The more I ponder this--let's face it, I've pondered it a whole helluva lot, my entire brain has been hijacked by Caryl, Caryl, Caryl this last week--the more I'm convinced that Kang is going for a contrast here. archersqueen: shimmershae: Ez3kiel’s there when Carol’s boat docks, loitering around and trying to capture and hold on to her attention, and she’s polite to him. Civil in her chitchat with him and brief smile. But it couldn’t be more obvious that she’s impatient to get to Daryl. That she’s missed him while she’s been away. She can barely focus on Ez3kiel’s words much less keep her eyes on his face while he’s talking to her because she keeps looking over her shoulder at Daryl. Their interaction showed the awkward strain of two exes with opposite ideas of where their relationship should be going. As soon as she leaves Ez3kiel and goes to Daryl, though? She’s wearing an ear to ear grin and her eyes are crinkled with happiness. There’s no awkwardness, just pure joy as she’s swept up in his embrace. She only has eyes for Daryl. Like legit, everybody and everything else just faded away. And speaking of Daryl. I’ve only had the chance to watch the episode once so far, but I’m pretty sure he crossed paths with C&nnie on his way to check if Carol was back yet. Carol was at the forefront of his thoughts, but here’s C&nnie. Somebody he’s coming to consider a friend. And they have a nice little conversation. She teases him. He’s kinda like what? They’re making inroads in this friendship and communication thing, although it’s obvious he’s not quite on the same wavelength. Still. It’s not until Carol’s boat docks and Carol herself is there right in front of him that we’re shown just how big of a difference there is between the two interactions. Well. That’s not entirely true. Fellow Caryl fans likely noticed right away, but the general audience? Not so much. Anyway. As soon as Carol is right in front of him? Daryl Dixon is a man transformed. Openly affectionate, teasing. He fucking puts his arms around Carol and picks her up (I’d love for this to become a kind of thing for them this season, lol). Like Ez3kiel for Carol, C&nnie fades into the background for him. She becomes invisible because he only has eyes for Carol. He’s wearing the biggest, brightest smile Daryl Dixon has worn to date and guess who inspired it? Seriously. If ya’ll say anybody besides Carol, I’m going to have to ask for urine and blood samples to see what mind-altering drugs ya’ll are using. The encounters could not have been more different and I think, I really hope, that is why Kang plugged Ez3kiel and C&nnie into a scene they really weren’t needed in. An argument could feasibly be made for Ez3kiel’s presence had Carol not made it clear they were finished last season, but she did. So. Yeah. Kang wanted us to see the contrast. To see what ‘just friends’ is and isn’t. She’s literally hitting us over the head with so much, but because we’ve been through hell and back just for loving this ship and been burned so many times, our PTSD won’t let us trust her. I really want to. I want to believe. It’s the easiest and the hardest thing and it’s going to take awhile for me to stop being so gun shy. Until I can give it 100%? I’ll just keep looking for the contrasts. How ‘bout ya’ll do yourselves a favor and do the same? Yes. It was so very obvious. Daryl and Carol were all about each other. They couldn’t get out of there fast enough to be together alone. October 02, 2019 at 01:32AM

archersqueen:

shimmershae:

Ez3kiel’s there when Carol’s boat docks, loitering around and trying to capture and hold on to her attention, and she’s polite to him.  Civil in her chitchat with him and brief smile.  But it couldn’t be more obvious that she’s impatient to get to Daryl.  That she’s missed him while she’s been away.  She can barely focus on Ez3kiel’s words much less keep her eyes on his face while he’s talking to her because she keeps looking over her shoulder at Daryl.  Their interaction showed the awkward strain of two exes with opposite ideas of where their relationship should be going.

As soon as she leaves Ez3kiel and goes to Daryl, though?  She’s wearing an ear to ear grin and her eyes are crinkled with happiness.  There’s no awkwardness, just pure joy as she’s swept up in his embrace.  She only has eyes for Daryl.  Like legit, everybody and everything else just faded away. 

And speaking of Daryl. I’ve only had the chance to watch the episode once so far, but I’m pretty sure he crossed paths with C&nnie on his way to check if Carol was back yet.  Carol was at the forefront of his thoughts, but here’s C&nnie. Somebody he’s coming to consider a friend.  And they have a nice little conversation.  She teases him.  He’s kinda like what?  They’re making inroads in this friendship and communication thing, although it’s obvious he’s not quite on the same wavelength. 

Still.  It’s not until Carol’s boat docks and Carol herself is there right in front of him that we’re shown just how big of a difference there is between the two interactions.  Well.  That’s not entirely true.  Fellow Caryl fans likely noticed right away, but the general audience?  Not so much.  Anyway.  As soon as Carol is right in front of him?  Daryl Dixon is a man transformed.  Openly affectionate, teasing. He fucking puts his arms around Carol and picks her up (I’d love for this to become a kind of thing for them this season, lol).  Like Ez3kiel for Carol, C&nnie fades into the background for him.  She becomes invisible because he only has eyes for Carol.  He’s wearing the biggest, brightest smile Daryl Dixon has worn to date and guess who inspired it? 

Seriously.  If ya’ll say anybody besides Carol, I’m going to have to ask for urine and blood samples to see what mind-altering drugs ya’ll are using. 

The encounters could not have been more different and I think, I really hope, that is why Kang plugged Ez3kiel and C&nnie into a scene they really weren’t needed in.  An argument could feasibly be made for Ez3kiel’s presence had Carol not made it clear they were finished last season, but she did.  So.  Yeah. 

Kang wanted us to see the contrast.  To see what ‘just friends’ is and isn’t. 

She’s literally hitting us over the head with so much, but because we’ve been through hell and back just for loving this ship and been burned so many times, our PTSD won’t let us trust her. 

I really want to.  I want to believe.  It’s the easiest and the hardest thing and it’s going to take awhile for me to stop being so gun shy. 

Until I can give it 100%?  I’ll just keep looking for the contrasts. 

How ‘bout ya’ll do yourselves a favor and do the same? 

Yes. It was so very obvious. Daryl and Carol were all about each other. They couldn’t get out of there fast enough to be together alone.

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