The Bitching Dead Issue #55: “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” Season 1 Discussion

The Bitching Dead issue 55 had Bekah, Tara and I discuss six-episode long The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season one.

Of course, we have to begin by going over the ratings for the first season of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, a TWD spin-off that has been heavily marketed using the long-awaited reunion between Rick Grimes and Michonne. The premiere episode of TWD: TOWL (pronounced towel?) attracted 0.896 million live viewers and the finale got 0.852 million live viewers, with episode 3 ‘Bye’ being the most watched at 0.905 million live viewers. (via Wikipedia)

Now, I’m not saying that these are bad numbers. However, considering that the latest TWD spin-off starred Rick and Michonne, I was expecting at least one episode to hit the one million milestone. But oh well, with all things considered, especially comparing TWD: TOWL to TWD: Dead City and TWD: Daryl Dixon (which we talked about during the previous webcast), TWD: TOWL managed to start ahead of the pack.

However, while TWD: Dead City and TWD: Daryl Dixion have second seasons greenlit, the fate of TWD: TOWL is a bit uncertain. The finale tied everything together quite nicely. So, we aren’t sure how the story can continue. Having said that, actor Andrew Lincoln did mention wanting a reunion between Rick, Negan, and Daryl. So a second season could be used to usher in such a reunion. So, it all goes back to just being The Walking Dead main series again? Sigh! Time will tell.

What’s next for the TWD fandom? A preview was released for the upcoming TWD: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol. The series is expected to debut sometime this summer.

Anyway, here’s our The Bitching Dead Issue 55 webcast!

Here are some of the highlights in no particular order:

• We all agreed that this particular story should have been an approximately two-and-a-half-hour-long TV movie instead of a six-episode season. The writers trying to pad the runtime was quite obvious.
• We all liked the new character Nat (Matthew August Jeffers). Nat being shot dead made no sense to us. It was as if the writers didn’t know what to do with him anymore. We would have preferred if Nat managed to live offscreen instead of being killed.
• The way episode 2 ‘Gone’ picked up after that short scene related to Michonne helping the couple at the end of TWD season 10 episode 13 (that aired back in 2020) without a proper recap was definitely an interesting choice.
• Why does Jadis even exist as a character?
• Michonne pulling Rick out of a flying helicopter. Half of the building not crumbling while Rick and Michonne bonded. Convenience after convenience. There was some weird hilarity across TWD: TOWL.
• While we appreciate the chemistry between Rick and Michonne, the way they couldn’t keep their hands off each other was… something.
• Most of Rick and Michonne’s arguments didn’t make sense for their characters and felt like an excuse for the writers to drag the story.
• If you encounter someone exuding main character energy during a zombie apocalypse and they tell you to leave, you better leave.
• The finale linked quite a lot to TWD: World Beyond. However, we wonder what casual viewers (who haven’t seen TWD: World Beyond) likely thought of the CRM’s plans to extract kids from certain communities.
• We liked how the finale didn’t end on some cliffhanger and allowed Rick and Michonne to actually reunite with Judith and RJ. It was a well-deserved reunion. The fans (who have stuck around) have waited long enough for it to happen.

As for the rest of the stuff we talked about, I recommended watching the new X-Men 97 animated series on Disney Plus. I was a bit hesitant about the continuation because I grew up watching the OG X-Men 92 animated series. But yeah, X-Men 97 is incredibly enjoyable.

Bekah recommended watching Resident Alien.

Tara talked about the sci-fi novel The Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Coming to the conventions we plan to attend, no promises yet, but I just might make my way to attend the upcoming Calgary Fan Expo happening Thu, Apr 25, 2024 – Sun, Apr 28, 2024.

Bekah will be making her way to SC Comicon 2024 (April 6 – April 7, 2024).

Tara’s looking forward to Black Hills Redemption (June 21 – 23, 2024), an event that celebrates Red Dead Redemption.

So, yeah, we will be back to talk about TWD: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol soon. Until then, what did you think of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season one?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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