Review of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
Episode 1
This is the third series that is an offshoot of the original Walking
Dead series and not sure what to think about it yet. These
characters has been removed from the main story for a long
time that I haven’t thought about it much. But I am interested in
what direction they will lead this story. If it will pick up the same
energy as the original series or go in a different direction with a
whole new look. Just as a forewarning, this episode delves into
a lot of graphic and subjects that could be triggering. There is a warning ahead of the episode warning viewers.
Episode 1 starts with flashes of Rick and Michonne’s relationship in the Walking Dead series to set upcoming series to give a viewers a little reminder of what is at stake. After that little introduction, it starts showing five years after the events at the bridge showing a helicopter dropping off a group with Rick with them. A woman states over a loudspeaker that the CRM thanks the consignees (the group) for their volunteer service, helping rid the area of the oncoming walkers and speeding their way to becoming citizens. You see Rick on some type of leash and looks annoyed at the holder of the leash.
As they are ordered to go, Rick leads the group and starts killing walkers. He gets further and further a man yells at him until Rick is yanked back and falls to the ground. He calls out sorry and says he just needs to find his axe. Rick seizes the moment, ties his arm above the wrist and proceeds to cut off his hand that has the leash. As they realize he is trying to escape, they come after him. As Rick is chased he run and pushes a walker into his pursuer. He keeps trying to get away and then proceeds to cauterize his arm in a burning walker. He get up to continue to escape but is tasered by his pursuers and passes out.
Rick has flashes of thought from the past and starts dreaming of meeting Michonne in another life. They talk for a bit but then he wakes up in a bed with his arm bandaged. As he wakes, you hear his voiceover speaking to Michonne saying he will tell her almost everything, some things he can’t face. He didn’t think he would survive the bridge. After the explosion, he woke up in a military hospital, rescued by an army protecting a hidden society. Secrets and security was utmost important. Anyone who enter can’t leave. The city runs itself protected by the army.
Anyone rescued are used to kill walkers, grow food or manage the water. After six years, they are allowed into the city away from the army and walkers. They are called consignees. He was never going to be one since he was determined to get back to Michonne and Judith. He has made many attempts to escape but always capture. That is why they put a leash on him and eventually why he cut his hand off, to get back to her. Colonel Akafor has looked out for him to stay a consignee and not be killed or jailed. He saw something in Rick and wanted his to join his program. Left a uniform for him in hopes of Rick changing his mind.
You find out that Rick has made a friend in Esteban. They talk a little on a bench and he tells Rick he made it to consignee and will be in the city. Rick thanks him for being a friend. Esteban unknowingly gives Rick the idea to join the army to shut Okafor up while he makes his next move. So Rick goes to Akafor and says he wants to join. He welcomes Rick to the CRM. He starts training with them learning to fight and fly helicopters. He also gets a prosthetic hand complete with hidden knife.
Rick has another dream with Michonne where they meet at the same bench. It doesn’t last long before he is awaken by Akafor for more training.
Akafor takes Rick and Thorne to a secret spot to discuss with them about becoming leaders in the force command inside the CRM. Akafor wants to changes things from the inside and despite Rick who tried multiple time to escape and Thorne trying to kill him, he thinks they can help him. Akafor explains people are divided into A’s and B’s. A’s are strong, believers and people follow A’s. Everyone else are B’s, just trying to survive, they get into the city. A are usually sent away and killed. Except for Rick and Thorne. Akafor saved them because the CRM needs strong leaders to help change them. As they move up the ranks they’ll learn all of the secrets that almost no one knows. Akafor knows they think differently and want to save the world and that’s what the CRM needs.
Afterwards, Rick and Thorne walk off where she warns Rick not to include her in his plans. She tells her story on how she came to be there. Says that they are the same trying to escape to get back to the one they love. Thorne accepted that she never will but Rick still won’t.
Rick explains in voiceover that the army found two other cities: Omaha and Portland. These cities were smaller, not staying secret. They made an alliance with Philadelphia even though they didn’t know where their location. He tells Michonne that things are much better and much worse than they thought.
General Beale meets with Rick. He tells them Philadelphia stays hidden without much effort. Rick comments that he saw what the Federal government did to Atlanta, they killed everyone with Napalm. Beale says the CRM stopped them with Okafor’s help. Okafor was with the Air Force and he switched alliances to the CRM and killed 4,000 marines. Beale says he is only there because of Okafor. Then he ask Rick is Okafor is up to anything. Rick says no.
Rick explains in voice over that everything is about secrets. Everyone is keeping secrets from everyone and he is keeping his own secrets to do what he must. You see in the voiceover that Rick is planning something with maps intermixed with him killing walkers.
Rick goes to Esteban and ask him about a way out through the tunnels. He covertly tells him exactly what he has to do and Rick puts his plan into action that night. Everything is going according to plan and ready to fake his death with an explosion but he sees and little girl and even though he want to go ahead with his plan, he doesn’t and rescues the girl from walkers.
Thornes tells him she saw the whole thing and he shouldn’t do it. He ask for her help and she says she is helping. Thorne tells him they know everything about him, no matter where he runs.
Rick goes to Okafor find out what he know. He says everything, looked at his notes in a bottle, his papers and phone. Okafor tell him if he escapes, it would be him responsible to take care of Rick, Michonne and anyone else he came in contact with. Rick tells him nothing else matters, not the city, the CRM, nothing. Only his wife and child.
Okafor fights back and pins Rick. He says he lost everything also. He confirms what Rick was told by Beale and Okafor bombing the marines, which included his wife. They fight a little more until it is a stalemate, Rick tells Okafor to let him go or kill him but he says no. He has plans for Rick and lays it out for him to move up for more power. Rick looks defeated and says he doesn’t want power, but Okafor says it’s too late that he already has it.
Rick is in his room when Thorne barges in to tell him to look at the TV. He does and it shows that Omaha has fallen and now there are only two cities left. Thorne tells Ricks that secrets work and it is the only way. Then calls him a good man. She leaves and he just watches the TV and picks up a piece of glass to end it but can’t do it. In voiceover he tell Michonne he tried to end it but couldn’t. He tells her that he can’t do it no more; that he tried and failed. He will fight for her on behalf of what he does there.
He dreams of Michonne again but toward the end of it, he sees other memories mixed in before he wakes.
Rick is flying on a mission with Okafor. While telling him a story about when he was a young boy on the farm with his father, they are attacked. Rick crash lands the helicopter. Rick and the remaining people get out, but the others are all killed off by a mystery assailant. He comes up to Rick and holds a blade to his neck, ready to kill him. The assailant takes off their helmet and you see that it is Michonne. The episode ends on that not.
This episode was an hour and twenty minutes, a bit long because it was full of a lot of backstory. There was a lot on information to absorb. The action started off wild but tailed off to stuff you’ve seen before. It was good to see Rick again, but it was a far departure from the leader he usually is portrayed. The episode delved into dark subjects which may be off putting to some viewers. With that said, it was a good first episode and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Episode 2
I was looking forward to seeing what they were going to do with this
episode. From the commercials, it looks like it was going to be a
Michonne centric episode, much like they did in the first episode. And I
wasn’t wrong. So let’s look into this episode and find out what happens.
It starts six years after the incident at the bridge and show Michonne
figuring out that Rick is alive and is determined to go find him. She finds
his boots and information that he may be at a location called Bridgers Terminal. It shows her coming across a couple who seem to need help.
It jumps to Michonne speaking to a woman called Al telling her story and how she came across two of her people who she helped and they brought her here because they thought she could get the help she needed. The couple (Bailey and Aiden) begs her to give Michonne what she needs. Al tries to convince her to stay with her group but Michonne insist that she must find Rick and get back to her home. She tells Al that she is headed toward Bridger’s Terminal and Al says that is not a good idea. There is a migration of walkers in the thousands that will be blocking her way. Michonne and Al argue about how the community is run with someone burst through the door.
It is Nat yelling at Al that he is done with the group because he was prevented from leaving to look for the couple. He suddenly realizes that they are alive and Bailey and Aiden say that Michonne saved them. Nat thanks her and offers his cart. She turns him down but Nate offers her a horse. She agrees but Nat convinces her to stay the night to rest and let him provide her with weapons.
The next morning, she thanks Nat, Bailey and Aiden for the weapons and armor. Says that they should be better. Nat tells her that she may be out of range on her walkie talkie and offers Michonne a diary to write in and give to her kids when she seems them.
As Michonne travels, she comes across the migration of walkers that Al and Nate warned her about. She takes out the weapon Nate gave her and fires it into one side of the horde. It explodes and the walkers are attracted to that area. She is ready to fire it again to the other side just before she does, a walker with containers starts walking toward her on fire. Before she knows it, it explodes and knocks her off her horse. Now the walkers are coming in her direction. She is ready to fight when two massive explosions goes off and the walkers split and go towards the fire. Stunned, Michonne turns around and sees Bailey, Aiden, Nat and a small group and glad to see them.
Nat tells her why he stayed so long in the community and when he decided to come after Michonne, there was a lot of people who agreed. Michonne being thankful say that after she finds Rick, they all can come back with her and Rick. Michonne guesses that Aiden is pregnant and Aiden tells the reason why they were on the road with Michonne found them.
The next day, they all head out toward Bridgers Terminal. On the way, Nat tells his story and how his stepdad changed the way he thinks. Suddenly, they hear a helicopter fly over and comes back to drop bombs that release gas. People are screaming and coughing struggling to breathe. Shortly after, walkers appear and start attacking. Michonne starts killing the walkers and Nat helps get them into a building away from the outside.
Those left and in the building struggle to breathe and even they start dying off and turning into walkers. Even Bailey and Aiden. The only ones left are Michonne and Nat. Nat figures the helicopter dropped chlorine gas and it will take time to heal. They find oxygen tanks to help them breathe and heal. Many seasons pass and they heal and get stronger. Michonne tells Nat to go to Alexandria while she continues her search for Rick. Nate say no and continues with her.
Michonne and Nat finally make it to Bridges Terminal to find it destroyed. They see a marooned boat and burnt bodies all around. She searches the bodies looking for any proof but doesn’t find any. As she hugs his boots, Nat tells her that her phone says in Japanese ‘Believe a little bit longer’. Nat tells that she should go home but she can still believe he is out there. Michonne seems to lose hope. Nat tells her it’ not giving up and to still believe.
In the present now, Michonne and Nat are heading back the next morning when they see another helicopter. They go into hiding and decide to fight. They fire Nat’s weapons at the helicopter and bring it down. Men come out of the crashed copter and Nat continues to fire at them. Michonne thinking of the people she lost and starts killing the remaining men. She comes across the last survivor, pulls off the helmet and sees that it is Rick. They are together at last. Nat sees that Michonne found Rick and ready to meet him when he is killed.
Rick says that back up is coming quickly. He tells Michonne to lie about who she is, what she knows and what she’s been up to. He pretends to hold her hostage and they are both brought back to the base where Rick is stationed. Michonne is interviewed by the leaders and told that she could never leave. She tells them that is okay and she is accepted into the community.
Michonne meets up with Rick later and says that she wants to fight to get out and stop these people from killing anyone else. Rick says they can’t be beaten. Michonne says they need to leave to get back to their kids and he agrees.
They show that someone is looking over the interview with Michonne. The same person is in Rick’s apartment. As Rick enters, he sees the person and sees that it is Jadis. Jadis says that she remembers Michonne but won’t say anything. Jadis reminds him of their agreement and if they escape, she will kill everyone they know. She ask Ricks what he is up to but the episode ends there.
I got to admit that I enjoyed this episode a lot more than the first one. It had more action, more emotion and stakes in the characters. Some of the characters introduced this episode were instantly likable like Nat, Aiden and Bailey. I wished they were around a little bit longer but that is what made their loss more impactful. I hope they introduce more characters like that. Now that Rick and Michonne are together, I wonder where they are going to go with the storyline. I guess we will have to wait for the next episode.
Episode 3
I was looking forward to seeing this episode since it is the first one to
have both Rick and Michonne together. I know that there is only 6
episodes in the season but it seems like it is moving fairly quickly
compared to the original series. How does Rick and Michonne navigate
this new reality? Let’s see what's in this episode review.
The show starts in the past with showing Rick getting a preview of the city sometime after the bridge explosion and the healing from that day. While walking through, he runs into Jadis, who he remembers saving him. She tells him how she was approached by the CRM. In trade for supplies, she would provide people. She tells him that she has been there just to make sure she talks to him. The CRM is asking her what they should ask Rick, but she doesn’t say anything. You find out the CRM doesn’t operate in the city, despite wanting to.
Rick is angry that Jadis brought him someplace that he can’t leave. She says that she could have let him die on the bridge or tell the CRM he was a threat but she didn’t because she felt that she owed him. Rick figures out that she is there specifically for him. Jadis tells him she believes in this place and wants to move up. Rick knows that she wants to use him.
Fast forward to just a few hours in the past where Thorne stops by his room to make sure that he is alright after the helicopter crash. Rick says he is but wants Thorne to watch over Michonne, to keep her from being sent away. He can’t because he is too close. Thorne questions if his heart is with the CRM. He says he is but wants her bring Michonne along like she did with him.
The episode makes one more jump to just where episode 2 left off with Rick talking with Jadis. Rick says he wants to kill Jadis but not right now. He says she is meddling in something she should be involved in. She says they are connected. Says that Rick and Michonne can’t leave. Security in everything. Says they can’t be the first ever to leave. Jadis says that if they did, she would be forced to kill them all to protects herself so they can’t find out how her and Rick are connected. Tells Rick if she should die, she left proof of everyone Rick knows and the CRM would kill them to protect the security. Rick is trying to protect Michonne but find he is trapped. Rick asked why she let him try to escape before but Jadis said she knew he would escape. But both Rick and Michonne could do anything together.
Michonne is shown working the wall like Rick used to. After killing walkers, Michonne and a woman named Cleo are loading bodies into a truck. Cleo says she is lucky to be there and working with someone experienced. Michonne tries to play it off as being lucky. Just then, some of the bodies come alive and Michonne takes charge by killing one walker and then saving Cleo. Afterward they walk away and Rick sees Michonne. Then he sees Thorne talking to someone close by.
It switches over to General Beale overseeing the funeral of Okafor, telling the troops of the sacrifice he made for the CRM. Afterward Rick and Thorne are walking with Thorne telling the story of how Okafor saved her despite Thorne trying to kill him. They run into General Beale and he says they meant a lot to him. General Beale didn’t agree with Okafor and thought they were trouble. He is still not sure about Rick but he said he wasn’t sure about Okafor either. Then Beale says that he needs to speak to Thorne and they drive away.
Throne visits Rick after her meeting with Beale and says that Beale has promoted her and told her everything like Okafor said would happen. She wants Rick to take over her position since they are fast forwarding everything. She also says that Beale asked about Michonne and that she is on his radar now. She tells Rick what she does reflects on her now. Rick says that Thorne was doing in the style of Okafor and she agrees but won’t let Michonne drag her down. She says that Rick has to make sure of that.
Rick knows now that he must go through with his plan for an escape. He plans to do it during the disruption charges they blow off. The next day, he passes Michonne and hands her his plans for the escape. That night, she follow his directions on where to meet him and says that he left her a little something, which you find out is her katana. She finally get to the meeting spot and doesn’t she him. She finds the boat and sees a note he left saying that he won’t be there but for her to escape and return to Judith.
The next day Rick talks to Jadis to tell her Michonne is gone but he will stay. Tell her he made it look like an accident and Jadis should do her part and cover it up. She agrees to do it but keeps needling him. Rick meets with Thorne and sees Michonne didn’t leave. He is annoyed. He sees Michonne doing her job and single handedly take out all of the walkers while he fellow workers just watch in amazement. Seeing what she just did, Thorne says that Michonne doesn’t look helpless like she try to portray in the interview when Michonne first arrived.
Rick is able to speak with Michonne in private and tells her how upset he is that she didn’t leave. She is also annoyed that he didn’t want to go. He explains to her that you need someone on the inside to escape. She understands why he did it and walks away.
While walking the city like Rick was allowed to do when he arrive, Michonne sees the drawings like she had on her items and speaks to the man. He tells her about the drawings Rick requested of him and why he drew them. She said that it helped her a lot. The man was impressed that Rick found her and tells her to believe a little bit longer.
Thorne ask to see Michonne and takes her to the same place Okafor took Thorne and Rick. She tells Michonne that Rick saved her life and she considers him family. Thorne gives her the third degree about who she is, why she saved Rick. After a bit, she seemed satisfied and offers her the chance to become a leader. Rick is surprised by the offer and Michonne accepts.
The next day Thorne is leading a mission to clear walkers from an area that is being prepped for a new base. Michonne is told to stay back for cleanup. After seeing Thorne having trouble moving a cart full of explosives, Michonne disobeys order and moves the cart her into the area with Rick helping After succeeding, Michonne tries to convince Rick to escape at that moment but he says no. Despite disagreeing, they return.
On the way back, Rick and Michoone are taking out the last of the walkers. Annoyed, Thornes puts Michonne in her sights and ready to pull the trigger. Rick sees this and get in the way forcing Thorne not to shoot.
Back at the base, Thorne is upset with Rick about Michonne for disobeying orders. Rick defends Michonne saying she was just trying to help and get the job done. Thorne orders her back to the daily job of killing walkers. She tells Rick that Beale wants to speak with him about moving up. He is shocked by the news.
Jadis comes up to Rick and tries to have him come to her place but he refuses. She sees Michonne and tells Rick she hasn’t seen her. Just as she says that Michonne sees them and is upset. Rick goes to Michonne and tells her it doesn’t matter about Jadis and that Michonne is going back to her old job. He tells her she is escaping and has no choice. To put a final word on it, he says they are broken and it won’t work anymore. Michonne is left shocked.
On returning to home base, the helicopter is flying through bad weather and everything is moving erratically. Michonne sees a chance and takes it by opening the helicopter door, grabbing Rick and diving out into the blackness.
This episode has a lot in it and while there wasn’t a great amount of action, there was a lot of information you learned about Rick, Jadis and Thorne and about what they are all willing to do for the thing they believe in. Michonne is still a bad ass and the best part of this series so far. The ending really ended on a cliff hanger and you’re left wanting to see the next episode as soon as possible. With half the episodes done, I am looking forward to what they are going to bring next.
Episode 4
Coming into this episode, I wasn’t sure what direction they were going
to go toward. One one hand, Rick is doing everything he can to get
Michonne out but she has other ideas. She wants them both to get
out together. They are happy to be together but are knocking heads
over the direction they should go in. The last episode, Michonne
takes matters in her own hands and pulls Rick out of the helicopter to
escape. Let’s see how they proceed from there.
This episode picks up where the last one leaves off. After leaving the helicopter, they splash down in water and then shown coming upon a shore line. Rick and Michonne enter a building, goes up some stairs and enters an apartment. It is a smart apartment. They just look at each other and start arguing about what just happened and what was said before they got onto the helicopter. Rick reaches for the PRB emergency signal to call for help but it is gone.
Rick and Michonne explore the apartment. Rick checks out the kitchen and Michonne checks out the bedroom. She starts undressing out of the wet clothing while Rick longingly looks at her. Michonne feels him looking and turns to look at him. Michonne takes some clothing and gets dressed. She sees Rick looking at her PRB emergency signal and asks him is he wants to call them. He doesn’t answer heer
Michonne talks about her past and calls Rick out on the note he left in the canoe. She also makes him feel guilty about going home and telling her kids that their dad didn’t want to come back. Rick realizes now that he has a son. Michonne feels bad about letting it slip out like that. She tells him she was pregnant at the time of the bridge. After she finishes her story, he asks her for the PRB signal. Michonne is flabbergasted by him saying she doesn’t know him anymore. He tells her that he is just trying to keep her alive. They continue to argue and Rick is angry that she keeps thwarting everything his is doing to help her.
Rick tells Michonne that Jadis brought him there and will kill everyone they know like they did with Michonne’s friends. She suggest that they kill Jadis and Rick says no since she has hidden evidence of everything she knows about Rick. Then Michonne suggest they find the evidence, then kill Jadis and escape. Rick says they both can’t leave and professes his love for her. She hands him the PRB signal.
Just then, the storm clears and sees they helicopter crash into an adjoining building. Rick tells her that she saved their lives. Michonne says they’re free and can go home but he says no, they need to go back. He insist that he can make changes from the inside keep her safe. This is the last straw for Michonne and she leaves to go home. She gets halfway down a hall and stops and almost goes back but doesn’t. He stares at the door and has doubts. Then he goes after her.
As Rick leaves, you see a second helicopter coming toward the buildings. Just as Rick reaches Michonne, you see the second helicopter shoot missiles at the crashed helicopter and destroys it. It send shockwaves through the building and shatters windows, releasing the walkers from behind the glass panes. Rick and Michonne run to escape.
They start running to escape the horde and argue what they should do next. They enter what looks like a gym and Michonne sees a note from the previous people telling them how they tried to survive and change the world. Rick and Michonne continue to argue about what they should do next. She is frustrated with him and his thinking. She says she doesn’t know who he is anymore.
Rick and Michonne look for weapons to fight with and escape the room. They open the door and start killing walkers. As they do, they are fighting with each other as much as they are killing their way out. They enter a stairwell to start going down when the building shakes. Suddenly a metal chandelier falls and traps Michonne’s leg. She tells him to go but he won’t leave her. After killing walkers and trying to lift the chandelier, Rick finally succeeds, frees Michonne and they find a place to hide. After they are there, they come together and make love in private.
Afterwards, they make small talk and start talking about the place they are in. It drifts into Rick stating that he can go back and make changes. But Michonne still says that he is covering for something else. The building starts shaking again and Rick wants to leave but Michonne says no, not until they settle what they are going to do. Rick breaks down and says he started to lose the dreams of Carl and Michonne. He accepted that but once he found her, he had hope. But if loses that again, he won’t be able to handle it again. Michonne then shows him a picture of Carl drawn on a phone and she asks him what would Carl want him to do.
Finally on the same page Rick and Michonne prepare to go home, They leave the apartment, kill walkers in their way as a team and find an elevator. After escaping the building, they find a car that is a hybrid with gasoline in the back. Michonne says that they have enough to go home and they start driving away.
This episode was better than I thought it would be. It dealt with the underlying tension between Rick and Michonne after all this time. You had some good action though nothing you haven’t seen before. The one thing you don’t see often with any of the Walking Dead series or spinoff is that it ends on a happy note. And this episode did just that which was refreshing. With only two more episodes left, I am curious where they are going to take this. Well, until next week.
Episode 5
This is the second to last episode on this limited run for this series
and was looking forward to seeing what would happen with Rick
and Michonne being on their own as a result of them finally on the
same page and understand each other. Will they keep up the feel
good vibe of the last episode? Probably not for long since it is the
Walking Dead. But let’s see how it all plays out.
The episode starts with a mysterious man walking through the
forest when he comes across a walker. Hearing a helicopter pass over, he looks up and you see that it’s Father Gabriel from the original series. Distracted by the sound, the walker grabs him but Gabriel takes it down with his machete. He looks up again and starts praying.
Then you see Rick and Michonne driving like they are on vacation. They come across an abandoned vehicle to find a trunk full of soup noodle. They stop for the evening to eat and rest before continuing on the next day. Occasionally the stop to forage for food and supplies, coming across a random walker who they take out.
Rick and Michonne come across what looks like cabin resort and enter the main building which has a gift shop. As they look around, Rick comes across a necklace with the name Michelle on it. He breaks off everything but the M and puts it in his pocket. Rick finds Michonne at the welcome desk as she looks at the sign in book saying Three Pines Cabin. Michonne pick up keys and figures that where they’ll stay for the night. Rick comments their luck is holding up.
They start walking toward where they will spend the night. They talk about Thorne and Rick says he never let her go no matter what he said. Just when they are having a moment, they hear screams. They go toward the sound of screams and walker and come across a man fighting a walker and another man helping woman stuck in something. Rick goes to help and he strike the walker and nothing happens. Michonne does the same thing with the same results as if they are hitting stone. Rick finally breaks through and Michonne goes for the kill.
The group thanks Rick and Michonne for the help and they start telling them about the different walkers around like the stone head and wet ones. Rick and Michonne offer them some of the food they pick up but the group pulls a gun on them and wants to rob them of everything. Rick and Michonne offers a chance to back out but they don’t. They turn the tables on the group and disarms them. The group has a change of heart but Rick and Michonne don’t let them off. They make the group promise to not rob anyone else and they take back the food they gave them and walk away.
They arrive at the cabin for the night and talk about how lucky that group was that they found them and not someone else. Rick finds a bottle of liquor and pours them drinks. Then he pulls out the necklace and give it to Michonne. They spend the night together as if the apocalypse isn’t happening. Outside the cabin you see someone quietly approach the cabin.
Past – They flashback to three years ago and you see Father Gabriel filling his canteen when Jadis approaches him. They hug and Gabriel asks if she is coming back. She says no but he can’t tell anyone that she was there. He says he was looking for her. He also tells her that Rick believed people could change and lets her know what happened to Rick. He ask for her forgiveness in not believing in her. She tells him that she can talk about what she is a part of now and what she will become a part of. He says she can’t without endangering them. She also says she forgives him.
Present – Jadis finds Rick and Michonne holds them at gunpoint. She forces them to tie themselves to the bed and proceeds to tell them how she found them. Rick says that all she does is for herself and for her own good. Michonne tells Jadis that she stole their lives and didn’t help no one. Jadis then goes to shoot them and they move to dodge the bullets, Rick throws the bed into Jadis to knock her off balance. Michonne picks up her axe and wounds Jadis. Jadis retreats and exits just as Michonne tries to shoot her but Rick saves her.
Past – They flashback to two years ago and Jadis meets up with Father Gabriel again. They talk about Rick and Michonne. He talks about how Rick wanted him to marry him and Michonne on the bridge where ‘Rick died’. Gabriel couldn’t see Rick’s future so he went off to sit and found a ring. He left it for Rick to find but that never happened. Jadis admits to liking her visits with Gabriel and reminds her of what she must do, even if some of it is bad. Gabriel ask for help but she says she can’t. He gives her the ring and looks forward to their next meeting.
Present – Rick and Michonne are chasing Jadis in their vehicle. Michonne wants nothing to do more that kill Jadis. Rick insist they can’t. Just as they are getting to run Jadis off the road, they run into a group of walkers and crash. Rick and Michoone get out, kill some walkers and find Jadis’ car empty. They go searching for her
Jadis runs into the three people that Rick and Michonne encountered before and begs them for help. She convinces them that she is a victim and needs help capture Rick and Michonne.and offers them a safe place
Rick and Michonne are tracking Jadis and the trail lead to an old cabin and continue to follow the blood trail. Just as they think they caught up with her, they find out it was a trap set by the group they met earlier. Like before Rick and Michonne easily disarm the men but the woman is attacked by walkers. Jadis fires at Rick and Michonne while the men try to rescue the woman and are overtaken by walkers.
Past – They flashback to one year ago where Jadis and Father Gabriel meet again. Jadis didn’t think he would show up. Gabriel continues to convince her that she isn’t everything she thinks she is. She admits to doing worse things every day. Gabriel admits to enjoying their secret meetings. She kisses him and he continues to try to convince her to come back with him. Jadis says no and apologizes for being vulnerable and make him a loose end. She then pulls a gun on him.
Present – Rick and Mchonne are pinned down by Jadis. She says anything happens to her, Alexandria and everyone they know are dead. Jadis comes out and faces off with Michonne. She waits while walkers are ready to attack Just as they come upon her, Michonne shoot them dead.
She takes a shot at Michonne and they go back into hiding. Jadis tells Rick he was ready to be promoted and find out everything and he will understand. Blames Michonne for pulling him away from that. Rick and Michonne offer a deal to Jadis. Rick will go back to the CRM with her, Michonne will get medical supplies to keep her alive long enough to get to the jump point and Michonne goes back home and Jadis doesn’t go looking for her or Alexandria. Jadis agrees.
Rick comes out and faces Jadis after they both put down their weapons. Jadis says that she could never stop them both and that is why she made the deal. She then pulls a gun on Rick but Michonne comes from behind and pulls a gun on her. Suddenly walkers come from behind Jadis and attack her. Michonne and Rick killed the walkers but see that she has been bitten.
Jadis confesses that she was only thinking about herself. She didn’t want to lose anyone else and thought the CRM was the best chance for her. Jadis says that she was torn with all of the people she was and finally accepted it. You see that she she doesn’t kill Gabriel and he helped her see who she really is. She tells Rick where the file is and tells him they should go home. But Michonne tells her that they will go back, get the file and take down the CRM. Jadis give Rick the ring Gabriel gave her and tells Rick to do what he promised to do. Rick picks up the gun and kills Jadis.
Rick and Michonne start their way to the drop point to enact their plan. Before they get there, Rick proposes to Michonne and she says yes. They continue to the helicopter and fly back to the CRM.
You see Father Gabriel go to their meeting spot to wait for Jadis. He seems to wait for a long time and he knows that she is not coming.
This was a good episode that had a lot of feel good stuff but it ended up being the good guys against the big baddie. This is the second to last episode and you can tell that it was setting things up for the final episode. It was good to see Rick and Michonne come together like things use to be before Rick disappeared. The storyline with Jadis was good and it gave her a redeeming end that sets up next week. Will Rick and Michonne’s plan to take down the CRM work? We’ll have to see.
Episode 6
We are finally at the last episode of this season. Right now there
is no word on whether this series will continue which makes this
episode all the more intriguing. They set it up with lofty goals last
week so I wonder how far they are going to go in having them
succeed. Well, read on to find out what happens and if it lives
up to the hype.
The episode start with voice overs from all the main characters this season talking while showing Rick and Michonne enjoying some time before heading back to enact their plan to take down the CRM. Then Rick is shown coming to the gates of the CRM with his hands up.
Rick enters a room and meets with Thorner. She is happy to see him and he tells her what happened and how he survived thanks to Michonne but she is dead. Thorne tells him that she used to think giving up was a bad thing but her and Rick gave up a lot to be with the CRM and now she sees it as a sign of strength.
Michonne is shown in a CRM outfit sneaking around to get into the CRM. She find a way in and makes her way to Jadis’ room. It is filled with artwork and Michoone starts searching for the file. She is ransacking the room and almost loses hope when she sees a tiger sculpture made of wire. She picks it up and pulls out a roll of paper with the notes about Rick and everyone he knows. She tears up the paper and collects the shreds. Michonne gets ready to leave when someone pushes an envelope under the door and hits Michonne’s foot. Someone calls out thinks it’s Jadis and when no one answers she opens the door to come in. Michonne attacks her from behind and kills her.
Thorne brings Rick out to see Beale and he is killing walkers by a fence. She tells him this is the time he will be offer the Echelon briefing by Beale. Beale says he never had to do this since he never became a citizen since he was there in the beginning. He tells Rick that he likes to be alone before an operation but invited Rick since he is humbled by the way he keeps coming back. Beale walks away and Rick follows
Beale is in his office and tells Rick to put his gun and hand weapon on the desk. He tells Rick to reflect on everything that came before this moment but right now everything is going to change. Then he asks him “what is the worst thing he has ever done to help someone survive”. Rick reflects on what he’s done and says that he killed someone with his teeth like walkers do. Beale proceeds to tell Rick that he has given the Echelon briefing many times but with no one like Rick. He tells him that this is the start of a new future.
Beale tells Rick his background of who he was before the apocalypse, his childhood and his military training. He says that he is like Rick since he could have given up but didn’t and came back like Rick. He tells Rick his experience with the CRM and his choice to pick Philadelphia over Pittsburgh.
Michonne is leaving the building when she picks up a stuffed bunny. It reminds her of home with her kids and time with Carl. Another CRM guard takes it from her. She hears overhead that and overview briefing is ready to begin and is mandatory. Michonne finds her way to the briefing and sits in. She learns that the CRM has operatives in the Portland community to select certain kids to evacuate out of Portland to protect them for the future before they destroy it. Upset by what she heard, she leaves the briefing.
Beale tells Rick humans only have about 14 years on the planet before they go extinct. But he is trying to beat the odds. He tells Rick that the use and destroy communities for their resources and the security of what they have. Beale says they have operatives all around the country and the world to learn, influence and advance scout what they can provide. He tells Rick that they destroyed Omaha and soon Portland, leaving them the most powerful in the country if not the world. Once this is done, they will declare martial law over the city and take what they want. Beale tells Rick he can be the next leader of the CRM.
Beale continues telling Rick his plan for total domination. Rick pulls his knife and get ready to act. Beale ask him to swear on the sword. Rick thinks for a minute and Beale sees something is wrong. Before he can react, Rick throws the knife and hits Beale in the chest and they dives over the desk after him. After a brief struggle, Rick picks up Beale’s sword and stabs him in the chest through his hand, killing him. Rick call Thorne on the walkie talkie and tells her that he just go the briefing from Beale and he Beale went off to be alone. He puts Beale’s body in a trunk and start wheeling it to the elevators. As he gets on with the cart, another guard comes onto the elevator with him as the doors shut.
Michonne leaves the building, waits to hear something but goes back because she can’t allow what she sees happen. She goes back to the building and grabs a canister on the way in
Rick notices blood leaking from the carts with Beale’s body in it and hopes to get to his destination. The other guard sees the blood and Rick knows he is in trouble. Just as the elevator doors open, Rick attacks the guard and eventually kills him. When the doors open, Rick sees another guard but finds out its Michonne. They talk over what they know and agree that they must stop what is going on.
Thorne goes to find Beale but can’t find him. She know Rick is up to something and walks off.
Michonne is preparing grenades she found and takes some inspiration from Nat. Rick tells Michonne that Beale thought he could lead the CRM. He also tells her that he wants to go home to see the kids after all the time he missed. He knows they can’t and knows what they have to do. They leave to complete their plan.
Thorne goes to Beale’s office and find Rick’s artificial hand and knows that it is trouble. Thorne checks another room and looks out the window to see the troops preparing and the weapons tent. She thinks about everything Rick says since he came back and knows what they are to.
Michonne and Rick are in a tent with all the bombs and poison gas. They are attaching the grenades to them to blow everything up. As a last touch, they attach the wires to the grenade to walkers that use to be Beale and a guard. After they are finished, Rick give Michonne Beale’s sword. They lure the walkers so that pull on the wire that will everything set off the grenades.
They meet outside the tent and as they go to escape, they are stopped by Thorne. She ask them where Beale is and they will regret what they done. She forces them back to undo what they have done. Michonne and Rick turn around and start walking back knowing they are almost out of time. When they see Walker Beale come out of the tent, they dart off to the side. Thorne see the Beale walker and is stun. Then the explosion happens and takes out the whole base.
Rick and Michonne come from under cover and look to escape. They hear Thorne has somehow survive. Michonne goes for the other gas mask while Rick attacks Thorne. After basically a draw, walkers come and attack Rick. As he fight to get away from the walkers, Thorne looks to shoot him but Michonne goes to attack her. After a little back and forth, Michonne kills her with Beale’s sword. She turns around and sees Rick being overwhelmed by walkers.
Rick is backed into a corner and keeps fighting when he realizes that he pulled a pin from one of the walkers. He protects himself with two walkers when the grenade goes off killing all of the walkers. Michonne fears that Rick is dead but then he emerges unharmed. They look for a way to escape and find they are surrounded by walkers. They find the only way to escape is to go up on top of the shipping containers. First Michonne climbs up while Rick tries to kill off the closest walkers. Then he climbs up with Michonne’s help and they proceed to escape the area.
You hear a voiceover of a TV report stating the accident that happen in the CRM and that Beale was a casualty. The CRC found that most of the army had no idea what the higher levels of the CRM were doing. The CRC votes to make reforms as they now make the decisions over the CRM. They reinstate free movement in and out of the city. You see Rick and Michonne on a helicopter in normal clothing. On the walkie talkie, you hear Michonne contact Judith. Next you see Rick and Michonne reunite with Judith and RJ and that is how it ends.
This episode was a good ending for this series and possibly the area of the Walking Dead. The story of Rick and Michonne wrapped up nicely. The episode was full of action and weren’t afraid of killing major characters to further tell the story. There was a lot of emotional scenes and it ended on a truly happy note. There is talk about maybe continuing the story but doesn’t seem likely. They left enough where it is possible to continue if the right storyline is made. Overall this season was great and didn’t try to force a storyline just for the sake of continuing. This is definitely worth the watch.
