The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Review - 5 Ups & 5 Downs From "Become"

10. Down: The Distracting Structure

Up until now, The Ones Who Live has worked wonders with its structure, which has managed to cover several years of story with only brief moments of feeling rushed or unsure of itself. Some of the story beats themselves have stumbled, but the pace has been fine. 

"Become" has ended this trend slightly. By following two different timelines - the primary one concerning Rick and Michonne; the other exploring the past of Jadis - it's constantly shifting between tone and levels of urgency, deviating from maddeningly slow to jarringly quick in an instant. 

What's worse is that neither of the episode's storylines feels entirely fresh or, at their worst, necessary. Jadis's flashbacks give insight into her motivations and fractured mental state (which we'll get to late), and offer a surprising amount of fan service, but Rick and Michonne's is more of the same. 

The truth is, a lot of "Become" could be skipped over and you wouldn't be missing much. It's all awkward set-up, blunt exposition, and anti-climax, and fails to justify its time-shifting narrative structure.