We’re getting too close to the end, folks, with this week’s penultimate episode of TWD: The Ones Who Live‘s “Become.” Last, we’d checked in on our heroes. Michonne finally broke through to Rick and got him back to normal so he could return home. How they’re going to do that? I’m not sure, but now that they’re finally on the same page, it will be one hell of an adventure. So, let’s jump right into what’s going on now.
1. Honeymoon
The world’s weight has been lifted off Rick’s shoulders, and Michonne has this new sense of fun now that she has been reunited and feels like he’s back to what he once was. The two head back to Virginia, which feels like old-school The Walking Dead with the setting in the woods, exploring the city, and stumbling onto a crashed-out van filled with ready-to-boil noodles. The two stumble upon a deserted wooden cabin and explore the area nearby, only to find a group of three being chased by some zombies. A new one with a hard shell surrounding its head turns out to be cauterized from the steam vents nearby. Rick and Michonne are in top form, taking out the zombies and giving the small group some noodles for their trouble before they get a gun drawn on them. Then, after a small warning, they decide to flip the table, take away their weapons, and return the noodles. It’s funny to see them with this new lease on life where they instinctively have more care for people but are still cautious not to give too much.
2. Interruption
Now, anyone who watches these Walking Dead shows knows that nobody can be happy for too long or, more importantly, alone for too long. We’re shown a shadowy figure, possibly a familiar character we saw at the beginning of the episode. I’ll get to that later, but instead, it’s someone we’re familiar with in this particular show, Jadis. She wakes the two of them up, weird they didn’t set any defenses around the cabin, and gives a short speech about how easy it was to find them once she returned to the destroyed building and noticed the big yellow truck missing from the scene. Again, it felt uncharacteristic for Michonne and Rick not to attempt to cover their tracks, but Jadis is like a bloodhound. The two plead their case, but she won’t have it, and right before she shoots, Michonne manages to throw her off, and the two get a good shot in her before she runs away. Jadis has usually been a targeted and cold-killer when needed, but it’s evident she’s more cautious with the two of them because of their abilities. The chase begins as Rick reminds Michonne they can’t kill her because of the dossier back in the Civic Republic with his and Alexandria’s information.
3. Selfish
Jadis runs into the small group of people from the beginning of the episode and uses them to lure Rick and Michonne to enter a small cabin with no apparent way out. They did it on the promise of going to the Civic Republic but were quickly killed by zombies that had entered the cabin behind everyone. Jadis manages to flank Rick and Michonne, giving her a slight advantage over the two. During this time, she yells at Rick about ruining his chances of discovering the truth through the Echelon Briefing. According to Jadis, he would learn everything that all the higher-ups knew as soon as he returned home. It hits him, but he doesn’t care since he has the prospect of returning home. Jadis continues by explaining her fear that the two would be the catalyst to bring down the CRM and Civic Republic. Her rant reinforces the idea that she is jealous of Rick for his trying to live outside of the world she brought him to. She twists her mind that taking him away from his family was to save them, but truthfully, it was a way for her to earn penance for all the deaths and wrongs she’s done in the past.
4. Confessions
At the beginning of the episode, we’re shown a glimpse of an old friend named Father Gabriel. (Who is the one we’re led to believe for a small moment could be outside the cabin of Michonne and Rick) Throughout the episode, we’re shown conversations between Anne/Jadis, and Gabriel, which started three years ago when they mutually agreed to talk on the same day once a year. She checks in on Alexandria via Gabriel’s updates, and though at times it’s complex with food and security, she does nothing to help them out. This is due to her secrecy in getting the Civic Republic for these conversations and her dedication to the plan to help save the world. This is an evident internal struggle for her as she balances Anne’s and Jadis’s personas. She tries to have both good sides in the two communities but knows that it’s difficult since she’s unable to give her complete side to either. Gabriel is like her voice of reason and only wants to help her, but he has to walk a fine line to avoid upsetting her to the point of never returning. In their final encounter (the previous year), she pulls a gun on him, ready to shoot after he asks her for help once again for Alexandria, but despite the weapon being cocked, she shoots a nearby zombie and walks away.
5. Mexican Stand Off
Rick and Michonne are at a stand-off with Jadis with guns pointed at both sides, but Jadis has the unfortunate element of possibly bleeding out due to the injury sustained earlier. The two agree to peace, with Michonne treating Jadis’ wounds and Rick going with her back to the Civic Republic while Michonne leaves back home. This is a way for all parties to get what they want, but that would never work. After everyone puts down their weapons, Jadis has a backup gun, and Michonne raises a new weapon as well, but just as it seemed like they were back at square one, one of the newly turned zombies comes up and finishes Jadis off with a bite to her neck. It was a slow death, but it gave her enough time to concede that she’d done all of this after years of losing nearly everyone she’d ever cared about. This wasn’t so much about changing the world back; it was just surviving, and the internal pull from both sides slowly killed her. She tells the two of them exactly where the dossier is and gives Rick the nod to give her the sweet release of death, thus preparing the viewer for one last showdown (of the season) at the Civic Republic.
