When you think of The Walking Dead franchise, there's a pretty good chance that one man immediately comes to mind. We are, of course, talking about the man who started it all, the sheriff of the TWD Universe and the man who risked everything so that his loved ones could survive the literal apocalypse. That man is none other than Rick Grimes.
Portrayed by Andrew Lincoln, Rick appeared in the very first episode of The Walking Dead when he awoke from a coma to find that everything as he knew it had fallen apart, ravaged by a world that was now walked by the dead. And somehow, he found the strength to endure, aligning himself with family, old friends, new friends, and people he connected with in the hopes of building a better tomorrow. And right through to his final appearance in the show's ninth season, he never stopped trying.
If you carried on watching the TWD Universe after The Walking Dead ended, you'll know that there is a more recent example of Rick continuing to try. He returned to the franchise after a six-year wait in his own spinoff series The Ones Who Live in 2024. To say that it was worth the extremely long wait would be an understatement.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live finally provided closure to Rick Grimes' story
After Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead in 2018, the show just wasn't the same. There were definitely high points (season 9 in particular was the best the show had been in years) but for the remaining three seasons, it just felt like something was missing. And carrying on the story of TWD without the man who was there from the very beginning never felt right.
But there was one silver lining to that, as we all knew that Lincoln would be reprising his role as Rick in some kind of TWD continuation. This meant that the AMC franchise could have its cake and eat it, for audiences could continue to enjoy the beloved characters' journeys on the main show knowing that we would also see Rick again at some point in time. Yes, the characters on the show may have thought he died, but we as viewers knew he would be back.
The initial plan was for Rick to return in a trilogy of Walking Dead movies that would have wrapped up his arc but it wasn't smooth-sailing. After first being announced in 2017, all went quiet on those for quite a long time, with fans losing hope over the years about its likelihood of happening. The production shutdown as a result of the pandemic in 2020 also left them feeling like the films might never happen. However, when it was revealed that The Walking Dead would end with its eleventh season - and that spinoffs would follow - an opportunity presented itself.
It was eventually announced that the trilogy would evolve into a six-episode miniseries titled The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, with Lincoln set to return as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira on-board to return as Michonne. The show would be one of three new spinoffs focusing on original TWD characters in the aftermath of the original series (the other two being Dead City and Daryl Dixon) and it would finally tie up Rick and Michonne's story - the story that TWD never got to finish for them.
By the time that the show premiered in 2024, it had been almost six years since Rick "died" on The Walking Dead (and over three since Michonne left in search of him). So, to say that expectations for the spinoff were high would be a massive understatement. And yet, The Ones Who Live delivered so much in its mere six episodes that it's hard to imagine any other variation of their story.
While the other two spinoffs are ongoing series, Rick and Michonne's long-awaited reunion is a miniseries (although we didn't know that at the time), so they had to make every episode count. They pulled it off, providing us with a powerful narrative that saw the conclusion of not one, but two arcs. Michonne had left her family behind at Alexandria to search for her beloved Rick once she got an inkling that he might still be alive, and this show highlighted the lengths to which she was willing to go to in order to bring him home.
Rick, on the other hand, had spent months trying to escape from the Civic Republic Military so that he could get back home (even going so far as to cut off his own hand), but it just wasn't possible. And so, he had become conditioned to the life he was living as one of their soldiers, incapable of breaking free and doomed to live a life without seeing his family again. That is until his family came looking for him.
Michonne's emotional "I found you" when she crosses paths with Rick for the first time in years is one of the most cathartic, powerful moments of the whole franchise. It's the moment we've all been waiting to see for a half decade as she brought Rick back - not just to her and their family, but to us as the audience. And that might just be the single best moment in the TWD Universe's new era of spinoffs. It's everything we wanted, and so much more.
Seeing Andrew Lincoln back as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira back as Michonne was always going to make for a fulfilling, long overdue moment, but the way that The Ones Who Live ensured that we felt all of the emotions that we had been feeling over the past six years and rolled them all into six episodes is nothing short of a masterclass. Over a year after its run and it still can't be understated just how worthwhile it was. Yes, the wait was most definitely worth it.
It set up the next stage of the TWD Universe perfectly as we're all now waiting for that reunion
Perhaps the best thing about The Ones Who Live is that it left us wanting more. We were always going to want to see more of Lincoln and Gurira, but the execution of the show ensured that we would be very vocal in wanting it. Yes, it concluded Rick and Michonne's joint arc, reuniting the two soulmates with each other and with their children Judith and RJ. It's the perfect storybook ending for these survivors, offering them the happiness and peace that they have been craving for so long. And yet, there is still more story to tell.
The Ones Who Live's sole purpose was about reuniting Rick and Michonne, but there are other elements of the pair's story that haven't been completed. Remember, Michonne wasn't the only one who lost Rick that day on the bridge. All of his close friends witnessed that game-changing moment too, including Daryl Dixon, Carol Peletier, and Maggie Rhee. They have spent the past years thinking that Rick is dead, so it goes without saying that fans want to see a reunion. And the same goes for Negan - Rick's former archenemy who he opted to save instead of kill.
Daryl and Carol are currently trekking across Europe in Daryl Dixon and Maggie and Negan are both fighting a new evil in New York City. With Daryl Dixon set to conclude next year and Dead City likely having only one or two more seasons left in it too, the opportunity is presenting itself for some kind of crossover that will bring all of the TWD Universe's main characters back together one more time.
Whether that reunion comes at the end of one of these shows or in some kind of potential revival of The Walking Dead (season 12 anyone?), it has to happen on-screen. These reunions are now the only loose-hanging plot threads in Rick and Michonne's story, and it seems like The Ones Who Live was very intentional in leaving that potential stone unturned. If that turns out to be the case, it makes the spinoff even more perfect. Once again, the AMC franchise could have its cake and eat it, providing the perfect ending to Rick and Michonne's love story while also leaving the door open to bring the characters back at least one more time.
Now they just need to follow through and do it. When that happens, the credits can finally roll on the legendary TWD Universe.