The Walking Dead's Daryl Dixon may or may not be gay. What we know is this: The Walking Dead won't declare one way or another anytime soon. In an interview with TVLine, executive producer and showrunner Scott Gimple said Daryl's (played by Norman Reedus) sexual orientation "is not really addressed" in season five of the hit AMC drama.
However, The Walking Dead does plan on introducing a gay male character, Gimple said.
Speculation about Daryl's sexual leanings first took off in early August when comic book creator Robert Kirkman was asked about it and said, "All I can say is that it's been discussed." Kirkman added, "We have very specific ideas about Daryl's sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof), and if there's ever a quiet period in the show where he's not consistently distracted by crossbowing...we'll tackle it in the show."
Fans of the series previously shipped Daryl and Carol (Melissa McBride), and at the end of season four, Daryl was traveling with Beth (Emily Kinney).
Gimple said the show isn't holding back Daryl's sexuality "as any sort of big reveal."
"The fact that there's still a question as to what Daryl's orientation is in season five absolutely speaks to Daryl's character; he is a very guarded, very closed-off individual in a lot of ways," Gimple told TVLine. We have been able to see him ever so slowly open up and show the other characters aspect by aspect as to what makes him tick."
Gimple stressed Daryl's journey will continue.
When we last saw Darly, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira) and the rest of The Walking Dead crew, they were trapped in a train car by the people of Terminus. It's safe to say they get out, but at what cost? Steven Yeun, Glenn on the zombie series, told us the premiere will be filled with extreme scenes.
"I remember a couple of scenes I would look over at what was going on in the scene and I would be like, 'What the eff? What are we doing? How is this legal?' It's grounded and real, too; it's not like torture or gore for no reason," Yeun told E! News earlier this summer about the season five premiere. "It's literally, that is what would happen and we are trying to show it. It would not work on network television, let me tell you that."
The Walking Dead season five premieres Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. on AMC.