The Walking Dead: successful return for Rick and Michonne? (critical)

A new series that fills in the blanks left along the way by a franchise that won’t die. Informative, if not overwhelming.

But what happened to Rick Grimes? The sheriff was left in bad shape aboard a helicopter, en route to an unknown destination… Six years later, the new series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live finally answers the questions we’ve been asking all this time: Why did he never return to Alexandria? Why did he never try to find Michonne or Judith? And what exactly is CRM?

The first episode unveiled last night in the United States on the AMC channel (the series is still not available in France and does not yet have a broadcaster announced) is a little update for resilient fans, the last Mohicans bitten by Walking Dead, still thirsty for revelations on an undead saga, which now survives from spin-off to spin-off. Spoiler alert…

The comeback of the hero of Atlanta is thus told to us in a very didactic way, with Andrew Lincoln in the role of voice-over, and a manual-style narration, which meticulously fills in each hole of Rick’s last years – before taking care of filling those of Michonne (this will obviously be for episode 2). A creative choice that is not very ambitious, but which at least has the merit of relieving some past frustrations.

We finally understand what this good old sheriff has been doing all this time, stuck in the last big city in America still standing, after the massive bombings by the US Army, at the start of the crisis, to try to stem the zombie epidemic. Philadelphia hides from the rest of the post-apo world and cherishes its position as the last vestige of a vanished civilization. There is no question of letting what remains of humanity know that such a haven of peace still exists. Then everyone who enters is no longer allowed to leave. “This has never been a problem, since everyone who is there is only too happy to return to a normal life and especially does not want to go back into nature.” they explain to us. Only Rick tries again and again to escape to find those he loves in Virginia. But the military branch of this Civil Republic, the famous CRM, is powerful and too well organized to let a single refugee escape. Our sheriff tried everything. He even went so far as to cut his hand, in a huge nod to the comics and the original series (which never took this step)! Nothing will help, he is forced to stay forever… Thinking of ending his life, Rick the survivor takes over, and decides that it is better to continue surviving. Year after year, he made a place for himself within the CRM army until he became one of its commanders!

Derivative series in the form of a practical guide, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live sometimes seems emptied of all passion. A spin-off for the story, whose only reason to exist would be to finish the puzzle of the mythology TWD. The crocodile tears of the sheriff kept away from his family have a hard time touching us, while he confides in new, incredibly hollow characters. Devoid of emotion, this “fan fiction” delivers in a highway air the theories seen here and there on the web over the last six years.

It is not fundamentally uninteresting for those whom the universe Walking Dead still fascinate. This first episode reveals a lot of things, particularly on the precise functioning of CRM and its motivations. And when Michonne arrives in the last moments, running into Rick by chance, we can guess what happens next. She, among the rebels trying to destroy the domination of the army of Philadelphia. He who will explain that it is better to change things from the inside. TWD will try to play the card of the great romantic tragedy. The intensity ofAndrew Lincoln is still striking and the charisma of Danai Gurira is undeniable. But do we still want to support Rick and Michonne?

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, season 1 in 6 episodes, on AMC and without a broadcaster yet in France.