“Love doesn’t die.”
If only we had known back in Season 9 of The Walking Dead that we’d be reunited with our favorite sheriff, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). Rick and Michonne’s (Danai Gurira) epic spin-off series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has proven to be a largely impressive endeavor, prioritizing rich character development over its six episodes. Last week’s penultimate installment saw a massive blow with the death of Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), arguably the strongest, most complex part of the series. Not only did she die, but she also had a change of heart, revealing to Rick and Michonne where she hid the dossier of their whereabouts in the CRM.
Rick “Means Business” in ‘The Ones Who Live’s Finale
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live continues its hot streak, as the episode opens with Rick and Michonne gettin’ it on before they take on the CRM. (They are in love, if you couldn’t tell.) Rick returns to the CRM and tells Thorne (Lesley-Ann Brandt) that Bethune (Michonne) put herself in danger to save Rick when their helicopter got struck by lightning — and that, in the process, she died. (Sure, Jan.) It’s only a matter of time before Rick’s blind confidence — actually, that’s now Sergeant-Major Rick Grimes to you — is tested and the CRM starts to wonder where Jadis is.
Speaking of Jadis! Michonne makes her way into Jadis’ office and is determined to find the dossier and shred it to bits. This is the first time we’ve seen the space, and after last week’s episode, it’s rendered all the more devastating, filled wall-to-wall with many of her paintings and further proof that the “Anne” part of her was more powerful than she let on. It’s even more devastating to see several paintings of Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), knowing that their relationship had an unresolved ending.
Nevertheless, Michonne finds the documents and tearfully reads them. They do, in fact, spell out every little detail about Rick, how she met him, and where his loved ones are. It’s great and all that Michonne tears up the evidence, but she gets a bit of a reality check when there’s a knock at the door, with someone looking for Jadis (or, as they know her, “Stokes”) on the other side. Michonne easily takes out the officer, but it’s only a matter of time until someone else catches on.
General Beale Takes Rick Down Memory Lane in ‘The Ones Who Live’ Episode 6
In addition to Rick dwelling on Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Jadis bonding with Gabriel, General Beale (Terry O’Quinn) asks Rick about the worst thing he’s done for someone to survive. Memories come rushing back to haunt Rick — including stabbing his former best friend Shane (Jon Bernthal) to protect the group and ripping out a dude’s carotid artery. Though quite skeptical of him at first, Beale now seems to not only respect Rick but also trust him with the CRM’s future.
No question, Rick has made some controversial decisions, and he knows it. “Are we crazy?” he asks Michonne in bed, to which she responds without a doubt, “Certifiable.” Other memories, like Michonne stabbing the Governor’s (David Morrissey) eye out and Rick shooting Pete (Corey Brill) with zero hesitation in the head at Alexandria, flash across the screen. Beale sees a lot of himself in Rick and vice versa, and, despite giving the Echelon Briefing thousands of times, feels like this time is different.
What Is the Echelon Briefing?
Beale’s mantra while talking to Rick is “The sword that kills is that sword that gives life,” which is essentially a fancy way of excusing the horrible actions one commits in the hopes of saving others. The first “secret” Rick learns about the CRM is pretty surprising, considering how confident they are. The most likely outcome after their best efforts? Everyone dies. While Rick speaks with Beale, Michonne, disguised in a soldier’s uniform, sneaks into the mandatory briefing and is horrified at what lies ahead.
Belae tells Rick that they think, between starvation, diseases, and walkers, humans have a maximum of 14 years left. This is their reasoning for wiping out cities of innocent people: to beat the odds. Operation N1W’s Child Evacuation Protocol only intends to save 10% of Portland’s kids, which shocks Michonne. One interesting part that Beale mentions is that they supplied test subjects to CRM-run labs… could that possibly be connected to what’s going on with Daryl (Norman Reedus) on his own spin-off show?
After the CRM wipes out Portland, they will tell the Civic Republic that it was another “tragic, mysterious, shocking incident,” declaring martial law on the city and getting rid of the Council because the “stakes are too high for freedom.” Hearing the CRM’s full plan cements them as a true villain and terrifies Rick, whose memories of Carol (Melissa McBride), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and even himself approaching the infamous “Don’t Open, Dead Inside” doors in The Walking Dead’s pilot come flooding back.
Rick Is Pushed to the Brink in ‘The Ones Who Live’s Finale
Along with those memories of loved ones, Rick recalls the moments he was an utter badass — and channels that energy into jumping over the table and throwing a knife into Beale’s chest. He says that he didn’t lose his son, but he lost himself, and his wife brought him back. Even though Beale promises him that everyone he loves can evade their mass bombings, Rick drives Beale’s own sword into his hand, and then his chest.
This moment brings back the fear and adrenaline of the unexpected that the early seasons of The Walking Dead were capable of. Rick shoves Beale’s body into one of the containers they’ve been using to transport goods for the next attack, and right before being caught by another guard, Rick beats the man to a bloody pulp. Even though they are so close to escape, Michonne and Rick know that running from the CRM would also mean leaving behind all those innocent Portland people to die. Thorne, meanwhile, knows Rick is up to something… she just doesn’t know what.
Rick and Michonne Execute Their Plan in ‘The Ones Who Live’s Finale
Alongside Rick, Michonne (using techniques she learned from Matthew Jeffers’ Nat) creates an elaborate trap that sets off the chlorine gas that the CRM is planning on dropping on Portland. Thorne corners them, telling them to undo whatever backstabbing plan is in place. It’s too late for Thorne, though, who, with the rest of the CRM, becomes suffocated by the gas when the massive explosion takes place. (Okay, but… how did Rick and Michonne survive that, exactly?)
Michonne, katana in hand, and Rick, missing a hand, emerge from their hiding spot and finish what they started. Michonne gets the satisfaction of killing Thorne with her katana while growling, “Love doesn’t die,” and a bloodied Rick emerges from a horde of walkers, relatively unscathed. Rick and Michonne have succeeded in more ways than one, as the voice over the loudspeaker explains that, after the “shocking revelations” of the CRM, the city unanimously voted to overrule the corrupt form of governance that was in place. Additionally, members of the Civic Republic are now free to come and go as they please, and now over a decade of what the CRM put in place has been overturned.
What Happens to Rick and Michonne in ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’?
The finale, especially the last five minutes, almost feels too good to be true. Rick and Michonne fly home to Alexandria and step off the helicopter like warriors. Not only that, they are greeted by Judith (Cailey Fleming) and RJ (Antony Azor), who tearfully run toward them, and they all hug. Rick meets his son for the first time, telling RJ to call him “Dad.” Helicopters fly overhead, though given the overthrow of the CRM, they likely don’t have malicious intent.
So… that’s it? The Ones Who Live truly wraps itself up in a perfect bow, which feels more like fan service than it does a realistic ending. The only thing missing from this picture-perfect family is Rick tossing a football around with his kids before they wash up for dinner together and play board games. But seriously, this conclusion does make us ask ourselves: Are the endings we want really the endings we want?
If we look at it as the ending of Rick and Michonne’s respective journeys on The Walking Dead, then this finale is far more satisfying, earned, and less jarring. Perhaps the boldest move the show could make was actually not making any bold moves at all, instead giving our fearless survivors the ending they could have only dreamed of before. Though the temptation is surely there to conjure up more storylines and villains for Rick and Michonne to encounter for more undead drama, maybe it’s best to let this chapter of The Walking Dead close without any new wrinkles.