The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live gets more and more exciting with every episode. But after episode 4, it is clear that the series with Rick and Michonne is in dire need of a second season.
The latest The Walking Dead series has been airing weekly on MagentaTV in Germany since February 26, 2024. And after just four episodes, one thing is clear: The Ones Who Live is the best spin-off the zombie universe has produced to date. The Moviepilot community is also enthusiastic and (currently) gives the series an excellent rating: 8.6 out of 10 points on average.
But there’s a problem: the return of Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln), which was originally announced as a mini-series, only has two episodes left. Now I’m scared
Only 2 episodes left: The Ones Who Live hasn’t even really started yet
Why is The Ones Who Live so good? Besides all the nostalgic feelings that reuniting with Rick and Michonne brings, the series shows us completely new perspectives on the zombie apocalypse as a blockbuster version of The Walking Dead finale.
The most recent 4th episode is the highlight of the spin-off so far and has not only destroyed fans, but also elicited plenty of tears from me. When Rick Grimes cries, I cry too. The intimate episode gives Rick and Michonne a break from the CRM spectacle and focuses entirely on healing their relationship, which is burdened by pain and trauma.
(Michonne and Rick get back together)
Of course, the episode written and produced by Danai Gurira herself is damn emotional and essential for the character development. However, this does little to change the fact that The Ones Who Live is heading straight for a dramaturgical catastrophe.
The first two episodes of the spin-off were extremely dense and intensely told. After all, they first had to bring the separated couple back together chronologically and spatially. Episode 3 then slowed the pace of the story down considerably. The actual plot now only spans a few weeks – from Michonne and Rick’s reunion to the much-mentioned summit of the CRM management team.
On a character level, the first four episodes have told an extremely rich story. But the overall plot surrounding the secrets of the Civic Republic Military has yet to really get going. We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. But will we see the rest of it in just two remaining episodes?
The Ones Who Live episode 5: The preview foreshadows bad things to come
The preview for episode 5 only fuels my fears. In it, we see nothing more of the Civic Republic. Instead, Rick and Michonne are drawn into the woods of Yellowstone National Park, where they fight zombies together and meet a mysterious person
Here you can watch the trailer for episode 5:
If The Ones Who Live is indeed planned as a miniseries, we may be in for an extremely rushed finale in episode 6. And let’s face it, the series can’t end without a reunion between Rick and his kids – even if Michonne hints at the worst in the new trailer:
Now I realize: it can’t end with us going home.
But there are still far too many unanswered questions that I expect answers to. The vast intrigue of the CRM has not yet been addressed, nor have its gruesome human experiments, which we’ve already seen in the spin-off The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Even the head of the powerful military, Major General Beale (Terry O’Quinn), only appeared in a handful of scenes.
After four episodes, we still know surprisingly little about the CRM’s true intentions. Can it all be covered in just two episodes?
We need The Ones Who Live season 2: The story is too big for just 6 episodes
One thing is already clear to me: The Ones Who Live needs a 2nd season to do justice to the story of the Civic Republic Military that has been building up for years and over several series.
Of course, Rick and Michonne can find out all the dirty secrets of the CRM in the next episode. There are many indications that the finale could see a showdown at Cascadia Base between Mr. and Mrs. Grimes and the top brass. But that alone is not enough to simply leave this narrative cosmos that has been built up.
(Rick and Michonne don’t want to go back to the Civic Republic)
We don’t even know what the Civic Republic really looks like on the inside. How does the government apparatus of this mega-community with over 200,000 inhabitants work and who runs it anyway? These are questions to which we are guaranteed to get no more answers this season – because Cascadia Base, and therefore Rick and Michonne, are currently thousands of kilometers away from Philadelphia.
A reunion of the Grimes family would of course be an emotionally charged conclusion to The Ones Who Live (Season 1). However, the overall narrative of The Walking Dead universe is far from over for Rick Grimes. Will he ever see his “brother” Daryl (Norman Reedus), who is currently buzzing around France, again? What does the future hold for the most powerful military on the planet (the CRM) and the greatest fortress of human civilization to date (the Civic Republic)?
The Walking Dead has shown us that far bigger problems exist outside of Alexandria (and the Commonwealth). And with that, we fans deserve a 2nd season of The Ones Who Live that doesn’t leave us with unanswered questions for years again (like after Rick’s exit).
Perhaps The Ones Who Live will surprise us at the finale with the announcement of a sequel, about which those involved have been suspiciously silent in interviews so far. In the worst case scenario, we’ll have to be patient again and wait for a possible crossover of all The Walking Dead spin-offs
