The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We” Spoilers Ahead
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Season 1, Episode 4, “What We,” is the type of episode every angst-adoring romance aficionado dreams of for their favorite pairing. Written by the incomparable Danai Gurira, it’s a packed nail-biter that reminds viewers why Rick and Michonne’s relationship continuously endures.
Happy endings aren’t promised on a series like The Walking Dead. At any moment, a beloved character could either drop dead in the hands of a walker or disappear for days and years on end. Everything that’s good, warm, and chaotic could fizzle out and become a distant memory. But in an episode like The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We,” fans can at least get a beat of solace that no matter what comes next, Rick and Michonne’s love will not, under any circumstances, fumble. The show is a love letter to them, but it’s also a love letter to the detail that relationships are messy, imperfect, deeply vulnerable, and hard. Thus, to give viewers an episode that’s unquestionably centered on their love matters when telling a significant story that orbits around romance.
The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We” Pulls Richonne Through a Gorgeous Rollercoaster
Michael Slovis’ directing in the episode does something incredibly bold throughout, diving deep into quiet moments that feel both subdued and explosive. From the very first frame to the last, the episode highlights why Rick and Michonne mean the world to each other, while simultaneously authenticating how they continue to survive together. There’s also something to be said about the white-hot tension fizzling in every frame where Rick and Michonne merely look at each other, where he steals glances while she changes, and how they charge toward one another in heated kisses.
The wide array of romantic moments we get are one thing, but it’s the vulnerability that nails everything shut into a gorgeous treasure trove that will stay with viewers for a long, long time. Sex is hot, yes, but paired with emotional intimacy and tender beats of longing make it something else entirely. And in The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We,” viewers get every little moment down to where they ride off together. (Honestly, considering film and TV trust issues, you can stop watching right after this episode and choose to believe that they get their happily ever after.) It’s how it leaves us anyway. It might not exclusively promise us safety or any sort of forever, but it does reiterate that it’s these two against the world.
The little life they’ve built together—the one they’ll hopefully return to someday—all of it aligns with the seeds often planted throughout the original series. The tension between Rick and Michonne has always burned too hot to handle. There’s something magnetic about them on their own and as a couple. There’s something intentionally warm about the times when they get together.
Further, if this episode does one thing right it’s how it weaves that tension with the essential conversations that strengthen romantic relationships. There is no love without honest discussions. There is no love without vulnerability and communication. So much of the reason that Rick and Michonne have made it this far is because they’ve had these extensive conversations whenever necessary. Yet everything that transpires in The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We” is unlike anything that we’ve seen thus far because nothing is sugarcoated.
It’s a collision of fears and doubts and anger and uncertainties all blending to show the other just how much they care. They’ve both spent too much time apart and they’ve changed—they aren’t the same people we left behind at one point. The world has forced them to become something else to continue to survive, but what hasn’t changed is how deeply and fervently they love each other. What hasn’t changed is the fact that at the end of the day, they’ll put aside everything they feel to ensure that the other person is safe and protected.
Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln Bring Their A-Game
An episode like this wouldn’t be what it is without exceptional performers like Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln. They’re the show’s beating heart and the very reason the characters remain such astounding staples in the series. And everything that we see here should be featured in their Emmy reels because it’s high time the academy recognizes what powerhouses both actors are when it comes to embodying complex characters with careful understanding and nuance.
It’s effortless to sit here and wax poetic about what the two deliver in The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We.” It’s easy to watch them break down in each other’s arms and cry with them. So much of the reason that the ship works is entirely because of the range Gurira and Lincoln bring to their characters that then seamlessly translates to the on-screen chemistry and heart that they exhibit as a couple. Thanks to Gurira’s profoundly moving screenplay, they both verbally (and tearfully) say plenty in this episode. It’s all about disclosing their most harrowing emotions, after all, but it’s everything that they show in silence that heightens the emotions even more.
These are the types of performances we get when actors care so fiercely about the characters they’re embodying that they ensure every moment is full of emotions that are impossible to convey with words. The entire thing is nothing short of exceptional and breathtaking—full of revelations, badass moments, gorgeously intimate scenes, and brilliant performances, it’s an episode that feels like a dream.
Now streaming on AMC+: What are your thoughts on The Ones Who Live 1×04 “What We?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Gene Page/AMC
The series was well done and episode 4 was definitely like a dream . Great article !!