Just before the finale, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live surprises us in episode 5 with the return of a fan favorite, who we see again for the first time since the end of the original series.
We won’t find out until the finale whether The Ones Who Live can really bring all the threads together. But with the penultimate episode, The Walking Dead spin-off is already delivering a huge surprise.
After the series brought back not only Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira), but also villainess Jadis and two other characters from the original, a real veteran who has been part of the zombie universe for 10 years is now returning.
Warning, spoilers for The Ones Who Live follow:
The Ones Who Live episode 5 surprises with The Walking Dead return of Gabriel Stokes
A mysterious figure enters the picture right at the beginning of the episode Weist uns den Weg. After a few seconds comes the big surprise: it’s Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam). The priest of the post-apocalypse has been part of The Walking Dead universe since season 5. And his first appearance since the finale of the original series is much more than just a small cameo
(Gabriel’s secret meeting with Jadis)
The bad news first: Gabriel is not part of the current storyline. So there will be no reunion between Michonne, Rick and their former companion. Instead, The Ones Who Live brings the character back for several flashbacks that explore the complicated inner life of Jadis/Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh).
It could also be the horror version of Two in a Day. Once a year, Gabriel and Jadis, who were once in a relationship, meet for intimate conversations in a wooded area near Alexandria. In these conversations, the CRM soldier talks about her inner turmoil. Of course, she doesn’t mention that Rick is still alive.
How should the four flashbacks be placed in chronological order? We see a total of three meetings between Jadis and Gabriel, which once again illustrate the special bond between them. It is not without reason that Jadis even uses the surname Stokes in CRM. These conversations take place before and after the conflict with the Whisperers (season 10) and during the Commonwealth storyline (season 11).
With another scene set another year later, The Ones Who Live gives us a clue as to when the spin-off is set. In terms of time, we are basically in parallel with the series finale. In the present, Gabriel appears for another meeting. Jadis, on the other hand, does not appear. Because she is already dead at this point
