‘Walking Dead': Melissa McBride talks about the ‘metamorphosis’ of Carol

SPOILER ALERT (for S3 of The Walking Dead AND the prison episodes of the graphic novel)

So far, they’re keeping VERY quiet about if we’ll see Carol again. I hope we do; Melissa McBride has said she had to talk Kirkman not once, but twice out of killing her off. McBride said in the Rolling Stone TWD cover story last month (we get the print version) that one of the times, it was because the original plan during the “Killer Within” episode was for her, not T-Dawg, to be the unexpected fast death before the bigger death of Laurie during childbirth (I guess ‘dying during childbirth’ is a tactful way of putting it).  Even if we never see her again (though I think we will… hopefully not in the same 1-mile radius about Tyrese, if Rick tells him, or she’s as dead as a walker) I will give them points for not having a character leave the show by being killed off in a sudden way that involves pools of blood (which is why I think she’ll show up down the road somewhere).

Speaking of that, do you want to know what happens to the character of Carol in The Walking Dead graphic novels? If you’re planning on reading them, or are and the lengthy prison arc is still in the early stages, STOP NOW, because it’s pretty shocking. Keep in mind Carol in the comics looks more like Andrea and didn’t lose a kid (I think) or have an abusive husband.

→SPOILER ALERT! THE WALKING DEAD GRAPHIC NOVEL SPOILER ALERT!←

Gonna try not to make this a giant run-on paragraph here, and the backstory is complicated, so here’s why/how Carol in TWD comic dies: She has a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Tyrese (hey, he’d be the first man I’d try to hook up with in the comics too) and they share a cell. Michonne shows up and is alone together in the gym with Tyrese; she comes on to him and they have sex. Carol, who was already feeling kind of lonely and off-kilter from all the horrible shit she and the group have lived through, either catches them or finds out, and cuts her wrists in their cell. The group find her in time–Tyrese feels terrible and guilty about it, and Michonne’s not exactly proud of it either–and save her life. Lori starts hanging out more with Carol since she knows Carol could really use some friendly support. Carol surprises the hell out of Lori by hinting around about “sharing” Rick between them sexually, and tries to kiss Lori. Lori tries to let her down easy, but worries about Carol’s mental health. Carol feels rejected. Not long after, poor Carol finally goes completely batshit and goes for a stroll outside. She approaches what appears to be a female walker (I say ‘appears” because it’s pretty rotten, missing chunks, etc.) who is chained up and kept around so that his scent will throw off other zombies from the humans living there) and starts talking to her like she’s human, telling her about how she doesn’t have any real friends, the prison isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, she’s lonely, etc. In one of the most disturbing scenes in the series (which sets the ‘disturbing’ bar pretty high) she strolls right up to it calmly, puts her arms around the zombie and asks if it likes her. The zombie bites her throat and she winces and says “I knew you liked me…”  as it tears in and rips out a big bite. The disturbing part is the look on her face, she looks happy but with her mind totally gone as she smiles and blood sprays everywhere. People in the group come running over as she collapses and bleeds out –Tyrese especially is in serious shock– and when they try to carry her inside, she gurgles to them to let her die (and dies). Of course, they’re still processing what the fuck just happened when she turns, sits up, and lunges for Tyrese- someone in the group reacts quickly and shoots her in the head.  So there you have it, suicide by zombie. Poor Sophie gets ‘adopted’ by Maggie and Glen.  It’s definitely not the most fucked-up thing that goes down in the prison era; most of the really disturbing things could NEVER be depicted on AMC. If they tried to re-create them for the series, it’d have to be so dimly lit and watered down that you wouldn’t even be able to tell what the hell is going on; there’s no way to do a TV version of them (that would get past the network and make it to air, anyway).

(END OF SPOILERS)

But I digress. Anyway, she (so far) has a slightly happier existence in her AMC TWD incarnation. I think another character–maybe not a prison resident– may end up snapping and commit suicide in a similar manner.  Kirkman and Scott Gimple have both stated they want to use events from the comic, but switch around characters and tweak the situations.  For instance, in the comics, Dale lived and it was him, not Herschel (who is not a even-tempered as he is on the show) who got ankle-bit suddenly by a zombie in a dark location and his leg amputated. Dale sticks around way, way longer than in the series… and Andrea hooks up with Dale (Daddy issues? His character repeatedly says he has no idea why Andrea would want to be his girlfriend, but oh well, he’s not going to complain). Kind of relieved we didn’t have to see that depicted on the show–the comic will suffice.

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• An Ode To The Women Of The Walking Dead (refinery29.com)
• `Walking Dead’ recap: Fallout from Carol’s confession (trentonian.com)