The group's reaction to Carol's banishment

[urdeadtome]

Nah, Michonne is too alpha female for the show to get rid of or ruin. She is the cartoon come to life. Maggie is essentially one of the guys group, fighting side by side when they first took the prison. But, if I were Sasha or Beth, I'd watch my back.

Yea, I was really just joking about Michonne and Maggie getting the axe! There's no way that would happen to either one of them (I hope!) and Sasha is proving to be a pretty damn strong group member herself (if she survives the "creeping crud" everyone has!), but honestly, it's just a matter of time before Beth joins Jackie, Amy, Lori, Andrea and Karen in the "great apocalypse afterlife". If she makes it to the end of this season, somebody just thinks she's cute and wants to keep her around because they have a crush on Beth!

[Island Girl]

Michonne is every geek boy's wet dream. There's a character like her in almost every GN these days - think of Lara Croft, etc. She's here until the end of the series. They don't dare change her too much from the GN, or they'll lose that dream demographic (men 18-49).

Maggie, too, is safe - she's becoming the white version of Michonne.

[Vicki]

No, Daryl wasn't ruined by being Carol friend and confidant. He was ruined by becoming Rick's bitch.

You are too perfect! As brother Merle said "you his lapdog now?"

Yet another man underestimating Carol. Also, she has a gun. Further, you ignore the fact that Daryl would kill the crap out of Tyreese for Carol.

Not to mention the point that has been raised repeatedly here, that if Tyreese is such a hothead that he can't control himself, he's the one that needs to be banished, not Carol.

exactly !

You mean like how Martinez and Shumpert wouldn't stand up to the Governor....Got it. This is my problem with everyone bowing down to Rick and supporting his decision. I'm not saying what Carol did was right but I think what Rick did was lacking as well and I think someone needs to stand up and tell him that.

:)
I still think someone from the group would be ticked at Rick dumping Carol. Some would feel the loss... I hope!

[Nana]

You are too perfect! As brother Merle said "you his lapdog now?"



exactly !



:)
I still think someone from the group would be ticked at Rick dumping Carol. Some would feel the loss... I hope!

I am thinking (hoping) Glenn also might stand up for her. Glenn views that group from Atlanta and the Greenes as his family.. He doesn't seem the type to turn away from the people he loves.

[Vicki]

I am thinking (hoping) Glenn also might stand up for her. Glenn views that group from Atlanta and the Greenes as his family.. He doesn't seem the type to turn away from the people he loves.

I think maybe Glenn as well.. but then I was surprised at Rick so....

[Dia]

I think Glenn will stick by Carol, he seems to be pretty passionate about the original group being his family and it would put him in direct conflict with Maggie, which I think could be an interesting twist.

[IrishSetter]

I'm looking forward to see Daryl's reaction to the news.

[Bullit]

I think I'm in the minority because I am not upset that Rick decided to leave Carol behinde. I do like Carol but I don't like the choices shes made> I remember all the problems caused in season 2 from keeping secrets and first thing we see is Carol and her secret knife school. She does admit to Rick that she killed the 2 sick people but she doesnt want im to mention it. Rick made it clear that he was making the choice of not bringing her back for himself and his kids. He left Carol with supplies and a car, nothing is stopping Carol from driving back to the prison herself, she knows the way and has the means. Rick isnt the "king" of the prison his word is not law. I feel that Carol doesnt want to face the others (yet) since Rick will tell them what Carol did. She may have admitted to Rick because in the past he has made choices that turned out bad, but he always admitted them, even killing Shane. I hope Carol is staying away to give everyone time to deal with what she did (especially Tyreese) and eventually she will be back.

[2pink]

I think I'm in the minority because I am not upset that Rick decided to leave Carol behinde. I do like Carol but I don't like the choices shes made> I remember all the problems caused in season 2 from keeping secrets and first thing we see is Carol and her secret knife school. She does admit to Rick that she killed the 2 sick people but she doesnt want im to mention it. Rick made it clear that he was making the choice of not bringing her back for himself and his kids. He left Carol with supplies and a car, nothing is stopping Carol from driving back to the prison herself, she knows the way and has the means. Rick isnt the "king" of the prison his word is not law. I feel that Carol doesnt want to face the others (yet) since Rick will tell them what Carol did. She may have admitted to Rick because in the past he has made choices that turned out bad, but he always admitted them, even killing Shane. I hope Carol is staying away to give everyone time to deal with what she did (especially Tyreese) and eventually she will be back.

Your right in everything that u said. Cause its your perspective and alot see it that way. Im still upset about what rick did. But the one thing i dont agree with is. i dont think he was always honest and he admtting to killing shane when asked where he was. And also lied about turning after you die no matter what He held back info about his deal with michonne n the governer with the group. And lied to the group about the governer.

Im starting to hope that rick did this mostly for carols protection even thiugh i think rick fewrs the worst becaus he knows himself what he is capable of and it is t pretty. Sometimes we fewr those that we see somthing of ourselves in them. But i dont think the whole group wouldve been like ok no problem. I j ust feel rick was cold More cold than carol actually

[meesha1971]

Your right in everything that u said. Cause its your perspective and alot see it that way. Im still upset about what rick did. But the one thing i dont agree with is. i dont think he was always honest and he admtting to killing shane when asked where he was. And also lied about turning after you die no matter what He held back info about his deal with michonne n the governer with the group. And lied to the group about the governer.

Im starting to hope that rick did this mostly for carols protection even thiugh i think rick fewrs the worst becaus he knows himself what he is capable of and it is t pretty. Sometimes we fewr those that we see somthing of ourselves in them. But i dont think the whole group wouldve been like ok no problem. I j ust feel rick was cold More cold than carol actually

Rick didn't lie about Shane at all. He didn't tell them immediately, but that was due to that massive herd driving them off the farm - they had to focus on getting to safety first. Once they were safe, he did tell them - and we were shown in season 3 that he told them everything when Carol explained what happened after Andrea asked about Shane. Rick didn't try to cover anything up or lie about what happened or why it happened. He did withhold the information Jenner gave him though and he did keep his plan to hand over Michonne a secret from everyone but Hershel, Daryl, and Merle - both of which turned out to be mistakes.

That's all part of it though. One of the big themes in season 2 was that keeping secrets can get you killed. Lori tried to keep secrets - sleeping with Shane and being pregnant - and doing so only made the situation with Shane worse. Hershel and his family/friends tried to keep the walkers in the barn a secret and that situation escalated because of it. Rick chose to wait until he got some kind of confirmation before telling them about what Jenner said - and that put everyone at risk because they weren't taking precautions they should have or would have if they had known it didn't matter how a person died. Shane kept secrets because he was plotting against Rick - which not only led to Rick being forced to kill him in self defense, but also put the group in danger. They all had reasons for keeping those secrets, but they all learned in the end that secrets can get get you killed.

That lesson was why Rick decided to step down as leader after he came so close to crossing that line with Michonne. He did tell Hershel, Daryl, and Merle, but kept the plan a secret from the rest of the group. That led to Merle jumping the gun and leaving before Rick could stop him after he realized it was wrong and changed his mind. Keeping that secret put both Michonne and Merle in danger and Merle was killed. Rick accepted that he made mistakes and that those mistakes endangered the group so he removed himself - and, really, I think the only reason that Rick didn't actually leave the prison himself was because of Carl and Judith. But he did isolate himself and avoided being part of anything that would make him responsible for other people's lives. He stopped trusting himself and needed that time to heal and come back to the man he should be. The group gave him that time because they understood. Rick has to learn how to trust himself again and being forced to step up and take action when the council was out of commission because of this flu was part of that.

That's why I don't see Rick's actions as cold. Carol wasn't willing or able to do what Rick did. She couldn't accept or admit that what she did was wrong. She asked Rick to lie for her and keep it a secret because she knew Rick was right about how everyone else will feel about her actions. Carol made the mistake of assuming that Rick would go along with that because of his own mistakes in the past. What she failed to realize or accept is the fact that Rick learned from those mistakes so she wasn't prepared for him to refuse to help her make the same mistakes or endanger the group because she has decided that she's always right and they're always wrong and that justifies her lying to them and keeping secrets from them. Rick knows from personal experience how that kind of thinking can lead to bigger problems and endanger everyone.

Bullit makes an excellent point about Rick leaving that up to Carol though. He can't stop Carol from going back to the prison on her own - and he knows that. He could only refuse to take her back to the prison with him. He could give her a car, gas, and other supplies, but he couldn't force her to go somewhere else if she didn't want to. He has learned from his own mistakes and the first thing he did after returning to the prison was tell Maggie and Hershel. He'll tell the others the truth as well because he knows he can't stop Carol from coming back to the prison on her own. He knows that lying and keeping what she did a secret won't help anyone so he's telling them the truth so they can be prepared if/when Carol does show up. What Carol does now and where she goes is up to her. She knows that Rick won't lie for her or keep what she did a secret so going back to the prison will mean facing up to her crime as well as her lies and dealing with the consequences of both. It's not a question of what choices Rick made or will make. It's a question of whether or not Carol is willing or able to face up to her own mistakes and learn from them. Carol has to come to that on her own - nobody can force her to do that. In that respect, Rick standing his ground and refusing to lie for her or keep secrets for her might be the push Carol needed to be able to own up to her own mistakes and learn from them the way Rick did.