Summary
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live builds to a predictable conclusion in Episode 6, one that is hampered by wonky gimmicks and woeful dialogue.
Most of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has revolved around the mysterious Echelon Briefing and what plans the Civic Republic Military has to rebuild society before it collapses even further into rack and ruin. Well, the contents of that briefing are finally revealed in Episode 6, the first season finale, and they’re predictably dumb. “The Last Time” is blighted by a bunch of hokey gimmicks and woefully substandard writing — “Love doesn’t die,” really? — that steers the ending of this Richonne spin-off into hammy and deeply unsatisfying territory.
Still, Andrew Lincoln’s really good in it.
Rick and Michonne Return to the Cascadia
If you were wondering how, after the end of the penultimate episode, Rick and Michonne planned to re-infiltrate the CRM after a highly suspicious leave of absence in which one chopper crashed and another tried to demolish a building they were in, “The Last Time” has you covered. They had sex by the light of a thousand candles, drank Johnnie Walker Black Label (a distinguished choice), and then just strolled right back in like nothing had happened.
Okay, to be fair, Michonne has to jump over a wall. But you get the idea. She’s able to make her way entirely unmolested to Jadis’s quarters, where she quickly finds the kompromat revealing her connection to Rick and the existence of Alexandria. It’s a few sheets of paper. So, she tears it all into pieces and shoves the pieces in her pocket, instead of burning them or running water on them or doing anything that would actually destroy the information completely. When she’s interrupted by a CRM goon, she garrotes them to death, so she gets away with it, but this was a dumb moment.
The Echelon Briefing Makes No Sense
One of the key mysteries teased throughout this season has been the contents of the Echelon Briefing, which is only given to the most elite CRM higher-ups. In the finale, Beale gives it to Rick. And, at the same time, Michonne attends a briefing for the ordinary CRM rank-and-file that gives the whole plan away too, which does make one wonder how secrecy is supposed to be preserved in this organization.
Anyway, the idea is as follows. Humanity is, scientifically speaking, screwed. They have about 14 years, give or take, before the dead inherit the earth, overwhelming survivors through sheer numbers, diseases, or whatever else. The CRM’s solution to this is to cull communities as they spring up, taking their resources and select personnel and using them to bolster a single force that will ultimately conquer the continent. I’m still unclear about how this is intended to solve anything.
Oh, Beale also admitted that the CRM had been providing test subjects for experimentation, which I think directly connects them to the events of The Walking: Daryl Dixon. A little unclear.
The CRM Plans To Destroy Portland
Rick receives the Echelon Briefing in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Episode 6
Beale has previous in this regard, though. He sacrificed Pittsburgh — his own men, the city, everything — to save Pennsylvania, and since he survived and flourished, he seems to have taken that as vindication. The next move is to blow up Portland, declare martial law, and march across the continent.
In the N1W briefing, Michonne learns about this too, specifically through the child evacuation protocol that will take certain children from Portland safely before its destruction through the work of CRM Frontliners that have been embedded in its school system. Michonne is understandably appalled and tries to warn Rick, who has already learned the whole thing from Beale, so this very convenient bit of storytelling allows the whole finale to shift to a new purpose — preventing Portland from being destroyed.
Beale and Thorne Meet Their Ends
Rick kills Beale immediately after receiving the briefing, skewering him with a sword and spouting ridiculous dialogue all the while. He then bundles the body in a crate and tries to sneak him out of there, punching a CRM soldier to death on the way when his cover looks to be blown. He hooks back up with Michonne, and they agree on what their next step should be — destroying Cascadia Forward Operating Base to save Portland.
The main obstacle to this plan is Thorne, who figures out something is up because Rick had earlier radioed her with a really easy-to-disprove excuse for Beale’s whereabouts. But she’s too late to stop Zombie Beale from triggering a giant explosion that destroys the base but somehow doesn’t harm Rick or Michonne — the first of two utterly implausible explosion survivals — and fills the air with noxious gas.
In a green-tinted showdown that evokes Kong: Skull Island, of all things, Michonne fights and kills Thorne, while Rick tries to wrestle a bunch of CRM zombies. Michonne skewers Thorne — “Love doesn’t die,” goodness me — and Rick pulls the pin on a grenade that somehow kills all of the zombies but leaves him entirely unharmed.
Rick and Michonne Reunite With Judith and RJ
With the Portland crisis averted, the CRC got wind of the CRM’s plans. They begin to implement immediate reform, with the secrecy of the Echelon Briefing having ironically spared most of the rank and file. Rick and Michonne are allowed to leave the Republic and return to Alexandria, under no threat.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has a happy ending, then. Almost too happy, honestly, since it’s pretty contrived and emotionally hamfisted. Rick and Michonne run to Judith and RJ, and everyone’s crying, and RJ says he knew the brave man would come back because “he believed”, which is a hilarious thing for a kid to say.
But, credit where it’s due. Andrew Lincoln sells this moment to the moon and back, it doesn’t yield any obvious memes like the whole “Carl!” debacle, and it’s a nice payoff for many years of separation between these characters. If only a better show had brought them home.
