The Ones Who Live

[Dee]

Only a few days to go before the premiere of the mini series (6 episodes) telling us the conclusion of Rick and Michonne’s story. I’m so grateful that, against all odds, they’ve finally managed to conclude this beautiful love story that was abrupted so dramatically by Rick’s departure.

Michonne grieving for him for 6 years or more, before finding some proof that he could well be alive, because he sure didn’t die on that bridge. Something she had always felt deep down was a possibility. So off she went to look for him and then we lost touch with both of these beloved characters - until now.

I’m beyond excited to see these six episodes. I adore these two, individually and together. Michonne was always my favourite female character on TWD, and Rick… well he was always the centre piece of it all… until he suddenly wasn’t.

Andy and Danai co-produced this series with Scott Gimple, Danai even wrote the 4th episode. It’s very reassuring to know that they had a lot of creative input into the the story and production.

Here is a lovely discussion between Andy and Danai, looking back at their characters’ story, and their filming experiences as actors on the set. They’re such adorable people too, not just their characters.

https://youtu.be/i280m7HUV4g?si=i1h9auWZAqtwGBBw

Premiere 25 February.

Mz Lori, are you with me for this trip?

[Dee]

[Dee]

Episode 1

Years

NO SPOILERS

Well, isn’t that an apt title? We have waited for this story for YEARS. To see what happened to Rick. And Michonne. And to find out if she ever did find him?

I can’t even begin to say how much I have been looking forward to this. And finally we have six golden episodes to savour. And I’m facing the most serious case of wanting to have-my-cake-and-eat-it I’ve ever had. Wanted to watch this first episode so much, but also wanted to save it. So I kept rewinding and watched it in small steps so I could take it all in slowly.

I know, I know it’s only a silly tv show. But to see Rick again… it was like seeing a very old dear friend, after many long years. And to see him in such dreadful predicament, of wanting to return home so desperately, and thwarted in every single attempt, - it was really heartbreaking.

And if there ever was a doubt that Andy could rekindle his masterpiece character after all these years, - he one hundred percent has. This is Rick - the Rick we knew and loved, with all his charm, strengths and crazy shit. God I love this character so much. And he still looks so damn fine. Possibly finer than ever?

The story is gripping and the new characters are engaging. I’m over the moon happy with this so far and can’t wait for next week, which will be Michonne’s story, I believe.

That’s all for now, until you’ve seen it too, Mz Lori.
I’m calling friendship card, if you’re not voluntarily enthralled and dying to watch it.

[Lori]

I'm not reading the above until I WATCH THIS THING!!! Hahahaha! Friendship card activated and no doubt I will love this. I will try to watch today, my friend!

[Dee]

[Lori]

Oh my gooey goodness! So lovely to see our Rick again. (Okay - and Michonne as well!) The actual storyline was a bit convoluted for me with the various resistance fighters, etc., but you know my brain pauses and taps its foot until I can emotionally connect completely. The required ingredient to kick start my synapses definitely occurred and did so with a sonic boom when the ground fighter at the end with a sword lifted Rick's helmet and was completely taken aback.

In that moment, I felt the fighter knew him in some way shape or form. I had NO thought that this would be Michonne!! Rick's face throughout that scene was deeply precious, in that this relationship still means so much to the viewer and his vulnerability and disbelief in that instant washed over me and I loved him still. I loved his tough little face. Those expressive eyes. His journey washed through me at this time in the episode. He is such a fighter to the very nth of his core.

I am overjoyed that the meeting happens in episode numero #1!!! No slow burn as far as discovery. (Who knows what fresh relationship hell they will throw at us in the coming episodes.)

I enjoyed the park bench scenes where poor Rick's brain found fun banter and relief in his dreams. Michonne looked beautiful and her "Mother Earth" grounding intelligent and calming aura was in full bloom - something Rick craves, no doubt.

Sooo very much destruction happening with entire cities "collapsing". I'm not quite sure why the napalm, etc., at this point.

The fighters were good characters, but true to my nature I am slow to bond and actually learn their names until they become really really embedded in the fabric of the story. The leader of the inside resistance was acted very well by the actor. Sad he received a rocket to the chest.

I've set to record the new episode happening this weekend. I did immediately find myself wishing Rick would also soon have his buddy, Daryl, by his side. If by some future miracle of TV-making that moment comes, it will be as sweet a reunion.

Fun stuff!

[Dee]

Oh my gooey goodness! So lovely to see our Rick again. (Okay - and Michonne as well!) The actual storyline was a bit convoluted for me with the various resistance fighters, etc., but you know my brain pauses and taps its foot until I can emotionally connect completely. The required ingredient to kick start my synapses definitely occurred and did so with a sonic boom when the ground fighter at the end with a sword lifted Rick's helmet and was completely taken aback.

I’m smiling here because I just knew you’d be tapping your little feet somewhat until the two of them got reunited. It was a real shock to see that happen at the end of the first episode, wasn’t it?

In that moment, I felt the fighter knew him in some way shape or form. I had NO thought that this would be Michonne!! Rick's face throughout that scene was deeply precious, in that this relationship still means so much to the viewer and his vulnerability and disbelief in that instant washed over me and I loved him still. I loved his tough little face. Those expressive eyes. His journey washed through me at this time in the episode. He is such a fighter to the very nth of his core.

I loved how you described this moment. I have felt the same throughout the entire episode, but the last moment completely floored me. It’s been like 8-9 years since they were separated?

I am overjoyed that the meeting happens in episode numero #1!!! No slow burn as far as discovery. (Who knows what fresh relationship hell they will throw at us in the coming episodes.)

I’m so happy too, that main story of this show will be how these two reconnect and rebuild their relationship, and not the search. Perfect.
But yes, what a predicament they’re finding themselves in now, on the opposite sides of a conflict.

I enjoyed the park bench scenes where poor Rick's brain found fun banter and relief in his dreams. Michonne looked beautiful and her "Mother Earth" grounding intelligent and calming aura was in full bloom - something Rick craves, no doubt.

Little doses of fun and loveliness amidst the despair. I liked it too, but also felt a little strange for Rick to dream of Michonne in this preapocalyptic setting.

Sooo very much destruction happening with entire cities "collapsing". I'm not quite sure why the napalm, etc., at this point.

I think the initial bombing, napalm etc was to stop the spread of the virus. But then maybe the agenda changed and that’s why the guy who died at the end, had a change of heart and decided not to bomb Philadelphia as well, instead protect it. Even if it meant he had to bomb the unit where his wife served. How utterly horrific.

So there were three cities left, and one, Omaha was bombed just towards the end of the episode, but the CRM, which sounds very questionable, and I’m sure we will find out more about that later. Most likely a competition for resources issue?

I’m intrigued how such a huge city can function, with 200 thousand people… where are they producing the food for so many people? How is law and order kept in such a huge city, if the army and police are outside the city walls? Etc. It just seems too big a place to keep going.


The fighters were good characters, but true to my nature I am slow to bond and actually learn their names until they become really really embedded in the fabric of the story. The leader of the inside resistance was acted very well by the actor. Sad he received a rocket to the chest.

Yes. I really liked him too. Well, he kept Rick alive, so I have major gratitude. Rest in peace.

I've set to record the new episode happening this weekend. I did immediately find myself wishing Rick would also soon have his buddy, Daryl, by his side. If by some future miracle of TV-making that moment comes, it will be as sweet a reunion.

Fun stuff!

Maybe, maybe. One day. I think they all want to do that. The big reunion. But first things first. Let’s see how these two will make it back home.
And Daryl. So much story to tell first.

So in the next episode we are likely to get Michonne’s back story leading up to the moment of the reunion. I think it might just end at the same point, though I’m hoping they’d advance it a little bit. But from episode 3, we will have our golden couple together hopefully, figuring things out. It sure won’t be easy for them.

Danai and Andy keep referring to the mini series as an epic love story, so that’s reassuring to know. Despite zombies and armies this will be primarily a love story. I’m more than happy with that.

So now let’s see what Michonne has been up to since we last saw her, joining that caravan.

So happy you’re watching it with me, Pic.

[Lori]

Excellent! The love story in a concentrated fashion. It will be interesting how they treat the fact that Judith remains without them.

I retract my sentiment regarding Daryl or at least I delay it. I also like Daryl right. where. he. is. Why share screen time and invite all of the old players back in, precious as they may be!

Surely, Rick and Michonne will eventually see eye-to-eye regarding the current political wave as they trust each other's perceptions and with more information may find a way forward. At least they will be together.

[Dee]

Episode 2

Gone

Wow. This is The Walking Dead at its best, I’d say.

And yes, Mz L, I cried several times. I bet you did too.

What a beautiful love story this is, oh my heart. And one of the best reunions ever.

And Nat? Such a fabulous new character. And such a tragic shame to have him around for only one episode. Dammit. He was so good, and his presence so rich and warm and funny, that I feel like we’ve known him forever.

The situation Rick and Michonne are finding themselves now is so complex, - can’t wait to see how it will unfold. Just please don’t let Michonne die for Rick. I’m taking courage from the plural in the title of the series.

And Jadis. What a colossal bitch. But I guess she can’t help them escape because she’d be immediately implicated.

Michonne is not going to just leave, is she? She wants to avenge her friends first. This will all get very complicated. But love will win through in the end, surely? Yes?

[Lori]

I'm going to state here and now I have my reservations about this 2nd episode.


I love Michonne and all of her strengths on display. I am taken with the comparison of who she is now to who she was when first introduced on TWD. Her openness and ability to love quickly these virtual strangers is a far cry from her extremely hurt and guarded previous self. She has evolved, accepted, and done such work towards keeping "soft" and I mean soft in the best of ways. This, in spite of possibly having lost her soul mate. When that realization hit her so hard, it was heart-breaking. Shallow comment: I'm not a fan of her bustier-type warrior outfit.

Nat's demise was too soon. I was loving him as well. It makes sense that having a bunch of extras pile into the new town would detract from the single most important focus of this relationship so I forgive the writers.

My misgivings? Rick. He seems stilted, frenetic, and mostly brainwashed even though he speaks the opposite and shows understanding of the nuances they face. I, personally, am not a fan of this short initial reunion with obstacles immediately thrown in. I didn't feel it was given the initial breadth it needed - perhaps some escape time initially where reconnection could have been so beautiful. By the time that happens, so much water will have gone under the bridge and we may be desensitized. Yes, the brief reunion was done well and acted well, but it has skipped a critical beat for me when they tumbled them straight into the gears of this new settlement, with these characters stealing moments and breathing cryptic phrases.

Plus being sooo damn stupid that cameras were not catching their every move and that she isn't being watched 24/7 being so new in the community. That she was allowed to roam free doesn't fly either as it seems some extensive programming or deprogramming would be done.

These interactions feel "acted" to me, mostly on Andy's part. Perhaps Rick is damaged and traumatized more than we know and cannot plug in. I see Michonne sort of checking out his single-mindedness regarding saving people, etc., but Rick is hellbent on getting home to Judith as he has this long-term experience of trying to escape and failing, let alone freeing the people in this odd place. Michonne seems to be taking his spiritual temperature at this point as he seems off somehow. Of course, he would be. She would be. Yet, something feels forced and strange to me. I'm not happy with the pace of this episode regarding the reunion.

Jadis! Good grief. She is still digging uninvited in Rick's pantaloons? No problem, we shall see how this plays out! Ha!

I wasn't feeling like Michonne was contemplating leaving without Rick, but rather was assessing the situation from a bird's eye view (that's kind of a neat phrase, isn't it?). Yet, it feels too bold for the amount of time she has been in the city and perhaps a rookie move.

Guess what? I still hate walker scenes!

[Dee]

I'm going to state here and now I have my reservations about this 2nd episode.




I love Michonne and all of her strengths on display. I am taken with the comparison of who she is now to who she was when first introduced on TWD. Her openness and ability to love quickly these virtual strangers is a far cry from her extremely hurt and guarded previous self. She has evolved, accepted, and done such work towards keeping "soft" and I mean soft in the best of ways. This, in spite of possibly having lost her soul mate. When that realization hit her so hard, it was heart-breaking. Shallow comment: I'm not a fan of her bustier-type warrior outfit.

Lol, me neither. All looked a bit silly. Thankfully it was only worn for an episode.
Yes, Michonne’s character is so rich and layered… and Danai is a phenomenal actress. She can make us feel every emotion Michonne’s feeling, like it’s happening to us. I was a wreck after watching this episode.


Nat's demise was too soon. I was loving him as well. It makes sense that having a bunch of extras pile into the new town would detract from the single most important focus of this relationship so I forgive the writers.

Yes, his presence now at the CRM would overcomplicate things. Yet, he’s there anyway. He’s become part of Michonne. And that little lighter of his in Michonne’s hand…with DANGER engraved in it. Oh, Nat will be remembered. And his death will be avenged.

My misgivings? Rick. He seems stilted, frenetic, and mostly brainwashed even though he speaks the opposite and shows understanding of the nuances they face.

I know, this is hard to watch. It’s not what the Rick we love to see. But nevertheless it’s Rick alright. We saw shades of this before. After the farm, when they were on the move for months and he was telling his people “we tell ourselves, we are the walking dead, that’s how we survive”, my heart still aches remembering that. Then his meals down after Lori’s death in the prison. Then the next one after the prison fell. And the worst one, after Negan killed Glenn and Abraham and made Rick his bitch. That was actually very similar to this. He was terrified, - not for himself, but for his group. Everything seemed out of his control, and he basically gave up, until Michonne got him to grow his balls back. Which is what’s likely to happen again. What I’m saying is that Rick has a history of mental breakdown, and much as he is a strong survivor, one of the best, but his fear of causing harm to his loved ones, or not being able to protect them from harm, this can paralyse Rick. This is kind of what we are seeing now, yet he appears to have some sort of plan forming, we just need to wait it out.

I, personally, am not a fan of this short initial reunion with obstacles immediately thrown in. I didn't feel it was given the initial breadth it needed - perhaps some escape time initially where reconnection could have been so beautiful. By the time that happens, so much water will have gone under the bridge and we may be desensitized. Yes, the brief reunion was done well and acted well, but it has skipped a critical beat for me when they tumbled them straight into the gears of this new settlement, with these characters stealing moments and breathing cryptic phrases.

I get what you’re saying. But I think the reconnection is coming and we won’t be desensitised, and it will be richly rewarding. I know it would have been lovely to have that moment straight away, and a few hours of conversation at least before they got recaptured. But that’s not the story they’re telling: Michonne finally finding Rick and all happy ever after, she takes him home. I mean, I think this is the shell of the story, but the main story is how hard this is going to be. Because it’s now not just about Michonne taking Rick home and Rick finally escaping the clutches of the CRM. Just before Nat shot the helicopter down, said to the guy who got blown up, that finally he was all in, ready to do his part in the revolution to reform the CRM. And Michonne has seen firsthand the evil doings of the CRM. She nearly died. Her friends died. They won’t be able to just leave - especially with the added complication that the CRM knows where they live, where Alexandria is, and they’d come after them. So they will need to have an amazing plan to get out of this predicament.

Would I have preferred four episodes of Michonne and Rick talking, catching up, kissing and making love, travelling home to Judith and JR? Of course I would. But I’m trusting that we will get all that, just have to be patient.

Plus being sooo damn stupid that cameras were not catching their every move and that she isn't being watched 24/7 being so new in the community. That she was allowed to roam free doesn't fly either as it seems some extensive programming or deprogramming would be done.

Yes, that might be a bit far fetched, this lack of surveillance. But maybe the unit itself is so guarded that they don’t care if an individual feels free within the compound, they’re still locked in a compound they can’t escape from.

These interactions feel "acted" to me, mostly on Andy's part. Perhaps Rick is damaged and traumatized more than we know and cannot plug in.

He is totally fucked up. He’s trying so hard to plug in but he needs to be so very careful. I think Andy is doing an amazing job portraying that.

I see Michonne sort of checking out his single-mindedness regarding saving people, etc., but Rick is hellbent on getting home to Judith as he has this long-term experience of trying to escape and failing, let alone freeing the people in this odd place. Michonne seems to be taking his spiritual temperature at this point as he seems off somehow. Of course, he would be. She would be. Yet, something feels forced and strange to me. I'm not happy with the pace of this episode regarding the reunion.

I hope this will be rectified in the next episode, when there is no more back story to be told.

We are still waiting for Michonne to tell Rick about JR. She nearly did, but then she decided not to, and it made perfect sense to me why she didn’t at that moment. Like you said, she’s in the process of feeling Rick out, and circumstances haven’t allowed them any private time yet. I’m sure it’s all coming.

Jadis! Good grief. She is still digging uninvited in Rick's pantaloons? No problem, we shall see how this plays out! Ha!

Bitch gotta die.

I wasn't feeling like Michonne was contemplating leaving without Rick, but rather was assessing the situation from a bird's eye view (that's kind of a neat phrase, isn't it?). Yet, it feels too bold for the amount of time she has been in the city and perhaps a rookie move.

Oh that’s Michonne’s though. Just like how she was checking out Woodbury back in the day.

Guess what? I still hate walker scenes!

Ha, you and me both.

I hope the upcoming episodes will be more in tune with what you (and I too) are hoping to see. If there’s one thing you need to be when it comes to TWD is patient!

[Dee]

Episode 3

Bye


Oh dear, Pic. I think you probably won’t like this episode much. I think you might not like it at all. Rick is still broken Rick, even if he’s trying so hard to be strong, and he’s is strong in some ways, risking and sacrificing all for Michonne and their people back in Alexandria.

I’m struggling to like this episode myself, and I’m hugely patient when it comes to TWD and I’m a pro at coping with slow burns, but instead of stepping forward, it feels like we have moved two steps backwards in this episode… except for the final moment which was the episode’s saving grace for me. That ending was just the best cliffhanger ever. Now we can finally be assured that the episode next week will finally get us where we wanted to be all along with the premise of Michonne finding Rick. The next episode is what Danai wrote… so I have full faith in the writing.

I have real problems with understanding the female officer’s accent, so I’ll have to watch some of it back with captions. But she’s getting on my nerves so bad. As does Jadis. Amusingly disturbing as she is.

Basically I found the whole episode just utterly frustrating, - I guess that was the purpose, but seriously, the only scenes I liked was Michonne with the artist who drew her, which was very moving, and Michonne being a badass with a huge attitude, that I always loved, and of course the very last scene which has instantly become one of the most iconic TWD moments ever.

I get the impossibility of their situation. I do. But I got that already last week. And after three episodes, half way through the season, we really need to see Rick and Michonne finally have a PROPER CONVERSATION! So bring on the next episode please.

Wouldn’t it be grand if Michonne had asked the artist to draw a picture of Rick, Michonne, Judith and JR together as a family, and that would be how she’d communicate to Rick that he has another son?