The post The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Delivers a Great Love Story at Last appeared first on Consequence.
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, Episode 4, “What We.”]If that wasn’t the sexiest zombie fight in recorded history, it at least cracked the top five. After three episodes of very deliberate story and character development, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live finally gave long-separated lovers Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) a reunion worthy of their epic saga.
And it is epic, when you take a step back. The Walking Dead has been an easy punching bag over the years, as a franchise that kept on going well beyond its dominance in the zeitgeist (and the ratings). That decline has no shortage of potential causes, from changes in the industry to changes in the cast to changes in the showrunners — though anecdotally what comes up the most, when people tell you “I used to watch that show, until…,” is Negan and his bat.
There’s no Negan in The Ones Who Live (that’s a different spinoff). Instead, the six-episode series begins by revealing the whereabouts of the long-lost Rick (Lincoln having left the flagship series in 2018), who’s been trapped for five years by the Civic Republic Military, a collective of survivors who have managed to build a real city with real infrastructure. Sounds great, except the CRM ruled with tyrannical force and anyone with knowledge of its existence is not allowed to leave, as Rick’s learned the hard way.
Those five years have broken Rick in such a way that when he actually stumbles across Michonne, his reaction isn’t joy but fear that she’ll be killed or hurt by the CRM, to the point where he tries to orchestrate a solo escape for her. Michonne, being pretty damn stubborn and uninterested in having Rick make that decision for her, rejects his attempt to save her. And in doing so, maybe saves them both.
“What We” picks up immediately after the previous episode, which ended with a furious Michonne literally throwing herself and Rick out of a helicopter, because they need to have a conversation. With occasional interruptions (of a zombie-fighting and love-making nature), that’s basically what the episode is: Two people, with a lot of history, having a conversation about their lives, their trauma, and the path forward that keeps them both together.
The depth of that history can be felt, even if you’ve only ever been a casual fan, someone who watched the first few seasons but dropped out at some point. (See previous mention of Negan’s bat.) Thanks to in-universe time jumps and also the literal passing of time, The Ones Who Live is set relatively close to today — which means that the same amount of time has passed for its characters as the audience that first started watching… in 2010.
Just take a moment to consider that, the full weight of 14 years. Three Presidential administrations, a society now totally upended by technology, and so much more. With the exception of Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS and other shows in the procedural realm, there simply aren’t that many TV franchises with that deep a history. It’s one of the things that television does best — allow the audience to develop bonds with characters over a long stretch of time, their stories evolving along with the progression of our own lives.
Lincoln first appeared in the Walking Dead pilot, with Gurira making her first appearance as Michonne in 2012. Along the way, both fought a lot of zombies, fell in love, mourned one child (RIP Carl, never forget) and brought another into the world — though Rick doesn’t know about his son until Episode 4 of The Ones Who Live, since as it’s been mentioned, he and Michonne haven’t had much of a chance to chat since their unexpected reunion.
Rick Jr.’s just one of the topics under discussion, as Rick and Michonne hide out in what’s left of a failed community that hoped to overcome the apocalypse with innovation. Perhaps future episodes will offer more details about the history of this building and its one-time residents, as it seems like a fascinating if dark story, but “What We” doesn’t get distracted from what matters: Beyond fleeting flashbacks and the ever-present undead, it’s the Rick and Michonne hour, and a necessary one. Michonne expresses her anger, Rick confesses the extent of his trauma — and oh yeah, there’s a beautifully acted and shot love scene as well, including a pause where we get to see the full depth of what this moment means for Rick, after all this time.
Let’s take a moment as well to acknowledge that the episode was written by Gurira, who in case you weren’t aware is an award-nominated playwright of great acclaim. That touch can be felt in the simple but effective storytelling throughout “What We”: Take the aforementioned sexy zombie fight, which occurs as Rick and Michonne make their escape from the building now collapsing around them. In an earlier sequence, they were totally out of sync, Rick even accidentally spraying Michonne with blood at one clumsy moment. In the episode’s final moments, though, their exit from the building is a beautiful dance choreographed by their years of experience and long-standing connection. (Also, elevator makeouts! Hot.)
Could it be argued that waiting this long for this episode was a bit too long — either in the context of this season of television, or the franchise as a whole? Absolutely. Yet fans who endured the six years of waiting, from Lincoln’s last appearance on TWD in 2018 to today, got an episode worthy of that kind of wait, shamelessly emotional in a way that feels truly earned. And the final moments, featuring a laughing and horny Rick and Michonne, presumed dead by the CRM and ready to drive home to their children, offer some real cathartic happiness.
There are two more episodes of The Ones Who Live left to return this show into bummerville, but the thing about watching a zombie show is that it does teach you to appreciate what you’ve got. And what we have in this case is a reminder of how good television can be, at capturing a decade-long love story in just 48 minutes.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is streaming on AMC+.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Delivers a Great Love Story at Last
Liz Shannon Miller
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