AMC's The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang has hinted at the possibility of a budding romantic relationship between the show's Carol and Daryl ahead of the series finale and subsequent spinoff starring Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride.
In conversation with Digital Spy, Kang didn't outright state plans for the characters to shack up in later episodes — but she didn't write off the potential for romance either.
"It's interesting because from the writing side, and the creative side, and in talking with Norman and Melissa over the years, these two have had such a deep relationship," she said. "But in a lot of ways, I don't think either of them have been very open to connecting in that way. It always felt like we were telling the story of a platonic friendship. Does it go somewhere else? Maybe — anything's on the table."
Reedus and McBride have taken over as the show's de facto lead actors since — spoiler — the disappearance of Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne. Both Reedus and McBride have been recurring since the series' first season back in 2010.
"Carol was always in a place where she was having a hard time connecting deeply with anybody because she was afraid of losing them," Kang explained of McBride's long-running character arc, adding that Reedus's character has a hard time trusting people because of the abuse he experiences in the show.
"We thought that was interesting so I think that, even within that, we still have things we want to continue to explore," she added. "There's plenty of fertile ground to continue to evolve that, to have them discover things about each other and all of that road that you have when two people care about each other in such a way."
Last month, AMC announced that The Walking Dead would end after Season 11. The Season 10 finale is scheduled to air on October 4, while another six bonus episodes are set to arrive somewhere between then and October 2021.
Watch the season finale trailer below.
In conversation with Digital Spy, Kang didn't outright state plans for the characters to shack up in later episodes — but she didn't write off the potential for romance either.
"It's interesting because from the writing side, and the creative side, and in talking with Norman and Melissa over the years, these two have had such a deep relationship," she said. "But in a lot of ways, I don't think either of them have been very open to connecting in that way. It always felt like we were telling the story of a platonic friendship. Does it go somewhere else? Maybe — anything's on the table."
Reedus and McBride have taken over as the show's de facto lead actors since — spoiler — the disappearance of Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne. Both Reedus and McBride have been recurring since the series' first season back in 2010.
"Carol was always in a place where she was having a hard time connecting deeply with anybody because she was afraid of losing them," Kang explained of McBride's long-running character arc, adding that Reedus's character has a hard time trusting people because of the abuse he experiences in the show.
"We thought that was interesting so I think that, even within that, we still have things we want to continue to explore," she added. "There's plenty of fertile ground to continue to evolve that, to have them discover things about each other and all of that road that you have when two people care about each other in such a way."
Last month, AMC announced that The Walking Dead would end after Season 11. The Season 10 finale is scheduled to air on October 4, while another six bonus episodes are set to arrive somewhere between then and October 2021.
Watch the season finale trailer below.
