Rick finally makes the big decision in this talk-heavy, Danai Gurira penned hour
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live | “What We”
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate: 3/17/2024
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
Rick Grimes is heading home, but not before putting up one hell of a fight.
In an hour penned by actress Danai Gurira, Michonne convinces Rick, after much resistance, to finally abandon the Civic Republic Military (CRM) for good. “What We” fell into a common Walking Dead trope of “all talk, no action” but in this case, a long talk was very much needed. This hour, which only featured our two leads, is arguably the most emotional “Walking Dead” hour in quite some time, and maybe the most emotional episode ever, to be honest.
Seeking refuge in what appears to be a rather clean and abandoned hotel, Rick finds out about a lot this episode. He finally sees the scars on Michonne’s back, and learns where they came from. He hilariously learns what a Roomba is. And, oh yeah, he learns that he has a son he previously never knew about, one that shares his namesake.
Alas, after all of that and a long overdue round of coitus, it is not enough to get him to follow Michonne back home, even after a perfect and seemingly fool-proof opportunity presents itself when the helicopter they jumped out of crashes into a building and a CRM reclamation team blows it up. It’s only after Michonne actually leaves him that he begins to reconsider his stance about staying behind, and it’s talking about losing Carl and being afraid of losing Michonne for good that gets him to make the decision to leave.
Both sides aren’t in the wrong for how they feel and why they feel that way, which made the argument a bit more compelling than it may have been otherwise. It’s intriguing seeing Rick and Michonne this at odds with one another; even in the flagship show they arguably did not clash this intensely. The stakes are so much higher now, and Rick’s stance on the matter does make sense. But Michonne did not come all this way for nothing, and she lets Rick know how she feels. An argument can be made that Michonne is thinking with her heart and Rick is thinking with his head, and in this case, the heart won out. As it should have.
More than any other spin-off, “The Ones Who Live” is all about fan service. And getting Rick and Michonne back home is definitely something the franchise should allow to happen. There are two more episodes left to see if the franchise will see it through.
SCATTERED OBSERVATIONS:
– However unrealistic that the survival rate of doing it actually is, I appreciate the show showing Rick and Michonne falling into water at the beginning. It would have been an insane plot hole to ignore otherwise.
– “What We” is a dumb title for this episode. I get what Scott Gimple and the crew are trying to do with all of the episode titles, but it’s stupid. Call it “The Love Shack” or something. At least that would make sense.
– Weaving Carl Grimes into the narrative, albeit off-screen, was very touching and I’m assuming it was a Danai Gurira decision to do so. It would have been very cool to see a grown up Chandler Riggs do a dream sequence talking to Rick, but at least we got confirmation that he is still grieving his son.
– Rick getting paranoid over a Roomba was super funny. That being said, how is that thing still operational?
– Also, Rick having a panic attack during sex is actually really sad when you consider how strong of a personality he was on the flagship show. That man has been through so much and we haven’t even seen most of it.
– Not to mention, if it were Lori in that bed instead of Michonne, Lori would have left. Lori wouldn’t have even bothered to look for him in the first place, as the flagship show’s first episodes clearly showed us all. Lori really was awful, if we’re being objectively critical.
– Michonne conveniently leaves out the part about the mass child murder she committed to save Judith, but I’m sure Rick would understand. The CRM is really big into mass murder anyway.
– It’s weird that Rick did not specifically ask about Daryl but I’m not going to read too much into it. It’s just probably not something he’s thinking about but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about his friend.
– The funniest thing about Rick saying he has a plan is that, historically, his plans have almost never worked and others have had to swoop in to save him.
– For the sake of leaving this episode with good vibes, please ignore that the gasoline in the truck at the end is surely no good by this point in the timeline. Rick and Michonne sure did.
– Danai Gurira is an accomplished playwright, and was fully in the driver’s seat for this episode. It showed, despite some minor logic fallacies. More actors and actresses should have a hand in writing their characters from time-to-time; it can lead to some real gems and some very satisfying moments.
Tune in next week, where I’m sure Jadis will be hot on Rick and Michonne’s tail.
