Last night’s Walking Dead mid-season premiere put Rick, Michonne, and Carl in the spotlight, and it was the youngest of those characters who put people off.
During Rick and Carl’s scenes in Sunday night’s episode, the father and son would frequently spar over every little topic. Where to stay, what to eat, how to kill zombies, and more. The scenes were tense and made viewers feel like they were sitting in on an awkward day with a broken family.
Though it’s clear Rick has lost his mojo – so Carl does have reason to lecture him – the son was particularly annoying throughout episode 9 because of his childlike behavior. He wished his father dead. He refused to eat. He made stupid decisions when it came to conserving bullets, even when he’s been in this apocalypse setting for a while and should’ve learned his lesson by now.
Viewers took to Twitter to complain about Carl:
carl from the walking dead is the most annoying character.
— ȺṂ ḴłÐÐ (@amkidd) February 10, 2014
How is it possible that Carl is more annoying when acting badass? #TheWalkingDead
— Geo (@ActaBunniFooFoo) February 10, 2014
I actually hope Carl get’s ripped to shreds by Zombies; most annoying character I’ver ever seen in a programme/movie. #WalkingDead
— Tobiias ♈ (@TobiiasGaming) February 10, 2014
Just when everyone thought Carl was growing out of his annoying faze, we were all wrong lol #TheWalkingDead
— D i a n a. (@ZahiraXO) February 10, 2014
… And the tweets kept coming.
In Carl’s defense, he is a young teenager who’s been thrown into this horrible world without a proper childhood. He has no one around his age who he can bond with, but we can’t forget there were a couple of candidates at the beginning of season 4 before they died. Then again, even at the start he was more interested in taking on an adult role than spending time with kids.
So what can the show do about Carl? He could grow up a little bit. The end of the episode 9 – when he realized he didn’t want his father to die – may’ve been telling about how he’ll act in the future. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue he made progress in growing up when you consider that he was proud of his zombie kills despite being overpowered and nearly eaten.
Next week’s episode looks like it’ll only focus on Daryl and Beth (and maybe answer if she has Judith?), so if you’re sick of Carl and Rick, you’ll at least get a break this Sunday.
We’d like to see Carl become more mature and have a greater respect for his father now that he’s been in this apocalypse setting for a while and everyone he has loved has had brushes with death. We know it’s hard for a kid to handle, but he’s in a unique situation where lessons need to be learned in order to survive.
… But can we have more Michonne?
Has Carl become too annoying on ‘Walking Dead’?
Check out our recap in our previous article.