Walking Dead Coverage: Oh, Yes He Did

The mouths of viewers were left agape as they watched Rick banish Carol on last week’s episode of the Walking Dead. Social media sites were buzzing as fans argued about whether Rick was right to throw out an integral member of the group. This was not Shane, who plotted to kill him. This was Carol. In fact, she reminds him of just that to change his mind, but Rick did not budge.

The new head writer of the show, Scott Gimple, has made it clear that he plans to make use of his background as a student of literature in his writing for the show. He does exactly that in the recent episodes of the Walking Dead.

Many believe that Carol’s change from an abuse victim to a take-charge fighter was the one positive thing that came from the rise of the Walkers. Gimple decides to take a deeper look and shows us it is not the case at all. The truth is the audience was not watching a woman on a journey of empowerment. Instead, the viewers were watching a woman whose soul was slowly turning cold. That is why he aptly titled this episode “Indifference.”

It’s Carol’s indifference that horrifies Rick throughout this episode. He takes her on run for supplies because he wants to understand what would drive Carol to take the lives of two innocent people in cold blood.

From the very beginning of the episode she makes no apologies for killing Karen and David. She does not ask for understanding. She tells Rick to just accept it and just move on. Rick is mostly quiet in this episode, but his facial expressions are of utter shock at Carol’s lack of humanity. She is unmoved by the death of others. The death of a young woman by Walkers has her pause for just a few seconds. There is no sorrow or concern. She just walks away and tells Rick to keep on looking for supplies. She is unwilling to spare a few minutes to wait for a person who wants to join their group, which means saving his life.

There are several times that Carol reveals that she does not think much of Rick as a leader. “You can be a farmer. You just can’t only be a farmer.” This line is loaded with mockery and contempt. She makes small of his attempts to give some semblance of a normal life to Carl and the others in the prison. It also reveals how much Carol has lost perspective on what is the point of their existence.

In the episode “Isolation,” Gimple has Herschel say, “Listen, you step outside, you risk your life. You take a sip of water, you risk your life. Every moment now, you risk your life. You don’t have a choice. You can only choose what you’re risking it for. I can help them feel better. I can save lives. That’s reason enough to risk mine and you know that.”

Gimple does this to show us there is a better way to live in the world of the Walkers. Herschel’s words are full of nobility and a love of life. Carol’s words are devoid of empathy. She is surprised when Rick asks her why she does not say her name, meaning Sophia. She says her name and then adds that her life with her daughter was that of someone else.

It’s after this scene that Rick finally says his peace to Carol. She is briefly upset and snidely remarks, “I thought you were done making decisions for everyone.” He gives her the best answer for his justification to have her leave. He is not deciding for everyone, just himself. She cannot be trusted, plain and simple. She had no right to take the lives of Karen and David. They could have survived the flu. The fact that there was a chance for them to live should have been enough for her to let them live. The fact that she can’t see that shows that she is not the Carol he knew.