The Rick and Daryl Bromance is Still Slated to Happen, Apparently

Credit: The Walking Dead

Rick Grimes’ absence has been felt since his removal from The Walking Dead a while back, and a lot of people have been wondering when the audience will get to see him again. But thinking that it’s just the reappearance of Rick that people want to see is inaccurate since, at the end of season 11, the hope that the bromance between Rick and Daryl would finally be rekindled and that the two would reunite somehow. There’s only one issue, it would appear that Rick is still being held in another location, and Daryl is off to take on his own spin-off, so imagining that they’re going to meet up anytime soon is hopeful, but there’s no definitive idea as to how this is going to happen, or when. While the main show has ended, the spin-offs have a lot of ground to cover, especially if reunions are in order and a new idea for continuing the idea of the show is to come to fruition. The reassurances that have been given by those in charge have placated a few people, but the general feeling among the fans appears to be that Rick and Daryl should get the chance to reunite. 

Credit: The Walking Dead

From the beginning to the end of the show, the relationship between the two men changes dramatically. 

In the beginning, when Daryl and Rick first met, it’s safe to state that they didn’t like each other too much. This had to do with the fact that Rick had left Merle, Daryl’s brother, cuffed to a pipe on the roof of a building where walkers were currently making their way toward him. While Merle did survive, the tension between Rick and Daryl lasted for a while until they finally started working together as a team, and Daryl found refuge in the group. When Rick supposedly died, it wasn’t hard to think that this would have a profound effect on Daryl since he took off in search of his friend’s body and reverted back to who he’d been before finding the group, in a way. He didn’t abandon anyone completely, especially since he still cared about his fellow survivors, but he did spend a great deal of time on his own. 

The future of the Walking Dead is rooted in the spin-offs. 

Ever since it was made clear that the movies aren’t happening, the spin-offs have been the way to keep the story alive following the end of the main series. After so many years of watching the show, a lot of fans have wondered if it’s even worth the effort any longer, even if Rick and Daryl are still going to find each other again. As of now, that date appears to be moving backward as ideas for the spin-offs keep being revealed slowly but surely. The spin-offs have been given a lot more to deal with as the expectation that is being foisted upon them is enough to make a lot of fans think that if things don’t improve, then the show will end prematurely, and the fate of the survivors will become little more than fanfiction. If things do go smoothly and the stories play out in a manner that people can follow, it’s not unlikely that Rick and Daryl’s chance to meet again might finally happen. But it feels as though there will be a long stretch between then and now, and this makes a lot of fans reluctant to stick around. 

Credit: The Walking Dead

Imagining that Daryl and Rick would be the friends people care about is kind of odd. 

It has to be remembered that Daryl wasn’t a part of the original comics and that Rick was much worse off before the end, meaning that fans likely expected something entirely different than what’s been given. The idea of creating something unique while still maintaining the use of the source material has been a common practice for years now, which means that Daryl and Rick’s friendship did occur naturally within the live-action series, even if it would never have had a chance in the comics. But after all the characters that have come and gone, it’s interesting that people would be so adamant about these two meeting up again. 

Where things go from here is still up in the air. 

There’s no doubt that those in charge have a plan for the spin-offs to come, as The Walking Dead has been a popular series for long enough that plenty of fans will stick around to see what will happen next. But wondering how long people will continue to watch if this bromance doesn’t happen eventually is interesting to think about. Even the most hardened fans are likely to think that they’re being given the runaround at some point. It does sound as though it’s going to happen, but the question of when is unknown yet.