The Walking Dead is hitting the road with Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride), who will return in a sequel series from co-creators Scott Gimple and Angela Kang. Described as a “road show” with a different tone and feel from past seasons of The Walking Dead, the as-yet-untitled spinoff won’t focus on Daryl and Carol exclusively — other characters will be along for the ride — but the two best friends will discover a new frontier in The Walking Dead Universe when the new series revs its engine sometime in 2023.

“With ‘Daryl and Carol,’ I can’t say too much about it, but I will say it’s going to be very different from The Walking Dead, going to have a different tone. It’s going to have a different mission churning under it,” Gimple, who serves as TWD chief content officer, told The Los Angeles Times. “There will be characters all around Carol and Daryl. And, of course, the musical numbers.”

Jokes aside, the spinoff won’t be quite as dark and heavy as previous seasons of The Walking Dead.

“There’s many layers of approvals and things, but [it’s meant to be] a little lighter. Not in a way that feels frivolous, but I think like all of us are looking to have fun in that world,” said Kang, who moves over to the spinoff as showrunner. “It’s a road show — I hope I can say that — and so I think it will feel distinct. It’s definitely something that Norman and Melissa and I and Scott have all talked about, what we crave tonally.”

The current tenth season of the main show planted seeds for the spinoff as early as the Season 10 premiere, where Daryl and Carol mulled over hitting the road to New Mexico. As Season 11 introduces the Commonwealth, a sprawling civilization that has mostly resumed normal life despite the ongoing zombie apocalypse, it’s easy to see outsiders Daryl and Carol journeying somewhere new.

“I think Daryl, the lone wolf, we’ve always thought, ‘That guy just rides off into the sunset at some point.’ Carol is kind of the same person,” Kang said, adding the Commonwealth story “touches on things I think are very relevant about class and about society.”

“[Comic creator] Robert Kirkman really tapped into something that I think a lot of us are thinking about,” she continued. “Obviously we’ve had to pivot to these other episodes that are part of the sort of Season 10 continuation bloc, and then for Season 11 there’s just these stories with themes that are meaningful to all of us.”

The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang has once again addressed Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol’s (Melissa McBride) special bond ahead of the season 10 premiere, describing them as “soulmates”.

Having previously spoken about the possibility of romance between the two characters, Kang has now shed a little more light on the nature of their relationship. While it might not necessarily be a romantic one, the showrunner says they “love each other” nonetheless.

Speaking to TVLine, Kang teased that Daryl and Carol “have a very big storyline together” for the upcoming season, and that although they are sometimes on “divergent tracks”, their connection is always strong.

“They are best friends,” she said. “I think they are soulmates, whether or not their relationship ever goes into romantic territory. They are tied to each other in this world and have been through so much together.”

She continued: “They love each other and they trust each other. They care what happens to the other. And yet that can be very complicated when there’s so much trauma and this bigger thing that’s taking over the communities.”

Kang previously revealed that she’d spoken to Reedus about a potential relationship for Daryl, saying: “We’ve talked about, ‘What does a relationship for Daryl look like? Is he capable of it? Where is his heart?’ All of that.

“Norman thinks very deeply about his character and has such good instincts, so we like to kind of check in with him and ask, ‘What are you thinking about this?'”

There is no denying Carol and Daryl have had a special relationship throughout their time together on The Walking Dead, especially from Norman Reedus.

During an interview on AMC’s Talking Dead show, The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon actor Norman Reedus opened up about Daryl and Carol’s relationship which has remained platonic through all of its screen tie.

“There’s something about Carol and Daryl, like she knows him better than he knows himself,” Reedus said. “If somebody else were to tell him certain things, I don’t think he would hear them but, when she says stuff to him, he listens. To somebody else it might seem like he’s fine out there in the words but to her it’s like he’s lacking something and it’s become more of an emotional connection that he’s gotten rid of. Because of what happened, he’s chasing the moon. He’s never gonna catch it but he’s chasing the moon. So, she kind of takes him off guard.”

Check out the interview with Reedus as posted to Talking Dead‘s Twitter account below.

While Melissa McBride’s Carol has become romantic with King Ezekiel, many fans are still clamoring to see Carol and Daryl become more than friends. “His blessing did mean a lot to her,” McBride told ComicBook.com of Daryl’s sentiments of Carol and Ezekiel in the Season Nine premiere. “She wanted to know if he is still gonna be cool!”

As for Carol and Daryl’s future: “You never know, you know?” McBride told ET (via FanFest) ahead of Season Nine. “I love how they have each other’s back. I love their relationship. Whatever it is, I love their relationship. The fans can look forward to more Daryl and Carol scenes.”

Hey all! I’ve added some stills and captures to the gallery from the last couple of episodes. Hope y’all enjoy!

After what felt like a lifetime, but was only really just about a full year, The Walking Dead finally reunited one of our favorite pair of characters and, well, we’re having mixed feelings about it.

Of course, we’re talking about the long-awaited reconnection between Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) after the latter arrived at the Kingdom for safeguarding against the Saviors in last week’s midseason premiere. And it might have never happened if it weren’t for Richard and his plot to lure the Saviors to Carol’s cabin, sacrificing her in order to force King Ezekiel into joining the war against Negan and his crew.

Naturally, Daryl was never going to let that bit of insanity happen. But it did alert him to Carol’s whereabouts, no thanks to Morgan’s lie last week about her leaving for parts unknown. And seeing the two share a hug, for the first time since they embraced after she and Maggie escaped from Paula’s compound last season, filled us with all kinds of happiness.

It’s what happened after that we’re still not sure how to feel about. As they sat down for a meal, Carol burst into tears and asked Daryl if the Saviors came to Alexandria, if they hurt anyone. And in that moment, Daryl made the decision to keep Carol in the dark about Glenn and Abraham’s murders, telling her that Rick and the gang won.

On the one hand, it’s sweet that he’s trying to protect his friend from the savagery that everyone else is still struggling to recover from. But on the other hand, is it really fair of him to make that choice for her? We all know she’s going to find out anyway. Morgan knows what happened, after all. Something tells us she won’t be too pleased with her pal when that time comes.

What do you think about Daryl’s lie? Did he do the right thing or is he in the wrong? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.