‘The Ones Who Live’ Recap: Michonne is no ‘B’

And Rick is not a fry guy.

BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live | “Bye”

Season 1, Episode 3

Airdate: 3/10/2024

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***

Last week, Rick told Michonne to hide who she really is, but try as she might (and she’s not trying very hard), she just can’t be Dana. While Rick implores fellow soldier Pearl Thorn (who somehow had a say in the matter) to help her get admitted in, the Civic Republic Military (CRM) is already suspicious, and that was before Jadis even popped up.

Rick, after finishing his talk with Jadis, realizes that there is no hope for the two of them escaping together, but that there might be hope for Michonne to get away. He hatches an elaborate plan to help her escape, without telling her until the last moment, via letter, that he’s not coming.

Michonne, of course, doesn’t take the opportunity. She came all that way to find Rick, and she’s not about to leave empty handed now, no matter how impossible the obstacle is to get past. And while she decides to play along, she’s already very sick of the CRM’s way of life and she is not especially thrilled to see Jadis again. She’s not shy about showing her discontent, in addition to slowly but surely running out of patience with Rick. It culminates in her literally throwing Rick and herself out of a helicopter at the episode’s end! Next week, mom and dad are gonna fight!

SCATTERED THOUGHTS:

I appreciated the flashback at the beginning that showed Rick’s first time in the Civic Republic. We really needed to see something from those early days.
Jadis is still low-key trying to get Rick to sleep with her, which is kind of nuts but I appreciate the continuity from Season 7.
She also confirms, to Rick’s face, that she and the Junkyard People were trading other people for supplies. Of course, Rick doesn’t bother to ask about Heath. No one does. No one ever will.
Millennium Park is a real place, and it’s cool to see at least one landmark location fully intact!
It sure does rain a lot in this show.
Rick’s comment about Jadis’ bad hair is maybe the funniest thing that anyone has said in this franchise in several years.
The scene where Michonne meets the man who drew her is very touching!
Michonne said Judith is “ok” but if the timelines match up the way I think they do, she’s probably actually in Ohio and getting shot by pseudo Hilary Clinton at that moment.
I’m fairly sure Thorn is marked for death before these six episodes are up, and that makes me sad. I really hoped she’d turn out to be an ally, and I don’t think that will end up being the case.
Rick and Michonne CANNOT stop making out with each other, and it’s getting a little obnoxious as a viewer. Not enough for me to be annoyed, but given the situation they’re in it seems excessive.
Lori would have never yeeted Rick and herself out of a helicopter, she would just drive a car and crash it for no reason.
If anyone can take down an entire military by herself, it’s probably Michonne. Also, probably Carol too. I hope Melissa McBride is enjoying France!
The CRM has got to be running out of helicopters at this rate.

BONUS: An ode to Chandler Riggs’ Reddit Comments

Carl Grimes got a mention in this episode, so I figured that it was as good of an excuse as any to dive into years old comments from actor Chandler Riggs’ Reddit account. While he’s not as active on there now, he was during the show’s run, and in the years after. He left behind some interesting, and in several cases, hilarious comments about the show and his role on it. Here’s a sampling:

When he causally revealed how The Walking Dead films head stabs:

When he revealed the details on how they filmed Negan’s line-up scene:

When he criticized the writer’s logic in Season 7:

When he revealed he liked the alternate take of the scene originally written for the episode where he loses an eye more than the cut of the scene that was aired: