TV Line reports that actor Melissa McBride has exited the upcoming Walking Dead spin-off series that was going to be focused on her character Carol and TWD’s other fan-favorite series regular Daryl, played by Norman Reedus. Now, the show will focus exclusively on Daryl, which... uh... was likely the only possible solution.
Somewhat confusingly, while TV Line says McBride “exited” the series, which would indicate it would have been her own decision, it also reports “the decision to jettison Carol was purely a creative one,” which implies Walking Dead franchise grand poobah Scott M. Gimple and The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang made the decision for McBride, although may the actor had input? After 12 years of playing the character (which couldn’t always have been a satisfying job), it’s quite reasonable to think she wouldn’t want to be part of another TWD project that ended up not being to her liking. Still, this is a franchise that suspiciously killed off a major character out of nowhere (i.e., Chandler Riggs’ Carl) so I can’t help but think something less amicable might have gone down.
Not only are Carol and Daryl likely the best-loved characters on The Walking Dead, they also have the strongest, most compelling relationship on the show by far. They also happen to be the only two characters who have survived all 11 seasons of the series, and, since they were about to start in their own spin-off, beyond season 11 as well. Turning The Carol & Daryl Power Hour into The Daryl Show Starring Daryl likely means rejiggering it from top to bottom. As of last August, Reedus made it sound like the show hasn’t started filming yet; it’s unknown if that’s still the case, but if so, the series will be starting over from scratch.
More on this as it develops.
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