The Walking Dead: Will Carol Commit Suicide?

Warning, spoilers for the fourteenth episode of The Walking Dead‘s sixth season and all printed issues of the comics follow!

In Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead, Carol ran away from Alexandria. It didn’t come as a surprise. For the past few weeks, Carol has been struggling. Her kill count has been weighing heavily on her and balancing the act of torching a few men with maintaining a relationship with Tobin proved to be too much.

Carol is a character who, on TV, exceeded her comic book counterpart’s lifespan. In the comics, Carol commits suicide by feeding herself to walkers. That said, she never did become the force of nature she is on the TV series with such an impressive ability to survive.

While The Walking Dead deviates from the comics quite often, it does stay true more often than not. Sometimes this means word for word quotes but it especially means in the grand scheme of Rick and company’s story.

Carol’s character has having trouble with all aspects of life since arriving at Alexandria. Speaking to McBride a couple of weeks ago, she emphasized to me that Carol is not as happy as she seems while baking and handing out cookies. She is deeply troubled by everything that’s going on.

Sending Carol out of Alexandria may have been a kinder way to have the fan favorite exit the show than to have her commit suicide but it’s unlikely that we won’t see her again. All bets should be on Carol reappearing as early as this Sunday’s East episode, likely titled based on the direction she was heading. McBride commented just how dark the finale episode’s script is, signifying she has read, which also signifies that she is involved with the episode. Cast members who are not involved with certain episodes most often do not receive the scripts (especially if they’ve been taken off of the show!).

The question is, though, what will happen when we find her? Will she be willing to come back to Alexandria if Rick asks nicely? Will she be willing to defend everyone? The pressure and questions are too much for her and, sadly, point to the character giving up on life.

The only thing that might save her: Morgan Jones. It’s clear Morgan and Carol have a connection. Morgan believes in the good inside people and that’s exactly what Carol needs to hear. Should Morgan find Carol, he is likely the only Alexandrian who would be able to turn Carol’s outlook to a positive one, especially when reflecting on herself.

The Walking Dead has two episodes left in its sixth season, airing Sundays at 9 PM ET on AMC.