In the series premiere of The Ones Who Live, the viewers get reintroduced to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). He lives in a military community, fights off walkers, and continuously tries to escape and return home. With no success, he finds himself in a life-or-death situation as time passes. Michonne (Danai Gurira), his wife, finds him and the two reunite. It’s been years since they last saw each other as everyone back home in Alexandria presumed Rick was dead.
This episode starts with Michonne. Michonne finds out Rick’s location and now begins her journey to bring him back home. She meets some individuals from a different community. There’s Nat (Matthew Jefers), Bailey (Andrew Bachelor), and Aiden (Breeda Wool). Nat is eager to help Michonne. After a lot of convincing, Michonne decides to stay for one night.
The next day, they get her armor and a horse. Michonne goes her separate way, saying goodbye, and leaving to find Rick. She makes her way towards a field, where a huge herd of walkers surround her pathway. She shoots a flare gun toward some of them, creating a distraction. But as she prepares to do it again, a lit walker with gas tanks explodes, knocking Michonne to the ground. The explosion draws the horde back her way. Suddenly, two separate explosions part the sea of walkers. Nat, Bailey, and Aiden distract the walkers for Michonne and join her on her journey.
The next day comes. As the group is standing in an abandoned town, they see a helicopter fly past them. As it turns around, Michonne tells everyone to separate, as yellowish-green smoke comes down on them. Nat and Michonne try to find somewhere to hide, the two of them barely breathing. Bailey and Aiden are with them and Aiden passes out. Unfortunately, the two of them don’t survive.
Time passes as Michonne and Nat try to get better in their hideout. Nat makes it clear that he’s coming with Michonne to get Rick. They make it to Bridgers Terminal and it’s abandoned as well, with corpses everywhere. Michonne worries that one of those corpses may be Rick.
It is now present day. As they are walking, Nat and Michonne see another helicopter. Nat fires a missile toward the helicopter, sending it crashing to the ground. As Michonne comes closer to the ones who escape from the helicopter, viewers are taken back to the previous episode, where Michonne finds Rick.
Rick and Michonne’s reunion is interrupted when Nat is shot and killed by a CRM soldier. As a helicopter prepares to rescue Rick and his crew, he tells Michonne she must play the role of his captive and keep her true identity a secret. Once back at the compound, Michonne is interviewed and says her name is Dana.
Later, Rick and Michonne meet privately to catch up. He asks about their daughter, Judith. Michonne forgets that he doesn’t know that Judith was pregnant before he disappeared. Rick details her about his hand and his previous escape attempts.
As Rick comes back to his apartment, the audience gets the chance to finally see Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), who hasn’t been seen since season 9 of The Walking Dead. She tells Rick that she knows about Michonne. Jadis mentions a deal that the two of them have together. She tells him that if he decides to leave with Michonne, she has to kill them both.
It was great to see Danai Gurira back in her element as the fierce Michonne. The fans got to see how she ended up back with Rick, and now that all of it has unfolded, it completes the whole picture. It’s intriguing to see what will happen next, especially with Jadis back in the picture. Jadis was a character who was selfish and had lots of determination.
Now that the three of them are in the picture, will things go back to how they were before? Or will Rick work behind Jadis’ back to make sure that he and Michonne will make it back home?
Rating: 10/10