Walking Dead Fans Want To See Daryl And Rick Together Again, But I Think Norman Reedus Explaining The Complications Makes A Lot Of Sense

Though fans still haven’t seen The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’s third season just yet, we already know the curtain will close on this particular upcoming TWD show with its fourth season, as that news was announced during this year’s Comic-Con. Knowing that storyline is ending is a worry to fans who are hoping beyond hope that Norman Reedus will get a long-awaited on-screen reunion with Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes. I’m still optimistic it’ll happen, even though the actor’s latest comments about the complications do make a lot of sense.

Seeing Carol and Daryl back together again helped Season 2 rebound after that major death we still haven’t fully gotten over yet, but those characters were destined to share the screen as soon as the spinoff was first conceived. The fact that the characters are in Europe made it impossible for either to drop by during the solo season of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, even if that finale did feature a couple of reunion-specific guest stars. But could there be a point where the storyline allows the characters to cross paths anew?

Speaking with SFX on CinemaBlend’s Darren Scott, longtime TWD star Norman Reedus addressed potentially reuniting with former Walking Dead-verse co-stars, and despite being personally interested in the idea, he addressed why it’s not as easy as throwing them all together in the same setting, and why it might happen differently from the idealized version in fans' minds. As he put it:

I’m all for it. It just has to be done in the right way and I know Andy [Andrew Lincoln] feels the same way. We can’t just make a show and get them all together somehow. It has to fit organically. To be honest, the characters aren’t the same characters as when they were together. They’re completely different. Daryl’s relationship with Rick wouldn’t be the exact same relationship they had six years ago. All these characters have evolved.

Norman Reedus

Wouldn't that be the biggest pisser imaginable to be a Walking Dead fan who has stuck it out for all these years, and whose biggest pop culture desire is to see Daryl and Rick tag-teaming once more to take down a horde of walkers, only for them to see each other again and not get along at all?

The more chaotic side of my personality would actually enjoy the hell out of that outcome, sinc eit would potentially create a unique dynamic for these characters that wouldn't just arbitrarily have them on the same side just because of their history together. Daryl and Rick did get into it pretty heavily before the Season 9 bridge explosion that left Rick's fate a mystery, so even though Daryl spent years trying to track his friend down, it's possible that finding him won't necessarily lead to a perfect rekindling.

Reedus continued, telling SFX that he also doesn't think Daryl and Carol's exploits in Europe can easily be concluded by just jettisoning them back to the U.S. In his words:

We’re pretty strong over here in Europe right now. The network promotes the shows as The Walking Dead Universe, so they sort of put them together. But individually, our show is much different than those other shows. I don’t know that you could just backtrack us from Europe and have it fit easily in that world. I’d love to see those characters in a room again, I’d personally love to see those guys again, but it has to be in a way that works.

Norman Reedus

Now, for all that I can understand the logic behind Norman Reedus’ explanation, I also think that there is indeed at least one way to get Rick and Daryl back together again in a way that not only appeases fans but also works inside the narrative parameters without their respective adventures causing any strife.

Showrunner David Zabel previously talked about having a reunion plan that was discussed with Reedus, and during the TWD: Daryl Dixon panel during San Diego Comic-Con, he explained that the spinoff’s story was intended to last four seasons, and that the ending was put into place early on in the creative process, saying:

It was always the plan to have this arc. . . . It ends in a very specific way.

David Zabel

It wouldn't take a whole lot of imagination to read into Zabel's comments as possibly teasing an ending that brings Daryl and Carol back into the lives of other familiar TWD characters. (Unless, of course, he's hinting at one or both of those characters dying, which would make the whole reunion idea slightly harder to pull off successfully.)

Before any of that can play out in full, though, we still need Season 3 to arrive on the 2025 TV schedule. Speaking of...