The Walking Dead's season 10 finale presented more hints connected to the plans for Carol and Daryl's upcoming spinoff. The popular characters, played by Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus, are set to headline a brand new series set in The Walking Dead universe after the flagship series ends with an expanded season 11 in 2022. Veteran series showrunners Angela Kang and Scott M. Gimple will be at the helm of the spinoff, which is slated for 2023. While it's unclear why the two original characters will stray away from the community they spent so much time trying to build, the AMC show has been providing hints about a departure.
The notion that Carol Peletier wanted to go off on her own was first introduced in The Walking Dead season 10 premiere, "Lines We Cross." The various communities were gearing up for the return of Alpha and the Whisperers after a long winter. While the group split off into parties to scout for Whisperers, Carol revealed to Daryl Dixon that she had considered leaving the community to travel alone. This caused the two good friends to argue, but by the end of the episode, Daryl offered to leave with her. Carol refused the offer and that was the end of her feelings of wanderlust until the season 10 finale.
The planned season 10 finale, titled "A Certain Doom," finally put an end to the Whisperer War as Carol, Daryl, and most of the surviving members of the communities decimated a walker horde. They also killed Beta, the lone leader of the villainous group. While the group reunited with Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan), Carol and Daryl seemed to get their friendship back on track. Carol revealed that she still hadn't found peace to which Daryl interjected that he would still be there for her. He then brought back up their talks of traveling to New Mexico and Carol gave a sly answer: "Maybe someday. We still have things to do here." The episode certainly provided more hints regarding Carol and Daryl's future spinoff. Interestingly enough, the initial plans for their exit had to be put on hold.
Carol & Daryl's TWD Spinoff Was Meant To Occur Much Earlier
McBride and Reedus will remain central figures on The Walking Dead until it concludes in 2022. From there, the storyline will branch off to give the duo a new journey away from the primary set of communities. According to an interview with Reedus (via EW), the spinoff was supposed to occur well before the original series came to an end. The talks began churning way back in 2018 during the development of the season 9 finale. There was thought that Carol and Daryl would leave together for a new mission with the ability to pop back into the flagship show from time to time. When it was decided that The Walking Dead would come to an official end with season 11, the spinoff plans were put on hold.
Aside from a supersized season 11 with 24 episodes over the course of two years, season 10 will get six additional bonus episodes. With over 30 hours of The Walking Dead content still to come, there's plenty of time to iron out the details explaining why Carol and Daryl set out to New Mexico or elsewhere. By then, there could be bigger connections to other spinoffs or the highly anticipated Rick Grimes sequel movie. When The Walking Dead does come back, it's safe to expect plenty of more Carol and Daryl departure teases.