The Walking Dead Season 4: 5 Things That Should Not Happen Next

4. Romance

Shipping. For anybody who doesn't know or is pretending not to know for the sake of his/her own dignity, "shipping" refers to rooting for a particular romantic relationship between certain characters in a work of fiction. Despite its grim premise, The Walking Dead is no exception. There's the canon Glaggie (Glenn/Maggie), the new Bosha (Bob/Sasha), the popular Caryl (Carol/Daryl), dark horse Bethyl (Beth/Daryl), the surprising Rickyl (Rick/Daryl), the entirely possible Richonne (Rick/Michonne), the most-ideal-for-repopulating-the-human-race Dixonne (Daryl/Michonne), the awesome Rixonne (Rick/Daryl/Michonne), and probably countless others with crazy portmanteaus. Indeed, shipping and romances are a part of The Walking Dead as much as any other program. The only problem? There really shouldn't be any romance right about now. Of course, there is the argument that people would need love more than ever in the zombie apocalypse. What better way to retain humanity, right? But really, this is the zombie apocalypse. The characters have more important things to worry about, and--particularly now that everybody is on the run--certainly more important things to be doing. After all, as adorable as she was (is?), nobody can claim that baby Judith was anything but an accident. Sure, it more or less worked out for Maggie and Glenn, but as of the conclusion to "Too Far Gone," Rick is in no place for a relationship. Michonne is still a consummate loner. Bob and Sasha...both happen to be single and in the same general area. And then there's Daryl. (Yes, he gets his own paragraph.) As the most popular character, it was inevitable that he would be enthusiastically shipped with everybody from Patricia to his own poncho. Nevertheless, Daryl has always been portrayed as uncomfortable with anything resembling flirtation or intimacy, consistently (albeit fondly) rebuffing Carol and looking incredibly awkward as he tries to figure out how exactly hugging works after Beth unexpectedly embraces him. Having him suddenly forgo practicality and fall into a romance with anybody in the second half of the season is completely contrary to his established character, and there's something strangely compelling about an asexual alpha male.