Warning: This article contains spoilers about the season finale of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, titled “The Last.”
There has long been mystery surrounding just how long the Rick and Michonne reunion series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live would last, and now that the first season has ended with the couple taking down the Civic Republic Military and finally coming home to be reunited with children Judith and R.J., those questions will only intensify. The final family group hug scene seemed to put a bow on the Rick and Michonne story. But is there more story to tell? And will we get another season of Rick and Michonne kicking ass?
Gene Page/AMC
“It’s definitely going to go somewhere,” showrunner Scott M. Gimple tells Entertainment Weekly. “But it might just be in my brain. It might just be my fan fiction.”
Pressed as to what would determine whether that story in his brain actually makes it to the screen, Gimple says, “So many different things — everything from schedules to the stuff itself. You never know, but right now there’s nothing on the table, except my little fan fictions I write in the evening for myself.”
That answer makes it sound as if there are no current plans in place, however game Gimple is to do more. But what about the two stars who also act as series creators with their showrunner? “Well, look, it was so wonderful to work on,” Andrew Lincoln tells EW. “I mean, the character is a beloved character, and also to work opposite Danai and to reunite these people and get the Grimes family unit back together was thrilling.”
Gene Page/AMC
So does that mean Lincoln is on board for a season 2? Not necessarily, but he’s not ruling it out. “Never say never. There are other very important characters in the universe that are still wandering around and alive that I think it might be quite exciting to have them breathe the same air and see how long they survive together. But it’s a difficult one. It would have to be like this, a really exciting story.”
The actor was clearly rejuvenated by the story they told in season 1, but is not ready to put a timetable on when a potential season 2 might happen. “I think what we’ve achieved in this series was hopefully a few surprises and character turns and sequences that we haven’t seen in 13 years before. That was the exciting proposition — to chop my hand off, get back together with the love of my life and be reunited, and hopefully smash a few windows along the way and meet some great characters.”
Continues Lincoln, “That was thrilling that we did episodes and sequences that I’m intensely proud of and we haven’t seen before. If that were to come out of Gimple’s or Danai’s brain, and it was irresistible, then I think that there’s infinite chance that it might happen again. But I don’t know when.”
Gene Page/AMC
And what does Danai Gurira have to say in terms of her take on doing a second season? “Ditto,” she laughs, echoing her costar.
The murkiness surrounding how long The Ones Who Live will run is nothing new. When the show was originally announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July of 2022, it was billed as a six-episode return, however EW confirmed with AMC at the time that it would not be a limited series, but rather the first season of a continuing show. Since then, Gimple, Lincoln, and Gurira have remained very cagey when it comes to how much story we are actually going to get with the family Grimes.
For her part, the woman behind Michonne would rather bask in the current moment rather than look ahead to the next one. “Listen, we couldn’t be more thankful for the response there. It has been so, so, so incredible. Our goal was that we proposed a premise around these characters seeing it through to each other. I’m proud of our creative choices and the way we stuck to our guns about various things, and making sure that we tried as hard as we could to stay a few steps ahead of what the audience might be expecting next. We didn’t take any easy roads on this, and thankfully, it’s paid off.”
How long that road continues, however, remains a mystery.
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