The Walking Dead Carol-Daryl series is “a road show”

What’s the deal with the Walking Dead spinoff focusing on Daryl Dixon and Carol Peltier? Showrunner Angela Kang explains.

The Walking Dead might be coming to an end after season 11, but that won’t stop AMC from creating an array of spinoff shows. When it was announced that the flagship show was ending, two new spinoffs were confirmed to be in development, softening the blow: a Carol-Daryl show and an anthology series called Tales of The Walking Dead. These shows are in addition to Fear the Walking Dead, World Beyond, and the mysterious Rick Grimes movies. That’s a whole lot of zombies!

So, what’s the deal with this upcoming spinoff focusing on Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peltier (Melissa McBride)? Thankfully, The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang was recently on hand to explain the more gritty details to Entertainment Weekly. Apparently, this spinoff is something that the team has been talking about for some time.

"“There’s been talk for a long time about a Darryl/Carol spin-off,” says Kang. “And so that was something that we were working on well in advance of the news about the ending of the series.”"

It also looks like it will have a completely different feel to the main show. The Walking Dead is at a stage where it needs to balance multiple storylines at once, and it’s been doing this for years, most notably in the All Out War story arc. With a spinoff focusing on two fan-favorite characters, I doubt there is much need for multiple story threads. Kang believes it will offer a different tone to the flagship series and will play out more like a road show:

"“They’re going to be off on a different journey. And that show’s going to feel hopefully a little tonally fresh. They’re just in a different stage of their lives and it’s more of a road show, which I think will be really fun.”"

Both Carol and Daryl have been a part of the show since season one, which is a huge achievement considering how happy The Walking Dead is to kill off main characters at any moment. They also form a formidable partnership. In season 10 — specifically the season premiere — we’ve actually seen the spinoff teased in various conversations between the duo.  Once location that crops up is New Mexico. Could this be where we’re heading?

Obviously, it’s all good to get excited for future spinoffs now, but we’ve still got a ton of episodes to get through before we get there. Kang sounds like herself and the Walking Dead team are focused on making the remaining episodes as good as they can be before moving on to the spinoff. However, there’s definitely a lot of excitement to be able to write more Carol and Daryl stories in the future:

"“I’m really excited to do more with Daryl and Carol. Those are two characters and two actors that I love writing for and working with, Norman and Melissa. So stuff to look forward to. In the meantime, we’re just really focused on making the next 30 episodes we have yet to do — which is going to air for a couple of years — as great as they can be.”"

Let’s hope they turn out good. At least the series has enough episodes left to wrap up things properly, so it doesn’t have to rush. I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones season 8!

We’ve got 31 episodes left of the main series, this includes the six additional episodes coming in early 2021 and the season 10 finale. You can catch the season 10 finale Oct. 4 on AMC, followed by the series premiere of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

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