A Preview of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’. (Photo Courtesy of AMC Networks.)

One particular piece of advice that writing and horror legend Stephen King offers in his book, On Writing, and we paraphrase, is that reinvention is one of the many keys to success in telling a great story. Because a writer must challenge themselves and force themselves to grow, and reinvention allows for that. Since it forces a new style, a new everything really, and what’s amazing… is that this particular bit of advice can be applied to stories themselves. Because franchises can in fact, become stale and become formulaic if they don’t push themselves to become more and this is likely why… The Walking Dead Universe is so incredibly successful.
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Because for some time now, it has made a point to reinvent itself through its spin off stories. For Fear the Walking Dead explored the dark corners of the zombiepocalypse that other zombie stories avoid, and Tales of the Walking Dead toyed with various concepts that the zombie sub-genre rarely touches. Not to mention, World Beyond pondered deeply upon what life looks like when civilization returns to the world of the dead, with a caveat of course, and Dead City offered up commentary on the moral grey area we operate within in its first season, and year one of Daryl Dixon pondered deeply upon the nature of and the genesis of hope during our darkest hours. Plus, even the OG series found ways to shake things up and reinvent itself, and it just so happens, that there is more reinvention on the horizon for this franchise.

For on February 25th, 2024, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will debut on AMC, and this series… provides us with something quite incredible. In that, it brings Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira back into the fold to reprise the roles that made them household names, Rick Grimes and Michonne, and well… since this is one of the most highly anticipated TWD spin-offs out there… we thought it would be best to preview this show, and discuss how it is indeed a powerful and bold reinvention of the franchise, and what makes this series so special, in a spoiler-free manner of course. For we here at NTG have seen the first four episodes of this spin-off, and well, there are some things that happen that will ruin your experience if we reveal them, and we won’t do that.

But what we will say, is that we meant what we said about this being one bold spin-off. In large part because of the return of Rick and Michonne. Because let’s be honest, it is incredibly rare that actors whose careers blow up, return to roles that put them on the map. For so many actors speak to their own reinvention by moving into new roles, but here we are. With this duo basically slipping back into their roles seamlessly and bringing their skill set back to the forefront of a story that does these characters justice and explores what became of them following their TWD exit. Which is all we will say on that, to in part, not spoil where that journey takes them. But also… because this new series offers so much more.

For in many ways, this is… the Dawn of the Dead of the franchise, a magnum opus of sorts that really dives deep into the best aspects of the zombie sub-genre. For it features magnificent world building, a la Dawn, for it is so epic in scope and so powerful in nature. Not to mention, it is rife with timely and powerful commentary. The kind that ponders deeply upon some of the disturbing changes now happening in our world and how people are being so easily influenced to think differently with such minimal fight. Which makes for a very poignant and timely entry in the franchise, one so bold that it makes this series, the best of the bunch of date. Because it features such great writing, and in many ways… it doesn’t resemble anything the saga has ever done before. Truly allowing for reinvention to take place.

Plus, Andrew and Danai aren’t the only actors adding weight to this story. For Polllyanna McIntosh returns as Jadis, and Craig Tate is simply phenomenal as Donald Okafor, and his role here adds a fascinating new wrinkle to the Civic Republic Military, and Lesley-Ann Brandt’s turn as Thorne takes us a fascinating journey regarding some of the central themes we mentioned and of course… screen legend Terry O’Quinn adds incredible depth to this story as Major General Beale. The enigmatic heavy that has hung over the CRM for years now, and well… the wonder of what they bring to the table, relates to the fact that they understand the gravity of what’s in front of them. In fact, here is what Terry, Lesley-Ann and Craig had to say about what it means to them to be part of this iconic franchise, as they informed us at a recent press conference for the show.

Terry O’Quinn: In my case, I didn't know what to expect. I was… I was not a member of The Walking Dead universe. So, it's all new to me. It's unknown territory. I mean, I'm familiar with being in something that was that was highly regarded and watched by a lot of people. These people may be more passionate. They may take it more personally, these… these, I want to say deadheads, but I'm not sure that’s right. But yeah, but that's what I'm going to use from now on. But it's very exciting. It's good. You know, the production values are great. People are wonderful. So, I mean, it's just a new adventure. I'm very happy to be involved.

Lesley-Ann Brandt: Um, I, for me, you know, having come from “Lucifer” with like, a big following and knowing what a show can mean to a viewer. It's still, like, at times, sort of realizing, “Oh, this is like, a much bigger universe,” you know, and fans are so incredibly smart. I mean, I see them dissecting the trailers and they're very, they're very good. So, I just think I'm, you know, I strangely at the time when I got the meeting set up with Andy (Lincoln) and Danai (Gurira) and I, I had COVID, and I just watched her in Black Panther. And then I think like, two days later, I was you know, meeting with her, so it was really for me, wonderful and incredibly special that both of them were such advocates of bringing my South African, you know, heritage into the show for the first time. It's an accent that you don't hear, outside of South Africa. It's very specific to Cape Town, very specific to my community. So, I do credit both Danai and Andy for championing that. That is pretty special. And I think, I think what I'm really excited for is for the fans who've been waiting so long for these two, you know, it's finally here, it's like, you know, less than two weeks away.

Craig Tate: Deadhead, Terry, I gotta use that when that one. For me, I would say I mean, it was just I was 21, 20 turning 21 when the first season that come out. And, you know, it's a full circle moment, you never forget where you were when the first season dropped. And, you know, sometimes late at night, you find yourself part of that universe that you have become so heavily invested into. So, it's kind of been a champion of two things, you know, one, that there is some kind of weird irony coincidental nature of the universe and life itself. And that two, you know, if you work, you know, steady enough, methodically enough to turn your dreams into goals, and they do materialize.

So, as you can see, it’s a big deal to those involved, and their passion and the passion of everyone involved in this project has brought forth not only a beautiful reinvention of the franchise, but an outright amazing Walking Dead story. One that is timely, powerful, and filled with emotion and gravitas and the best news of all, is that we are only a few days away from enjoying its wonder. For The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live makes its debut on 2/25/24 on AMC, and we here at NTG cannot wait for you to experience what is hands down, the best TWD spin-off to date.
The interview portion of this article was lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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