Recently, AMC TV channel has finished airing another project from the post-apocalyptic zombie universe «The Walking Dead» with the subtitle «The Ones Who Live». Its plot is intended to tell the story of the fate of the original show’s characters — Rick Grimes and Michonne. In fact, at the initial stages, the series was called «Rick and Michonne», but probably after «Daryl Dixon», the creators decided to abandon such blatant straightforwardness. In the review below, we’ll figure out what the new show offers: the same endless dramas and conflicts against the backdrop of clusters of rotten dead, or maybe some really exciting events.
Genre post-apocalyptic drama, zombie horror
Creators Scott M. Gimple, Danai Gurira, Andrew Lincoln
Starring Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Pollyanna Mackintosh, Terry O’Quinn, Leslie-Ann Brandt
Premiere AMC
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb
The television franchise «The Walking Dead» is more alive than ever. This is the seventh project in its long-running journey through the lands teeming with hordes of the living dead. Moreover, over the past year, this is the third spinoff in a row that tells the story of the fate of the flagship show’s key characters and takes over the baton from its predecessors «Dead City» and «Daryl Dixon».
After the fateful explosion on the bridge in the fifth episode of the ninth season of «The Walking Dead», former deputy sheriff and leader of the survivors group Rick Grimes, along with his regular role player Andrew Lincoln, left the project. This moment marked the end of an era, because for eight long years, Rick was the character around whom the controversial drama of this universe was built.
Now the story returns to the hero with whom it all began back in 2010, as well as to his katana-wielding lover Michonne. The debut episode is entirely devoted to Grimes and reveals numerous details from his life in recent years.
The second episode focuses on Michonne and her difficult journey to meet her beloved, as the black warrior has no doubt that Rick is still alive. At the initial stages, the adventures of the characters look more or less exciting, and for the part of the interested audience that shows unprecedented patience and has not yet lost faith in the ability of the corpse series, these events may even cause a pleasant thrill inside.
It is clear that the authors, out of old habit, tried to reveal the characters and their interactions as much as possible; they wanted to show how the Civil Republic broke Rick Grimes («I don’t recognize the Rick I once knew» — tells Michonne), but the appearance of his beloved returns him to his inner core. The problem is that this completely tragic melodrama, experienced by everyone about a hundred times, and presented in absurd circumstances, cannot be taken at face value.
After the third episode, a dramatic mess unfolds against the backdrop of the same monotonous battles with the walkers, which are perceived as an air raid during the takeoff of a MiG — the danger is present, but it’s already annoying.
The fourth episode is based on the story of a poor single mother with two children who persuades her long-lost husband to return to the family. The story, worthy of the best talk shows on STB, is diluted by encounters with packs of snarling and always hungry vermin. But they are not a hindrance, because Danai Gurira’s character performs with all three Michonne stars, putting evil on the rebar like juicy kebabs on a skewer.
In the fifth episode, the plot reaches the point where the characters are completely unhinged and the local Darth Vader is shamelessly dumped. But the sixth episode, although with a noticeable number of illogicalities and dubious moves, still adds the necessary dynamics. Here, the authors finally prove that they are able to build an interesting narrative, create suspense, and revive a completely dead intrigue.
However, the latter is a bit underwhelming. Throughout the season, Rick, and the audience, were led to the revelation of Major General Jonathan Beale’s large-scale plans as if they were an incredible revelation. In the end, it all came down to the banal ambitions of creating a new world on blood. Yes, we have never seen this before, especially in Marvel Universe, and here we go again.
It’s nice when the successors continue the story of characters who have become almost like family to many over the years, and certain threads lead to the events of the original show, and you literally feel this connection. But if you take away the impressive background and look at the plot and its realization with an unclouded, sober look, there is hardly anything left of hints of admiration.
In the end, out of the six episodes, a maximum of three deserve attention, but your personal conclusion will still depend on how you feel about the characters here and TWD universe in general.