After an episode that was absolutely all about Beth and the nonsense hospital world she's found herself in, The Walking Dead finally answered the Daryl question. Well, sort of. First off, the episode was a bit of a flashback, like Mary Lynn Rajskub predicted on last week's The Talking Dead. Second, we were all right in predicting that Beth was not with Daryl in those creepy, dark woods. And some of us (me! me!) were also correct (can I gave a gold star?) in predicting that Daryl was not with Carol. In the final moments of "Slabtown," Carol is rolled in on a stretcher as the latest patient brought into Officer Dawn's Center of Indentured Servitude, er, Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
So what does that mean for Daryl? Well, there's the off chance that The Walking Dead with throw us a curveball, but more likely than not, when Noah ( Everybody Hates Chris star and possible TWD video game character) escaped towards the end of the episode, he managed to run into Daryl, explain what happened to Beth (which is why Daryl knows she's alive), and head back to the church with everyone's favorite cross-bow wielding badass.
Of course, that would make the Atlanta hospital the next big bad. If Carol is now stuck there along with Beth, Daryl no doubt went back to Rick to get reinforcements for a rescue mission. If I'm right, this could get interesting considering that the group already split with Eugene took some survivors in his caravan. We can see in next week's preview that the Eugene group is very much a part of the show, so if Rick and crew help Daryl rescue Beth, we could be looking at some dueling narratives. And while that sounds complicated, that could makes things pretty interesting.
But in the more immediate future, we all need to worry for Carol, especially after what happened to the last woman admitted to Officer Dawn's House of Pain. Will Carol last long enough to be rescued by Daryl and co? And will Beth make it either? (Dawn's slaps are getting worse and worse throughout the episode — that could cause some real damage.)
Then again, Carol could have her own little plan. One TWD fan on Twitter makes a good point here:
Image: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
