The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is delivering on its promise of being an epic love story. In its premiere, we were shown how Rick and Michonne reunite on opposite sides of the battlefield: Rick is a soldier in the Civic republic Military while Michonne is a rogue survivor searching for him.
In episode 2, "Gone," we're given a bit of backstory for Michonne and learn how she found herself back in Rick's embrace. When we last saw her in The Walking Dead season 10, she went out searching for Rick after learning that he may still be alive. On her journey, she spent time with a nomadic community where she met friend and confidant Nat (Matthew Jeffers), who quickly became a fan-favorite character.
Her journey to find Rick spanned years, and in that time she had several close shaves with death, especially at the hands of the Civic Republic. There were times when she considered giving up and going home, but it was always Nat who offered the best advice: “You can know when to go. You can do both. It’s not giving up,” he told her.
Gurira admits that Michonne comes close to turning around and heading back to Alexandria. “She does get to a point where she's going home,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “As strong-minded as she was being willing to fight through being chlorine-gassed and all of that, she was still looking to continue the fight and to get to him. But there comes that moment where even she has to accept things.”
Michonne reaches a point where she's stuck. She hasn't found Rick and she's miles from the rest of her family. “It kind of breaks her," Gurira said. "But also sort of makes her. Because she's a mission-driven person and a love-driven person, so she has to go to her other loves now, to her children, and that becomes where she's going to."
Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln discuss Nat's untimely death
Nat was a good person, a beacon of light in a world shrouded in darkness. However, in a world as brutal and unforgiving as The Walking Dead, the good people seldom survive. And that's how it goes down for Nat, who sacrifices himself to save Michonne in the episode's endgame.
Despite the heartbreak, Gurira is glad that Nat went out with honor. “What a glorious death,” she said. “That was a fantastic death. His death was a thing of beauty. I was watching like, ‘Wow, look at that. That's a great death. That's impressive.’”
"That's the show, man. That's the show! That's the Walking Dead idea of we're going to make you love someone, but this world doesn't allow people to just go on. It’s so perilous that you can't get too attached to anybody, really. That's vintage Walking Dead."
Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick, commended Matt Jeffers' fantastic performance. “I agree with you. So much charisma, that gentleman. What a great actor,” he said.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live continues Sundays on AMC.
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