When we meet Carol Peletier we can see that her husband is domineering, she’s easily apologetic and it is clear that she is Sophia’s prime caregiver. We have no idea what they’ve done for a living, but she seems to be a homemaker and he is certainly ready for some kind of dystopian world. They have plenty of supplies and he doesn’t want to share. This could be survival, but it can also be selfish douche; maybe he’s a hoarder. Or paranoid. Whatever it is she doesn’t argue the point and immediately goes to apologize to Lori as if she made a mistake. Lori senses something and let’s it go, herself apologizing to Carol.

At the end of season 5, we have a complete turnaround. She is no longer the mild-mannered, quiet follower that we first met. In fact, she has a contempt for those types of people. In Alexandria, she calls them children. If those were the only two episodes you watched, you’d find the change startling.

My husband told me when (not if, but when) I started watching The Walking Dead, I would love Carol. I would love her story arc, her character development, how she goes from Stepford wife, mother, and abuse victim to badass survivor and leader equal to Michonne or any of them. Once I began to watch, I tried; I really tried to like her, but my animosity towards her is almost equal to hers for the Alexandrians.

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