Even those TV junkies who haven’t watched The Walking Dead can guess that Daryl Dixon is not the most touchy-feely guy. Not that he is completely opposed. He has given the best hugs to those who he truly trusts, but he is more concerned with survival (somebody’s gotta do it) than getting too close to too many people. Sure, there is a rather devoted contingent of fans that is aching to see him get frisky with Carol, but seriously, this doesn’t seem like it would ever happen. Don’t viewers want these two to have a more enduring relationship (like staying best friends)? Come on, y’all.
Daryl has also been ‘shipped with The Walking Dead‘s Connie but only had one romance during the flagship show’s eleven seasons. That would be Leah, and even that didn’t last. With that said, Daryl did have an onscreen kiss on this past Sunday’s episode of TWD: Daryl Dixon: The Book Of Carol, and maybe some of us (i.e., me) found it amusing that Daryl was kissing a nun. (Maybe I even texted that fact to somebody while watching the scene. Who knows?) But Isabelle hasn’t worn that nun habit for awhile, and she also kind-of fell into nun-dom due to circumstance, and this is post-apocalypse, so I doubt that the rules are as tight for nuns when walkers are afoot.
My reaction? Good for Daryl and Isabelle. Social media’s reaction? Not as pleased that, you know, Daryl wasn’t kissing Carol. Norman Reedus’ reaction? He thinks it doesn’t means too much (and he certainly wasn’t moaning like somebody(s) else), via an Entertainment Weekly interview:
“I think it was an experiment. It was, ‘What is this?’ It wasn’t a ‘This is it!’ It’s a ‘What is this? And what would that look like and how does that feel?’ I don’t think there was an intention to get to second base. I think it was more of scarily parting these curtains to look at the idea of it … I’ll tell you my interpretation of it … He’s been running and fighting his whole life, and is asking himself: Have I been doing this wrong? Should I have just found someone and settled down in a farm and just had those moments of life before I die? Or is the fighting and fighting the way I’m supposed to go? He’s questioning the whole big picture.”
Hopefully, Isabelle is on the same page and also thinks the kiss was only a kiss, rather than the start of a grand romance. Still, Reedus acknowledged, “I know how fandom works,” so he expects people to expect things to get sexy, but yeah, it was only a kiss. For now, at least.
Additionally, showrunner David Zabel recently asked Reedus (also via EW) whether Daryl “loves Laurent,” and Reedus simply answered, “No.” When prompted, he added, “I don’t think Daryl’s so easy to love anybody. I think it’s an earned thing,” and even a “puppy would have to earn my love.”
So there. Now, “Dog” on the other hand, that’s different: