‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ Recap – ‘Years’

2/26/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Lesley-Ann Brandt and Andrew Lincoln as Thorne and Rick Grimes in Episode 101 of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ – ‘Years’. (Photo Courtesy of Gene Page/AMC.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Premiere of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’.

There are a great many things we fear in this life. We fear death because we don’t know what lies beyond when we take our final breaths. We fear failure, for our society cherishes a winner and success alone. We also fear being alone because we all harbor an understanding of how wonderful life is, when shared with someone that means the world to us. But of the many things we fear… one that truly makes us shiver to our core… is our fear of losing our family in any capacity. Because family means everything to us, good or bad, and it truly has a profound impact upon our lives and changes us in ways we never thought possible. So naturally, we hope to hang onto our family, for as long as we possibly can… to feel whole.

But alas, most of our fears come to fruition in this world, since death is an inevitability, failure is a constant and there are times we are alone, and we do lose family along the way. Sometimes due to the fact that death finds us all, sometimes of our own choosing, sometimes not. And when that worst-case scenario happens, we do indeed try our best to recover and honor them by moving forward because that is how we do things in the natural world. But what if… the natural world no longer played by those rules. How then, would we handle the loss of our family to elements of terror or if say… we were held from our family and told we could not return to them? Would we find a way to go on? Would we crumble? Well, it just so happens those awful hypotheticals are explored in the next chapter in The Walking Dead Universe, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

A feat that the series premiere of this new show accomplishes, by answering a question that fans of this franchise have harbored in their minds for ages now… whatever happened to Rick Grimes? For in Episode 905 of the series, ‘What Comes After’, the good people of the Alexandria Alliance were of the belief that Rick perished saving all of them from a devastating herd. When in fact, he was badly wounded and clinging onto life down the way, only to be claimed by Jadis as a prize token for entry into the Civil Republic Military. A move that raised more questions, specifically about the CRM. Which in turn was explored in The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and that series… pushed that question further. Because we were wondering if we were going to see Rick in the show, or at least hear a hint of what happened to him.

But that too, was not meant to be. For it was this series that wished to answer that question, and well… as it turned out. Rick has been alive and mostly well all these years, working as a co-signee for many of them… largely because Rick wanted no part of the CRM, despite its offerings, which were vast. For here, we were able to really understand the size and gravity of the CRM, finally meet its enigmatic leader, Major General Beale, and learn how place came to be. Since it turned out a solider named Okafor, refused to drop his bombs on the city of Philadelphia, as he had multiple times before on Atlanta and Los Angeles, as part of Operation: Cobalt, to instead save lives by bombing the very military he took orders from. Which made for wonderful world-building to help us understand how this place was indeed established and… these background segments also explained why Rick didn’t show up in World Beyond.

Craig Tate as Donald Okafor in Episode 101 of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ – ‘Years’. (Photo Courtesy of Gene Page/AMC.)

Because he wasn’t on the frontlines, he was still a co-signee, the lowest of the low, and only knew what of happened from afar through television reports and the like. But in between that world-building and those answers… did the exploration in question get underway. For ‘Years’ showcased how… being robbed of his family and given a second chance at health, only to be told that he could never return and see Judith or Michonne, or his chosen family… devastated Rick like never before. Because from day one, family is what drove him through the land of the dead. To find them, to be near them and protect them and then protect those who adopted him as a brother, and not being able to do that, put him in the darkest place we’ve ever seen him. To the point, where he pondered upon whether or not tomorrow was worth it.

Which eventually, he decided it was. Simply because… Rick realized that they were wrong. He could find a way home if he figured out the right way out of the CRM. So, he worked to escape. An act that Rick took part in multiple times during those early years away from the Alexandria Safe Zone. Only to be foiled over and over again, and even then… that wasn’t enough for him to stop. In fact, he was willing to bring himself within inches of death if it meant he could finally escape, and at one point… he most certainly did. But alas, the CRM’s strength and power made that final goal, damn near impossible. Which put Rick at quite the crossroads. Wherein he had to decide, to play along long enough to figure out how to use status and stature to escape… or assimilate as Beale wished.

The former of course, Rick leaned into. Which allowed for him to move up the food chain and move into the city itself. A place where only the most trusted of CRM soldiers resided and where he could use that trust to plan an escape, so he could finally go home and see those he loved so dearly. But alas, that failed too… once again putting Rick at that ultimate crossroads, but this time around… it seemed the only way out was through. Which prompted him to cozy up to Okafor about a plan he had to transform the Civic Republic Military to be more than an agent of fear and destruction. But at the same time, the request to take part in that, felt like resignation. As though hope had finally started to leave Rick Grimes, and that a bleak message would hang over this new series. In that, in the end, we become nothing more than shells of our former selves when robbed from that which we desire most.

But that’s the funny thing about hope, it always finds its way back to us. And in a harrowing attack on his chopper, one that cost Okafor his life, Rick Grimes was reunited with the love of his life. For Michonne was involved in that attack on the chopper, an attack that ended… when she came to face to face with the man, she’s spent years searching for. Giving rise to a perfect ending, to a perfect series premiere. For this was an amazing way in which to reintroduce Rick Grimes to the world and grow his character in record time. Giving us something fresh and new for Mister Grimes to conquer, via concepts that we all relate to. But all that aside, this series also delivered on the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Because now Rick Grimes and Michonne have reunited, and that will likely bring about a fascinating shift for Rick, for the better, as this stunning new chapter in The Walking Dead Universe, continues along. Until next time.

To learn more about what it means to Actors Terry O’Quinn (Major General Beale), Lesley-Ann Brandt (Thorne) and Craig Tate (Donald Okafor) to be part of this iconic franchise, visit our TOWL preview piece, here.

Watch ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’

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