There are few episodes of television as hot as episode 4 of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Thank you, Danai Gurira. Gurira, who has played Michonne on The Walking Dead since season 3, has shown her writing chops to fans with “What We,” and I need a cold shower.
“What We” focused on Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne having an honest conversation about their relationship after Michonne made it clear that they needed to actually communicate. With just Rick and Michonne and a Roomba to hear them, they were forced to fight it out. She screamed at him about their son he’s never met and his resolve to still let her go back to her children without him. Rick screamed back about the CRM and what it all meant on his end and what he thought was the right thing to do.
Gurira’s writing, which includes Continuum (2005), Eclipsed (2009), The Convert (2011), and Familiar (2015), brought a nuance to how Rick and Michonne were fighting with each other that made the episode that much stronger as a whole. Whether it was her understanding of Michonne and Rick from an actor’s standpoint or if Gurira just really understands how romantic tension can work for fans, it made every second of this episode something I wanted to live in over and over again. Every fighting word was underscored by the fact that they very clearly still love each other but are both too stubborn in their approach to each other.
The more I watched Rick not hear Michonne and not tell her what Jadis said to him, the more I wanted to shake him. The more I watched Michonne not take into account what had happened to him at the CRM, the more I wanted to slip her a note saying as much. I just love this entire episode so deeply and it is all because of how Gurira approached the fighting between Rich and Michonne.
Just wanted them to make out every second of this
Fighting between characters can make or break your vision of them. Often, the right kind of fighting is incredibly moving to watch. Sometimes, a character says something in the heat of an argument that sours your appreciation of them. What works about “What We” and Rick and Michonne’s back and forth is that Gurira continued to ground it in their love for each other.
Neither Rick nor Michonne is the type of character to be completely honest about what is happening in their mind. Michonne is at least more willing to share what she’s thinking with Rick, but we see throughout the fourth episode that he is still hiding things from her. She should know what Jadis threatened him with, but he takes that burden on himself and doesn’t put it on Michonne.
So throughout the episode, the audience is frustrated knowing what is and is not being shared. But we also understand why these characters are keeping things from each other and when they do finally break, it ends up fulfilling that romantic tension we know and love, and it made me want to see Rick and Michonne just continue to make out with each other.
Once the dam breaks and they finally start listening to each other, they can’t keep their hands off each other, and it was everything my romantic heart wanted and so much more.
(featured image: AMC+)
