As The Walking Dead slowly works its way to its inevitable conclusion after eleven seasons,
the tenth season episode 'Find Me' goes back to the past. If you aren't caught
up on The Walking Dead, there are spoilers ahead.
Dead fans got a blast to the past in the latest episode of season 10,
which begins with Daryl, Carol, and Dog heading out together on a scouting trip,
where Daryl is confronted by difficult memories of a very special woman.
The episode not only gives fans a look at what the upcoming Daryl and Carol spin-off series
might look like, but it also provides a look into the lost years after Rick's disappearance.
The setup of the episode is simple enough: Carol talks herself into tagging along with Daryl on his
expedition, which takes them deep into the woods surrounding Alexandria. It's clear that things
aren't right; even though their community prevailed in the Whisperer War, they did so at an
incredible cost. Carol brings up the destruction of Hilltop and the sacking of Alexandria.
"Do you think our luck's run out?"
Daryl isn't in the mood to chat, but he's forced to open up when the pair come across
an abandoned cabin in the woods. While searching the cabin, Carol finds a hidden compartment in the
floor that contains some hidden food and a note written by Daryl. It's clear that he has some
history with this place. At Carol's request, he fills her in on what happened to him there.
Daryl's story begins during the period after Rick was seemingly killed in a bridge explosion.
We already learned in season 9 that Daryl spent several years after that event living in the woods
and searching for any sign of Rick. This is what we see him doing in "Find Me", carefully marking
locations on a map. He's living in a makeshift camp and scouring the area for Rick's body when
he meets a small dog, who turns out to be none other than Dog, Daryl's eventual canine companion.
They part ways, but Dog makes many trips back to Daryl. One day, Dog runs up to Daryl and
starts barking for him to follow, which leads them to an isolated cabin in the woods with
some walkers inside. After Daryl eliminates the threat, a woman with a gun bursts
out of a bedroom. She ties Daryl up and interrogates him about who he
is and why he's in her house. Once she's convinced that he's not a genuine threat,
she lets him go — but makes it clear she doesn't want to see him on her property again.
Daryl and the woman, who eventually reveals that her name is Leah, begin having a series of run-ins
where one helps the other, but because both of them are extremely independent,
neither seem too happy about it. First, Leah gives Daryl a hand when
he finds himself surrounded by a pack of walkers, only for him to tell her,
"You need to stay away from my camp."
Then, Daryl catches a fish and leaves it on Leah's porch, which she returns.
Neither can let their guard down long enough to become vulnerable to the other.
That all changes when Leah finds Daryl out in the cold and convinces him to come back to her cabin.
While he's there, she reveals that it's her adopted son's birthday, and explains to Daryl that
she has no actual family of her own, but formed a close familial bond with her military squadron.
Leah tells Daryl about the day that a horde of walkers attacked her group and she lost her entire
adopted family. Daryl, in turn, tells her about Rick. The night of vulnerability softens both of
them, and Daryl ends up coming to live in Leah's cabin. Unfortunately, it isn't meant to last.
Even after Daryl moves in with Leah, he can't abandon his mission to find evidence of what
happened to Rick, which puts a strain on their budding romantic relationship.
Leah is clearly someone who has a hard time letting people into her life. Losing her son and
her family was a profoundly traumatic moment, and she has a hard time watching Daryl leave.
When Daryl tells Leah he'll be gone for a few days, and she doesn't take that news well.
"Where do you belong, Daryl? Out there in the river looking for
your dead brother day after day after day or do you belong here with me?"
When Daryl responds that he doesn't know, she challenges him to make a choice.
Daryl goes on his trip, but he has the revelation that he wants to be with Leah instead. When he
returns to the cabin, she's gone, and there are no obvious clues as to what happened to
her. He leaves her a note in her secret stash of food that reads: "I belong with you. Find me."
This is the note that Carol discovers in the present day,
a sad indication that Leah never ended up returning to her cabin between then and now,
and what happened to her is a mystery. It's not likely that Daryl will get a happy ending
with her, however, considering Daryl and Carol have an entire spin-off series to embark on.
While Daryl and his relationship with Leah is the primary focus of "Find Me," the episode also
puts the spotlight on Daryl and Carol's bond. During Daryl's long time away in the woods,
Carol comes to meet with him multiple times, often expressing worry that their community is in
danger of falling apart. She also tries to gently persuade Daryl to rejoin them in Alexandria. He
eventually does, but during the flashbacks, he mostly turns a cold shoulder to Carol.
In the present day, when Carol tries to implore Daryl to not blame himself for
Leah's disappearance, he lashes out at her. He accuses Carol of trying to get him wrapped up
in her own personal issues; Carol says that the only thing she's asking of him is friendship.
Daryl is pushing Carol away to avoid vulnerability, the same as we saw him
do to Leah during the flashback sequences. The difference is that he and Carol are old friends
who have been through a lot together, so it's devastating to see them break down like this.
"I was right. Our luck's run out, you and me."
Fortunately, there's still plenty of time for Carol and Daryl to mend their
friendship and become the strong, resilient duo fans know them to be.
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