The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live stars discuss "amazingly emotional" finale

After years of waiting and tremendous amounts of hype, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne's (Danai Gurira) return in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has finally concluded. Following the destruction of the Civic Republic Military, Rick and Michonne safely headed home to Alexandria, where they reunited with Judith (Cailey Fleming) and R.J. (Anthony Azor).

As expected, the reunion was a real tear-jerker. This was a perfect (if a little safe) way to end the series. It concludes the story of Rick and Michonne with a bow on top. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, star and executive producer Danai Gurira (Michonne) explained that returning to Alexandria was always the final destination. “I think it was very clear we needed [to survive] the epic journey,” she said. “It couldn’t be easy, but that was always where they needed to land.”

In a world as bleak as The Walking Dead, seeing the family reunite was an important break from tradition. “We wanted it to feel like a dream come true,” Gurira explained. “You can’t say there’s just never going to be happy moments in this world. There will be, and this is one of them. The characters have gone through hell and high water getting to that moment.”

Andrew Lincoln (Rick) also reflected on the emotional final act. “It was lovely,” he said. “It was this brilliant afternoon of reunions, and finding a very intimate, simple, direct scene, hopefully emotional. And it was amazingly emotional.”

The Walking Dead cast and crew mull The Ones Who Live season 2

There are no cliffhangers or loose ends to tie up, and we can all be satisfied with the story of Rick and Michonne ending here. However, should AMC want to continue the story, nobody in the crew is inherently against the idea. The door remains ajar. “There are a few surviving personalities still in the universe, and it would be extraordinary to have them all breathe the same air at some point. It could be an absolutely tremendous, traumatic reunion of sorts," Lincoln teased.

The man behind the franchise, Scott Gimple, is down for more adventures. “What I’ll say is, I cook up my own dreams and fan fiction and we see whether it happens,” he said. “But we have a track record of dreams becoming realities. This show was a dream."

If the time comes for The Ones Who Live season 2, we'll be ready for it. In the meantime, The Walking Dead franchise continues to expand elsewhere. Daryl Dixon season 2, subtitled The Book of Carol, is out this summer!

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