Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne Hawthorne/Grimes shine in AMC's latest Walking Dead miniseries, The Ones Who Live. They do so in a determined, melancholic way, but would we expect anything less from these brave, beleaguered protagonists?
I was pleased to see Pollyanna McIntosh's Jadis Stokes again (in quite a twisted, multifaceted way), residing in a militaristic, apocalyptic "present" and in a poignant flashback with Seth Gilliam's Father Gabriel Stokes. I'd have liked more of that flashback, more of Gabriel, but then I'd have liked more of Jadis, as well as Terry O'Quinn's Major Beale, Matthew Jeffer's Nat, Andrew Bachlor's Bailey; Breeda Wool's Aida, Craig Tate's Don Okafor and Lesley-Ann Brandt's Pearl Thorne. (At least Thorne occupied more time, but even so ...)
The thing is, there could have been more, so much more, from The Ones Who Live, but the same can be said of Daryl Dixon and Dead City. These products are so well rendered that fans can't help but demand more, and yet sometimes even good things can be beaten into the ground. Maybe it's just as well that these extensions were made mini, with future opportunities to add on.
There's another angle that strikes me about The Ones Who Live. It's not as western-based as the two other extensions, and yet on second thought, maybe I'm wrong. Certain portions have a Fort Apache texture, or make that (for allegorical extrapolation) the displaced feel of Fort Apache: The Bronx. But then there's that overriding, love angle, which would ruin most shoot-'em-ups, but at least Rick and Michonne's romance isn't so potent to demolish the show's survivalist gist. (Like that of Shirley Temple and John Agar in Fort Apache, it's at best and worst agreeable padding.) Overall, it's easy to argue that The Ones Who Live's ambivalent aspects award Rick and Michonne the chance to reconnect, not only with themselves but with their devotees. That's not too shabby an outcome. In fact, it designates the adventure a success.
I wonder what's now in store for Walking Dead. Sequels to these spinoffs appear inevitable (perhaps more so for two than one), but considering the quality of their prequel inserts, and The Ones Who Live made excellent use of such, why not explore further, unseen passages? I'd like to view a Governor/Milton early-days track, with David Morrisey and Dallas Roberts giving us a glimpse of their characters' fledgling construction, or rather, deconstruction, as the mythic, Romero/Russo disease starts to spread. The complexities of that springboard would be fascinating, don't you think?
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