The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus Opens Up About Daryl’s Relationships with Carol and Connie in Season 10

The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus says Daryl’s relationship with best friend Carol (Melissa McBride) gets “really complicated” in Season 10, where Daryl branches out in his growing closeness with Connie (Lauren Ridloff).

“There is a lot of Daryl and Carol this year, like a lot of Daryl and Carol. Those characters are so tight,” Reedus said at ACE Comic Con Midwest over the weekend. “There’s some moments and some lines in [the Season 10 premiere] script that were my idea, so we’ll see where that heads.”

In the season opener, Daryl reunited with Carol after she spent months away as a “sea dog.” It was at the docks where fans spotted a sign language pamphlet in Daryl’s back pocket, part of Daryl’s efforts to better communicate with Connie, who is deaf.

“I think Connie, he sees her as an equal. She’s an asset, she’s a badass,” Reedus said. “There’s lots of times Daryl’s like, ‘I’m gonna head this way,’ and she’s like, ‘I’m coming with you.’ I’m like, ‘No, you’re not,’ she’s like, ‘Watch me.’ And I like seeing that character branch out and put in the effort to be able to communicate with her. I think that’s really cool.”

On Connie, Reedus added, “I like her character, I like my character, I like our relationship. I like my relationship with Carol, of course.”

That relationship is one that “gets really complicated this year,” Reedus teased. Following a split from husband King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) caused by the death of son Henry (Matt Lintz), murdered by Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton), Carol is headed down somewhat of an emotional downward spiral.

“If you look at all the things that have happened to Carol, she’s lost so much, you know? And she’s become very damaged because of it,” Reedus said. “So there’s a lot of that kind of relationship this year.”

Daryl and Carol floated the idea of running away together and heading to New Mexico, away from all the fighting. But after locking eyes with Alpha while behind enemy lines, Carol wants her revenge.

“I love that scene between the two of them because it’s the calm before the storm. As soon as she lays eyes on Alpha at the end, you know all of that is gone,” premiere director Greg Nicotero previously told EW. “But I really love how comfortable the two of them are together. And Daryl’s sort of priming her for a fight. He’s like, ‘Listen, we found a mask. And we got some scouts going out, are you interested?’ And she’s like, ‘Nope, I’m not interested.’ She doesn’t want to go there. And she was completely fine not going there until she lays eyes on Alpha. And then it’s like, ‘Well, now I got to go there.’”