Carol Peletier (TV Series)


 * For the comic book character, see Carol Peletier.

Carol Peletier is Sophia's mother and wife of abusive Ed Peletier, she is also a member of the Atlanta survivors and the last living member of her family.

Overview
Carol is a sweet, doting, and soft-spoken woman, though often meek and defenseless when it comes to facing her husband Ed. Throughout her stay at the survivors' campsite, she remained extremely protective over her daughter, shielding her from the dangers of the outside world. She gradually begins to develop thicker skin after Ed is beaten half to death, and draws a newfound boldness inside of her.

As opposed to her comic book counter-part, Carol in the TV series is stronger and more independant as the first season moves along. The inclusion of Ed as her husband was to give her a solid foil to produce the strength needed to survive where the comic book version wouldn't have.

'This Carol also plays backwards from the comics in terms of emotional progress;(i.e,) in the comics where Carol started off seemingly OK with just Sophie at her side, eventually deteriorating into a wreck after a breakup with seemingly the only man who she felt would love her. Thinking she would never truly be with anyone who could support her emotions in the new world, her weakness regressed into deeper psychological trauma. 'In the series, Carol starts off emotionally wrecked with the abusive Ed until his death where her strength would begin to grow. This cycle begins full-swing when she herself volunteers to ensure her husband would not return from the grave and began a vicious assault on his dead body with a pick-ax.

Location Unknown
Almost nothing is known about Carol's life prior to the outbreak; she may have been living in the city of Atlanta during her lifetime along with her family. She was a victim of domestic abuse from her husband, Ed and was a housewife who looked after their daughter, Sophia. During the outbreak, she meets Shane and Lori as evacuations are being made for survivors to head towards Atlanta. With the city being destroyed by the military, she along with her family decided to stay with Shane and Lori.

Tell It to the Frogs
One night, when the survivors are resting around dimmly-lit campfires, Ed attempts to make his fire bigger, stating that its cold. Shane asks him to put it out, stating that the light and smoke may attract any zombies lurking around. Ed finally gives in and orders Carol to dim the fire to embers. The next morning, Carol is cleaning Rick Grimes' clothes for him, stating that it's the best she can do, especially without a real washing machine. Later, Carol is doing laundry at the quarry with Andrea, Amy and Jacqui, joking around about what they miss. When Andrea says she misses her vibrator, Carol looks at her husband then back at the women and whispers "me too", prompting laughter to explode from the women. The laughter draws Ed over, who orders them to stop and do the laundry. Andrea, fed up by Ed, says that if Ed doesn't like the way laundry's done, he can do it, tossing his clothes at him. Ed throws it back at Andrea, starting up a quarrel in which Carol attempts to break up, only to receive a slap across the face that draws blood. An enraged Shane beats Ed senseless, threatening him. Carol is upset from the fight and beating and tends to her husband, apologizing.

Vatos
Carol is seen sewing some clothes, while Andrea and Amy return with the fish. She is then present for confrontation with Jim, standing with Sophia and Carl, with her arms around them. She remains shy and hesitant to speak when Jim resorts to openly expressing how Shane shouldn't have interfered with her and Ed's personal issues, stating that it was their marriage and thus their own business to sort out with each other. Carol and Sophia later give Ed some water in the family tent, and Carol invites Ed to come outside with everyone. He rejects her invite however and trys to force his daughter to stay and keep him company. Carol, visibly concerned about Sophia and managing to finally stand her ground, says no and brings the girl outside. Carol eats fish at night with the rest of the survivors and is intrigued by the conversation about Dale's watch. Moments later, when zombies descend upon their camp, she grabs Sophia, shields her, and flees to the RV with some of the other survivors as the zombies invade the camp, killing Ed, Amy, and others.



Wildfire
The next morning, Carol takes care of Sophia while the men dispose of the zombie corpses and tries her best to reassure her about their current situation they were in. As Daryl goes through each zombie with a pickaxe, she stops him when he gets to her dead husband. She proceeds to stab her husband multiple times, initially in a hesitant but then furious manner (venting out the anger that she had kept inside of her for many years). She later attends the funeral for her husband, Amy, and the other fallen campers. While the others figure out what to do next, she takes care of a bitten Jim in the RV and is able to notice his deteriorating physical health. Before departing the base camp, Morales and Miranda break the news that they are not going with them, but instead to Birmingham to find their extended family. She shares a hug goodbye with Miranda and Morales before they leave. Carol, Sophia, and the remaining survivors reach the Center for Disease Control and are about to flee as zombies begin to rise, but the doors suddenly open, drowning all of them in light.

TS-19
The group is admitted into the CDC by Dr. Edwin Jenner after going through a blood test to ensure none of them are infected. She is introduced to the luxuries the facility has to offer, including hot water and real beds. She is able to live in a comfortable room with Sophia and notes the wonderful feeling of sleeping in a real bed after the first time in months. She enjoys dinner and wine with everyone and learns about TS-19 and Dr. Jenner's work, and the fall of the CDC's infrastructure. After Dr. Jenner reveals the purpose of the countdown timer and shuts the control room's door, she is hysterical and pleads with Edwin to let them go, explaining how inhumane it was for him to be keeping them locked inside there and that Sophia deserved a better death than this. As the survivors finally get Edwin to open the door for their escape, they all reach the lobby to find the doors permanently locked and the windows bulletproof. Just as all hope diminishes, she approaches Rick and takes a grenade out of her purse, telling him that she found it in his uniform the day he arrived at camp and she washed the clothes. Rick uses the grenade to break the glass, creating escape. She reaches the caravan just in time and she drives off with the group away from the complex as the ruins burn in flames.

What Lies Ahead
Dale's RV breaks down on the way to Fort Bening, forcing the survivors to stop in the middle of the road. While searching other cars on the roadside, a hoard of Walkers catches the group by surprise. Sophia is chased into the woods, and Rick and the others head out to look for her. They find an abandoned church, where Carol stops to pray for her daughter's safety.

Bloodletting
As they continue to look for Sophia, the group is found by Maggie Greene, who has come to retrieve Lori. Maggie takes Lori away on horseback, and gives the others the location of Hershel's Farm, telling them to find their way there. They make it back to they highway, but Carol doesn't want to go to the farm without Sophia. Dale, Andrea, and Daryl decide to stay with Carol and see if Sophia comes back, while Glenn and T-Dog head to the farm to seek aide for T-Dog's infection.

Save The Last One
Carol stayed behind at Dale's RV, hoping to find Sophia. Upon hearing her crying in the middle of the night, Daryl and Andrea go back out into the forest to search for Sophia, but return without her. The next day, they leave a sign and food for Sophia at the highway, and Carol goes with the remainder of the group to look for Hershel's farm.

Cherokee Rose
After leaving some food on the highway for Sophia, Carol and the others head to Hershel's Farm. She is then seen seting up tents with the other survivors and cleaning the RV, in the hopes that it will look good when Sophia returns. Daryl then gives her a Cherokee rose, said to hold good luck, to help them find Sophia.

Chupacabra
Carol is first seen doing laundry with Lori and suggests that it would be nice to cook in a real kitchen again and offers the idea to cook for Hershel and his family that night, in the meantime Lori and Carol are welcome in to Hershel's house and cook dinner with the help of Patricia and Beth. Towards the end of the episode Carol brings dinner to an injured Daryl and gives him a kiss an the head stating that he has done more for Sophia than her own father did in his whole life.

Secrets
Carol heads to the shooting range for the first time, she struggels a little while shooting but eventually pulls it off. Later, when Shane and Andrea come back from their search for Sophia, Carol helps Andrea clean off.

Pretty Much Dead Already
Carol is first seen cooking a meal for the rest of the group, and when Glenn tells them the barn is full of walkers, she joins the group when they check it. {C}{C After that, she tries to stop Daryl to go out looking for her daughter because he was still healing. He throws the saddle to the floor and walks away. Some time after that, they both are seen walking along a river, where he finds another Cherokee Rose. He says they will find Sophia, and Carol answers that it is right and she can feel it. Later, Shane breaks open Hershel's barn and a swarm of zombies pour out. After the group kills them all in self defense, a labored breathing can be heard and one last walker comes out of the clearing cloud of dust, Sophia. Carol is beyond devastated and runs toward her, but Daryl stops her. Rick walks up from the back of the group and shoots Sophia in the head.

Killed Victims

 * Ed Peletier (before reanimation)

Trivia

 * Carol says that the item she misses most is her washing machine.
 * At the beginning of the second season she told Andrea that her biggest fear is Sophia turning into a walker like Amy. This fear is sadly realized at the mid-season finale of the second season.