The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs From "What We"
3. Up: The Powerful Performances
Though it feels like a given at this point to say Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira are fantastic in their respective roles, this episode feels particularly impressive, and may just be the finest hours as Rick and Michonne to date.
On the one hand, there's Gurira, who brings the usual steely intensity to be expected from Michonne, but counters it confidently with an undercurrent of resentment and disappointed. She can see Rick is hurting, but she's also heartbroken by his refusal to come home; she loves him, but he's making her blood boil.
It's a powerful, deeply felt portrayal of grief, though it may be Lincoln who steals the show in the end, his ability to capture such pain behind Rick's eyes whilst slowly breaking down the walls of his self-deception a gripping display of control and subtly. He's never been this lost before, never been so at war with himself.
Together - much like Rick and Michonne themselves - Lincoln and Gurira make the perfect team, and the more time they spend together unfurling the layers of their characters, the better The Ones Who Live promises to become.