The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Liveis gearing up to be the biggest event inThe Walking Deadfranchise for some time. After delivering solid spin-off shows withDead CityandDaryl Dixon, the return ofRick Grimesis getting a lot of early buzz as being the best addition to theWalking DeadUniverseyet. While the show will be most notable for bringing Andrew Lincoln’s character back to the series, the spin-off will also expand on some details that have remained unexplored in previous years on the flagship show.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
While attending the press junket forThe Ones Who Live,ComicBook.comspoke to actor Craig Tate, who plays Civic Republic Military Lt. Col. Donald Okafor, and he offered up a tease that one long-standing mystery of the series will be addressed – The CRM Classification system. Speaking about how Okafor and Rick are viewed by their circumstances, Tate explained:
“Look, a guy like Okafor and a guy like Rick Grimes, you put us in the exact same room – outside of the circumstances we’re faced with – and I think they find a really beautiful commonality outside of their forced circumstances. But if you let them get a beer, well these guys are best friends! They have a lot to connect on, right? But as it stands right now, I think that Okafor does see and feel many similarities in a guy like Rick Grimes, who has suffered immense loss in this world where death in itself is a main character, no longer a supporting character. And it’s one of those things – it’s the orphan syndrome – where a guy like Rick, for example, is afraid – and not even afraid, but so unwilling to allow himself to feel at home in this place, because essentially… his family’s his home, right?
And then, even outside of that, they’re nomads! When or if he does get back to where or who, what, he calls family, their world is characterized by a phase of… [nomadic life],” Tate continued. “So you know, civil authority, structure, all those pre-apocalypse things no longer seem like the ‘normal.’ So he tries to run from that.”
For several years, interest inThe Walking Deadappeared to be diminishing faster than the human population in the series. By the time Season 11 came to an end, it appeared that there was little else for the show to give, and ending the series was the right thing to do. However, that was not the end of the story.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Boasts Highest Rotten Tomatoes Score of All the Spin-Offs
Reviews are beginning to trickle in for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, and they’re overwhelmingly positive.
Before the final episodes of the main show aired, AMC had already announced that three new shows would be heading into production, bringing back some of the show’s most iconic characters in their own spin-off stories. This kicked off withNegan and Maggie-centricDead City, followed by the eponymousDaryl Dixon, and finally the long-awaited return of Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira as Rick and Michonne Grimes respectively. After seeing strong praise and viewership for the two former shows, enough to greenlight second seasons immediately, The Ones Who Liveis now being hyped as the best of the trio.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Livepremieres February 25 on AMC and AMC+, with new episodes airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
