Walking Dead Wiki

Attention! Please be aware that spoilers are not allowed on the wiki and a violation of this policy may result in a ban. Information (character deaths/fates, screenshots, etc.) from episodes released early on AMC+ may not be added to the wiki until the episode officially airs at 9pm EST on the Sunday it is scheduled for. Thank you.

READ MORE

Walking Dead Wiki
Advertisement
Walking Dead Wiki
This article is about the first season of The Ones Who Live. For other pages with the same name, see: Season 1

Season 1 of AMC's The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premiered on February 25, 2024, and concluded on March 31, 2024, consisting of 6 episodes. The series is a companion series to The Walking Dead, which is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. It was executive produced by Kirkman, David Alpert, Gale Anne Hurd, Brian Bockrath, Denise Huth, Greg Nicotero, Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira and Scott Gimple, with Gimple assuming the role of showrunner.

Plot[]

"Years"[]

Five years after being taken by the CRM, Rick Grimes has tried unsuccessfully four times to escape, including sending a message in a bottle to Michonne along with his belongings on one occasion and chopping his own hand off on another. Rick is assigned as a consignee, someone who spends six years doing work on the outskirts of Philadelphia – now the Civic Republic – before being allowed into the city. Rick dreams of a regular life with Michonne and eventually accepts an offer from Lieutenant Colonel Donald Okafor to join the CRM. Okafor reveals that he had helped the CRM, then the Pennsylvania National Guard, save the city from being napalmed at the cost of his own wife and he attempts to recruit Rick and Pearl Thorne into his plan to change the CRM from the inside.

After another failed escape attempt and the destruction of Omaha, Rick finally accepts his new life and a position building a CRM forward operating base in the Cascade Mountains. Recalling a story from his childhood, Rick agrees to join Okafor's plan, just before their helicopter is shot down with Okafor being hit with an explosive projectile and blown up. The attacker then kills the other soldiers one by one after they exit the helicopter until she gets to Rick. She takes his helmet off and realizes that it's Rick, then takes her own mask off revealing herself to be Michonne who is reunited with Rick for the first time in years.

"Gone"[]

Six years after Rick's supposed death, Michonne helps Aiden and Bailey reunite with their massive caravan, but refuses to join it out of disgust over the caravan's rules and her determination to find Rick and go back to their children. Aiden, Bailey, and their friend Nat outfit Michonne for her journey and later come to her aid against a massive horde, having been inspired by Michonne to break away along with dozens of others. The group agrees to help Michonne in her search, but the CRM attacks with chlorine gas, killing everyone except for Michonne and Nat who are forced to spend a year recovering from the damage done to their lungs and throats. Pressing on to the location mentioned in the boat's log book, Michonne and Nat find an abandoned and destroyed safe zone and dozens of burned bodies.

Nat convinces Michonne to return to Alexandria, but to keep faith that Rick is still alive. On the way back, the two spot a CRM helicopter and attack it using Nat's explosives in retaliation for the death of their friends, only for Michonne to be reunited with Rick. Nat is killed by a surviving CRM soldier, who Rick then kills. As soldiers close in, Rick helps Michonne create a successful cover story for the CRM, promising that they will escape together. However, Rick is confronted by Jadis who had recognized Michonne and threatens him if they try to escape while Michonne desires to take down the CRM despite Rick's warnings that they will never get home if they try to.

"Bye"[]

In a flashback, Jadis approaches Rick in Millenium Park, and explains her people's deal with the CRM and her intention to sign up. However, Rick is only interested in escaping. After returning to base, Rick enlists Thorne's help in successfully getting Michonne into the consignment program, but Jadis warns that if Rick and Michonne escape, she will have to kill everyone that he loves for security. Rick attempts to help Michonne escape on her own, but she refuses to go without him. While touring Millenium Park, Michonne meets the artist who created Rick's engraved iPhones and finds new hope.

After receiving the Echelon Briefing - the revelation of all of the CRM's secrets - and a promotion, Thorne becomes unsure of whether to follow in Okafor's footsteps, reluctantly enlisting Michonne's help for the mission. When Michonne goes rogue during a walker fight, Thorne nearly kills her, and Rick ends their relationship in an attempt to protect her. Having earned Major General Beale's trust, Rick is slated to receive a promotion in advance of a summit of the CRM's entire leadership. However, Michonne throws herself and Rick out of a helicopter in a daring mid-air escape on the return trip in the middle of a severe thunderstorm.

"What We"[]

After jumping from the helicopter, Rick and Michonne fall into a river outside of Greenwood, a community of innovators formed after the apocalypse began and which still has power and modern amenities. However, Greenwood fell at some point, likely to starvation, leaving it overrun with walkers. Michonne then proceeds to try and convince Rick to go back home with her, revealing they have a son together named Rick Jr. Rick still refuses to go back, telling her Jadis will kill everyone they know if they escape. They find out the helicopter they were in crashed in the storm, giving them the perfect opportunity to escape since the CRM will believe Rick and Michonne to be dead but Rick still says he won't go home with her intending to complete Okafor's mission to reform the CRM into something better.

Michonne then decides to leave Rick behind, with Rick going after her shortly after. A CRM helicopter bombs the wreckage to destroy any evidence of the CRM's existence, trapping Rick and Michonne in a collapsing building full of walkers. Rick and Michonne slowly reconnect and have sex with each other. After this, Michonne gets through to Rick resulting in him admitting that he can't see Carl's face anymore due to his traumas and that he's terrified to be with Michonne again as Rick wouldn't survive losing her again. After Michonne gives Rick an iPhone engraved with Carl's portrait, she convinces Rick to go home with her. Rick and Michonne escape as Greenwood collapses and take one of the community's hybrid vehicles which has enough ethanol to get them home to Alexandria.

"Become"[]

In flashbacks, Jadis – going by her real name of Anne – visits Gabriel once a year, privately admitting that while she's dedicated to the CRM's mission, she is conflicted about the lengths that the CRM goes to. Gabriel insists that Anne is still a good person, proven by her inability to kill Gabriel. In the present, making a stop to rest on their way to Alexandria, Rick and Michonne encounters and fight off a family of bandits and spend the night in Yellowstone National Park where Jadis, having deduced their survival, finds them. Jadis unsuccessfully tries to kill them and is badly wounded. She runs away and the couple goes after her in a car chase. Jadis then pulls the bandits into it, with Rick and Michonne being unable to kill Jadis due to her dossier that threatens Alexandria's safety.

Jadis reveals that Rick was slated to receive the Echelon Briefing and move up in the CRM and reaches a deal where Rick will return to the CRM while Michonne can go home, but they double-cross each other and Jadis is fatally bitten by a walker in the melee. Jadis explains that after losing her people, she dedicated herself to a cause that seemed like it would last. Deciding to die as Anne rather than as Jadis, she tells them where to find the dossier at Cascadia Base and gives Rick a wedding ring that Gabriel had found for him. At her request, Rick shoots Anne. Rick gives Michonne the wedding ring and they formally exchange vows. He and Michonne then decide to take Jadis' helicopter and return to the CRM to find the dossier and stop them once and for all. Realizing that Anne is dead after she fails to show up for their yearly meeting, a heartbroken Gabriel crafts a makeshift grave marker for her.

"The Last Time"[]

Rick and Michonne return to Cascadia Base where Michonne sneaks in and finds and destroys Jadis' dossier before attending a briefing for the Frontliners where Michonne learns that the CRM intends to abduct select children from Portland before destroying the city with chlorine gas. Rick is given the Echelon Briefing in which Beale informs him of the truth about the destruction of Omaha and the Campus Colony and the upcoming attack on Portland. Beale reveals that, believing that humanity only has around fourteen years left, the CRM is going to declare martial law on the Civic Republic and destroy survivor communities all across the world, scavenging their resources to ensure their own survival.

Rick kills Beale with his own sword and Rick and Michonne rig up a makeshift bomb on the chlorine gas arsenal before being confronted by Thorne who had deduced the truth about Michonne's identity. Michonne is forced to kill Thorne and the bomb and the gas kills the CRM Force Command and all of the Frontliners. With the CRM's atrocities exposed and its command structure decimated, the civilian government takes over and reforms the CRM to aid other survivors while enabling free travel to and from the city. Rick and Michonne return home and are finally reunited with their children, Judith and R.J.

Episodes[]

Title Writer(s) Director(s) Original Air Date U.S. Viewers
1. "Years" Story:
Scott Gimple
Danai Gurira
Andrew Lincoln
Teleplay:
Scott Gimple
Bert
Bertie
February 25, 2024 0.90 million
2. "Gone" Nana Nkweti
Channing Powell
Bert
Bertie
March 3, 2024 0.88 million
3. "Bye" Gabriel Llanas
Matt Negrete
Michael Slovis March 10, 2024 0.91 million
4. "What We" Danai Gurira Michael Slovis March 17, 2024 0.88 million
5. "Become" Gabriel Llanas
Matt Negrete
Michael Satrazemis March 24, 2024 0.82 million
6. "The Last Time" Scott Gimple
Channing Powell
Michael Satrazemis March 31, 2024 0.85 million

Title Screen[]

Main article: Title Screens (The Ones Who Live)

Cast[]

Uncredited

Deaths[]

Production[]

In 2018, following his departure from the main Walking Dead series, it was announced that Andrew Lincoln would star in a trilogy of films focusing on Rick Grimes for AMC. Scott M. Gimple was set to write the screenplays, with production expected to begin in 2019.[1]

In 2019, a teaser trailer was unveiled, confirming the trilogy would be theatrical releases distributed by Universal Pictures. The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman was said to be "heavily" involved with the trilogy.[2]

In July 2022, it was announced by Scott M. Gimple, Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira at San Diego Comic-Con that the trilogy would be repurposed into a mini-series for television, with Lincoln and Gurira reprising their roles from the original television series.[3] The limited series consisted of six episodes.[4] It was initially titled The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne,[5] then retitled to The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live in July 2023.[6]

Filming[]

Principal photography began on February 15, 2023,[7] and wrapped on May 29, 2023,[8][9] in New Jersey[10] under the working title Summit.[11] Additional filming and ADR would resume during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike due to an agreement between AMC and SAG-AFTRA.[12]

Writing[]

The series was created by Gimple, Gurira and Lincoln, with an episode written by Gurira and Gimple serving as showrunner.[9] The series was set up by The Walking Dead series finale "Rest in Peace", which featured the return of Rick and Michonne.[13]

Release[]

The series premiered on February 25, 2024, on AMC and AMC+.[14]

Home Media Releases[]

The series was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 10, 2024.[15]

Reception[]

Critical Response[]

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 88% of 54 critics gave The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live a positive review with an average rating of 8.15/10. The website's critics consensus is, "A Walking Dead spinoff that balances past and present without skimping on blockbuster scope, The Ones Who Live is a consistent treat for longtime fans."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]

References[]

  1. https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/walking-dead-andrew-lincoln-movies-1203019537/
  2. https://variety.com/2019/film/news/andrew-lincoln-walking-dead-movie-1203273835/
  3. https://www.ign.com/articles/the-walking-dead-spin-off-starring-andrew-lincolns-rick-grimes-and-danai-guriras-michonne-announced-for-2023
  4. https://ew.com/events/comic-con/walking-dead-andrew-lincoln-danai-gurira-comic-con-2022/
  5. https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/more-tales-from-the-walking-dead-universe-short-form-series-amc-scott-gimple/
  6. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/walking-dead-spinoffs-dead-city-daryl-dixon-renewed-amc-1235540906/
  7. https://www.gamesradar.com/the-walking-dead-andrew-lincoln-rick-and-michonne-spin-off/
  8. https://collider.com/the-walking-dead-rick-michonne-spin-off-filming-wrapped/
  9. 9.0 9.1 https://collider.com/walking-dead-rick-michonne-spin-off-danai-gurira-writing/
  10. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-walking-dead-rick-michonne-set-photos-andrew-lincoln-new-look/
  11. https://www.productionweekly.com/production-weekly-issue-1327-thursday-december-8-2022-94-listings-20-pages/
  12. https://deadline.com/2023/08/the-walking-dead-spinoffs-interview-with-a-vampire-to-resume-production-sag-aftra-deal-1235533050/
  13. https://ew.com/tv/walking-dead-finale-rick-michonne-ending-explained/
  14. https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-walking-dead-the-ones-who-live-premiere-date-teaser-1235799571/
  15. https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=34774
  16. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_walking_dead_the_ones_who_live/s01
  17. https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-walking-dead-the-ones-who-live/season-1/
Advertisement