After 5 years, Rick finally returns today! Is the big “The Walking Dead” comeback “The One Who Live” worth it?

Already in the run-up to the fifth episode of the ninth season of ‘The Walking Dead’, which aired in November 2018, it was clear that this would be the last for series figurehead Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. What no one suspected, however, was that Rick didn’t die a serial death and that no goodbyes were ultimately said (even if his fellow members of the plot thought so).

Instead, a surprise cinematic trilogy was announced in which Rick would return in a big way and we would find out on the big screen what happened to him after his departure. But nothing came of it in this form. After many postponements, the film project was turned into a six-part miniseries with which not only Rick, but also Michonne (Danai Gurira), who was eliminated a season later, would make her return.

And after a mini-teaser in the epilogue of “The Walking Dead” finale, “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” is finally here. But was the long wait really worth it? After previewing three of the six episodes, we can definitely say yes – at least for the most part…

Rick Grimes at CRM

After Rick sacrifices himself for his friends and family against a huge horde of zombies, the shadowy Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) ensures that the seriously injured man is taken to the mysterious Civic Republic. Here he had to toil for their powerful military arm for years, without a chance of a way out. Because the CRM maintains the utmost secrecy and therefore thwarts every attempt by Rick to escape, no matter how sophisticated.

Meanwhile, Rick’s love, Michonne, has come across evidence that the ex-cop is still alive. And so she set out to find him, no matter the cost…

Lots of answers to burning ‘Walking Dead’ questions

Why hasn’t Rick returned to his group all these years? Who are the people Michonne encountered when she left the series? And what about the mysterious CRM classification of survivors into categories A and B? “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” answers questions franchise fans have been asking for years – surprisingly quickly and (mostly) quite satisfying!

After the first episode of the latest spin-off ‘Walking Dead’ we are a lot wiser and we especially get a feeling for Rick’s hopeless situation. Not only do we see from the beginning how the once fearless leader contemplates suicide. After the aforementioned guest appearance in the last ‘Walking Dead’ episode, we can also witness a new (failed) escape attempt, for which Rick takes extreme measures. Soon a new question arises: how is Rick ever going to leave this place?

Like coming home

In “The Ones Who Live” not much is made of the fact that Rick is finally back; his appearance after his long absence is not staged particularly spectacularly. He’s just back, as if his farewell just happened in last week’s “Walking Dead” episode. The spin-off can therefore connect completely seamlessly from the outset and feels a bit like coming home… in a desolate, post-apocalyptic zombie home with an endearing Andrew Lincoln at the front door.

Lincoln is immediately back in his element here and plays Rick as if he never left, even though the character is visibly scarred by the events of recent years. To his face, Lincoln ensures that the competition between drive and desperate resignation in Rick becomes movingly tangible…

…and the same can be said for Danai Gurira’s Michonne. Whether you’ve really warmed up to the love affair between the two in ‘The Walking Dead’ or not (the author of these lines belongs more to the latter camp): that even after all this time, the sword wielder is ready to do just about anything . To save someone close to her, she is permanently taken away from her, creating a particularly emotional moment, especially at the spectacular end of episode 1.

Cinematic – at least most of the time

Overall, the first two “The Ones Who Live” episodes in particular are as intense in some scenes as the main series has rarely been in recent years. On the one hand, this is also due to the staging, which, thanks to the high production costs (the individual episodes reportedly cost around 14 million dollars each), has more to offer in many places than is usual in many parts of the film. franchise.

For example, the dimensions of the Civil Republic are much more vivid here than those of the Commonwealth in “The Walking Dead,” which is also vast but rarely really illustrated in this way. And in fact, some shots would have looked very good on the big screen – that is, as long as CGI wasn’t used extensively. As with “The Walking Dead”, the quality of the computer effects often leaves much to be desired (a lot of budget was probably wasted on the two main characters).

Strong new additions, weaker 3rd episode

‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ also scores with strong new supporting roles – especially the enigmatic CRM commander Okafor (Craig Tate) and Michonne’s nomad companion Nat (Matt Jeffries). Backed by strong (and strongly written) performances, after just a few scenes you find yourself caring about them more than many of the irrelevant characters the parent series has introduced over the years. And that is crucial for the impact of everything that comes later.

And despite everything, the pace of the story, which was so fast, unfortunately slows down a bit in episode 3. While the first two episodes see developments in the most positive way that you would hardly have expected, and certainly not so quickly, setting a promising course for the rest of the miniseries, the third episode takes things a step further. a bit on the wrong side Job. Let’s hope this doesn’t start a downward trend for the remaining three episodes. In any case, a decent cliffhanger gives hope for the opposite.

Conclusion: a gift for “Walking Dead” fans

“The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” is mostly in its first two episodes for longtime “Walking Dead” fans who have been eagerly awaiting Rick’s big return. a moving gift that answers many questions. However, it remains to be seen whether the second half of the miniseries will follow the same lines or become more similar to the weaker third installment…

“The Walking Dead: Those Who Livecan be seen in Germany from today, February 26, 2024, on the Telekom streaming service Magenta TV. The six episodes appear weekly on Mondays.