Walking Dead The Ones Who Live
- Thread starter DarrenTR1970
- Start date
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the finale pretty much wrapped up every hanging plot thread from The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead and Walking Dead: World Beyond except for Morgan's search for Rick. If we do get a second season, that's a reunion I'd like to see.
I forget the exact number, but he says Ricks like the over 2,500th person he has given the Echelon briefing too.
That seems pretty damn high. Hell the show takes place like 11 or 12 years after the collapse of society. It would have taken a bit of time to decide on their approach, research humanity's chances, etc...
So has Beale been giving this super secret briefing to a new person like every day for the last 6 or 7 years?
It sure didn't seem like there were 2500 people at that meeting the Rick and Michonne chemical bombed...
Wonder if a portion of those ended up dying due to accidents or walkers when it was really Beale didn't like their response and would kill without hesitation to make sure the 'right people' were the only ones who knew.
And yea I also can't see how EVERYONE who knew about echelon was there. They have other bases, they have spies in Portland carrying out their agenda (and probably also gathering intelligence/searching for other communities)
I think there was a bit of "Operation paperclip" going on with the city. They likely kept people who they needed to carry out military tasks, but who probably knew what was going on.
And we all saw how well that worked out for the New Republic, didn't we?
Obviously the CR will keep a closer eye on them, with the stink of what happened to Omaha and that whole video about killing kids in Portland.
Gimple has been talking about some form of ultimate crossover being in the discussion phase.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live - Episode 6 - "The Last Time" - Series finale
Taking a different review approach for the series finale, since the entire plot of this 6th episode was a bit of a rush job to sew things up in a nice, little bow all to get to the long-desired finale.
As the episode launched, I no longer felt all of the cryptic statements about loving as long as" they could (spoken in E4 and E5) would not result in Rick or Michonne meeting a tragic end.
To give Rick his moment to break the breaking he suffered under Beale's CRM, we were treated to a number of Rick's flashbacks to his life, "greatest attacks & kills" (e.g., Joe of the "Claimed" gang, slashing Negan's throat, etc.), juxtaposed with Beale's tales of "necessary" sacrifice. From the start, one knew neither Rick or Beale trusted the other, and their mutual tension would lead to the showdown. The only surprise was Rick using Walker-Beale as the symbolic triggers of his CRM's destruction (SEE NOTES).
On the Michonne side, sitting in on the CRM's planning session for the children of their intended victims was Plot Convenient--the final push for Mother Michonne to internalize the CRM taking away parents--killing them in the way breaking Rick almost killed him in the psychological sense.
The attack on the CRM meeting should have been an actual weighty, final blow to the organization, but the plotting error was glaring in that for all of the assembled soldiers present, one has to believe that the collective CRM territories have a sufficient number of soldiers present to fend off external and internal threats, and if they are dedicated to the cause....business as usual. Further, the convenient newscast (audio) detailing the attack and CRM's misdeeds was the kind of rapid-fire exposition one finds in the last two minutes of some animated series--the polar opposite of the kind of conclusion to layered arcs seen at various stages of TWD (parent series) history, or Hell, this series main Rick and Michonne arc.
Its a rather major leap (in-universe) to assume the newscast and distributed files would even make a ripple, let alone the near-revolutionary change suggested by the finale. If early 21st century history has taught anyone anything, its that propaganda designed to support military action / upending of basic human rights to live can be discovered, yet one part of the population would still support the various action (even if detrimental to their lives), while another would never believe or question the charges made about said propaganda.
Thorne's dying declaration of finally belieivng in Okafor's vision was also an about-face that came from nowhere, since she--having given up on ever returning to her pre-CRM life--fully bought into Beale's philosophy to a hardcore degree so I find it implausible that she--in the throes of death--would suddenly come to her senses, when moments before, she attempted to kill Rick and Michonne to protect the CRM.
Of course, the main reason for this finale was the reunion of Rick and Judith, and RJ finally meeting his father, which was well worth the build up from Judith's unwavering radio messages to her mother / belief Rick was still alive. That last shot of the Grimes family all together was the perfect bookend to The Walking Dead TV franchise (since the series began with the story of Rick searching for his family), and it should have ended there.
But...existing and planned spin-offs continue...
NOTES:
The Ones Who Live's 6th and final episode was--as noted above--a bit rushed in some parts to fit the running time (the simultaneous destruction of the CRM meeting and the media release of Echelon), and frankly it was the last act which was the masterclass in hitting the emotional, hard-fought, hard-won journey of Rick and Michonne.
Will Rick and Michonne ever appear in another WD production again? At this point, I'm not sure, since Rick--the franchise's central character--and the franchise's most magnetic couple had their story resolved, with a reorganized CRM, and the Grimes family headed back to a very different, more expansive, successful Alexandria than the one Michonne last remembered (recall, aside from communication with Judith, Michonne did not see the merger with the Commonwealth), what Grimes-related story remains to be told?
I worry that more appearances--or another season--would simply be an abbreviated re-launch of the parent series, possibly dealing with the run-off of the villain organizations of Daryl Dixon and Dead City, which would be re-hashing the struggle seen in this series.
In a way, for Rick and Michonne's series to end with the duo taking down / reorganizing a massive military threat like the CRM (that was the most powerful organization on the continent, or so Beale claimed), it deflates the threats posed by the other running series--even Genet, her army of weaponized Walkers, and the attempt to take over France. Genet might be a personal threat to Daryl, but her group (including those running U.S.-based laboratories), would stand much of a chance with the Commonwealth or CRM. If the Daryl Dixon showrunners accept this basic fact, then their series simply becomes a sideline personal adventure, and that's fine, but Genet's weaponized Walkers should not be seen as some sort of global nightmare in the works.
GRADES: A+ for the payoff / conclusion of the Grimes family saga / B+ - largely thanks to the CRM plot not really being important, or having more of a direct impact on the lead characters.
Taking a different review approach for the series finale, since the entire plot of this 6th episode was a bit of a rush job to sew things up in a nice, little bow all to get to the long-desired finale.
As the episode launched, I no longer felt all of the cryptic statements about loving as long as" they could (spoken in E4 and E5) would not result in Rick or Michonne meeting a tragic end.
To give Rick his moment to break the breaking he suffered under Beale's CRM, we were treated to a number of Rick's flashbacks to his life, "greatest attacks & kills" (e.g., Joe of the "Claimed" gang, slashing Negan's throat, etc.), juxtaposed with Beale's tales of "necessary" sacrifice. From the start, one knew neither Rick or Beale trusted the other, and their mutual tension would lead to the showdown. The only surprise was Rick using Walker-Beale as the symbolic triggers of his CRM's destruction (SEE NOTES).
On the Michonne side, sitting in on the CRM's planning session for the children of their intended victims was Plot Convenient--the final push for Mother Michonne to internalize the CRM taking away parents--killing them in the way breaking Rick almost killed him in the psychological sense.
The attack on the CRM meeting should have been an actual weighty, final blow to the organization, but the plotting error was glaring in that for all of the assembled soldiers present, one has to believe that the collective CRM territories have a sufficient number of soldiers present to fend off external and internal threats, and if they are dedicated to the cause....business as usual. Further, the convenient newscast (audio) detailing the attack and CRM's misdeeds was the kind of rapid-fire exposition one finds in the last two minutes of some animated series--the polar opposite of the kind of conclusion to layered arcs seen at various stages of TWD (parent series) history, or Hell, this series main Rick and Michonne arc.
Its a rather major leap (in-universe) to assume the newscast and distributed files would even make a ripple, let alone the near-revolutionary change suggested by the finale. If early 21st century history has taught anyone anything, its that propaganda designed to support military action / upending of basic human rights to live can be discovered, yet one part of the population would still support the various action (even if detrimental to their lives), while another would never believe or question the charges made about said propaganda.
Thorne's dying declaration of finally belieivng in Okafor's vision was also an about-face that came from nowhere, since she--having given up on ever returning to her pre-CRM life--fully bought into Beale's philosophy to a hardcore degree so I find it implausible that she--in the throes of death--would suddenly come to her senses, when moments before, she attempted to kill Rick and Michonne to protect the CRM.
Of course, the main reason for this finale was the reunion of Rick and Judith, and RJ finally meeting his father, which was well worth the build up from Judith's unwavering radio messages to her mother / belief Rick was still alive. That last shot of the Grimes family all together was the perfect bookend to The Walking Dead TV franchise (since the series began with the story of Rick searching for his family), and it should have ended there.
But...existing and planned spin-offs continue...
NOTES:
The Ones Who Live's 6th and final episode was--as noted above--a bit rushed in some parts to fit the running time (the simultaneous destruction of the CRM meeting and the media release of Echelon), and frankly it was the last act which was the masterclass in hitting the emotional, hard-fought, hard-won journey of Rick and Michonne.
Will Rick and Michonne ever appear in another WD production again? At this point, I'm not sure, since Rick--the franchise's central character--and the franchise's most magnetic couple had their story resolved, with a reorganized CRM, and the Grimes family headed back to a very different, more expansive, successful Alexandria than the one Michonne last remembered (recall, aside from communication with Judith, Michonne did not see the merger with the Commonwealth), what Grimes-related story remains to be told?
I worry that more appearances--or another season--would simply be an abbreviated re-launch of the parent series, possibly dealing with the run-off of the villain organizations of Daryl Dixon and Dead City, which would be re-hashing the struggle seen in this series.
In a way, for Rick and Michonne's series to end with the duo taking down / reorganizing a massive military threat like the CRM (that was the most powerful organization on the continent, or so Beale claimed), it deflates the threats posed by the other running series--even Genet, her army of weaponized Walkers, and the attempt to take over France. Genet might be a personal threat to Daryl, but her group (including those running U.S.-based laboratories), would stand much of a chance with the Commonwealth or CRM. If the Daryl Dixon showrunners accept this basic fact, then their series simply becomes a sideline personal adventure, and that's fine, but Genet's weaponized Walkers should not be seen as some sort of global nightmare in the works.
GRADES: A+ for the payoff / conclusion of the Grimes family saga / B+ - largely thanks to the CRM plot not really being important, or having more of a direct impact on the lead characters.
So, did you feel this was a strong ending for TWD overall, now that the main character's arc has been completed?
Yes, if this were the franchise's end, it is a pretty good way to end it.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Season 2 Gets Official Update (Exclusive)
Following a successful first season, many want to see The Ones Who Live return for Season 2.
thedirect.com
To sum up. They say "you never know..." and "It's possible". There's nothing of any real substance here.The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Season 2 Gets Official Update (Exclusive)
Following a successful first season, many want to see The Ones Who Live return for Season 2.
I enjoyed it simply because it wrapped up story lines that I was invested in, and Rick and Michonne got the happy ending that I wanted for them, but I'm not really invested in the franchise as a whole anymore. I wanted to enjoy the Daryl and Carol show and I want it to enjoy the Maggie and Negan show, but I just couldn't get into them. I'm actually not really sure if I want Rick and Michonne's story to go beyond their happy ending. They deserved it. Whether or not I could find myself invested in a continuation is questionable.
