Melissa McBride has portrayed Carol Peletier in The Walking Dead for years. She was introduced in season 1, episode 2, “Tell it to the Frogs,” as an abused wife under the thumb of her boorish husband Ed (Adam Minarovich). They had a daughter Sophia (Madison Lintz), who was just as afraid of her father as her mother was. Throughout the series, Carol has endured much heartbreak, but instead of allowing that to beat her, she has risen above and become the Scream Queen of The Walking Dead.
During the recent Talking Dead season 11 preview special, Jamie Lee Curtis, the original Scream Queen, filmed a special message about the ending of two spectacular franchises.
Curtis has portrayed Laurie Strode in the Halloween franchise for 44 years. In the video, she described Laurie as a true survivor who is self-reliant and resilient. Sound like someone else we know?
She says, “a scream queen isn’t a damsel in distress but quick thinking, strong-willed and able to adapt to any threat to her or her family.” This description is spot on for TWD’s Carol Peletier.
Scream Queens began as beautiful damsels in distress, as seen as far back as silent films when they would shriek in terror, even though the films were silent. But, enter a new breed of Scream Queens, and these girls had the beauty, the brains, and the brawn to defeat whatever came her way.
Carol Peletier – The Walking Dead’s Scream Queen
McBride has done a fantastic job taking Carol from the comics, who died early on in that story, and broadened her into one badass apocalypse warrior. Fans have watched her time and time again selflessly save our survivors.
Even in season 1, when she was still quite timid, she produced the grenade to Rick (Andrew Lincoln) that allowed them to escape the CDC building before it blew up.
Viewers have watched her endure her daughter Sophie’s death and the numerous children she adopted into her care. This alone would buckle a weaker woman, but not Carol. She pressed on and even avenged Alpha (Samantha Morton) for killing Henry (Matt Lintz).
She has made decisions everyone might not agree with, but she’s usually correct in handling things. The group has survived countless tragedies because of her actions.
In the last episodes of The Walking Dead, we are sure to see more badassery from Carol.
