I Needed an Outlet

I wouldn't be who I am today without television. I watch it. I write it. I rant about it.

[that-left-turn]

Because I've gotten a few asks that want to tell me all about showrunning or Gimple's genius, I feel compelled to point out a couple of things.

If a showrunner says, in an interview or at a convention, that they discuss plot lines with the actors, it makes them and (more importantly) the show look good in front of the fans. It doesn't make that statement true. The brand promotion for TWDU is "found family," which is a marketing illusion. Everybody isn't involved in every decision—TV production is hierarchical, not anarchy. People who make a beloved TV show fudge facts for the same reasons everyone else does: to make a good impression and to sell their product.

(If anyone has stumbled across my tumblr by accident: I work in scripted television, so I'm familiar with how a show is produced. I'm not fansplaining.)

Gimple went from supervising producer in S3 to showrunner in S4. That promotion is the equivalent of going from being a first year resident at a hospital to department head. It doesn't happen because the studio 'likes your ideas'—you don't have the necessary skill set or experience to make that large a career jump. It's a major sign that something was afoot BTS during S3. Gimple took advantage of a terrible situation for personal gain; that’s how he’s failed upwards and is still there despite running the show into the ground in S7-8.

There's also a reason why people who've worked on TWD will still talk about Darabont but they don't mention Mazzara. Just like how the agreed upon explanation for Melissa's absence in DD S1 was that it was "logistically untenable" for her to relocate, the same is true for Mazzara and his "failure to produce." Saying that he didn't complete scripts on time is less of a problem for either party than the actual reason he was fired.

I've danced around this topic before because every time I see a fan of the female characters/actors praise this showrunner, I feel nauseous. But in plain English: he's a sexual predator, not a champion for the downtrodden. There are more than a couple of stories about him circulating among female creatives, but here's a screenshot that's directly relevant to TWD:

[my-mt-heart]

👆

[my-mt-heart]

I think your point about the state of the world now meaning that levity would be a good thing in a new (horror) show is a really good point. I remember giving up on twd around season 7/8 because I felt it had gotten too depressing and nobody ever joked, which I kind of thought was unrealistic. In some of the most traumatic times in history, people were laughing and making jokes, because that’s what humans do to survive. We do that now too.

I think the comedy is something that gets overlooked when people talk about the strongest ‘glory days’ of twd. So much of the appeal of twd was its grittiness, the feeling that these were real people responding to something catastrophic, and we could put ourselves in their shoes. And the horror elements certainly make up part of that grittiness, but it’s also the dialogue and the way characters relate to one another and the way the audience relates to the characters. And comedy blended in tastefully is such an important part of that. Seasons 1-3 in particular had that down perfectly. And we started to see it again with season 9 and 10. Season 2 Daryl asking in the church “you takin’ requests?” - it’s lines like that which give these characters homes in our hearts and which make us believe and care about them as a family.

Carol and Daryl were two of the characters that comedy worked best for. It works for them individually and it connects them. The other similarity between the earliest seasons and seasons 9-10 is how much Daryl spoke. It’s easy to forget how vocal he was in the early seasons, and with that came many of the funniest and most memorable lines in the show. It’s so much more compelling, then, when we see Carol leaving him speechless with *her* one liners.

I think the comedy in the spinoff doesn’t work so well because it’s deprived of that substance and relatability. The old married couple “what” scene doesn’t land in the same way because it doesn’t capture the balance of their dynamic. Their dynamic is playful. Carol teases Daryl and he pretends not to like it. That scene in the spinoff reads like they’re genuinely irritated by each other. Neither Carol nor Daryl were laughing, it was the man observing who laughed. Contrast that with the prison bus scene and the friendship bracelet scene, where in both cases Daryl smiles and laughs shyly and Carol smiles and laughs mischievously. Those are the characters we know and have formed a relationship with. Much of the spinoff attempts at comedy are fairly hollow in comparison.

I hope that if there is another spinoff for caryl that it will blend comedy in the way that’s true to the characters and lets their dynamic and them as individuals shine. I think we need something that feels both familiar and refreshing now.

I love horror shows and I love exploring dark themes, but I’ve been struggling lately with shows that are relentlessly brutal or sadistic, probably because shit in real life is just too scary right now. I need some levity mixed in and ideally, I need all of that darkness to lead to some light at the end of the tunnel. Stories shouldn’t be bleak just because some writers think that makes them look edgier or because they think they’re reflecting “reality.”

Daryl was just being an asshole to Carol in the old married couple scene, that’s why it didn’t work for me. Completely agree with your assessment of their dynamic. It works when they’re playful and you can feel their deep affection for one another.

I agree that if we’re lucky enough to get another story for Carol and Daryl, it’s true to who we know they are and it allows them to grow closer together.

[my-mt-heart]

When Melissa is producing, would she be on events like this week or on Comic Cons if she isn't acting as well? It probably depends on if she's an executive right? Do you think, besides the Caryl show, she might consider producing other shows as well? For me, it sounds like she was talking about something different but I might've misinterpreted it.

I don’t know how visible Melissa would be on shows she develops, and I don’t know if it would include acting in any of them. Seems like it’s all very early stages, but again, the idea is that she’d develop original shows while working on Carol/Caryl.

[my-mt-heart]

Is that anon saying that MMB will be an EP on more than one TWD spinoff? Like DD and the reunion show, or what are we talking about here? I’ve been dying to see her do other things, but I’m not sure how I feel about *more TWDU*. The track record is pretty bad and she’s wasted on those people: everyone at AMC seems insane.

Well, DD is wrapped, so nobody’s gonna be an EP on that anymore, and the reunion show is Gimple’s baby, which means Melissa wouldn’t be involved at all, let alone an EP if that ever somehow gets off the ground.

A lot of people at AMC are assholes, but some of them do understand Carol’s and Melissa’s value and they’re ready to revitalize the franchise. “Maybe” Melissa also wants a chance to tell Carol’s/Caryl’s story in a much more satisfying way? “Maybe” she trusts the EP who’s developing it? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think the idea is that Melissa would develop and produce original shows alongside the potential new Carol/Caryl project.

[my-mt-heart]

How do you know it was shown, if you weren’t there? And what’s the point of a poster on a phone? I’m confused. How does that build hype for a Carol show?

The other anon asked me what I heard from people who were there. That’s what I heard—that they were shown a “cool” Caryl poster while they were chatting with EPs 🤷🏻‍♀️ It was a concept poster, intended to give advertisers a visual idea of what’s in the works and what they could potentially buy into. It’s not public promo

[my-mt-heart]

Well, the early seasons were funny sometimes. Daryl’s one liners especially. “Chokeholds illegal”, “you comin’?” Carol and Daryl are funny together sometimes with their flirting mostly. “I’ll go down first” “even better”, “why don’t you get off my ass before I put you on yours”, “what’s your favrite colour? …black, definitely black”

There’s also a tone in the dd spinoff which is comedic. I suppose the old married couple “what what what” scene was one of them. And there were a few moments in season 3, like “there’s three of you” “your worst nightmare” and situational comedy like when Stephen Merchant woke them up because he was abseiling the building.

The tone of those two styles of comedy feel very different. What style or tone of comedy would you anticipate for what you’ve heard about or what you imagine for the possible carol and daryl show? Or beside that, what kind of comedy would you like for it?

I've known that AMC wanted to bring the franchise back to its horror roots for a while, but this is the first I'm hearing about the possible new show being "funny." 😂 Considering the state of the world right now, I think some levity is a good thing, especially if it's blended in the right way, like the examples from the flagship show you mentioned. I think that's probably what I'd like to imagine for a new show too. Granted I didn't watch all of DD, but I didn't find any part of it funny. Caryl's banter was way off.

[my-mt-heart]

When you drop a bomb and then fuck off for the night...💀

Going to make this easier on myself and respond in one post. I don't have the poster for the (potential) new Carol/Caryl project in my possession unfortunately. It was being shown on a phone while everyone was mingling; that's all I know.

[my-mt-heart]

I have an uncle who was at the AMC event and he knows I'm a huge Carol fan. Alright, so I may have nagged him a bit beforehand 😇 just in case she was there. Anyways, he said Melissa told him she might produce shows!!!??? He also said she was really charming and very pretty ❤️❤️❤️ but we know that already. She didn't say anything about a reunion/revival TWD show, but there is a possible Carol show, which he couldn't tell me about because she wasn't allowed to talk about it. Just that it's different. More horror like the early TWD seasons and funny. I don't know how that goes together, but I'd like more comedic Carol. What have you heard ffrom the upfronts??

Heard about her producing 😍The possible Carol show is Carol and Daryl, per a mockup poster that was apparently being floated around on Wednesday. Really exciting things, so I hope AMC doesn't fuck it up.

[my-mt-heart]

When I saw Melissa pics at AMC's upfronts I though that this means they are finally doing Carol's show. It took me a while to remember that there actually left one season of Daryl shit show to air... It feels like no one wants to watch it and AMC doesn't want to air it 🤭

They really shouldn't air it because it hurts their bottom line, but I assume they will anyway🤷‍♀️Upfronts are intended to entice advertisers with whatever content is on the schedule, but it's also a great networking opportunity and a way to drum up interest for future projects. Melissa/Carol/Caryl fans should keep that in mind.

[my-mt-heart]

AMC giving Carol and Melissa the spotlight that they deserve? I could get used to that 😏

[my-mt-heart]

A lot of rumors about twd revival with the main cast at the moment. And the only post I’ve seen from amc in a while is an edit they made of rick and daryl… I know you said mmb wouldn’t work with gimple or nicotero (is that right?) but could it be possible if neither of them are involved? or is this just more fans withful thinking?

also do you think nr would work with mmb without nicotero? he apparently refused to do the spinoff without nicotero at first

I think it's a combination of 1) some fans assuming that with DD ending and DC potentially not far behind, a reunion show is the next "logical" step and 2) Gimple trying to put out "feelers," so he can bring his vision of a "Marvel-style" universe to life. At this point, I see no situation in which Gimple isn't involved. The whole notion exists because of him. AMC seems to want more spinoffs, not TWD 2.0 or a grand conclusion. As previously mentioned, it would be an absolute nightmare to negotiate contracts for 5-6 headliners who want different things for their characters, not to mention massively expensive. Everyone and their dog knows that Gimple ruins everything he touches, so investors aren't going to throw a dime at him.

Nicotero is attached to Bannerman, which just got a writers' room, so I don't think he needs to leech off of Norman 😬

[onedirectionboys]

Melissa, you're such a beautiful woman!

[my-mt-heart]

Melissa McBride at AMC 2026 Upfront

[my-mt-heart]

When I said “Obviously Daryl’s care for Carol goes deeper than just romantic and I don’t mean that he’d have only offered to help because of romantic interest.”, I was worried that it would be interpreted to mean that I didn’t think romantic love is deep enough. That isn’t what I meant. I meant that Daryl’s care for Carol isn’t conditional on, for example, his romantic attraction to her. And I said that because I think of examples like Rick and Jessie, where Rick explicitly says that he tries to protect Jessie from abuse because he’s romantically attracted to her. I found that offensive. Men only showing care for women because of the promise or hope for sex is a huge issue in real life, so I didn’t want what I was saying about Daryl and Carol to be seen like that. And it is something that antis use to dismiss the views of shippers. Romantic love is absolutely strong enough and deep enough. But that gets misinterpreted sometimes.

"I was worried that it would be interpreted to mean that I didn’t think romantic love is deep enough."

I didn't think that's what you meant, anon 🫂You mentioned other people's interpretations making you second guess your own sometimes, so I thought maybe you were trying to be extra cautious with your phrasing for that reason.

In any case, yes, I agree that Daryl's love for Carol is unconditional and vice versa. They would do anything for each other regardless of what they hoped for in return. They try to put each other's needs ahead of their own.

[my-mt-heart]

I think that’s what im most curious about. Why did they script it for him to get flustered? Was it just plain comic relief or was it meant to also show romantic interest? Would they have written him to drop the can if he’d been offering to help Rick or Maggie for example?

I interpreted it as someone trying to show romantic interest for the first time and messing up because he’s nervous. Obviously Daryl’s care for Carol goes deeper than just romantic and I don’t mean that he’d have only offered to help because of romantic interest. It’s the flustered part that makes it read more romantic to me. But im sure cynics would say otherwise. And there are so many scenes that I read like that, which seem undeniable to me - because why deliberately write it that way if not to plant seeds in our heads? But then I think about how other viewers (viewers who see them as a platonic familial bond) seem to have interpreted it, and I always find a way to question my first reaction. So I keep returning to those scenes and wondering the intentions of each deliberate writing choice.

AMC knew that Caryl made them money and the CEO at the time was even a fan, so yes, there was intention to tease romance between them, and yes, I believe the water jug scene is one example of that. How Gimple felt about it and what he intended in his writing are a different story. Regardless, once something is up on screen, it belongs to the audience. Don’t let anyone gaslight you out of your interpretation 🤷🏻‍♀️

[my-mt-heart]

What’s your take on the gas cans scene where Daryl offers to Carol “want me to carry one of those?” and then is embarrassed by dropping the can in his hand? A lot of people think that was unscripted, but Melissa McBride said on Twitter that it was actually scripted.

I think Daryl was trying to show Carol how he could be there for her even if she was struggling to open up to him. He wanted to be her knight in shining armor, but in Daryl fashion, ends up getting flustered lol

[my-mt-heart]

Do you think caryl emotionally cheated on their partners? 👀

Yes 😐 Not only is there evidence to support it (see Find Me and Stradivarius), there’s also a lot of evidence to suggest that Ezekiel knew Carol’s heart was with Daryl. I don’t think Leah knew anything about Carol, but her asking Daryl where he belonged and later implying to Pope that Daryl didn’t love her means she was aware that Daryl’s heart was somewhere other than with her.