny…and it’s heart breaking.  I know exactly how Daryl was feeling and what he was thinking laying there…listening…because it’s how I’ve felt for so much of my life.  He was thinking about his own worth, about his past, about her goodness and about how he doesn’t think he can ever be enough for her.  The look on his face said it all.  I know him like I know myself.

AND IN true Walking Dead style, just when things are looking safe and good and happy and warm all hell breaks loose.  Of.  F**king.  Course.  And Daryl is alone and broken once again.  Every time he opens his heart he is promptly stabbed in the chest.  Isn’t that always the way?

But what about Carol?  Carol and Daryl are meant for each other!

 
FOR A long time I rooted for Daryl and Carol to get together.  I wanted them to have each other; to love each other; to not be alone, but now I see the error in my ways.  Now I see Daryl and Carol for what they truly were and why it could never work…

Daryl and Carol were too much alike.  They were peas in a dysfunctional pod.

 
SHE was abused and the once victim became hard. Super-hard.  Like burn-you-alive-for-being-sick hard.  She was a mirror for Daryl.  Their pain and sadness created from pasts filled with suffering bound them to each other and though it created a strong bond, it would never be a happy one; it would never be a healthy one.

Daryl & Carol just got each other…that’s all…and that was fine for them at the time.

BUT BETH…Beth is hope; Beth is goodness, a symbol of everything he wanted but never thought he deserved, that he never thought he could have and yet there she is accepting him and loving him, flaws and all.

Beth and Daryl are good for each other.

 
THEY bring out the best in each other.  He empowers her.  He allows her to be strong and make decisions.  She allows him to be open…even if his version of openness is still grunting & grumbling.  And there’s no way in hell, after decades of feeling unloved and unworthy, he’s going to let her disappear from his life.  He’s going to fight…and he’s going to win (of course that’s the hopeless romantic in me talking…as we know no one is safe in this show, regardless of how beloved the character is).

ONE thing’s for sure:  it’s going to be very interesting when all three of them arrive at Terminus.  There may well be a Carol and Beth catfight on our hands.
 

What side are you on?  Are you Team Carol or Team Beth?
Come on and let’s dish and debate in the comments.

Bloody Kisses & Walker Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick

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