Why The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live didn't get a season 2

Unfortunately, we never got to see Rick and Michonne return in a The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 2. Here's why.
Danai Gurira as Michonne and Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1
Danai Gurira as Michonne and Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1 | AMC

The Walking Dead is a successful ongoing horror franchise that has expanded into multiple spinoffs and has had fans eagerly invested in its evolving universe for many years. But while most of the spinoffs have enjoyed multiple seasons, there are two that ended after just one installment. One of those shows is The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

Scott M. Gimple, Danai Gurira, and Andrew Lincoln created The Ones Who Live. It serves as the seventh show in the franchise, coming right after The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which is still currently ongoing. The first season consisted of six episodes that aired on AMC from February to March 2024, with the story taking place after the events of the original series.

In The Walking Dead season 9 episode 5, Rick was badly injured after an explosion and then taken away by a mysterious paramilitary organization known as the Civic Republic Military (CRM). Meanwhile, his wife Michonne and the rest of Rick's allies were led to believe that he had been killed in the explosion. We didn't see Rick again until the series finale, when we discovered that he had tried to escape the CRM. Meanwhile, Michonne finds out in the tenth season that Rick might be alive and sets out to find him. In the series finale, she's still on the search to locate him.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Cailey Fleming as Judith, Anthony Azor as RJ - The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 1 | Gene Page/AMC

The Ones Who Live follows Rick and Michonne as they try to make their way back to one another after being separated for many years. Lincoln reprises his role as Rick from the original series, and Gurira as Michonne. Also in the cast are Pollyanna McIntosh, Terry O'Quinn, Lesley-Ann Brandt, and many others.

After the first season aired its last episode on March 31, 2024, why didn't the show ever return with new episodes? Don't worry! We've got your answer and shared it right below!

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live was a miniseries

Yes, that's right. The reason why The Ones Who Live never came back for a second installment is because it was billed as a miniseries. This means it was designed to be a limited-run story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

The primary purpose of The Ones Who Live was to tell the story of Rick and Michonne’s reunion and their journey back to their family in Alexandria. By the end of the show's six episodes, that mission was fully accomplished. In other words, The Ones Who Live was intended to be a one-and-done type of series and was never meant to stretch its story beyond what was necessary.

There was slight hope about a potential second season back in April 2024 when Gimple essentially told Entertainment Weekly that he had ideas for where the story could go next. But at the same time, he admitted that these ideas might never make it past his imagination, joking that it could end up as nothing more than his own personal fan fiction.

“It's definitely going to go somewhere. But it might just be in my brain. It might just be my fan fiction.”

Since then, there's been pretty much radio silence on whether The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 2 will ever happen. Honestly, there's probably a better chance that a new spinoff featuring Rick and Michonne could be developed somewhere down the line rather than a direct continuation of the miniseries. Don't fret. We'll be sure to let you know right away if this ever happens. But for now, you'll just have to stay tuned to Undead Walking.


More on Undead Walking: