Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live live on AMC or with an AMC+ subscription.
The Walking Dead fandom has long been vocal about wanting to see Rick and Michonne sharing the screen again, but the first three episodes of The Ones Who Live couldn’t really allow for a ton of adorbs romance, what with the CRM blowing up everything that shows side-eye. It was one of the gripes critics had with the latest TWD spinoff. Thankfully, Episode 4 was basically The Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira Hour, and followed the long-separated lovers after the third episode’s helicopter-escaping cliffhanger, wrapping with a totally unexpected happily-ever-after final scene.
In fact, “What We” may boast the most unabashedly positive ending of any episode in any Walking Dead series, from the flagship to its various spinoffs. There wasn’t a literally setting sun, but they hyper-figuratively drove off into the sunset with enough fuel to potentially get them back to Judith and R.J. without issue. Except for, you know, the extremely vital issue that drove Rick’s point through all the tense and emotional arguments that led up to that concluding shot. But am I wrong for thinking Rick was technically on the right side of things the whole time?
Nearly Everything Michonne Said Was Valid, But She Lacks Scope
As a parent myself, I would be nutso to think Michonne was overexaggerating when persuading Rick to return to Alexandria to reunite with Judith and other loved ones, especially as he was only just coming around to the idea that he now had another son. None of her intentions are off-base or based on any kind of ill will, and a lot of her anger with him is entirely justified, considering how much she suffered during her trek to find him, with the CRM being responsible for much of it.
In a real-world fight under normal circumstances, Michonne would hold all the cards without question. But nothing about their current predicament can be categorized as normal, and she is at a major disadvantage here in that she barely knows anything about the CRM, and yet blindly believes that the weaponized and militarized group can be outwitted and out-maneuvered. I can understand bravado, but even the limited time she was within the CRM’s borders should have been enough to convince her how impossibly vast a threat it is.
Michonne Correctly Unearthed Rick’s Real Problems, But To What End?
I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the way Michonne just kept going low with her angry comments, questioning Rick’s love and devotion to his family even though she knows damned well how much he cares. In the end, though, she did manage to chip at his shell enough that he eventually broke down and identified his overarching mental hurdle.
He’d worked so hard to cope with losing Michonne, Judith, and Carl’s memory that the thought of going through it all again sounded worse than any amount of joy he might feel from returning to the risks of Alexandria and other outside communities. And he’s also felt self-conscious about returning to Team Family after all those years, especially after having cut his hand off.
Zombies, Zombies Everywhere, And Not A Head To Chomp
With those details pinpointed, Rick seemingly turned over a new leaf, and was suddenly feeling wildly optimistic about where things could go next. So from her perspective, Michonne must have been feeling like a certified genius, considering how hopeless it seemed earlier in the episode. But could either of them be murdered in cold blood by “Rick forgetting what Carl looks like?” No, but they can be murdered by the threats that kept making Michonne call him a liar.
For all that Michonne’s intentions were pure and family-minded, she wasn’t doing anyone any favors by seemingly dismissing the very genuine threats that Rick brought up each time he defended his way of thinking. Even if she was used to living in a sizable community, she had far fewer people around during her year of recovery, and I dare say she lost some perspective during that time.
Meanwhile, Rick has spent the better part of a decade suffering and surviving through life within the massive CRM community, with firsthand knowledge and experience with just how much power and the group boasts, as well as how far that power can be spread around the country. They’ve eliminated thousands in mass bombings, and would likely experience zero hesitation in doing the same to Alexnadria, Hilltop and any other communities whose locations are known.
Sure at this point, Rick and Michonne are thinking that the helicopter’s crash and the targeted building bombing will convince the CRM that they’re dead and not on the run, but this isn’t exactly a community that settles for assumptions. As well, Jadis’ return and overall existence remains the key threat in that respect, since she would be able to guide the helicopter pilots, and I don’t have much faith in Rick and MIchonne discovering and destroying whatever evidential insurance would be sent to CRM higher-ups in the case of her death.
So while I can hope that The Ones Who Live will close things out with a pair of extremely happy-go-lucky installments, I can’t help but feel such hoping is a fool’s errand. As long as the CRM exists, Rick and Michonne will probably never be able to live safely without looking over their shoulders for anyone wearing those dreaded three circles.
With two episodes left to go, and the future still up in the air for this and other Upcoming Walking Dead shows, The Ones Who Live airs Sunday nights on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET.
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