Spoiler Alert: Spoilers Ahead for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who LiveFans ofThe Walking Deadhad high hopes forThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Liveafter the six-episode season premiered to widespread praise andmassive viewership numbers. But in the season finale, the story was wrapped up so beautifully that it seems like the show, which was originally supposed to be a movie, might be ending there. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though.
AfterThe Walking Deadbegan in 2010 with Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, the franchise soon grew. Now, nearly 15 years later, the series has seen several spinoffs, with varying success, and hundreds of episodes spread across those shows. WithThe Ones Who Livebeing a six-episode series that ends the story of Rick, should it really go on at all?
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
Bythe end ofThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live(spoiler alert), Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) successfully took down the Civic Republic Military (CRM), leading to widespread change. They, and anyone else who wanted to do so, could finally freely go back home. Rick and Michonne joyously boarded a helicopter to do just that. Upon arrival, they had an emotional reunion with Judith (Cailey Fleming) and R.J. (Antony Azor).
It was especially emotional for Rick, who hadn’t seen Judith since she was a toddler and had never met R.J. In fact, the entire time he was away, Rick didn’t even know that R.J. existed until Michonne revealed the news. Michonne became pregnant right before Rick was helicoptered away by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), presumed dead by the main group. She found out soon after he was gone that she was expecting.
The Ones Who Livecelebrated with a happy ending to the otherwise horrifying tale. It’s presumed that Rick will return to Alexandria, or more likely, The Commonwealth, where he will live with his family. He will likely marry Michonne now that they are officially engaged, with a ceremony overseen by Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). They’ll all do their part to protect the community, even asthe virus continuesto spread and pose a threat. The simple knowledge of these likely events is enough. Seeing them play out would lead to a show with a tone much different than the one fans know and love.
Where The Ones Who Live Is Set in The Walking Dead Timeline, Explained
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live takes place concurrently with The Walking Dead; how do the shows jive in terms of timelines?
In addition, it’s a good thing for a show to go out on a high.Breaking Bad,Mad MenandTed Lassoare all examples of shows that ended when they were at the height of their success. Each could have gone on for more seasons, but that would have diluted the stories. For a show to maintain its reputation, it’s important to end before the dreaded “jump the shark” moment. The wayThe Ones Who Livewrapped up comes dangerously close to overstaying its welcome, as much as fans don’t want to let the characters go.
Even thoughThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Livewas the most anticipated spinoff, it is only one of many within the growing franchise. The stories with otherfan-favorite characterslive on through other successful spinoffs likeThe Walking Dead: Dead CityandThe Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. When it comes to Rick and Michonne, they have their happy ending, and it should be left at that.
This doesn’t have to be a final farewell, though. There’s an opportunity for the characters to make cameos in those other shows. It would be a welcome surprise for fans who enjoy the unique journeys of other characters who still have much more story to tell before they reach their happy (or tragic) ends. Rick and Michonne’s journey ended in a satisfying and refreshingly positive way. But they can still be a part of the world without being at the center of a show.
What the Stars And Showrunner Have to Say About The Ones Who Live
On the flip side, it can be argued that there’s always more story to tell, as long as the story can be told in a way that makes sense. Consider that thoughBreaking Badended too soon for some fans to accept, for example, its prequel seriesBetter Call Saulwas just as well received, and theBreaking Badmovie also saw positive reviews upon its release, which continued the journey for the surviving character Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). So, itcanbe done with Rick and Michonne if handled correctly.
Is that even a possibility, anyway? Showrunner Scott M. Gimple toldEntertainment Weeklyto “never say never” when it comes to the characters returning. However, he also noted that even if the story is set to go somewhere, it might just be “in my brain. It might just be my fan fiction.” For now, he confirms that there’s “nothing on the table” in terms of a Season 2. But even Lincoln himself hints that he might be open to re-holstering his gun, popping on his prosthetic hand, and gearing up for battle again as Rick Grimes.
“There are other very important characters in the universe that are still wandering around and alive that I think it might be quite exciting to have them breathe the same air and see how long they survive together,” Lincoln toldEntertainment Weekly.But he admits that it would be difficult to find a way to bring this together and that for it to work (and for him to presumably be on board), it would have to be a “really exciting story.”
The Walking Dead: Every Season of the Original Series, Ranked
After the onset of a worldwide zombie apocalypse, survivors must fight their way to survive not only the dead but the living too.
He added that if a concept were to come from Gimple or Gurira that was “irresistible,” then there’s an “infinite chance that it might happen again. But I don’t know when.” Gurira coyly simply said “ditto” in agreement with her co-star’s remarks. In a separate interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Lincoln addressed the fact that Rick seemingly doesn’t know that Negan is still alive sinceMichonne didn’t tell him, nor that he became an important ally for the group, which could make for an interesting angle. “There are few surviving personalities still in the universe,” he said, “and it…could be an absolutely tremendous, traumatic reunion of sorts.”
Gimple says he’ll be cooking up his own “dreams and fan fiction, and “we will see whether it happens.” He adds hopefully, “we have a track record of dreams becoming realities.” So, whether this is the end of the tale for Rick and Michonne or they return at some point, for now, fans can revel in the knowledge thatThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Liveended on a high.
There’s no resolution or end to the viral outbreak in sight, which is what many envisioned might happen to wrap up the story. The reality is that the world has forever changed, and there might never be a cure to bring the world back to its original state. However, this show proved that what Rick and Michonne said time and time again through the main series, that they are “the ones who live,” has been proven correct. Theyarethe ones who live. And they have no plans of having it any other way.WatchThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Liveon AMC and stream episodes on AMC+.
