Rick planned the pregnancy as he was planning a proposal and wedding. That’s why he went to Carl’s grave before this happened to let him know. And if people think Carl wouldn’t be ecstatic about RJ too you never paid attention to the show. RJ was wanted by the whole family.
I’ve always liked the quiet intensity of this scene and how you hear the rest of the group arguing about what to do in the background while Rick ain’t even in the conversation. He is gone. He is not with them at all.
I love how Rick was thinking like a cop here. He knew investigators would track down the cause of death and he kills with the sword to make it consistent with the other victims. Small but super in character as a sheriff.
Oh yes, Rick Grimes has absolutely never ever cried over an emotionally stressful situation or been vulnerable. What is TOWL doing to this very sigma man!
Let’s really think about it:
Rick dies: so Michonne goes home to her kids after a year to tell them their dad is dead? That’s satisfying?
Michonne dies: Rick gets to his kids a shell of a man and tells his children that the only mother they’ve known is dead.
The fact that Michonne stares at him and doesn’t blink and he turns away? That’s when she knew for sure he was bluffing and she went to crazy town. Michonne was tired of him playing in her face.
You know Rick poured on the bullshit to get Michonne not move out of his house after everyone else dipped. “You know Carl needs his best friend close and help with his little sister. It’d be good if you stuck around.” Meanwhile he plotting.
When you realize Rick is waiting for Michonne to go up in flames as they are making love as she did in his last dream, it makes his panic attack make hella sense. They are in this fantasy apartment with silk sheets and speaking robots making love. It feels like a dream.
To be slightly serious Jesus is studying their dynamic. This is a man who just captured him (rare feat) and locked him up. He’s clearly the leader of this tough group. But…it’s clear that Michonne has influence over Rick.
#twdspoilers
I bet Rick didn’t even think she would ever come looking for him. Nobody has ever looked for him before. Even Shane and Lori moved on. So to know she blasted a helicopter out the sky looking for him? That’s why he’s kissing her he’s starving.
People forget Andy Lincoln was Mr. Romance before he was cast as Rick Grimes. In fact he was so well known as a romantic comedy actor people thought he was miscast as Rick. This version of Rick is just Andy going back to his roots lowkey. If anyone knows how to sell, it’s him.
Last week and Rick’s non-reaction to RJ reminds me of a cut scene from S3 of TWD where Rick comes up from the Tombs after Lori’s death. Judith is right there and he ignores the hell out of her. He is so terrified of even acknowledging her. Makes me sad.
Just remember, kids. When Rick did the ugliest thing by biting Joe’s throat out, Michonne was the only one who approved. Daryl was trying to comfort him and tell him that wasn’t him. But Michonne legit falls for the ugliest part of him and said more.
Okafor 100% planned for this to be the outcome. He just thought it was going to be Rick and Pearl. This is why he trained them for leadership and that Rick would know what to do when he was presented with the sword.
And then remember he has spent 8 years without soft touch or gentle caresses. Of nobody touching him except with violence and pain. No wonder he had a panic attack. Michonne was touching parts of his body that hadn’t been touched in years.
This is why I don’t take the argument of Rick’s concern about Michonne being out of character in TOWL seriously. Rick was paralyzed with so much fear about her or Carl getting killed he refuges to fight against Negan. Michonne being hurt has always been his Achilles heel.
I love how it is an illustration of Rick losing aspects of humanity to be more robotic as they clean up a stadium of all wildlife and make it artificial and cold just like the CRM. Rick is the building they are clearing of all love and I love how they illustrate it here.
this scene is so well shot and there’s so much going on visually while we hear this heartbreaking statement from rick my god… this show is going to break me
That was ended but open ended. They still face the threat of zombie extinction, hidden CRM sleeper agents, and Beale’s son who is also CRM. I can see them leave it there or pick it up if they want to. But I’m satisfied.
#TheOnesWhoLive
This was not the first panic attack Michonne has calmed Rick down from. Once they were in the back of a car and just had survived an explosion after racing cars through walkers. Then, much like now, Rick was terrified he almost lost Michonne.
Rick crying on the phone to dead Lori about not being able to put it back together only to propose to Michonne saying she puts the broken world back together. Full circle.
#TheOnesWhoLive
Beale laid out four challenges in his briefing that tell the future conflicts in the TWD universe that will probably affect everyone(even Rick and Michonne). Thread
1. Lack of food or resources. Okafor hinted at this in episode 1.
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Child actors are children. While you might think you are an edge lord talking about a performance you don’t like, this is a real child with real feelings. Cut that shit out.
We’re okay with this??
Because this is a child we’re talking about. Because you’re unhappy about his line delivery. Strange behavior. Some people truly need to take a huge step back.
The crazy thing about this scene is he rips the rebar out of the walker’s body and then kills it with the same rebar. That is how strong and desperate Rick was to get it off Michonne.
Crazy thing is she didn’t even rank in the worst things he’s done to make sure of the survival of his son. Like she didn’t even rank as a point of regret for chopping her arm off. Let’s be serious.
The Beale scene before Rick kills him is really shippy in a subtle way. The flashback tells the story. In Rick and Michonne’s head they are one. Their memories bleed into one thing. They became the sword that kills and gives life.
I love how the elevator scene where Rick kills the soldier and Michonne talks to him like nothing is wrong illustrates how much she accepts his monster. You see Beale run in fear at the sight of it but to Michonne that’s her baby. He just needs to wipe the blood off his face.
I love how this was lowkey set up because if you remember episode 3 before Rick tells Michonne they are broken Michonne is moving the water jugs to the container that saves their lives here. That’s why Michonne knows where it is.
#TheOnesWhoLive
When you do a rewatch and realize Lori knows Carl won’t wake up in the tent when she and Rick have sex is because she did it with Shane while Carl was asleep and he didn’t wake up.
Rick really wanted that bridge to work out. He was planning a baby and to propose as soon as the bridge was finished. And then that shit turned to a nightmare.
#TheOnesWhoLive
Michonne knows something is wrong with Rick. Her look to him when he told her to pretend not to be strong and her questions him saying the last time he tried to escape. He’s not ok. So you know what that means.
#TOWLSpoilers
That love scene was sexy but it was deeply romantic and cathartic as well. Rick realizing once he’s inside her that he can’t let her go and his utter panic at the thought. Michonne sensing it and realizing the true depth of his pain. Her putting his hand on her
#TheOnesWhoLive
I just made myself kinda sad. Carl, when he was shot and lost his eye, he felt he was ugly and monstrous. It was an insecurity of his. But when Rick thinks of his baby boy he imagines him just like that. He remembers him with one eye and it is the most beautiful sight he’s seen.
This is the moment where Michonne panics for the first time not in a dream. Before this point, when danger happened Michonne always responded with being cool and level headed. Even when Carl is shot, she’s concerned and very worried but not panicking.
I have never seen this look on Michonne’s face. Never. She’s been scared but this is absolute horror on her face. Has to be the Echelon briefing. Has to be.
#TheOnesWhoLive
Rick wants her to leave at this moment but one thing he will never do is deny he loves her. Even with severe PTSD, he knows he loves her down to his bones. And he will never want her to think otherwise.
The reason Rick does not kill Okafor is he doesn’t know who else Okafor told about Michonne. That’s why he doesn’t kill him and escape. Okafor trapped his mind by making him fear him beyond death. That scene is so deep. One of the best scenes in TWD ever.
When Judith narrates the second to last episode of the mothership she has a really good monologue about a phrase her mother thought her. That it was the phrase her parents used as a good luck charm ( sweetie RJ is also here as a bonus.
#twdspoilers
I think Michonne didn’t really realize how deep his programming had gone until that last outburst. That was the confirmation that he needed a time out like in ASZ. That he needs healing. So she yeeted him off the helicopter. Again.
If you look at this scene as Rick finally mentally accepting that he loves her it makes all the sense in the world. That she has power over him unlike anyone else he’s ever known. His only hesitation is he doesn’t know if it is reciprocated and she is everything to Carl.
The fact the CRM had to invent security precautions to keep Rick from getting to his wife is legendary. Like I know the first time he escaped they were like
Knowing Rick consciously knew or had an awareness of his feelings for Michonne makes him not touching her other than small touches make all the sense in the world. He would hug and touch everyone else but her because he *knew* it would turn into something else.
Rick did not experience soft and gentle touch for close to seven years. Can you imagine not being hugged, kissed, or touched for seven years? I'm sure that Michonne doing so felt so good to him. Poor Rick.
The thing about Michonne is she’s never hesitated walking away from thing or people she feels have done her a misservice. She’s seen loved ones turn their back on her for comforts and warm beds and just left. Had people she loved deeply betray her trust and hurt her.
So…
Okafor chose the CRM over his wife.
Jadis chose the CRM over Gabe.
Pearl?
All of these stories people did not choose love and it led to their destruction. Their sacrifice led to nothing. Because without love it’s nothing.
#TheOnesWhoLive
#TWDSpoilers
Just in case you are wondering why Rick is scared shitless at Michonne revealing herself to be an A. Here is what CRM does to A’s. This is why Rick is scared even though he doesn’t quite know they to get rid of A’s. He does know it’s bad.
Rick felt so many emotions reuniting with Michonne. But the one I really want to talk about is shame. I think Rick was ashamed that he’d just moment before gave up on her and then for her safety and she finds him. He doesn’t know she gave up too. Baby got a lot going on.
I like how Ep4 and 5 of TOWL look like settings Rick and Michonne would have been in before the turn. City girl Michonne has all the books, high tech gadgets and glamour she liked which is why she made herself at home immediately while Rick was uncomfortable.
Rick continually questioning Michonne about Judith makes me think his spidey senses went off. He can read her just as well and knows Michonne is hiding something. It reminds me of when he told Shane he knew something was up with Lori when he got into camp.
When Rick fell in love unconsciously IMO: when he saw her at the door in After and started laughing.
Consciously: When she took his hand in the car outside of Alexandria
Unconsciously Michonne: Throat bite
Consciously: Couch
Makes the most sense to me.
#TheOnesWhoLive
I love how when Rick flipped her over you see how happy Michonne gets because she finally recognizes the man she loves. He’s taking control. So subtle but his assertiveness in the act is literally the turning point in his recovery. For the first time he’s leading.
#TheOnesWhoLive
I love now that Rick is back he’s putting on Rick clothes. All he’s missing are his boots. Also interesting machete you got there Rick. You make someone a promise?
This episode kinda confirmed something I was thinking anyway. I’ve always thought Rick realized he was “consciously” in love with Michonne at the gate when she held his hand in the car.
#theoneswholive
Michonne is such a phenomenal character. Probably one of the most dynamic black characters in TV period. She is allowed to cry, laugh, and love. She is allowed to be vulnerable and make mistakes. She is caring. But never get it twisted. Her bite is just as mean as her bark.
Rick believes he is unworthy of Michonne's sacrifice. If you are wondering why he got cold in the exercise room or what was going on. The brilliance of this scene is that both Michonne and Rick are triggered by different things at that moment (I'll explore Michonne a bit later)
For years, Richonners have said Rick’s issue with Michonne when they first met wasn’t his initial distrust ( that was there) but because he felt guilty for being so attracted to her after Lori died. Thanks for the confirmation Andy.
Understanding that Michonne would have not accepted a marriage proposal from any other man is understanding how much she loves Rick and feels her connection to him. That will be her only husband. Ever.
#TheOnesWhoLive
Interesting how Rick constantly tells Michonne thank you and the one time she says it back Rick tells her never to thank him again because he’s the one that’s lucky. Like damn!
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All spec, no spoilers I think the thing that will get Rick out of his fear spiral is the realization Michonne is in danger with or without him. He’s making an assumption that her life has been relatively safer but the reality is she almost died without him several times.
Yeah, Beale’s briefing made me want Rick to shoot Jadis again. Like she knew Alexandria was going to get torn up anyway and Gabe killed. That was the CRM’s plan. Horrible.
#TheOnesWhoLive
Okafor and Nat die on the same day minutes apart after convince Rick and Michonne to stop looking for each other and unintentionally lead them to finding one another. Fated
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There is something about seeing Rick fold into Michonne. This is a man people fear and beg for mercy from and he’s curled up on his woman and don’t give a shit what nobody thinks cuz that’s his baby. So damn attractive.
Also the realization that the CRM would have probably identified RJ and Judith as potential children to kidnap for the CRM was high. RJ skipped two grades and Judith helped to liberate the Commonwealth.
#TheOnesWhoLive
There is confusion about what happened between Okafor and Rick I’d like to clear up. Their relationship is hostage to captor. Rick negotiates with this captor to try and get free and the captor gives him opportunities but Rick has no real choices. He’s captured.
I love how Rick gets Nat’s lighter for Michonne. It’s fits his pattern of gifting her things she wants and needs like with the mints or trying to hint a deer for her. He knew Nat was important to her and he wanted to make sure she has a piece of Nat with her.
Their goofy asses can’t do it and I love every second of it. I like how they can’t even pretend not to want to be together. They in trouble.
#TheOnesWhoLive
One of the sexiest things about Rick and Michonne as a pairing is they can be as ruthless and literally cutthroat as can be but with each other there is this aching tenderness. They are both so sweet with each other. It is a heady mix.
#twdspoilers
People legit getting mad at both Rick and Michonne is wild to me. This was a throwback to season 3 with their dynamics. Michonne is not hurt because she knows what Rick is trying to do and his desperation. Rick knows deep down he can’t stop Michonne.
I love how "Gone" showed off Michonne's humor and her good nature. Her being able to laugh with her new friend and have a good beer after an adventure. So sweet.
To ask why Michonne would try to go find Rick after seeing the last episode of TWD is kinda crazy to me. Judith, who is near death, thinks of her father and his return to her. Of her mother bringing her daddy home. That’s Judith’s daddy!!!
Rick biggest vulnerability has always been his family. When he first wakes up out of the hospital and bike rides to his family home, he completely loses his shit that Lori and Carl are not in the house. His only ray of hope is Lori taking their pictures.
So...
-Michonne wears a purple dress in the first episode
-Nat's explosion in episode two is purple
-The lights in the apartment flash blue/red then combine into purple.
Something is up with that color. I'm fascinated.
Rick has 3 big fears with Michonne now at the CRM.
1. The most obvious, she’ll get killed or sent “away”. You see it in the preview when he is practically begging Pearl to not send her away. That is his nightmare scenario that they will identify her and then kill her.
I love that TOWL really explored Rick being a liar. It is one of the aspects of his character that has always been there, but I love how and why he lies in the series. One person he can't do it to remains Michonne. That has not changed because she knows him too well.