The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Episode 1 Review

We have all been waiting for years to see The Ones Who Live with the return of Rick and Michonne. The first episode of the show certainly cleared up some questions fans have had since Rick departed from the main The Walking Dead show during season 9. As a pilot episode, TOWL's episode 1 received a lot of different feedback from the fans. Here is what I thought of the episode and the story so far. 

To start, we learned a lot about Rick's life since the accident on the bridge, as well as his duties at the CRM. We witnessed his fourth attempt to escape during a voluntary assignment, where he cut his hand off to remove the wire that was holding him to a CRM soldier. Honestly, I was not expecting this to be how Rick loses his hand.

Before the show aired, fans speculated that his hand would be cut as punishment for attempting to escape. Cutting off his own hand highlights his desperation to escape. We also saw that losing one hand didn't make him weaker as some people thought, as he fought skillfully with his new prosthetic.

It was fascinating to see the hierarchy and system of the CRM. We learned that rescued people, also called "consignees," have to work six years in the outskirts of the city to earn their citizenship. Not to mention the impressive capabilities of the Civic Republic.

The Commonwealth in The Walking Dead is nothing compared to this community and its numbers. If the Commonwealth is a great duplicate of the former world with some amusing activities and amenities, then the Civic Republic makes it look like the apocalypse never happened. Just the main city - Philadelphia - has a population of 200,000 people and is equipped with electricity, weapons, crops, water supply, and more.

Furthermore, The Civic Republic has formed alliances with two more big cities - Omaha and Portland. This is what stands behind the CRM logo. Each circle symbolizes one of the allied cities.

Regarding the pacing of the episode, some people complained about how it was rather boring for a pilot. I strongly disagree. It was expected that we would get a lot of storytelling since we hadn't seen either Rick or Michonne for years.

There were some slow-paced moments, but I believe they serve as a great build-up for what is about to happen in the show. This also helped us follow Rick's thought process throughout all these years he spent at the CRM. At first, he was his usual relentless and determined self but later decided to accept reality and sacrifice his desires in the face of the future of humanity.

Another thing I'd like to touch upon is Okafor. He played such an important role in Rick's life over the last few years, and even though they have known each other for so long, I feel like we didn't see enough of him.

The shocking aspect of his death was there, yes, but I believe this is where the short length of this series becomes a problem. I expect more things to feel rushed in the show just like Okafor's quick demise.

 I didn't know how to feel about his character at first. Was he good? Was he bad? When I first watched the episode, I saw him as manipulative and apathetic. There is definitely more to it. Okafor is an example of a person willing to give up even his wife if that meant supporting his ideals and morals. I could definitely see the relationship between him and Rick developing into a friendship.

After he died, I was left wondering how Rick would find out the secrets of the CRM now and if he managed to climb up to high positions enough to have access to such information.

There are many details I could talk about, but I would like to focus on how Rick and Michonne's relationship was presented in that episode. I really loved how his dreams explored this casual reality where the two of them meet by chance and develop feelings for each other slowly, just like any other couple. They are ready to give up their own comfort for each other, and I can't wait to see Michonne's side of the story as well.

What I can't wrap my head around is if Michonne is somehow related to the helicopter's shootdown, how would she be so sure Rick couldn't have ended up like Okafor did? I am sure we will learn more about that in the next episode, but I don't think this will have a good enough explanation. Most likely, it will be swept under the rug as pure luck.

Nonetheless, I loved the first episode, and I have high expectations for the show. The next episode will follow Michonne's path up until they meet as well. As I mentioned, I think this will be very interesting, but that means we will have four episodes left to conclude the story or at least leave it at a good stopping point.

Stay tuned for more The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live content as we continue to delve into each of the upcoming episodes. Here are some article recommendations that you might want to check out:

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