The Walking Dead Stars Improvised Daryl and Connie Moment in Season 10 Premiere

The Walking Dead stars Lauren Ridloff and Angel Theory, who play sisters Connie and Kelly, improvised an unspoken moment in the Season 10 premiere pertaining to the will-they-or-won’t-they surrounding Connie and Daryl (Norman Reedus). After training at Oceanside, where Daryl oversees a militia-like fighting force assembled in defense against the Whisperers, Kelly spots Daryl coming down the beach to retrieve Dog. The sisters wave, Daryl waves, and Kelly turns back to Connie with a raised and knowing eyebrow. Connie then swats her arm as if to say, “Stop it.” The exchange — quickly spotted by charmed ‘Donnie’ shippers — was unscripted, showrunner Angela Kang reveals.

“What I really enjoy about those two together, they have such an interesting dynamic and chemistry, which just has popped from the beginning. I think what we’re showing is that they certainly have a blossoming friendship and connection,” Kang told EW. “We see that Daryl has been teaching himself sign language, which certainly says something, that in the mildest form he is doing his best to welcome somebody who needs to use ASL to communicate.”

Executive producer Greg Nicotero, who directed Sunday’s season opener, says there’s definitely something there between Daryl and Connie. And like the fans who have been calling for a Donnie relationship since the two characters were first paired up in Season 9, Kelly is also wondering if there might be something more.

“But I do think that even amongst the characters, there’s this really fun moment that I love, and this was not scripted. This is just what the actresses did and we kept it in because it was such a fun moment,” Kang said. “Kelly sees Daryl coming up and Connie’s talking to him. And she just gives that little eyebrow raise, like, ‘Huh, what’s going on there?’ And then Connie responds by doing a ‘Stop it,’ which I thought is really great. I think even amongst the characters in the show, they’re wondering if there’s something more here, and that’s just part of the story for the season.”

If Donnie turns romantic, it’s a relationship Reedus expects to last for life.

“He’s like a flamingo or a penguin, I think if he’s gonna find it he’s gonna stick with it,” Reedus previously told The IMDb Show of the long loveless Daryl. “There’s a lot of nookie going on in our show, and I’m not in any of it. I did kind of convince everybody that I was kind of a virgin and kind of a loner early on in the seasons, and I think they kind of ran with it for a while. I feel like Daryl doesn’t really have game.”

New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 10 premiere Sundays at 9/8c on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.