After keeping us guessing for three weeks, The Ones Who Live finally made it clear in last week’s episode that it’s ultimately going to be Rick and Michonne versus CRM. With only two episodes left, you would expect the big showdown to roll out. Instead, we get a strange episode where the only other major characters of the show, other than Rick and Michonne, die, and a friendly face from the mother show makes an appearance (mostly in flashback scenes, though). The Walking Dead has this habit of randomly humanizing a character before death, and with Jadis, aka Anne, meeting her maker, a big chunk of this episode is dedicated to the exploration of the character. Sadly, though, it doesn’t work, because when did we ever care about Jadis anyway? My apologies if some of you did, though.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens To Michonne And Rick?
For our main duo, it’s a good life on a beautiful day; at least that’s how the episode kicks in. But we’re way too familiar with the world of this show to know that dangers are lurking around the corner, especially if you’re the good guys. Until then, Rick and Michonne keep driving to Alexandria, stopping at a mall where Rick finds a pendant from which he removes all the letters except an “M.” Of course, he plans to give it to Michonne, which will come later in the episode, but for the time being, a pressing matter awaits them. That happens to be nothing but a random group of people who are in Walker trouble (oh yes, let’s just stop calling them “Delta” and let us go back to “Walkers” because CRM’s days are clearly numbered). Rick and Michonne save them, and looking at their hungry faces, they hand over some packets of instant noodles. But like always, the leader of the group happens to be a stupid man called Red, who has the audacity to pull a gun on Rick Grimes and demand more. In his defense, the poor guy obviously had no idea who Rick Grimes was. Anyway, the inevitable happens, and after making the group promise that they wouldn’t try to harm anyone else (as if they would listen), Rick and Michonne go away, although Michonne (quite understandably) takes the noodles back. The duo soon finds a cabin to spend the night. Their bliss ends when, out of all the people in the world, Jadis wakes them up with two guns pointed at them.
What Is Anne’s Dilemma?
Do you remember that Jadis used to be an artist in another life, and her real name was Anne? It’s only normal if you’ve forgotten about that, thanks to the franchise being quite overwhelming. This episode is here to remind you of that piece of information. So, in the past, which dates back three years, Anne, aka Jadis, used to have this secretive yearly meeting with Father Gabriel. They used to talk about Anne’s place in the world, her life, and what the future held. Anne, who was let go by Gabriel and eventually joined CRM, was conflicted about her actions. And so was Gabriel, who used to feel bad about not having faith in her. With time, Anne got deep into the CRM and turned into the stern Jadis that we see in the show, but a part of her still remained somewhere else. And that part never wanted to harm the people of Alexandria. She never told Gabriel anything about the CRM, and in the end, she thought it would be best to kill him, as he was the only person who was aware of both her old and new lives, other than Rick, of course. However, in the end, she failed to do the deed as she clearly cared about Gabriel. Anne let him go, and that was the last time they saw each other.
While this story has the utmost importance in making us realize the motive of Jadis’ character and the dilemma she faced, the entire arc is poorly written, and the whole thing appears to be rather confusing than enlightening.
Does Jadis Find Michonne And Rick?
Jadis managing to track Michonne and Rick down was always on the cards, and with the skill she possessed, it was not hard for her to find the fugitives anyway. But the interesting thing here is that Jadis never really had the intention to kill Rick and Michonne, which Rick rightly points out. What she basically wanted was to somehow convince Rick to go back to CRM. Jadis’ blackmailing was initially working on Rick, but now that he’s on the right path, he’s definitely not going to fear such a threat, even though it’s quite real and not an empty one. On the other hand, Jadis knows for a fact that Rick and Michonne are too hard for her (or anybody else) to contain. So the inevitable confrontation happens, and after a frantic car chase, Jadis gets severely injured but still manages to get herself out of the crashed car.
Does Jadis Die In The End?
Soon, an injured Jadis stumbles on Red’s group (thus justifying the inclusion of these random people into the narrative). Jadis promises them a community, which is more than enough to get these people on her side, as food and shelter are all they care about. And with their help, she manages to lure Rick and Michonne to an abandoned building that looks like a warehouse. It was not wrong of her to think she would have an edge if she had some people with her, but sadly, Red and his group are so inept at fighting that they soon fall prey to Walkers.
So it turns into Jadis versus Rick and Michonne again, and that’s a battle she was not going to survive. She does make a final attempt by trying to tell Rick about a master plan for CRM, with which he was soon going to be introduced by Beale. It would have given him so much power, with which he would have been able to secure Alexandria as well. But Rick and Michonne were obviously not going to take the bait. Instead, they deceive Jadis into believing that they took it, only to beat her at her own game. Realizing it’s all over for her, Jadis finally sits down and gives up. In her final moment, she tells Rick and Michonne where they will find the file that she had as a contingency. She requests that they just destroy it and not do anything with CRM, but Michonne lets her know that CRM is not going to be spared by them. Jadis might believe in CRM, but that doesn’t mean such an atrocious organization should exist. In the end, Jadis reveals that she is, in fact, tired of losing all her people, and CRM is where she found hope. But she had no intention of harming the people of Alexandria either, which is pretty much evident from her actions. Jadis gets to be fortunate enough to not turn into a walker, as Rick shoots right at her head. Her purpose in the world has ended, and so has Pollyanna McIntosh’s stint in this franchise.
What Can We Expect From The Finale Next Week?
It has to be Rick and Michonne versus CRM, and nothing less than that. The Walking Dead’s track record of delivering great finales is not particularly convincing (especially in the latter years), but The Ones Who Live has all the possibilities to end things with a bang. For that, all the show needs to do is let an angry Rick Grimes loose on CRM, along with Michonne with a katana in her hand.
