One of the things that annoys me most about Carol's sudden change of character is just how unnecessary it is. Like, I get the discussion they're trying to have and where they're trying to take the show, but it didn't need to be Carol at the center of it. They have all of these new Alexandrian characters to work with but instead of building any of them up, they kill them off one after another in increasingly stupid ways while making the old vets seem more and more invincible.
If it were up to me, I think Deanna's son would have been the center of this story. He's from a group that is not well adjusted to the outside world, let alone killing other humans. Rick shows up and tells everyone they have to be able to kill if they want to live. He then witnesses this as his father died due to his mother's mercy, and then his mother dies, in part, due to damage caused by the wolves. He starts to understand and agree with Rick, with Rick and Morgan acting like the devil and Angel on his shoulder (with Morgan's argument being based on civility and someday returning to the way things used to be, to raise our children to be compassionate, instead of focusing entirely on just one or two examples of bringing somebody back and ignoring all of the counter examples. This makes it more about law and order and rehabilitation than budhist type forgiveness and it makes him less extreme and more believable and likeable. I think the "anybody can come back" logic is really important for his character, but it can't be all he has to say.). Deanna's son accompanies the group to Neagan's compound and kills people, and given how defenseless they were, he realizes that he's just not cut out for this world and, despite the cost he's seen from letting threats live, he finds he's not capable of killing for the group. So now he decides to run away before he becomes too attached to the new group, instead of leaving your established loved ones, knowing you're putting them in greater danger for it, and thinking that's somehow better for anybody. Rick obviously has to chase him, because he made a dying promise to Deanna that her son was part of the group now and would be treated as such. This isnangreat chance for him to shine as a leader for both the new and old citizens of Alexandria. Morgan has to follow in suit because of the struggle they've had over this guy's soul. This sets up for an actual resolution after the season 5 finale where Morgan sees Rick kill, which has not yet happened. It introduces a new character and personality that's actually on par with the others for story tellling, freeing up Carol to be more vulnerable since she's less immediately crucial to the story. Or Carol could at least just sick around Alexandria as a sentry so it doesn't feel like such a dumb decision everytime they leave it with only Father Gabriel to protect it. Or, hell, maybe they could do something totally different with Carol that involves that guy she was involved with, allowing another Alexandrian to shine. It also wouldn't force an established character to suddenly change after years of progress on a fan favorite. And I do think the conflict she's having is interesting and the themes are important for the show discuss, and I actually like how the Morgan chasing Carol story is finally playing out. But everything that got us here was just so contrived it hurts to watch. Similarly, I can't name any currently living Alexandrians besides Heath (as evidence by me calling him "Deanna's son in this post and not by name), and that sucks.
See, the problem with the show playing it safe isn't just that it gets stale knowing our favorite characters are invincible (which is part of why the Neagan moment is so crucial), but it also clutters the story up so that nobody new has room to breathe and grow. Rock's group has felt OP despite all of their dumb decisions, and that sucks. I want them to rely on their settlement community and Jesus more, and they should have to. It's all too comfortable feeling.
And look, I'm sure someone will read my idea and point out a bunch of flaws or whatever, but the point is that I came up with that in 10 minutes, while on the show, this is their full time job and they don't even seem to understand or respect some of their own characters, or that half of the point of the show is the feeling of vulnerability and that doesn't work when most of your kills are red shirts and nobody new has the chance to grow before being offed. Which is a shame after how well seasons 4 and 5 did with these very tenants. I just have so many nitpicks with Season 6 and feels like most of the issues are from laziness or something, this is just one (large) example. It makes me worry for the future of the show, after I finally really liked where it was.
Edit: Because I typed this during class I'm sure some if it is incoherent, so I just want to clarify that one of my main points is that the main group not dying isn't just bad because it makes them feel invincible, but it's bad because it a) keeps the show from growing in more organic ways with new characters, often forcing dumb decisions or sudden changes in established characters to forward their plot, and b) it honestly just makes the show too cluttered as there are too many characters to give them all proper attention. Case in point, Jesus and Carl disappearing for multiple episodes at a time despite being key characters for the story. This is part of why this Meagan scene is so important and people are upset about it being poorly done.
