The Walking Dead: 12 best Rick and Carol moments, ranked

Rick Grimes and Carol Peletier are two of the best leaders of The Walking Dead. You would think the two of them would have countless numbers of scenes in all the years the epic show has been aired on AMC, but you would be wrong. They don’t have scenes in abundance but the scenes they do have are always so powerful. The acting chemistry between Andrew Lincoln and Melissa McBride is unmatched. Every time we see them on screen together you can feel the weight of their emotions and it shines through on the screen. It’s compelling and goes straight to your heart.

It won’t be long from now we will see the return of Rick Grimes in the Rick and Michonne spinoff. We also know Melissa McBride will be returning as Carol in the future, we just don’t know when. Hopefully, these two can reconnect and reunite and we can once again have those groundbreaking scenes.

Carol of course would have much to say. Not only are they family but she has been the one looking after his children in the Commonwealth. So much of Rick is inside of Judith and there’s much he has missed out on. I can see the two of them having one of their fireside chats and Rick just listening and beaming with pride. His children are of course the most important thing to him, and always have been.

Now we take a look back at some of the best moments of Rick and Carol and the bond that these two have.

Best Rick and Carol moments from The Walking Dead

12. Carol standing up to Rick for Maggie

“She shouldn’t be out there alone, and she shouldn’t be out here in the first place.”

With Maggie pregnant Carol stood her ground on Maggie going to fight the saviors. Not many people can stand up to Rick and have him see the opposite side of things, and agree but Rick did. Which just goes to show you the mutual respect and care they have for each other. Family doesn’t always have to agree.

11. Rick and Carol teaming up

In season 9 Rick and Carol were threatened by Jed and his group. Jed had Carol at knifepoint and she struggled to break free. Once she did she could have easily killed him but she remembered Rick’s words from earlier, “Every life counts.” Which was the reason they had taken over Negan’s sanctuary people by trying to reform them.

10. “You know why.”

Rick and Carol discuss Pete in season 5. Carol reveals to him how Sam confided in her how Pete locked him in his room and beat his mother sometimes unconscious. Rick asks her why she cares what happens to Jessie and she gives him an all-knowing look telling him “You know why.” Between her own history with domestic violence and the fact that Rick clearly has feelings for the woman. Carol noticed the way they looked at each other, how they interacted, something was there.

For Carol, it brings back memories of what life could have turned into. “If walkers hadn’t gotten Ed I wouldn’t be standing here right now.” She tells him and Rick does not miss a beat and tells her “Yeah you would.” She’s strong by her own measure and the people around her. Failure was never an option.

9. Rick comforts Carol after Daryl leaves

As if we hadn’t seen Carol go through so much heartache already it has to hit her again when Daryl leaves. Rick tells her he is okay but he went with his brother. The one person she hadn’t gotten close to was gone just like that. Carol is of course upset and Rick pulls her into a hug knowing her devastation. Losing Daryl and losing Lori gave them a sense of understanding of that pain.

8. Rick talks to Carol about Negan

Carol admits that she saw it starting again with the Saviors back in season 9 and she just wanted to pull the trigger and end it. Some of them had not changed and they could have caused yet another war.

Rick admitted he has those same thoughts. Something he could not even reveal to Michonne. Moments where he just wants to finish off Negan and be done with it.

“But then I remember everyone we’ve lost, not just to the saviors, but the whole way.” That line and look between Carol and Rick spoke volumes on high. All the family and friends they’ve lost he wanted to honor them. To build a life not take it.

7. Carol defends Rick to Alexandria

In season 5, Carol comes to Rick’s defense after the chaos that ensued in Alexandria. “Rick Grimes saved my life over and over, there’s terrifying people out there and he rescued me from them. People like me, people like us, need people like him.”

6. Carol and Rick take a trip down memory lane

Before the banishment, Rick and Carol have a talk between themselves about their exes as they pick vegetables. What it was like being married to Ed. How she had to fix her own dislocated shoulder. Convincing herself she was happy and didn’t know she could be strong. In return, Rick reveals to her how he somehow expects Lori to be there and tells her a story about the god-awful pancakes she used to make on Sundays. They even share laughter. It was nice because in those days you rarely saw any kind of laughter between those two.

As bad as the banishment was and as hard as it was to watch, the biggest part of it was to protect Carol. She is family and he does love her but even if Tyreese had forgiven her others may not have, and retaliation could have happened. We later saw deep regret from Rick over it.

5. “I owe you everything.”

After the reunion of Terminus when things settled down Rick and Carol got a moment to talk. After learning how she saved the whole group and Judith he really didn’t know how to think about her. In a turning point, Rick asks Carol the one he banished, to take them in. And even though Rick had banished her she still picked up his watch in one of the rooms when at Terminus when she came across it. She could have still harbored bad feelings but she still wanted to do that for Rick after everything.

Rick admits to sending her away to all this and now they’re joining her and asks her, “Will you have us?” And is grateful when she does.

4. Rick looks for Carol after she leaves Alexandria

Carol could no longer fight, it’s not that she didn’t want to protect her family it’s that she couldn’t. She had counted down all the deaths by her hand and it was taking a toll on her. If she stayed she would keep killing for them. But she was losing herself in the process and had to leave.

Rick still felt some guilt after banishing Carol the first time. He couldn’t just let her go and live with himself. Not after all Carol has done for him, for Judith. He owed her so much. So he sets off in search to find her. This is where we get the famous line with Rick telling Morgan “That woman, she’s a force of nature.”

3. Carol and Rick say their goodbyes

Carol had taken over the leadership of the Sanctuary for Daryl in season 9 but Carol knew it was time to go home. Rick still didn’t want to let go of his plan and wish for Carl’s dream, but it was time and he eventually understood. “But if anyone can give me hope for how things can turn out, it’s you,” Rick tells her.

It was a heart-wrenching scene between Andrew Lincoln and Melissa McBride. Their very last scene of the one on one. Tears were being shed throughout it and you could feel the weight of their friendship on and off screen. It was beautifully heartbreaking to watch.

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2. Rick finding out Carol is alive

After Carol had been presumed dead and Lori had died Rick was in a whirlwind of emotions. And when he steps into the cell to see her Carol arises weakly and they share one of the best hugs of the series.

When Carol sees the newborn Judith, she grins in happiness before looking back at Rick. From the look on his face, she automatically knows what happened. Especially given Lori’s absence.

The thing I love the most about these two is their ability to have such substantial scenes like this where they speak through the eyes. You know what they are feeling and thinking just by the looks that they give each other. The words don’t really need to be said. Melissa McBride and Andrew Lincoln have stood the test of time as the two best actors on the show and when they get into a scene together you cannot help but marvel at the art you are watching.

1. Rick and Carol reuniting

After Carol’s departure, she still saved the group she was just banished from by blowing up Terminus. Afterward while in the woods Rick and the group stumble upon Carol. After the famous Carol and Daryl reunion he smiles and goes to her asking “Did you do that?” just before they share an embrace. It’s like Rick automatically knew. Carol hugged him back emotionally relieved that he was appreciative.

Melissa McBride and Andrew Lincoln are the perfect examples of quality over quantity. The two are able to create genuinely poetic scenes together and show you a masterclass of acting. They are both able to take such simplicity of a script and sculpt it into something extraordinary.