Time jump alert! Sorry comic fans, but we’re going to skip Carl’s recovery and fast forward to RICK AND MICHONNE BEING AN ITEM #Richonne #MichonneIsTheNewAndrea #FreeKesha. Meanwhile, Denise corners Daryl and asks him to grab pop (shout out to the Mid West) during his supply run for Tara. After getting a pep talk from Eugene, Rick and Daryl head out for a supply run.
*Opening credits* dun dun dunnuh dunnu dunn dun etc etc
Rick and Daryl search an abandoned barn and find a U-Haul of supplies. They drive it to a gas station, tip over a vending machine, and ind themselves under attack by a man in a trench coat and beanie (*cough Jesus cough*). Daryl and Rick hold him at gunpoint as he explains a group of walkers are headed their way. They let him go and he reveals his name as Paul Rovia (Rovia? Like Monrovia?) AKA Jesus. Rick tries to ask the three questions but their new ‘friend’ runs off. Shortly after Jesus distracts them with firecrackers and steals their truck (with the tied up vending machine dragging behind).
Michonne catches up with Spencer in the woods and recalls Deanna’s last words to her. Rick and Daryl catch up with the (abandoned) vending machine down the road and grab some pop for Denise. Meanwhile, Carl and Enid read comics in the woods (Skybound’s “Invincible,” to be exact) and spot Michonne and Spencer hiking nearby. Enid and Carl run into a turned Deanna and Carl instructs Enid to go home.
Rick and Daryl catch up with Jesus, who’s changing the U-Haul’s tire. Rick grabs him from behind but Jesus Jackie Chan’s his way out. After wrestling with Daryl they hold him at gunpoint, take the keys, tie him up, and drive off. After a while they discover Jesus has been camping on the roof of the truck the whole time. They stop, force him off, and Daryl chases him on foot. Daryl corners him in the truck, a walker approaches, and Jesus saves him. He puts the truck in reverse and it rolls backwards into a lake.
With some help from Carl, Spencer finally tracks down an undead Deanna and puts her out of her misery. He tells Michonne that’s the reason he was out there. Michonne assures him as long as he has friends he has a home. Later that night, Michonne tells Carl he should have left or killed Deanna instead of leading her back to town. Carl explains he wanted someone who loved her (like Michonne) to take care of it.
Rick and Daryl drive a tied-up Jesus back to Alexandria, carry him to the infirmary, and later lock him in the ‘jail.’ Shortly after RICHONNE IS BORN AS RICK AND MICHONNE FINALLY MAKE IT OFFICIAL. Unforutnately, Jesus ruins it later in possible the worst-timed ‘Rick, we should talk’ moment ever.
What did YOU think of the episode? Are you excited about Richonne? Comic fans: what do you think of the show version of Jesus??
Real nice change of pace. Rick and Michonne, COOL. Finally I can learn more about the Jesus character. I like him already.
What will Ezekial think???
Saw this coming. Kind of saw Rick and Michonne as more of brother and sister but it makes sense given that Michonne has been like a mother to Carl for so many seasons.
I think it’s the move the fans wanted, so I’m on board.
I will caveat. I see people that don’t like the matchup. It’s hard for me too; as a long time comic reader. I think what it boils down to is those who read the comics will have a hard time accepting it while those that don’t read the comics will accept it easily.
It’s nothing against Michonne who is obviously a fan favorite in both presentations. It’s more that comic readers are conditioned in a different way.
Ive read all the comics, novels etc… & I love this. She’s the best candidate to fill the void or to have rick fill her void. Before you know it carl will be calling her mom
I think they’ll probably make Ezekiel and older guy. Leave him for Carol (although she’ll ultimately just be a playing him to gain control of the kingdom).
Oh… And since I can’t edit my comment. Jesus: awesome job! Just like he is in the comics. To the T. Great job there. Did the comic version proud. The Monroe to Monrovia change was a little odd I thought though.
I found that odd as well, especially since earlier in the season we see Deanna on the wall looking at the engraved name “P. Monroe”.
Richonne
?
What is the supposed to mean? I am lost…
I don’t get the meaning of the Martha Stuart pic. Assuming its negative, not sure.
Because I don’t get the pics meaning I put ?.
Idk about anyone else, but I don’t like them together.
How could they spit on the characters like this ? I never imagined these two characters together because it will never work. How could kirkman agree to this ?
This works perfectly, Gimple’s been setting it up since season 4 aha – she was already playing the maternal figure in the family, might as well make it official
I don’t think they did anything wrong with Michonne. She’s just a strong and intelligent as she is in the comics. She’s just now taking the place of Andrea. Now, if you wanna talk about spitting on a character, they really spat on Andrea. They did a horrible job with her and I was glad they killed her off. They’re just trying to fill plot holes as best as they can from the first two seasons. And I don’t believe Kirkman has as much say on what happens on the show as you think. He trusts the writers as well, so that plays into any decision he might have. “…..For the most part, though, my role has not changed. I’m an executive producer, and the show is based on the comic series I write, but I’ve always considered myself to be one of the writers on the show, no more important than any of the others. I have input, but the show is a team effort led by Scott Gimple and that hasn’t changed, and that’s always allowed me to have the luxury of doing other things.” an EW interview he did in Sept. 2015 (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/14/walking-dead-robert-kirkman-season-6-comic)
“Spit on the characters.” So…. you got a reason it doesn’t work? Or are you just talking out of your ass?
The only one spitting here is michonne after the fact…
Michonne is a swallower
They’ve had each others back and were in close quarters. It was bound to happen. Maybe it’s long term maybe short term. Who knows. I thought they had more of a close friend thing, but hey, thier characters deserve a love break. God knows they’ve been through hell. Why is Carl kinda cold toward Enid. The competition is dead so thrill is gone?
I didn’t like the whole Jessie thing! I wanted Rick and Michonne together since the Alexandria move. She lost her child and is great with Judith. I was actually mad about the “Jessie” kiss. This is more natural.
Darryl and Rick out on a run was as much fun as the first time when they went to save Merle.
Jessie was from the comics. That storyline is from the comics. It’s always been something that happened. I liked Jessie from the tv version better and kinda felt bad when she died. I was ok with Rick having her. However, I have been shipping Rick since season 3 so I was elated to see them together.
I’ve just read the comic start to present and it feels wrong that Andrea isn’t in the show, and seeing Michonne take her place, it feels off. I loved how Michonne went from guy to guy in the comics, and when she found that guy she likes (I won’t name names), she won’t even allow herself to be happy.
It was her character, it was a rounded well developed character. Instead, I can see some kind of fused Andrea-Michonne mix up, how can you be the anchor to Rick when you’re still dark and broody and unwilling to forget your dead kids and allow happiness?
I’m willing to see where it goes but at the minute it’s jarring.
Other notes.
– I don’t really see the chemistry but their both great actors so it doesn’t show too badly.
-Does this mean Michonnes neutered now?
-I wish they’d made Sasha Rick’s love interest seeing as they’ve made her into Andrea. But it wouldn’t fit the comics mantra of the two characters there from the beginning that don’t die. The ongoing dialogue Andrea has ‘We don’t die’ won’t quite fit. Although I feel 1, they’ll start to use, and 2, it will feel a bit wrong.
I feel like they fused Michonne and Andrea’s characters from the comics as well. I like this Michonne better, just because she’s not so cold and closed off from the group. I honestly believe if Sasha stays alive, she’ll end up taking Michonne’s place in the “closed off from everyone and everything so I can’t be truly happy” side of things. She was supposed to die early, like Carol. She didn’t. So now they have yet another person they can use to fill the holes of other characters and plots. They had to do away with Andrea so they had to fill that plot. They used Michonne. I accepted that once I knew they were taking Andrea in a different direction. I will never get over that. I hate they killed Andrea off and changed her into something completely different. But I’m really glad they chose Michonne to be the one to fill the void.
I agree with a lot of that. Although, I think Sasha would have been a better companion than Michonne, I just feel like she (michonne) deserved to have her own story arc from the comics rather than Andreas,
It was always a bit disappointing that they never got Andrea right in the tv show, she became too obnoxious, and it was hard to see her having a loving relationship with Rick, let alone Dale. Guess the choices they’ve made have been on acting chemistry,
All this aside, I appreciate the show going off and going its own thing and making these hard left turns, even if I don’t always agree with it. It would be dull just watching the comic story lines unfold exactly as they’re written.
Why did they feel the need to do in Andrea.
As a much more loyal comic reader than a show watcher, I’m just gonna say this– Michonne works much better. When Andrea and Rick got together in the comics there was little to NO buildup at all. That was jarring. But with Michonne we’ve had a long standing friendship. This feels much more natural. Just feels like an evolution of what was already there.
And how would Sasha work, honestly? Ye, she’s taken Andrea’s place as the sniper but she’s also kinda dull and uninteresting. The show has failed to make her as interesting as our older survivors and almost no one would enjoy if they got together. If anything, I know many more people it would have pissed off.
Don’t think it of as “Michonne got Andrea’s arc.” Think of it as a new arc made from older parts. Michonne of the TV series and Michonne of the comics are very similiar and yet different. But she’s one of the few characters I feel is just as compelling in the show. I like this direction.
I don’t agree that Andrea and Rick didn’t have a build up, there were seeds slowly planted throughout the story, Andrea and Rick were having more and more heart to hearts after Dale died, and once Jessie died it felt natural. And let’s just make this clear, this is just my opinion, but being a loyal comic reader myself, and having just read the beginning to end this past week, that’s what I went away with.
Also I totally understand your reservations with Sasha, but, if they had given her scenes with Rick instead of Abraham it would have worked. Instead of morning other Dale, she mourned her Bob (Tainted Meat!).
Everyone else is seeing something I’m not with this Rick and Michonne build up, but I just took it as friendship like in the comics, It’s just as jarring, if not more jarring than Rick and Andrea.
I was always going to consider it a new arc, but I can still express how it feels like it’s being different just to be different. And I think it’s going to lack quality with the story long term. Yes her story arcs will go to Sasha, but my point is they fit far better in tone with Michonne than Sasha.
I don’t dislike the direction, but I do feel a bit like Rick just kissed and made sweet love his sister.
I still don’t agree but I guess that’s fair. But man, I’ve read the comics and I don’t see these “seeds” you’re talking about. At least no seeds that are somehow different than the ones rooted in friendship like Rick and Michonne. They’ve had tons of heart-to-heart. Outside Daryl she is Rick’s closet ally. She’s become a mother figure for Carl. She considers them family. It just seems like the natural direction.
(Just skimmed through them to check)
It’s just after Carl gets shot, Andrea is training Alexandrians how to shoot, and it kicks starts a 9 page dialogue between Rick and Andrea, she’s with Spencer at the time, but it’s clear there’s something there, Rick telling her how she’s always been there, how they both confide in their losses, it makes a lot of sense, as it establishes they’ve reached the same place in their lives (in my opinion). Also it’s followed by Ricks last conversations with Lori, which is symbolic in itself.
From then on, she’s always by Ricks side so just flows a lot more naturally.
Also sorry if I went overboard there.
I know where you’re coming from with Michonne being being a mother figure to Carl, and that’s fine, but I’ve never seen the back and forth of Rick and Michonne in the tv show felt they were going to do something with that, but maybe I’d see it differently if I rematched it.
By all means I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that it’s something that I didn’t feel when I’ve been watching it. But as you say, maybe it’s the more natural organic direction for the show. But, I will say I would have preferred if they did it with Sasha, or just mixed it up entirely and didn’t follow the comics closely at all and came up with something entirely different.
I’m bitching and complaining but I love the show and looking forward to seeing how it unfolds, and it’s great to see they are actually doing something distinctly different after following the comics as closely as they have been recently.
Agreed I can’t think of any seeds planted in earlier arcs with andrea, their main connection at the time they hooked up was ” we don’t die” which I guarantee we’ll hear michonne & rick say fairly soon
you thought the comic had no build up? Michonne and Rick is the most forced thing I’ve ever seen! Literally one episode after Jessie’s death!
In all seriousness, they should’ve just ended the first half of season 6 with “No Way Out”, and THEN had a time jump to where this episode is now. The pacing is just so bizarre. But what annoys me the most about this show is how they always cut out the climax of an important moment just for the sake of having a “cliffhanger”. What they did with the end of season 4 and mid-season 6 are perfect examples. Yeah, sure, the following two premieres were great, but it’s honestly just a lazy tactic.
You somehow act like Andrea was this impossibly long time after “no character” Jessie. It’s been two months since this last episode in time frame and Michonne and Rick have had JUST as many intimate moments in the show as comic Rick and Andrea, if not MORE. If you think it’s “forced” in any way compared to the sudden stop that was Andrea and Rick I think you’re being willfully ignorant.
As a long time reader of the comics, I’m not sure how I feel about Rick and Michonne. She always seemed like more of a close friend and foot soldier. I thought they seemed kinda clumsy and awkward in that scene. I don’t hate the idea, I just really wasn’t expecting it.
The introduction of Jesus was great. Not sure why they had to change his last name but whatever. Not quite how it happened in the comic but it worked just the same and eventually got us to the same point story wise. Overall it was a great episode and I’m really looking forward to whats in store for us next Sunday.
Because they changed Deanna’s family name to Monroe. One can see the family name on the scaffolding because Reg was the architect who built it. Deanna strokes it in one scene in an earlier episode. I believe it’s right after Porchdick kills him.
Here is my question: Is Jesus going to be Deanna’s son? Because in that scene she sees the inscription “P. Monroe”, and since none of her family we have met has a name that starts with P (Reg was her husband, and Aiden and Spencer are the sons we met) that leads me to believe that Jesus knows that Rick and Darryl are from Alexandria and did not want to let on that he was related.
No the P1 stood for Panel 1, the first panel installed, they changed paul monroe to paul rovia to clarify that there is no relation to deanna & family
Actually in they didn’t change Deanna’s family name to Monroe. It was Monroe in the comic as well except her character was a man named Douglas Monroe. His wife was named Regina. So for the show they basically swapped the husband and wife roles. Douglas is now a woman named Deanna and Regina is now a man named Reg.
^ This. Kirkman stated in a Letter Hacks that Paul having the same last name as Douglas and Regina is just coincidence. They’re not related.
Sasha and Ezekiel then I’m guessing?
If they even have the kingdom. Might not go that route.
It would be odd if they don’t have Ezekiel in the series. Especially since they’re going to have Negan and we already got Jesus. That storyline wouldn’t be the same without the Kingdom.
I can definitely see Sasha being the one who hooks up with Ezekiel. Abraham and Sasha doesn’t seem right. I’m not saying it won’t happen, but it just doesn’t seem right. Especially knowing Abraham dies during this storyline. If something happens between him and Sasha, it’ll be short lived.
I thought the kingdom was odd to begin with. As if they stuck all the art majors in their own community. They were odd, even Ezekial. And the Tiger, cool though it was, was odd as well. The show could easily do this new arc with no Kingdom.
I thought it was a great addition. It showcased a different way of surviving the apocalypse and how it kinda flourished under this type of ruling. I am just saying to me, personally, it would seem odd that they don’t have this showcased in the tv series as well, since we’ve already seen dictatorships in other forms.
I Did like that the tiger could eat zombiez & clarifying that animals can’t contract the disease. One of the few clues as to the nature of the virus. Something I wish they would delve into more.
That would kinda suck for one reason to me, I would like to see the show do ezekial’s flashback/ origin story to how he got shiva. I Would love to see how greg nicotero portrays the chaos of a zoo losing control during the turn.
Who’s Ezekiel?
Daryl is showing more emotion…not good**
I really enjoyed this episode. I saw what they were going to do with MIchonne in the show since Andrea went off to be with The Governor. There was no way Andrea was going to make it to be Rick’s partner. Michonne has always been a mix of comic book Michonne and Andrea to me. She’s an amazing, kick ass, intelligent and beautiful woman, just like in the comics. I enjoy Danai’s take on Michonne. I really don’t see how people could be so upset about this pairing. Just because we know what happens in the comics doesn’t always mean it’s going to happen in the show. And the show has set Rick and Michonne up since season 3.
I’m not always a fan of how the tv show takes a character and changes them (Tyrese and Andrea, mostly) but sometimes they take the character and make them so great that you just want to see how it’s going to pan out. I feel this way with Michonne. I felt this way about Hershel. I hope Jesus is as awesome as he is in the comics. It sure does look like it’s shaping up to be that way!
The introduction of Jesus will do one of two things in regards to Darryl:
1) Becuase they are sort of the same type of rough and tumble bad ass, Darryl might end up meeting Lucille to allow Jesus to take over that role, or…
2) Jesus is gay. There has been a lot of talk from behind the scenes about Darryl’s sexuality, and Norman Reedus has stated that he is more than fine with Darryl being gay. Darryl and Paul may end up together. The scene where Paul’s unconscious head rests against Darryl’s shoulder may be some sort of foreshadowing.
Thoughts?
1 yes. I’ve thought this for a while.
2, no way at all.
No, I think TV show Glenn has used up most all his nine lives and negans debut shall be his coup de gras, maggie is already preggers with lil hershel & that timeline seems on-time & inevitable. I Think that, if anything, Daryl could take Abrahams plot ending/ death.
I am not into following somebody else’s love life so whatever they want to do there is ok by me. Michonne is hot, and she is a WAY better partner than Lori was.
I think more important things happened in the episode and they were downplayed by the Richonne thing. Like JESUS! We finally have JESUS! And even better, he knows slapstick! I thought I was watching an episode of the Marx brothers or something. There were more laughs in that episode then I have ever seen.
I am Super glad that Tara and Denise are out with their relationship 🙂 And yeah, I don’t drink soda, I drink pop. And I eat hotdish too!
Carl and Enid or Carl and Lydia? I can’t decide which couple I dislike most.
I am glad he got his hat back, even though it didn’t have the bullet hole in it to make it even cooler 🙂
I called shenanigans on that ASAP, how hard would it have been to put a bullet hole at the edge of his hat?? Damn.. Details people!! & I missed carl waking up and not immediately remembering that his mom was dead, and all that….
I was pretty disappointed to see none of the immediate consequences from him waking up. But I think we’ll see the longer lasting damages his scar has given as the series goes on.
They may do flashbacks. That’s what I’m hoping for.
So ill add into this and say like most i had such a hard time with “Richonne” being a comic fan first, but this Michonne is different and there is one main reason why. TV Michonne never had the Governor expeierence that Comic Michonne did. This is a major difference in the way the character’s grew. I love Danai Gurira take on her. She’s the only TV character i like better then her comic counterpart. Maybe Ezekiel and Sasha will be together 🙂
I dig your opinion. Yeah, I never shipped Richonne but after the premiere, seeing her protect the Grimes, hold Judith again, and kiss a wounded Carl… I couldn’t deny it. Richonne all the way. For TV at least.
Comics too! If/When andrea dies…..
I liked show Hershel better than comic Hershel as well. But I agree with you about Michonne. She’s almost a completely different character in the show, and in a good way.
I wonder if Jesus is actually Paul Monroe like in the comic and “Rovia” was just a cover surname? IMDb and the picture gallery on this site list him as “Paul Monroe”. Of course this could just be an oversight.
I cannot speak on this episode. I’ll just say it was one of my least favorites. I read the comic. I pay attention to show remixes. I just think the remix to this episode was sorta thrown together. The Jesus introduction. The rick and michonne relationship. I just think some things are better off undone. I’m not going to say too much about this one. Looking forward to next weeks ep