Okay. So I did one of these wish lists last season and got gifted way more than I ever could have anticipated so I thought why not do it again?
Shae’s wish list for Season 11.
Putting it under a cut because it’s long and rambling. And it will probably be revised and/or added to whenever the mood strikes me.
Things I want to see in Season 11:
The actual episode. Why the hell does everything have to be so dark in the literal sense?
Carol and Daryl to have an epic reunion that will totally blow the reunion in the woods outside of Terminus out of the water. C’mon. It really feels like the stage is being set for it and you know Angela loves her callbacks. What better moment to revisit than this one? The one where we all just knew these two were embarking on something new (only they didn’t, not in the way we’d hoped)? Like, it’s a seemingly insurmountable task but I know Norman and Melissa have it in them again. The real question is: do the writers?
Judith and RJ bonding with Aunt Carol and her telling them stories of the old days and all the people they didn’t get to meet. What better way to foster our nostalgia and make us remember why we fell in love with this show and its characters in the first place?
More Carol and Dog because those scenes in Diverged were the epitome of precious.
More Princess. Princess’s “meet and greets” with all our community members, yes. But Princess’s first meeting and assessment of Carol and Daryl. Methinks she’d have something mighty interesting and enlightening to say.
All this angst for Daryl and Carol eventually building to a head and Kang finally delivering on that “heart to heart” she mentioned what feels like a million and one years ago.
Aaron and Gracie scenes because Aaron is such a good daddy, ya’ll.
Rosita continuing to have significant screen time and not having to step back into the shadows just because Maggie is back.
Speaking of, I’m glad Maggie is back. I really am. For the simple fact that Baby Hershel is the cutest alone. But I’m not happy that everybody so far seems so ready to just defer to her when they’ve been perfectly fine making it without her. That is not okay and that shit needs to stop soon-ish.
Hershel making fast friends with Judith and RJ and Gracie and all the Jabila kids. They’re the next generation, ya’ll. I just really need this.
More Jerry and Nabila, please. Because I have a special soft spot for my Jabila.
Jerry and Ezekiel scenes. Because Jerry is Ezekiel’s person and the truest bond he has on the show.
Kelly and Lydia striking up a friendship because Kelly’s a sweet cinnamon roll and Lydia is in desperate need of friends.
More scenes of Lydia, period, and not just her seeking out Negan because they both feel like outcasts. Lydia was raised in Hell. Negan wreaked Hell. It’s different and I don’t appreciate the heavy-handedness of Angela trying to make Negan into something he has no right to be. Leave him at an antihero if you must persist but stop trying to convince us he’s earned his place as a good guy because he hasn’t. JDM may have risen to the challenge of making him a much more compelling, shades of gray character these past two seasons, but Negan is still the guy that gleefully bashed Glenn’s head in with a barb-wire wrapped baseball bat and if he’s not going to show remorse about it? The least he can do is show the common sense not to go out of his way to antagonize Maggie.
Kelly reuniting with Connie and Carol getting to have a hand in doing in. Some acknowledgment from Connie that she chose to go back into the cave with Magna would be nice but ultimately not necessary because I don’t think Connie blames Carol at all.
Dog surviving the season unscathed and getting all the cuddles he deserves.
The not-so-rosy truth about Leah being exposed and Daryl making his choice clear once and for all. Spoiler alert? Leah doesn’t even rank.
I’d love the fake dating/fake marriage trope to be trotted out at the good old Commonwealth with Carol and Daryl because I think it would be so much freaking fun and hey. If Kang is going to continue to give us fanfic (unknown child, a la Rick and Michonne), why not try out a true blue?
Some freaking clue as to why/how Rosita and Father Gabe hooked up. Like I just don’t get it, especially when you consider Siddiq was RIGHT THERE. The amount of distrust Rosita and the rest of Team Family had in him back in the early days of their arriving in Alexandria. I just find it hard to wrap my mind around this relationship when it wasn’t even on the radar pre-time jump.
That said, Father Gabe did have a great scene with Judith in (what was then) the Season Finale where he gave her a message for Rosita and I did find it touching. So I dunno, ya’ll. I could be persuaded. But not all that easily.
Some resolution to the whole Virgil thing. Talk about your random characters in the right place at the right/wrong time. Him promising his wife flowers every day touched me but come the fuck on.
More Carol and Lydia scenes and more Carol and Kelly scenes because Carol with these young ladies gives me life. You know what? Carol getting to interact with and have friendship with any and all of the ladies gives me life and should be a regular thing. Like TPTB missed the opportunity of a lifetime having Carol and Michonne sharing all kinds of bonding scenes. It would have been so poignant to watch them relate to each other over their lost children.
Can we please get some Commonwealth scenes where the kids of Alexandria learn how to be actual kids? I mean, not that they aren’t already, but I’d love to see them have the chance to be carefree and have fun. You know, though, that Jude is definitely going to be a tough little nut to crack, and she’s always going to be keeping one eye open for trouble.
Speaking of Commonwealth, I’d love to see all our faves dolled up, lol. Yes, it’s a rather shallow wish, but can you imagine Carol in a simple but beautiful dress and Daryl utterly tongue-tied to the point that the kids--Lydia, Judith, and RJ--just start giggling uncontrollably and Carol and Daryl both blush? Because I can and it is glorious.
Let the villains villain. Not everyone needs to be redeemed. Some people are just too far gone.
You know what? It’s past time to let Carol in particular unpack some of her trauma and cast it aside so she can move on that future Daryl keeps reminding her they have. She and Daryl are way overdue for a heart to heart where she just opens up a vein and lets it all flow. It’s the only way she’s going to be able to heal and move on, IMHO.
Some indication that Rick and Michonne and the Grimes babies and the rest of their family (Carol, Daryl, etc.) are going to be reunited.
The promise of at least a chance of a happy ending for everyone we’ve watched and loved these last 10+ years.
There’s more. There’s always more, lol. But that’s enough for now. As I think of things I just really, really need to see? I’ll come back to this list. Because hey. Like I said. I did one of these for Season 10 and I got way more of them than I ever could have anticipated so.
