‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ Isn’t Making Us Wait for a Love Story

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has finally hit our television screens! As we’ve long waited for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) to come back to us, the pilot of the AMC show gave us so much to see—and a reunion we’ve been hoping for.

**Spoilers ahead for the pilot of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live**

Heading into The Ones Who Live, the question on everyone’s minds was: When will we see Rick and Michonne together again? One of the first things the series did was show us dreams that Rick had, in which he was meeting Michonne in another life, spending time with her on a bench, and eating lunch together. While that was a nice way of having Lincoln and Gurira do a scene together, we still wanted to see the real Rick and Michonne together and in love, surviving the apocalypse.

Since Rick Grimes was taken by the CRM (Civic Republic Military), it became Michonne’s mission to find him. At the same time, it was Rick’s mission to get back to her and Judith. We couldn’t know for sure how The Ones Who Live would handle that separation and whether or not it meant we’d have to sit and wait for weeks before they were back together, but we certainly hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

What we got in the final moments of the pilot was Rick staring straight at Michonne the minute he tried to go and find her. All we got was a taste of the two reuniting, but it was more than enough for fans to love it.

We’re already back with Rick and Michonne!

There is nothing quite as emotional as Rick Grimes and Michonne staring at each other. The loss and hope the two have shared and their determination to find each other again is what made the prospect of this show so exciting. To see that the show isn’t making us wait any longer for Rick and Michonne to be back together? That’s something that I do not think any of us could have predicted.

The pilot showed us that Rick was struggling to stay strong. He’d been through so much, and he had no idea if Judith or Michonne were still out there. All he had was hope, and in his darkest moments, he’d dream about a different life with Michonne. Seeing how these characters needed each other and how their fierce desperation to be reunited brought them back together so quickly is all we could have asked for—and it leaves the rest of the season wide open.

The tension and build-up of Michonne searching for Rick and then Rick trying to escape the CRM could have filled up an entire season, perhaps even more. To see The Ones Who Live quickly giving us what we want has made all of our expectations go out the window. We don’t know what is going to come next! That, to me, is what makes The Ones Who Live so exciting.

We don’t know what the future holds for these two characters, but we do know that they are, at least, going to face it together.

(featured image: AMC)