The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

This article is about The Ones Who Live. For other pages with the same name, see: The Walking Dead Television Universe

Developer	Scott Gimple Danai Gurira Andrew Lincoln
Distributor	AMC
Showrunner	Scott Gimple
Based On	AMC's The Walking Dead
Channels	AMC/AMC+ (United States) Stan (Australia) MagentaTV (Germany) Sky/NOW (United Kingdom)
Seasons	Season 1
Episodes	6
Original Run	February 25, 2024 to March 31, 2024
Preceded By	The Walking Dead
Succeeded By	Daryl Dixon

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television miniseries created by Scott Gimple, Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln for AMC. It is set after the conclusion of the original The Walking Dead series, with Lincoln, Gurira and Pollyanna McIntosh reprising their roles, and is the sixth spin-off and overall seventh television series in The Walking Dead television universe.

The Ones Who Live premiered on February 25, 2024, on AMC and AMC+, and concluded on March 31, consisting of six episodes. It received generally positive reviews.

Premise

A love story of two people kept apart by an unstoppable power, trying to find each other.

Series Overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	1	6	February 25, 2024	March 31, 2024

Episodes

As of March 31, 2024, 6 episodes of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live have aired.

	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 and Characters

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
Actor	Character	Appeared Seasons	Status	Background
Andrew Lincoln	Rick Grimes	1	Alive	A former sheriff's deputy from King County, Georgia, the former leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, and Michonne's husband who was presumed to be dead. He later becomes a Sergeant Major in the CRM.
Danai Gurira	Michonne Grimes	1	Alive	A katana-wielding warrior, former leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, and Rick's wife who left her group to search for him.
Pollyanna McIntosh	Jadis Stokes	1	Dead	The warrant officer of the CRM (Civic Republic Military) who disappeared along with Rick Grimes on a CRM helicopter.

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.

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.

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. The limited series consisted of six episodes. It was initially titled The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne, then retitled to The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live in July 2023.

Filming

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

Writing

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

Release

The series premiered on February 25, 2024, on AMC and AMC+. The series was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 10, 2024.

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." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live was included in lists of the best TV shows of 2024; it was listed #2 by MovieWeb in their list of the best TV shows as of April, and included in TheWrap's end of the year list as of December. In year-end lists, it was ranked #23 by Screen Rant, #22 by Hello! magazine, and included in Nerdist's list of the best 13 TV shows of 2024. The series was also included in Comic Book Resources's list of the 55 best drama TV shows of all time at #48 and on Collider's list of 60 best Netflix shows.

Awards and Nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
24th Annual Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Writing, Drama Series	Danai Gurira for "What We"	Nominated
4th Astra TV Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series	Lesley-Ann Brandt	Nominated
52nd Saturn Awards	Best Television Presentation	The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live	Winner
	Best Actor on Television	Andrew Lincoln	Nominated
	Best Actress on Television	Danai Gurira	Nominated
	Best Guest Starring Role on Television	Matthew Jeffers	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress on Television	Pollyanna McIntosh	Nominated

Viewership

The premiere episode received 3 million viewers after three days of viewing, making it the biggest premiere for a new AMC series since 2018. The episode was also the most-watched episode of any show ever on AMC+ and that Sunday was the biggest day for direct-to-consumer sign-ups in the history of AMC+. The series became available on Netflix on January 13, 2025, and became the #2 most-watched TV show in the U.S. on the service, as of January 16. The series is also ranked at #8 on the list of global top 10 shows for the week of January 13 to January 19, receiving 2.3 million views, and a total of 11.7 million viewing hours. The show also ranked at #5 on the list of top 10 shows in the U.S. in its first week on the charts.

Promotional Material

Images

Announcement Key-Art

Teaser Poster

Placeholder Logo

Official Key-Art

Poster

Production start announcement 1/2

Production start announcement 2/2

Andrew Lincoln on set

Late January Poster

Videos

ANDREW LINCOLN & DANAI GURIRA Announce Their Return in a NEW WALKING DEAD SERIES - Comic Con 2022

Andrew Lincoln & Danai Gurira announce the series at SDCC 2022

Trivia

• It is the sixth spin-off series of The Walking Dead television series, after Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Dead City, and Daryl Dixon.
  • It is the third direct sequel to the television series, after Dead City and Daryl Dixon.
• This series replaces the scrapped trilogy of films that were planned to focus on Rick's status after his departure in "What Comes After".
  • It was announced on Talking Dead on November 4, 2018 that Rick Grimes and Anne would return for at least three AMC original films following their leave from the TV Series. These films would air on AMC (rather than theaters) and be a direct continuation of Rick's story. Robert Kirkman was revealed to be heavily involved with the film trilogy. Scott Gimple also later explained that "doesn't necessarily mean it's the only Rick Grimes stories we're ever going to tell."
  • On July 19, 2019, at Comic-Con, a teaser was released, stating that the movies would be released in theaters and be distributed by Universal Studios. However, after the teaser there was no more major information provided on the status of the first film prior to its cancellation.
• Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that the announced six episodes are not a limited series, but instead the first season of a continuing series.
  • However, Andrew Lincoln disclosed on a video meant for a fan that the show will be a six-episode limited miniseries.
  • In addition, Lesley-Ann Brandt addressed the show as being only six episodes when sharing a photo online of herself on set.
  • In regards to the show having more than one season, showrunner Scott Gimple teased that "anything is possible".
• Scott Gimple revealed on Talking Dead that Rick and Michonne in this series will be reminiscent of "Red Machete Rick" and Michonne when she fought the Governor.
• Walking Dead: Summit and The Walking Dead: Rick & Michonne were placeholder names for the series' production.
• Fans heavily speculated that Morgan Jones and his daughter Mo would appear in this series, as the two leave PADRE to look for Morgan's old friend, Rick.
  • The Walking Dead's Instagram account used Morgan's final scene on Fear the Walking Dead as promotional material for this series, further hinting at a possible appearance of Morgan and Mo, however neither appeared.
• The title of this series is a reference to Michonne's words to Rick in "Hearts Still Beating" and the subsequent use of the phrase "we're the ones who live" throughout the rest of the show.
  • It was also previously said by Rick during his speech to the people of Alexandria in "Try".