The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live might be the franchise’s most anticipated spinoff—and the most needed. Both Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira departed the flagship series in Seasons 9 and 10, respectively, leaving their stories in dire need of something more. Providing this “more” becomes The Ones Who Live‘s main goal, which it mostly achieves in the first four episodes provided for review.
The last time audiences saw Rick (aside from his cameo in Season 11) was in a CRM helicopter. His community presumed him dead after he seemingly perished in his harrowing bridge sacrifice. After discovering clues to Rick’s survival, Michonne set off to find him. This is where The Ones Who Live picks up, with our two heroes keeping their love alive in very different ways and in very different environments.
The series is best when focusing on Rick and Michonne. If you want heartbreak and gut punches, you’ll get it. The Rick we see isn’t the one we know. The heroic leader is beaten and broken. The series jumps right in, explaining why someone as strong-willed as Rick hasn’t been able to return home. It’s exposition-heavy, but each line feels warranted as Rick laments over his CRM predicament with a certain unhingedness reminiscent of the prison era. Lincoln doesn’t miss a beat. Did he even leave? It doesn’t feel that way.
In contrast, Gurira feels much more familiar as Michonne. She remains a powerhouse, both in performance and stunts. If anything, we get more vulnerability brought on by her desperate search for Rick and the guilt she carries from leaving her children behind. Episode 4 features some of Gurira’s most emotionally demanding scenes, and she more than rises to the occasion. Gurira penned Episode 4, proving she understands her character better than anybody else. While it has moments of convenient writing, it’s arguably The Ones Who Live‘s most important episode. Shippers will not be disappointed.
Still, The Ones Who Live falls victim to many of the same issues that plagued Dead City and Daryl Dixon. The six-episode limit results in pacing issues that are hard to overlook, and supporting characters feel like afterthoughts. Even big names like Terry O’Quinn and returning ones like Pollyanna McIntosh fade into the background. Yes, this is Rick and Michonne’s love story, but the world around them seems hollow without meaningful development for other people.
The other issue is the CRM. The military organization is undoubtedly the biggest and baddest antagonist force the franchise has ever seen. The Walking Dead: World Beyond highlighted just how utterly evil it is. The problem: middling reviews and a young adult perspective left World Beyond unwatched by many. The Ones Who Live does a decent job of catching audiences up. However, it loses some punch in translation, and those less dedicated to the franchise are likely to have questions. Hardcore fans may have the opposite problem. At times, the CRM feels too similar to the Commonwealth but with a “let’s just make it bigger” mentality.
What continues to impress is the zombies. Almost every episode of every spinoff strives to deliver a stand-out walker. It’s not an easy task to achieve in a TV franchise that’s been active for nearly 15 years. Yet, the behind-the-scenes crew (makeup artists, stunt teams, SFX/VFX artists, etc.) turns it out once again in The Ones Who Live. The world feels as perilous as ever.
As an “epic love story,” The Ones Who Live fits the bill. Outside of that, the first four episodes are… fine. It exists somewhere in the upper rankings of The Walking Dead‘s many spinoffs but far below the early seasons of Fear the Walking Dead. It doesn’t really offer anything new, and there are far too many eye-rolling moments of convenience to not subtract points. Still, Lincoln and Gurira’s performances make up for these failures. And, hey, that’s why we are all tuning in anyway.