The following contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead, Season 11, Episode 24, "Rest In Peace," which debuted Sunday, Nov. 20 on AMC.
While The Walking Dead universe is far from over, the flagship series has finally come to an end. In "Rest in Peace," Daryl and company wrapped up their biggest conflict to date: a long-term fight with Pamela Milton and the Commonwealth. All in all, the episode was a well-written, fitting conclusion to one of the best series of the past decade.
Through its 11-season run, The Walking Dead had its ups and downs. Plot wise, there were good decisions, and some terrible decisions, like killing off Carl Grimes and prolonging Negan's Savior War in Season 8. The thing is, "Rest in Peace" was a microcosm of TWD in a lot of ways. The finale wrapped up a lot of great storylines, but there were definitely a few mistakes -- the most notable one was the lack of shared screentime for Carol and Daryl.
TWD Finale's Heartfelt Carol And Daryl Scene
After all the Commonwealth drama, letting Pamela live and blowing up the hoard of variant walkers, TWD jumped forward one year. Everything was as it should have been. Ezekiel was governor of the restored Commonwealth, and people were happy with the communities that were thriving. That is, until Maggie wanted to explore and find out what else was out there. That set up the upcoming TWD spinoffs, as Maggie and Negan will end up in New York, while Daryl will wind up in France.
The finale didn't show anything about Maggie and Negan together, but it did show Daryl leaving. Before that though, he had to say a heartfelt goodbye to Carol. Sitting in front of a lake, Daryl said that he was proud of her for so many things. Despite Daryl saying that they would see each other again, Carol was still sad to see him go. Even in real life, Melissa McBride (who plays Carol) had trouble with the scene. She recently told Entertainment Weekly:
"Filming that scene by the lake with Norman was the most difficult scene on this show that I've ever had to get myself through. It was an absolute mixed bag of Carol and Melissa. I knew going in that it was going to be difficult... those words on the page, the first of our last two scenes together, the impending finality was feeling very real."
TWD Fans Deserved More Of Carol And Daryl
While the goodbye between Carol and Daryl was sweet, it only highlighted how little time the two of them had spent together recently. In Season 10, there were talks of just the two of them taking a road trip to New Mexico, and there were also times when they wouldn't speak to each other. Between Henry's death and nearly losing Connie, both Carol and Daryl reached their respective lows and needed to reconcile with each other for their individual mistakes.
In Season 11, however, the two only grew apart. Carol spent most of her time wheedling her way into Hornsby's good graces, while Daryl's story was about becoming a Commonwealth soldier and acting as a surrogate father for Judith. Because of that, it felt like Carol and Daryl's relationship was left on the back burner. Maybe their lack of shared screen time was intentional given the original plans to have Carol be a part of Daryl Dixon. But with Melissa McBride no longer part of the spinoff, it ended up feeling like a disservice to fans.
As the only original characters left on TWD, Daryl and Carol should have been more of a focus in the finale -- if nothing else, to rectify their lack of interaction in Season 11. Yet, that didn't happen. Fans were left with the small tease from "What's Been Lost" to remember what a great team they made. So, hopefully, Carol and Daryl will be able to reunite in the future and give fans more of what they deserved.
The first 10 seasons of The Walking Dead are streaming on Netflix. Season 11 is available on AMC+.