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<\/a><\/div>\nIf you obsessed over the Danai Gurira and Andy Lincoln At the beginning of the hour, Rick and Michonne <\/p>\n “What We\u201d \u2013 THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Photo: AMC \u00a92024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Rick and Michonne begin to bicker in a brutal back and After learning about RJ, Rick still asks for the radio “What We\u201d \u2013 THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Danai Gurira as Michonne. Photo: AMC \u00a92024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n However, Michonne does not believe the CRM are Rick’s The CRM Ethos prioritizes security and secrecy, so <\/p>\n “What We\u201d \u2013 THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Photo: AMC \u00a92024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Rick and Michonne eventually escape to the side of the Despite the urgent need to move, Michonne demands they “What We\u201d \u2013 THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE, Pictured: Danai Gurira as Michonne. Photo: <\/span><\/span>AMC \u00a92024 AMC Networks. All Rights Reserved<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “What We” strikes a remarkable balance What did you think, TOWL fans? Share your thoughts in the comments below and follow me on X to discuss TOWL.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ninterviews leading up to the premier of The Ones Who Live, you know this is an
\nepic tale about Rick and Michonne’s love. Danai penned this episode, so there
\nwere great hopes for raw emotion and healing after Michonne pulled Rick from a
\nmoving helicopter during a thunderstorm at the end of the previous episode.
\nDanai did not disappoint. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nmiraculously escape the helicopter and make their way to Greenwood, a fallen
\ncommunity. They enter a building with an Alexa-like voice saying, “Welcome
\nhome.” The rooms are spotless, thanks to a still-functioning rumba. The
\nfuture-focused building featured computers, voice-activated thermostats, and
\nlarge picture windows. Outside, a purifying rain fell. The music playing is
\nTony Orlando and Dawn’s “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” (1973), whose significance
\ndates back to the Civil War when families attached yellow ribbons to trees in
\nhonor of soldiers. Suicide prevention is also associated with yellow ribbons.
\nBoth references inform The Ones Who Live since Rick is now a CRM soldier and
\nhas considered killing himself. Rick and Michonne also discover in this episode
\nthat a community founder, Patel, committed suicide. These atmospheric elements
\npropel the story forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nforth. Michonne wants to go home to Alexandria, and Rick insists they return to
\nthe CRM. The AI voice announces that they’ve reached the preferred temperature,
\nwhich indicates that they’ve reached a critical point. Michonne immediately
\nchanges into dry clothing while Rick watches. He sees she has an X burned into
\nher flesh, but he doesn’t ask why it happened. Michonne tries to sway Rick by
\nrevealing that he has a son called Rick Jr., RJ, or the Little Brave Man.
\nMichonne expects Rick’s love for his family to inspire him to join her on the
\njourney home. It does not. Rick expected that Michonne’s love for him would
\nlead her to return home alone so he could remain at the CRM and change it from
\nthe inside, as Okafor had envisioned. It did not. Both are deeply disappointed
\nbecause their expectations of each other remain unfulfilled. These unmet
\nexpectations drive the two to battle with their hurt, anger, fear, conflict,
\nand, finally, reconciliation.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nto signal the CRM. Michonne is deeply hurt by this and how Rick has tried to
\nreject her. She cries that she doesn’t know him anymore. Rick keeps insisting
\nthat he is protecting their family. Again, he asks, “Are you going to give me it (the radio)?” Rick convinces Michonne to give him the radio by
\nacknowledging many things. He admits that he never stopped loving her. He
\nacknowledges that he wants her to live. He concedes that Jadis feels threatened
\nby them because together, “they can do anything.” He concedes that
\nMichonne saved their lives because the helicopter crashed into another tower of
\nthe building. The Walking Dead (TWD) OGs may see a parallel between this scene
\nand S7:E4, “Service,” when Rick asks Michonne for her gun to protect
\nher and the community from Negan. Michonne responds, “So what, we just let
\nthem win?” Rick weakens and says, “Look at me. They won a long time
\nago.” While he remains resolute, this conversation inches him off his
\nposition of protecting her and their family toward how he may be the last man
\nstanding to save the whole damned world. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\npeople or his fight. She only sees the perfect opportunity to go home. Rick, a
\nprisoner of the ‘what ifs,’ fears what if, upon returning to the CRM, he can’t
\nprotect his family. Michonne sees that Rick is in a Schroedinger’s Cat
\nsituation, where he is found, yet not found, and where he’s alive, yet dead.
\nMichonne couldn’t push him past his fear, which made her angry. Angry, she
\nrelies on Nat’s guidance: “You have to know when to go.” So, she
\ngoes. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nthey reduced the building to rubble to hide the helicopter crash. Rick, who
\npredictably chased Michonne, helped her fight off walkers. They take a break
\nfrom fighting long enough to argue about saving the world versus reuniting the
\nfamily. Michonne confronts Rick about “signing up for lifelong duty with
\nthe enemy.” Rick counters: “This is about ending the enemy.”
\nMichonne offers one of the most romantic lines:” The only time I feel safe
\nis when I’m with you.” Rick falls silent. But they are still not on the
\nsame page, as evidenced by their unsynchronized fighting. As a result, Michonne
\nfinds herself trapped under a chandelier. She tells Rick to go, but predictably, Rick says, “That’s never going to happen.” He is inching
\never closer to the recognition that together, they can do anything. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nbuilding and to the side of their relationship that hasn’t yet buckled. They
\nenter another unit, and the AI voice again says, “Welcome Home.” Rick
\nimmediately reaches out to touch and kiss Michonne. Near-death experiences
\nheighten our lover’s passions. During that poignant moment, Rick suffers a
\npanic attack. In storytelling, the heart is the most potent symbol of love.
\nMichonne places Rick’s palm over her heart to push him past his fear and
\nreestablish their commitment and connection as the buildings fall around them.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nstop for reconciliation. Reconciliation in conflict is about healing the
\nrelationship. Throughout the episode, Michonne accuses Rick of lying because
\nshe is also lying. She discloses that she doesn’t know if the kids are okay.
\nShe talked about how the CRM nearly killed her and cost her a year with her
\nkids. Rick confesses that the CRM took Carl and Michonne away from his dreams. Rick
\noffers his most romantic lament: “I can’t live without you. Without you, I
\nwill die. You can’t simply make me feel alive again until I know I won’t lose
\nyou.” TWD OGs may again notice that this scene echoes those in S2:E12,
\n“Better Angels,” and S7:E12, “Say Yes,” when Rick initiated
\nconversations with Carl and Michonne, respectively, about surviving the death
\nof loved ones. A traumatized Rick is no longer ready or able to lose his family
\nagain. So, Michonne brings Carl back to Rick with the artist’s rendering. In
\nthe last episode, the artist said he could never get the face right because
\nRick could no longer see Carl’s face. Michonne could. Michonne did! This was
\nthe much-anticipated, Bridgerton-esque moment when they talked openly from the
\nheart to restore the trust that had always existed in their relationship.
\nMichonne further reassures Rick, saying, “We love on each other as hard as
\nwe can, while we can.” Her words and actions brought Rick back to her. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nbetween walker killings and romance. The Richonne faithful will find this
\nepisode nourishing and satisfying, much like a great meal. At the end of the hour,
\nour heroes are battling the dead, in sync this time, on their way to a car
\nloaded with ethanol. Hopefully, the car is sound and has enough fuel to get
\nthem home. Michonne and Rick are proving once again that they “can make
\nthe whole damned world theirs if they want to.” The episode gives us hope,
\nallowing us “to believe a little bit longer” that the Grimes family
\nwill be reunited.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n