In 2010, viewers participated in the journey of a man we rapidly strived to reconnect with his lost family. His seeming abandonment after the day the sky fell meant no matter to him. Because the brave man was resilient and determined to reunite with the people that mattered the most to him. His nightmarish wake up from a coma into a dystopian world of the dead rising to roam the Earth, satisfying their endless hunger mattered not.
Once again, fourteen years later we return to a renewed tale of Rick Grimes in search of a beloved family different from the start. But this time his search isn’t one sided, his wife Michonne Grimes hasn’t given up hope either. Her husband’s sacrifice after being hoodwinked by ones he trusted lead him to the faithful day on the bridge. A partly constructed vision meant to reveal the true tenacity of the peoples he led, including leaders he mentored or inspired from collective communities. Instead, the viaduct became the location of his unending devotion to strive for the humanity in all who’d survived to that point. Rick’s apparent last sacrifice meant to divert two herds of the dead away from home.
In season nine episode five, after the detonation of the dynamite and our hearts collectively dropping, we see that a heavily injured Rick is found on the muddy riverbank by none other than Anne. We are left to decipher whether she takes our injured hero for what she believes is his lifesaving benefit or some other plan. Having witnessed the tricky past of the former flipflopping leader of the Scavengers, we are left to contemplate if Anne returned to her former deviousness or has she taken on a new persona in the form of Jadis Stokes. But interestingly enough we witness her rise in the Civil Republic Military was acquired from giving them something (someone) special in another spin off in The Walking Dead Universe titled World Beyond.
In WB, we learn a bit more about the inner workings of the CRM than we did in Fear the Walking Dead specifically during the brief romance of Isabelle and Althea. Isabelle, a CRM soldier that would try her hardest to move past her love for Al, a survivor chronically others’ perspectives regarding The Fall through the lens of her camera. Last seen the pair seemingly escape with one another via helicopter. Yet Rick Grimes’ continued absence from his home in Virginia raises the question as to the increased difficulty he’s up against let alone whether the runaway pairing of Al and Isabelle was successful.
Being a strong-willed, nature born leader obviously makes Rick an asset even when one knows he’s clearly an A. Not the B ranking Jadis pretends him to be to gain access to a two hundred and fifty thousand strong community complete with a government and military, she thinks will be better accepting of her. Rick’s legendary tenacity coupled with the lack of his body also encourages his wife Michonne and acquired brother, Daryl to continue their ill-advised searches for him.
Happenstance brings Michonne to an island in search of weapons to help fight the Whisper War. Guided by Virgil, a man suffering from his own devastating losses promises to help in the fight against Alpha and the people she leads, who wear dead men’s faces giving in to the animalist notions to exist. After Michonne is drugged and locked away, she deftly escapes but shockingly comes upon clues she’d looked for so long. Well-worn cowboy boots, a journal and a cellphone with Japanese writings and etched depictions of her and her daughter, Judith.
The closing five minutes of the original show’s finale episode revealed that Rick and Michonne were indeed continuing their quests to reunite. Letters scribbled on paper in hopes that they’d someday reach the eyes of the ones they love fostered hope. Rick temporarily escaping the CRM’s grasp to discard breadcrumbs for his wife and family to find reminds us that his spirit hadn’t been broken over the years he’d been held against his will.
He tried to get away…
He tried but he failed…
But Rick wanted Michonne to know that he still loved her. Perhaps that kinetic connection the pair shared from the fence is what guided Michonne into the wild. Her daughter’s request to bring her father home to her and her younger brother RJ, spurred her forward. Her old trick of walker pets leading Michonne directly into a couple of wounded survivors. Aiden and Bailey would be left behind from their departing rustic caravan, but our heroine remembers the people who brought her back. Andrea, Carl, and Rick. This time she dispatches her dead camouflage reminiscent of her ability for compassion. It meant extending her surviving skills to those deserving and in need. Afterall it would be an arduous trek, but she would definitely need trusted allies.
An ever-defiant Consignee Grimes reluctantly gives in as a departure is foiled with a voice propelled from a helicopter hovering above the New Jersey shore announcing that there is no escape for the living. Michonne in a stylish leather patchwork armor while on horseback stares down a vastly dense field of the undead undeterred. Her mission set, bring the love of her life home for her and their children.
In The Ones Who Live, we receive the answers to questions long asked about the whereabouts of Rick and Michonne Grimes from fans of the series. The passing time they’ve not been seen intricately weaved together cinematically with horror and action sequences, not leaving any stone unturned. Glimpses at the couples shared endurance and separate plights, propel the story to must see status sure to harken back to the original shows’ heydays of drawing in millions of viewers each week. Storytelling techniques are dispatched to keep watchers guessing about the direction of the astonishing writing. A score heightens the rhythmic chord one finds erupting inside from the stellar performances of Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira.
Casting needed to be exceptional to provide the tale with actors that could hold their own with the magnificent thespian leads. Craig Tate as Donald Okafor and Matthew Jeffers as Nat display their captivating abilities to draw in the audience with immediate interest. Lesley-Ann Brandt, Pollyanna McIntosh and Terry O’Quinn also supply their unending talents to this tale of epic love. Frankie Quinones provides a refreshing wittiness to soften the harshness of the story. Yet we are still left to discover whether these emerging players are friends or foes.
The determination in Michonne’s shielded eyes as she races her stead forward complements the gleaming smile on Rick’s lips while he raises his hands in surrender. They have each no doubt been changed by a changed world, but the distance is not enough to cease their unstoppable power. A power that we’ve witnessed when combined will spell disaster for those who stand in their way.
Tune in February 25th for The Ones Who Live on AMC and AMC+ to bear witness to the broken world that Rick and Michonne together, can do anything in.