The Walking Dead showrunner promises a whole lot more Carol and Daryl in Season 10

Over the past couple seasons, The Walking Dead has started a major transformation from what it was to whatever the heck it will be without several of its key stars. Now, it sounds like Season 10 will be leaning into a couple of the biggest survivors still hanging around the apocalypse.

Showrunner Angela Kang told Entertainment Weekly that fans can expect to see more of Daryl (Normal Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) when Season 10 ramps up, after having the two largely on separate arcs over the past year or so. She teased that they’ll have more screen time together, and apart, in Year 10. The two are one of the most popular pairings for fans, and though Kang says we may not see any romance between them, their “bond” will be deepening in the wake of Carol’s adopted son being killed at the end of Season 9.

“The child that she adopted and raised into teenager-hood died at the hands of Alpha and that crushed her. And we’ll see what that does to her over the course of the season as she’s pursuing revenge against this person,” she said. “This is one of the strongest relationships in the show. They trust each other, they love each other, they are truly best friends … They both came from trauma and from nothing. There’s some really deep stuff between them. There’s funny stuff and then there’s stuff that gets pretty hairy. They’re just kind of on this adventure together.”

Kang added she personally loves seeing these characters together, noting that that character pairing is so popular because “we’ve been following them for so long where they’re in a scene and you immediately feel the history between those characters.”

Boosting Daryl and Carol should be a positive for fans who’d love to see the characters score more screen time, but practically, it also makes sense. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is gone to tell his story in movies, and the show’s other co-lead Michonne (Danai Gurira) is also set to depart this season. So, as far as OG survivors, Daryl and Carol will be the few left to carry that load.

The Walking Dead returns October 6 on AMC.