These past two episodes have focused heavily on Carol, and for good reason: Carol has reached her breaking point.
In last week's episode, we saw her tallying up the people she'd killed - people, not walkers. She clearly felt remorseful, and began reflecting on all that she's done.
In this week's episode, we saw Carol at her weakest point in a long time. At first I thought (as many others did) that Carol was faking the hyperventilation, but it became clear with Maggie's shock and Carol's actions later in the episode that she genuinely was having an anxiety attack. But what for? What can she possibly be scared of now, when she's made it this far? Quite clearly, as she says at the end of the episode, what she's feared all along is having to kill again.
Indeed, that's why Carol gives the ominous warning to Paula that she should take Rick's deal - or else. Carol didn't want to be the one to have to kill her. She even admitted it herself when Paula asked if she'd kill her: "I hope not." Carol couldn't bear the thought of having to kill another person, hence why it seemed as though Maggie did all of the heavy lifting in this episode.
When she finally did kill Paula, you could see the utter dread and defeat in her eyes. She'd begged her to leave - begged her to run away so that Carol wouldn't have to do what she's done too many times. She even shot her in the arm to avoid finishing her off, as she has already done in this episode to one of Paula's accomplices. But she had to do it. Carol was forced to face the fact that she has to kill if she wants to survive and protect the ones she loves.
In fact, the only time in this episode that Carol mindlessly killed someone was when she saw the woman swing at Maggie's stomach. She didn't hesitate to put a bullet in her brain then. This goes to show that the badass Carol we all know and love is still in there, but she's only prepared to surface when she has to protect others - not herself. She said early on in the episode: "It doesn't matter what happens to me, just don't hurt Maggie; don't hurt the baby."
So, what does this all mean in the context of Carol's character arc? Honestly, it makes me fear for the future of Carol. The ending of the episode makes it difficult to tell where things will go next week, but these past couple of episodes certainly cast some doubts on Carol's future. Essentially, this mark's a turning point for Carol: she can either choose to ignore her feelings of remorse and come to terms with the fact that if she wants the ones she cares about to survive then she has to kill, or she can choose to shut down completely into a state of indifference and fail to do any more killing. Hopefully the latter of those two options won't materialise, but when Carol threw the match into the room of the Saviours and heard them burning alive, you could see just how broken she was. It's taking a massive toll on her, and we will likely see the effects of this in the coming episodes.
What's interesting, though, is that Paula was right and Carol was wrong. Carol said that Rick was a man of his word and that he wouldn't jeopardise their safety - and I think she honestly believed what she was saying - but it ended up being Paula who was correct when she said that they must have been far closer than Rick had said over the radio, as there was no static. Meaning, Rick likely lied to her and was going to attack the place anyways and take them by surprise. Once again, the writers effectively likened our survivors to Negan's Saviours, making it even more difficult for us to tell the difference. Either that, or Rick and the rest of our survivors just heard the screaming and gunshots or saw the smoke from the flames and came over then.
I have said it before and I'm about to say it again: season six has been fantastic so far. We've finally been given some truly excellent plot lines, and I'm now confident that this can and will continue. I'm very eager to see how they wrap this season up, but also fearful for the fate of our survivors...
Oh, and by the way, for those of you wondering: Negan's not dead.
In last week's episode, we saw her tallying up the people she'd killed - people, not walkers. She clearly felt remorseful, and began reflecting on all that she's done.
In this week's episode, we saw Carol at her weakest point in a long time. At first I thought (as many others did) that Carol was faking the hyperventilation, but it became clear with Maggie's shock and Carol's actions later in the episode that she genuinely was having an anxiety attack. But what for? What can she possibly be scared of now, when she's made it this far? Quite clearly, as she says at the end of the episode, what she's feared all along is having to kill again.
Indeed, that's why Carol gives the ominous warning to Paula that she should take Rick's deal - or else. Carol didn't want to be the one to have to kill her. She even admitted it herself when Paula asked if she'd kill her: "I hope not." Carol couldn't bear the thought of having to kill another person, hence why it seemed as though Maggie did all of the heavy lifting in this episode.
When she finally did kill Paula, you could see the utter dread and defeat in her eyes. She'd begged her to leave - begged her to run away so that Carol wouldn't have to do what she's done too many times. She even shot her in the arm to avoid finishing her off, as she has already done in this episode to one of Paula's accomplices. But she had to do it. Carol was forced to face the fact that she has to kill if she wants to survive and protect the ones she loves.
In fact, the only time in this episode that Carol mindlessly killed someone was when she saw the woman swing at Maggie's stomach. She didn't hesitate to put a bullet in her brain then. This goes to show that the badass Carol we all know and love is still in there, but she's only prepared to surface when she has to protect others - not herself. She said early on in the episode: "It doesn't matter what happens to me, just don't hurt Maggie; don't hurt the baby."
So, what does this all mean in the context of Carol's character arc? Honestly, it makes me fear for the future of Carol. The ending of the episode makes it difficult to tell where things will go next week, but these past couple of episodes certainly cast some doubts on Carol's future. Essentially, this mark's a turning point for Carol: she can either choose to ignore her feelings of remorse and come to terms with the fact that if she wants the ones she cares about to survive then she has to kill, or she can choose to shut down completely into a state of indifference and fail to do any more killing. Hopefully the latter of those two options won't materialise, but when Carol threw the match into the room of the Saviours and heard them burning alive, you could see just how broken she was. It's taking a massive toll on her, and we will likely see the effects of this in the coming episodes.
What's interesting, though, is that Paula was right and Carol was wrong. Carol said that Rick was a man of his word and that he wouldn't jeopardise their safety - and I think she honestly believed what she was saying - but it ended up being Paula who was correct when she said that they must have been far closer than Rick had said over the radio, as there was no static. Meaning, Rick likely lied to her and was going to attack the place anyways and take them by surprise. Once again, the writers effectively likened our survivors to Negan's Saviours, making it even more difficult for us to tell the difference. Either that, or Rick and the rest of our survivors just heard the screaming and gunshots or saw the smoke from the flames and came over then.
I have said it before and I'm about to say it again: season six has been fantastic so far. We've finally been given some truly excellent plot lines, and I'm now confident that this can and will continue. I'm very eager to see how they wrap this season up, but also fearful for the fate of our survivors...
Oh, and by the way, for those of you wondering: Negan's not dead.
