ThisThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Livereview contains spoilers.
No gaggle of rednecks wandering through the Pennsylvania woods drinking beer and taking potshots.
No helicopter speeding off towards a Caribbean island.
Of course, it wouldnt be The Walking Dead if something like that were easy.
Good luck with keeping up with where things are happening in the greater chronology.
Its a world hes desperately tried to get away from.
Rick is kept on a leash like a rambunctious three-year-old.
Its been five years since the bridge collapse, and five years since hes seen his family.
But, its Rick, and Rick always has a plan.
His escape attempt fails, but he proves something to his handler Okafor (Craig Tate).
Ricks gotwhat it takes to lead.
But, its Rick, so he has to be convinced.
When he falls down, Okafor is there to protect him.
The city rules the inside; the army rules the outside.
Its all a familiar set-up and no doubt Rick knows how its going to end.
Thorne has given up trying to get home to South Africa, and Rick?
Including, suspiciously, setting up a forward-operating base in the Cascades, conveniently close to Portland.
We might not be where we want to be, but were not stuck, she reminds him.
Like most of Ricks dreams, this one turns very quickly into a nightmare.
Theres still life inThe Walking Deadfranchise after all these years.
Theres no need to reinvent the wheel.
Simply bringing back characters people want to see in interesting, relatively fresh situations should be enough.
Its certainly enough to power six episodes (and probably more) of a really good spin-off show.
New episodes of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premiere Sundays at 9 p.m.
Rating:
4 out of 5
