Carl: Troubled Boy-Man Or Man-Boy Trouble?

[maplebrew]

A puffy shirt matched with a scruffy leather vest and matching eye patch would seriously increase Carl's coolness factor. 

 

Meanwhile, if Carl survives, and without brain damage, I'm going to have to call serious BS on that. 

[CletusMusashi]

Well, you have to understand, the bullet didn't hit with as much force as everybody seems to assume. By the time it missed Rick, found its way to Coral, and eventually damaged his eye, most of its inertia had already been absorbed by two suits of plot armor.

[AngelaHunter]

Too bad no one thought of saving the Gov's eyepatch. It was pretty cool.

[CletusMusashi]

Actually, it took about three minutes of discussing last episode at the bar tonight for me to find out exactly what happened.

Here's the real truth: Magic exists on TWD. Much as we would like zombies to make sense, they don't. They exist because of magic, therefore there is really no reason for there not to be other magical thangs and stuff. One example The One True Hat. Not only does it magically bestow (temporary) immortality upon whoever wears it, so that a bullet to the ye stops just before it would otherwise have been fatal, but it also magically changes size to fit whoever's head it is on at any given moment. Note: The Magical Hypothesis is also why Carol could not end the flu without burning Karen and David. Because Karen and David were witches.

Or.. if you don't like that... maybe The Hat has a kevlar brim, which interrupted that bullet's normal trajectory.

[Nashville]

I'm not sure what the big mystery is supposed to be.  There's nothing "magical" about the shot; it's perfectly straightforward (no pun intended).

 

Here's an easy exercise to visualize the shot.  You only need two things: a yardstick, and a wall-mounted or large free-standing mirror (ex. bathroom vanity mirror, dresser mirror).

1. Stand about three feet away from the mirror, facing it straight-on (nose pointing directly at the mirror).
2. Holding the yardstick wide-side-horizontal, put one end of the yardstick against the mirror glass and the corner of the other end about 1/2" outside the extreme outer corner of your right eye.  Do this correctly and your right eye should be looking pretty close to straight down the edge of the yardstick, toward the mirror.
3. Now - while holding the yardstick steady against the mirror AND keeping the corner of the yardstick touching your face in the same spot, close your right eye and turn your head about 50 degrees to the right, towards the yardstick.  Do this correctly, and the edge of the yardstick will just skim over your nose and you'll feel the edge pressing against your eyelid.
4. The edge of the yardstick is the path of the bullet.

 

It's simple once you visualize Carl's head as turned to the right - towards his father - when Ron's wild shot was fired.

 

One caveat:

The SPFX people went a little nuts on Carl's wounded-eye moulage.  The wound track is outrageously wide, wider than would be caused by an external/non-penetrating contact with virtually any normal-sized handgun caliber round - unless something caused the round to tumble in-flight, in which case all bets are off.

 

ETA: Maybe the bullet en route hit the edge of Carl's Hat...?  ;>

Edited February 17, 2016 by Nashville

[RedheadZombie]

I'm not enchanted with the Carl/Enid romance, but it doesn't really bother me.  Poor Carl went multiple seasons with the only hope of future romance being Beth.  Then even Beth was an impossibility, but here comes an age-appropriate girl!  It's a miracle.  Sure he lost an eye to be her guy, but he has a spare.  And until this last episode, Enid looked like a good match for Carl.  She was the sole survivor of her family, lived alone on the road (which certainly implied she was good at killing walkers), ate turtles, and had an attitude.  Now she's apparently dickmatized, and instead of fighting walkers, she cowers and cries, waiting for someone to come along with a car and save her.

And to those making jokes about Carl's poor driving, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Chandler actually drives this way.  Georgia does not offer driver's ed in school, which explains the exorbitant insurance premiums, and the horrifically bad drivers.  It probably explains Lori, too.

[smorbie]

On 7/28/2014 at 3:58 PM, Boofish said:

No denying the kid is an asset but I will be glad when he gets over the teenage angst. The only reason I wouldn't label him as "ride or die" just yet is because he comes across as too braggy and selfish. If you didn't see Carl take out that walker, fear not because he will find a way to bring it up in conversation. I guess in a way he is trying to show the group that is he a value adder. He needs too many pats on the back and praise. Props to him for being the only ZA kid who is not a complete burden

When you brought home a good report card didn't you want your parents to pat you on the back?  Carl is still a kid and no matter what's going on in the world, he still has the emotional age of a teenager.  He needs approval.

On 8/7/2014 at 2:26 PM, ban1o said:

I thought Carl was completely justified in killing that kid. I mean, the kid was not putting his gun down. Who knows what he would have done? It's funny apparently Carl was trending on twitter when that moment happened. I don't think it was horrifying at all. I generally really like Hershel but I wanted him to just shut up at that moment. 

Carl's a kid and he was caught up in the moment.  It would have been a tough judgement call for even an adult to make.  He made a choice.  I don't fault him for it one way or the other.

[smorbie]

On 8/24/2014 at 8:09 AM, kj4ever said:

Rick is always telling him "I need you here to keep them safe" or "you might be the last man standing you have to take care of them

That is actually good psychology coming from Rick.  And it's not just aimed at Carl because he's a child.  You don't diminish the importance of another person, period.  He was acknowledging Carl's importance as a person and as a fighter, because Carl is a seasoned fighter by that point, while at the same time keeping him safe.  Rick doesn't make a lot of great calls right off the bat, but I particularly liked those two instances.

[smorbie]

On 2/17/2016 at 1:14 AM, CletusMusashi said:

Actually, it took about three minutes of discussing last episode at the bar tonight for me to find out exactly what happened.

Here's the real truth: Magic exists on TWD. Much as we would like zombies to make sense, they don't. They exist because of magic, therefore there is really no reason for there not to be other magical thangs and stuff. One example The One True Hat. Not only does it magically bestow (temporary) immortality upon whoever wears it, so that a bullet to the ye stops just before it would otherwise have been fatal, but it also magically changes size to fit whoever's head it is on at any given moment. Note: The Magical Hypothesis is also why Carol could not end the flu without burning Karen and David. Because Karen and David were witches.

Or.. if you don't like that... maybe The Hat has a kevlar brim, which interrupted that bullet's normal trajectory.

Also, Michonne gave Carl a kiss of magical healing when she left him in the clinic to go fight walkers with Rick.