‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ 1×03 review: “Bye”

We’ve now seen what Rick and Michonne were up to before their emotional and unusual reunion. In Episode 3, “Bye,” tensions rise as stakes are revealed. Rick tries to figure out how to keep Michonne safe within the CRM while not alerting any of his new military friends of his true intentions. 

“Bye” starts with a few flashbacks, the first of which is a quick review of Jadis and Rick’s early encounters in the original series. We then see Rick’s early days with the CRM in Philadelphia where he bumps into a casual looking Jadis who offers him a French fry. He questions why she saved him and brought him to a place she knew he would never be able to leave, and she explains that she traded him for a position of power within the CRM. Rick pleads to fellow CRM leader Pearl to bring Michonne into the CRM as weaker than she is to save her. 

We revisit the same predicament that Rick found himself in during the final moments of the previous episode. Rick does his best death stare at a confident Jadis, who is drinking his alcohol. She once again threatens him with her knowledge of Michonne’s presence in the CRM and how much pain she could cause him by simply revealing this information to the higher ups. There really is no easy way out of this for Rick and Michonne, thanks to Jadis. Michonne, going by the name Dana to hide her identity, begins work as a zombie killer, assuring her fellow workers that she isn’t a threat. 

Rick and Pearl attend the funeral for their former leader Okafor. During the ceremony, General Beale speaks of Okafor’s actions that led him to the CRM and shows off an antique sword belonging to a historical war general. Pearl visits Rick after the funeral and tells him about her promotion. As a result of her promotion, she acquired the mysterious “Echelon Briefing,” which they had only heard whispers about from Okafor. She then tells Rick that Michonne isn’t flying under the radar as planned and she could jeopardize their whole plan if he doesn’t intervene. 

Rick plans a detailed escape route for Michonne and tricks her by staying behind. He stages a dead body so it appears walkers attacked her. Rick returns to Jadis the next day to tell her that he got Michonne out and explains what he did with the body. Rick then immediately finds out that Michonne didn’t leave and was back at her post killing walkers. Pearl corners Michonne and confronts her about her blatant use of strength and walker killing skills.

After explaining what the CRM looks for in new members, she offers Michonne a job like what her and Rick began as, to which Michonne accepts, to the dismay of Rick. They set off on a special mission together, during which they instruct Michonne to not intervene and listen to Pearl no matter what happens. Michonne can’t stand by and do nothing and decides to be a badass and take out waves of walkers on her own. Rick soon steps in and the two are laying waste to dozens of walkers just like the old days, which angers Pearl.

Once they all return from the mission, Pearl reprimands Rick for breaking protocol to help Michonne and for encouraging her behavior. Then, Jadis appears and decides to put on a show with Rick in front of Michonne to ensure she knows that Jadis is watching them. Out of nowhere, Rick confronts Michonne and tells her that she doesn’t belong CRM, he does, and he’s making her escape, citing that “everything we had is broken.” This understandably shocks and upsets Michonne as the two board a helicopter to return to the base. In a moment of either clarity or rage, Michonne looks outside the helicopter in the pouring rain and the water below and decides to open the door, grab Rick, and jump out. What a way to end an intense episode.

This episode really did a great job of showing just how much danger Rick and Michonne are in with the CRM around. Rick thought that taking Michonne back to the CRM with him was the best way to keep her safe, but it proved to be the worst possible option. Jadis being around and knowing a little too much about Rick and Michonne’s life is something that by itself creates enough tension to fill a whole season. But, Jadis is only a small piece of a much larger and scarier puzzle that Rick is stuck in the middle of.

As far as the episode itself, the quality of the visual effects and the story have stayed just as good as the first two episodes. This series really feels like what fans of The Walking Dead have been wanting for years. And when you end an episode by throwing your two main characters out of a helicopter at night, you definitely have our attention.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live airs new episodes on Sundays.

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Images courtesy of AMC