Review Category: Television

The season finale of The Ones Who Live resolves the dramatic dilemmas of this pacy and entertaining miniseries with a mix of self-confidence and spectacle. To fully enjoy the experience on offer, it is necessary to buy into the high-stakes melodrama that shapes both the action sequences and the heart-in-the-mouth moments of emotional jeopardy.

Few of the plot twists of The Last Time would stand up to serious critical scrutiny, while the script at times teeters on the edge of sentimentality. But any viewer willing to temper their natural incredulity will enjoy a rollicking race towards a resolution that includes multiple punch-the-air stop-offs along the way.

Following Jadis’ last-minute recantation, Rick and Michonne know that they must risk everything and return to the CRM’s Cascadia Base. Michonne will search for and destroy the evidence Jadis has hidden in her quarters, information that would reveal the existence and location of their settlements. At the same time, Rick will try to uncover the secrets of the CRM’s Echelon Briefing. If they can neutralise both threats, the pair will finally be able to return home and reunite with their children.

Writers Scott Gimple and Channing Powell put together a thrilling real-time account of the pair’s infiltration of the CRM base (one through the front gate, the other over the wire). Seasoned Walking Dead director Michael Satrazemis injects impressive tension into the parallel action sequences that follow. A set-piece that unfolds in a service elevator is particularly well executed, but it’s just one of several visceral encounters that the pair navigate as they make their way through the complex.

A key turning point in their investigation comes with the sit-down between Rick and Major General Beale – the moment that the Echelon Briefing is shared. Until now, there had been a question mark over whether Terry O’Quinn would get the screen time his character clearly warranted. In The Last Time, he finally gets the chance to pay back his retainer. Beale’s intense two-hander with Lincoln is one of the high points of the finale, as the General flatters and cajoles Rick to accept the imperatives of the CRM programme.

The horror of what Beale reveals is reinforced by the revelations Michonne uncovers in an alarming orientation film. It provides the justification for the pair to prepare to destroy the military capacity of the CRM’s Frontliners before they can begin their genocidal colonisation campaign far beyond their Philadelphia base. In the final showdown, Michonne and Rick construct a fiendish improvised explosive device, only to have their plans interrupted seconds from detonation by the redoubtable Sergeant Major Thorne. It’s from this point on that plausibility gets trampled in the rush to deliver entertaining pay-offs (which we won’t spoil here).

The Last Time delivers the kind of clear-cut narrative closure that satisfies and which many other genre series struggle with. The closing voiceover, which explains the reform and reorientation of the Civic Republic’s efforts, has to carry a lot of dramatic weight. But there’s the clear sense that matters of substance are being settled at the personal and at the societal level. There’s been no word yet as to whether The Ones Who Live will return for a second season. Anything is possible in a world of the endless undead, but this particular Walking Dead spin-off ends with all of the pieces on the board back in place and all key antagonisms resolved.

Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, whose creative input into the series’ arc has been decisive, might well have decided from the start that this was the way that their characters would bow out. The inclusion of numerous flashbacks to their earlier life stories does suggest that this is being framed as ‘the end’. But if Scott Gimple were to convince them to join him in pushing for a recommission, everything would need to begin again from a cold restart. As things stand, these six episodes have combined to deliver a taut and effectively plotted thriller, as well as an emotionally grounded character study built upon the unbreakable bonds between Rick and Michonne. No fan of their enduring love affair will finish The Ones Who Live feeling short-changed.

The first season of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE premiered on AMC and AMC+ in the US

Read our previous reviews of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE below:

Season 1, Episode 1, YEARS
Season 1, Episode 2, GONE
Season 1, Episode 3, BYE
Season 1, Episode 4, WHAT WE
Season 1, Episode 5, BECOME

Ever since Discovery leapt forward to the 32nd Century at the end of its second season, it’s had a bit of an identity crisis. Already the most atypical Star Trek show, it now had to reinvent itself in a new setting unfamiliar to both characters and the audience alike. It’s hardly controversial to say it hasn’t been a resounding success. While solving the canon issues, it continually got bogged down in its original 23rd Century, a few years prior to The Original Series setting, the 32nd Century setting has created a whole new set of problems. Gone is the familiar setting, with a reduced, vastly different Federation, few familiar characters, and previously prominent alien races (in particular, the show’s much-maligned take on the Klingons) nowhere to be seen.

It was Star Trek stripped of many of the things that make it Star Trek, leaving only the Discovery’s crew as a familiar frame of reference. How much you related to the show very much relied on how you felt about them. Fine if you’re a Discovery devotee, less good for the rest of us.

The result was a third season with a less-than-compelling plotline and one of the worst villains in the franchise’s history. The fourth season attempted to tell a story analogous to the COVID pandemic and seriously missed the mark, with an overly long, painfully drawn-out story that mistook over-seriousness for depth and drew out what should have been a two-parter over 13 painful hours. It did at least introduce an interesting new species at the heart of it all, even though the two (!) episodes devoted to learning to communicate with them felt like a second-rate Arrival.

It’s with some trepidation then that we approach the fifth and final season. And it’s… better. Learning lessons from the previous seasons, showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise have created a season that is a lot pacier and fun, and while still feeling disconnected from the rest of the franchise, have created a story that explicitly ties into a storyline from Trek’s past (to say which one would be delving into spoiler territory). We’ll tell you it starts with the discovery of an 800-year-old Romulan vessel that leads the crew on a chase to find something vital to the galaxy’s future (rumours that the stakes this season wouldn’t be the show’s usual fate-of-the-galaxy are of course totally unfounded).

Kurtzman and Paradise have made no secret that their model for the season was Indiana Jones, sending Burnham (the always-impressive Sonequa Martin-Green) off on a series of adventures in pursuit of an elusive treasure. And while you can see the inspiration, the ‘go to a planet, complete a task, get a piece of the puzzle’ format of the initial episodes feels more like something out of a video game than Indy. But, just as things are starting to feel formulaic, we reach the fourth episode, Face The Strange (the final episode provided for reviewers), which is both a departure from the formula and one of the best episodes of Discovery’s run.

We won’t spoil things, but it shows how far Burnham has come as a character over the course of the series while telling a story that feels, well, like they accidentally made a Star Trek episode. It’s a very atypical episode for Discovery, but a high-concept sci-fi idea that feels very much straight out of ‘80s – ‘90s Trek. Production had about wrapped when the announcement was made that this would be the final season, and shooting was extended to tweak the finale to wrap up the series. Watching the fourth episode, though, it feels like a show that knew the end was nigh, and it was time to examine its own legacy.

And while that episode is the unquestionable highlight, this season’s off to a solid start. The first two episodes (Red Directive and Under The Twin Moons) are fun, action-packed adventures, the third, Jinaal, a slower, more character-based one (although it still includes a fight with a giant, semi-invisible monster. This is Discovery after all) which is probably the least successful of the bunch.

There are some fun new characters, too, in the shape of a pair of nefarious treasure hunters (Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis) who are Discovery’s competition in the race for the MacGuffin. Also new is Battlestar Galactica’s Callum Keith Rennie as Captain Rayner, a fellow Starfleet captain who butts heads with Burnham early on. He’s a much-needed addition to the show. There’s generally a distinct lack of dramatic tension amongst Discovery’s crew, who spend an inordinate amount of time telling each other how much they love everyone. Rayner shakes things up in much the same way Jason Issac’s Captain Lorca did in the first season, frequently butting heads with them.

As has been mentioned extensively elsewhere (amid cries of “spoiler!” from corners of the internet), Rayner’s a Kellerun – a species who previously appeared in Deep Space Nine’s second season episode, Armageddon Game. As we’re trying not to spoil things too much here, we only mention it as a) it’s completely irrelevant, and b) it’s at no time mentioned onscreen. Nevertheless, he’s a fun character and someone who the show could have used two seasons ago. He’s not the only character change. Burnham – someone who usually has the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders – has lightened up, and even makes wisecracks now. Saru (Doug Jones) has a new job, and Tilly (Mary Wiseman) is back on the ship, providing a light touch that was sorely missing when she disappeared last season.

Discovery has always been an atypical Star Trek series. Regardless of what you may think of it, its success has both proved that cinematic-scale Trek is feasible on the small screen. It has led the likes of Lower Decks, Picard, and Strange New Worlds – none of which would exist without Discovery, proving Trek still had a place on television. It’s only fitting then that it gets the finale its legacy deserves. Based on the initial episodes, it looks like season five should give Discovery a proper send-off. It’s unquestionably the show’s best season since the move to the 32nd Century. If Discovery isn’t to your taste – and for many Trek fans, it isn’t – this season isn’t going to win you over. But for fans, Discovery looks set to go out with a bang.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Season 5 streams on Paramount+ from April 4th with the first two episodes. 

There’s a conscious change of mood in the opening sequences of Become, as Rick and Michonne relax into their extended road trip home. With the ruptures in their relationship now healed by the cathartic events of What We, there’s something approaching a honeymoon atmosphere as the pair continue their journey into the verdant, sprawling forests of Wyoming to reach Yellowstone National Park.

Convinced that the CRM will now write them off as killed in the helicopter crash and building collapse that Michonne ensured they would survive, their natural wariness recedes as they enjoy time in each other’s company. Hiking for a night’s respite at Three Pines Cabin, they encounter and neutralise a hapless trio of bandits. But a romantic time-out in a secluded retreat ends abruptly when their lie-in is interrupted by the unwelcome arrival of an old adversary.

It’s easy to understand the role that producers Scott Gimple, Andrew Lincoln, and Danai Gurira wanted Become to play in the season’s six-episode run. With Rick and Michonne now reunited, reconnected, and reinvigorated, the show has earned a moment in which to slow the pace and remind audiences why they should care about the fate of two characters who’ve rekindled their love for one another. That’s the dramatic reward for the stress and antagonism that followed their unexpected collision in Episode One, and it’s a moment to take a breath before the inevitable high-stakes, life-and-death drama of Episode Six.

A more surprising dramatic choice involves the focus on latter-day CRM enforcer Jadis, who is given a thoughtful backstory (courtesy of repeated annual timeshifts) in which she stumbles through the attempt to atone for her past crimes. It feels fitting that her confessor and confidant on this pilgrimage should be ‘Father’ Gabriel Stokes, played with signature astuteness by Seth Gilliam. Those flashbacks, in which Jadis reveals her fallibility and self-doubt, contrast rather well with the ruthlessness she embodies in the present day as the hunter closing in on her prey. Together, those two plot strands allow writers Gabriel Llanas and Matt Negrete to focus on affirming Michonne and Rick’s commitment to each other and, at the same time, settling accounts with Jadis. That all makes sense, given the compressed rhythms required by a mini-series. But there are elements of the execution of Become which disappoint.

Coincidence is stretched to breaking point by the way that different characters arrive at the exact same coordinates in the middle of hundreds of miles of wilderness, just because the plot needs them to. That’s made worse when one of them explains that they followed a trail of carelessly discarded litter to track those they were pursuing.

The feeling that the writers were distracted by their preoccupation with the main emotional storyline is compounded by the fumbled introduction of a calcified walker variant. The threat posed by this interesting new type, and of another (unseen) related mutation, evaporates almost as soon as it is introduced. And while it’s touching to watch the growing intimacy of Rick and Michonne, the reset of their courtship has already been established by the ending of What We. That sense of repetition is not helped by Rick’s strange defence of the mental paralysis that Michonne broke him out of. “I never let go,” he insists of his connection to her – while the counter-evidence of previous episodes clearly suggests otherwise.

As for the impact of Jadis’ reach for redemption, a lot depends on how strongly any individual Walking Dead fan feels invested in her fate. Pollyanna McIntosh has had a particularly challenging character journey to navigate since Jadis’ introduction, and she’s been a focused and observant actor throughout – as she’s evolved from malevolent scrapyard oddball to scheming military careerist. McIntosh brings that same sense of conviction to Jadis’ departure from the series, although it’s her quieter, reflective scenes with Gabriel that have the impact, rather than the more predictable bloody showdown with Rick and Michonne. She does, however, share an unparalleled parting gift: knowledge that could mean salvation for the pair.

Now equipped with a cunning plan, the duo prepare for a decisive reckoning with the Civil Military Republic. If they can complete their mission undetected, the road home re-opens. But disquieting whispers about the CRM’s Echelon Briefing may compel them to reconsider. Become is the least accomplished episode in this particular TWD spin-off to date. But the show’s wider story arc remains sound, and there’s no disputing the extraordinary chemistry between Lincoln and Gurira nor the resilience of their characters’ partnership.

New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE premiere on AMC and AMC+ in the US each Sunday

Read our previous reviews of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE below:

Season 1, Episode 1, YEARS
Season 1, Episode 2, GONE
Season 1, Episode 3, BYE
Season 1, Episode 4, WHAT WE

Making a sharp left turn from the three episodes that have preceded it, What We confronts Michonne and Rick with a different sort of life-or-death challenge: an emotional obstacle course that their characters may find insurmountable and which their failure to conquer would shatter any remaining hopes of a future together.

Blending the fraught with the joyous, the drama is built around a theatrical two-hander, during which Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln seize the opportunity to try to act each other off the screen. While there are several energetic action sequences in the episode, What We is propelled by the intense showdown between this equally stubborn pair. This is an assured scriptwriting debut for Gurira, who here adds writer and showrunner to her Walking Dead credits.

The consequences of the reckless plunge from the CRM helicopter, enforced on Rick by Michonne, is wrapped up quickly through a montage of images that show the pair landing in the water and making for the shore. That’s because What We is not concerned with dramatising their immediate fight for survival in the aftermath of their escape. Instead, its focus is on their struggle to reach the kind of reconciliation that can allow them to decide where their lives will take them next.

The complex of buildings in which the two of them, soaked to the skin and exhausted, find temporary sanctuary provides a welcome contrast with the familiar derelict real estate that the show’s writers default to. Prior to the onset of the zombie contagion, this small estate of flats and linked courtyards is revealed to have been an off-grid settlement, committed to a life of communal self-sufficiency and sustainable technology. It becomes clear that this community successfully avoided the attentions of roaming walker hordes, only later falling victim to starvation as the residents succumbed to the calamity of failed crops and poor harvests. The result is a gaggle of emaciated undead, shuffling through the empty corridors.

Despite the loss of its human inhabitants, their buildings, powered by solar and wind, have persisted. The smart tech of the house, including automated environment controls (complete with robotic audio updates) and endlessly cycling computer screensavers, all add to the sense of abandonment. Although kept tidy and dust-free by cleaner bots, the setting has an atmosphere of melancholy and obsolescence, echoing the sense of impasse that Rick and Michonne have reached. That’s reinforced by the fact that they are the only (non-dessicated) humans to appear in the story (apart from fleeting glimpses in flashback of other absent members of their family).

Gurira has an impressive ear for dialogue and proves that she shares as clear an insight into the inner lives of these two characters as any other writer working on the series. From the moment the pair are pictured in an impressive silhouetted tableaux, framed in the flat’s huge glass frontage as the storm rages outside, she sets them on a collision course. Gurira structures the battle to force Rick to confront his demons to great effect. An atypically intimate bedroom scene is mixed in with arguments in which a frustrated Michonne pushes back against a damaged Rick, who quickly retreats into his admission of defeat. Following Rick’s effort to compel Michonne to escape the clutches of the CRM alone, she has focused all her attention on encouraging him to rediscover the sense of righteous fight and determination that he seems to have lost.

He concedes that the experience of cumulative trauma has left its scars on his psyche. Aware that Jadis has outmanoeuvred them, Rick is convinced that she will exact violent vengeance on their loved ones if the pair of them escape. He insists the only thing that can guarantee safety is if he makes the sacrifice of staying with the CRM – the price of ensuring Michonne’s freedom. But Rick’s lack of reaction to the news that he is the father to Michonne’s child is further confirmation of just how damaged he has become and of how far he has sunk into emotional denial.

There are poignant and affecting moments throughout, the power of which comes from these two characters’ long and tangled backstory. The classic romantic conceit of the lover who storms out, hoping that their partner (left wrestling with a maelstrom of emotions behind a closed door) will follow them, is here given a Walking Dead twist.

Just as affecting is the anguish Rick feels when recalling his inability to keep Carl safe (although it’s notable he makes no reference to the agony of the loss of his wife, Lori). As Rick prevaricates, Michonne finds an inspired way to force him to make a life-changing decision. This is all really well-paced, with welcome interjections by determined walkers to punctuate the existential angst. There is a question mark about whether Rick’s crisis of faith fully convinces, but the bold decision to strip him (albeit temporarily) of his hero status does pay dramatic dividends. It also opens up new and enticing options in the journey towards the first season’s fast-approaching endpoint.

New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE premiere on AMC and AMC+ in the US each Sunday

Read our previous reviews of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE below:

Season 1, Episode 1, YEARS
Season 1, Episode 2, GONE
Season 1, Episode 3, BYE

If there’s a theme linking all of the different plot threads of The Ones Who Live as the first (and perhaps only) season reaches its midpoint, it’s mistrust. Suspicion and scepticism are rife in a network of relationships connecting individuals across the civilian and military strata of the Civic Republic. While key leaders in the CRM, including Major General Beale, have identified Rick as a potential future leader, only Jadis is initially aware of the true capabilities of new arrival ‘Dana Bethune’.

In flashback, consignee Rick is intercepted by a civilian-era Jadis in Millenium Park in the walled-in city. She reveals that, as head of the Scavengers, she traded the injured Rick into the CRM’s clutches and that she is now set on a future career in the ranks of their militia. Years later, Jadis remains fixated on the risk that Michonne and Rick now pose to the stability and security of the CRM, but for her own selfish reasons she’s keeping her knowledge about the pair’s relationship hidden from the authorities.

Although under intense scrutiny from all sides, Rick still pulls together an audacious escape plan. When that mission ends with an unexpected twist, he’s forced to rethink. The pressure mounts as Michonne’s evident talents as a fighter and a survivor become increasingly obvious to her handlers. When Rick and Michonne are posted to the Cascadia Forward Operating Base to clear insurgent walkers ahead of a major CRM conference, the frustration that has been mounting between many of the key players finds an explosive outlet.

The initial dynamic between Jadis and Rick was shaped by the bizarre nature of Scavenger culture: the improvised language, the weird social markers, and the freaky rituals. Now that Jadis has reinvented herself, as a military enforcer and power broker in the CRM, the faceoff between these two implacable alphas has acquired more substance. Pollyanna McIntosh and Andrew Lincoln are clearly enjoying this shift in their characters’ relationship, and their scenes together spark with energy as each threatens to derail the other’s plans by exposing their secrets to CRM commanders.

While Jadis and Rick trade threats, the intimate connection between Rick and Michonne develops fresh tensions that are just as hazardous to their survival. Michonne has been struggling to reconcile herself to Rick’s apparent acquiescence to his incarceration, while he’s been preoccupied with the need to keep her safe. The script for Bye, by Gabriel Llanas and Matt Negrete, takes their growing disconnect and finds ways to further corrode their mutual trust. Danai Gurira continues to breathe new emotional texture into her performance as Michonne. Her incredulity at the changes in Rick is matched by Lincoln’s trademark intensity as Rick dismisses her concerns and demands she follow his lead. Naturally enough, neither of these stubborn survivors is prepared to acquiesce to what they see as the other’s foolhardiness.

Bye includes some excellent set-pieces, the best of which are a loyalty-testing showdown between Sergeant Major Thorne and Michonne in the ruins of Lincoln Financial Field and the handling of a walker breach in the fences of that CRM forward command centre. There are more insights too into the evolution of CRM culture, including a little more screen time for Terry Quinn as Major Beale delivers a politically-charged eulogy at the funeral of Lieutenant Colonel Okafor. There are emotionally charged beats, too, most affectingly when Michonne is reminded of the depth of Rick’s commitment to her and his children after meeting the artist whose carvings on the casings of redundant tech played such a critical role in her search for him.

Director Michael Slovis manages the action, the revelations and the personal schisms with equal attention. But this is an episode the success of which relies on the strength of the performances of the plot’s three central characters. And it’s the irreconcilable tensions between them that make the drama crackle. The story wraps up with a shocking turn of events that Lincoln describes as his favourite endpoint in the entire history of The Walking Dead. It’s audacious and thrilling, and, most importantly, it ensures that the second half of this season cannot unfold in the way that the first half suggested it would.

New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE premiere on AMC and AMC+ in the US each Sunday

Read our previous reviews of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE below:

Season 1, Episode 1, YEARS
Season 1, Episode 2, GONE

The second episode of The Ones Who Live turns the attention to Michonne, the unstoppable lone warrior, back out on the road on a solo mission to track down Rick, her partner and the father of her adopted family. She now has evidence that Rick survived the devastating explosion on the bridge in which he sacrificed himself to protect his community from a walker swarm. Michonne is unable to rest until she can confirm his fate, even after all of the years of silence that have followed. It’s Michonne’s determination, rather than Rick’s seeming indestructibility, that’s driving the drama at this point.

Gone rolls the clock back to replay the time period seen in Years from Michonne’s perspective. It takes the story up to and beyond the pair’s joyous reunion to explore the complicated consequences of its immediate aftermath. This is a much more emotionally literate episode than Years, as it digs deeper into Michonne’s attempts to deal with loss, her empathy towards others, her resilience and her stoicism. The delve into her psyche builds the anticipation ahead of that pivotal moment in the woods so well that it’s hard not to think that Gone would have worked better as the new show’s opening story.

After Michonne rescues two travellers from encroaching walkers, she is summoned before Elle, the leader of a ramshackle roaming convoy of vehicles, to account for her actions. Michonne, in turn, questions why Elle is prepared to abandon those who leave the caravan to scavenge. She asks to be rewarded with the gift of a horse so that she can continue her journey northwards towards Bridgers Terminal, her best lead on Rick’s whereabouts. Others in the community immediately warm to her, including the pair she saved, Aiden and Bailey, and the community’s inventor, armourer and pyrotechnic expert, Nat.

Sometimes, time pressures result in sketchily drawn guest characters whose fates are difficult to feel invested in. The script for Gone, by Nana Nkweti and Channing Powell, gives these temporary allies of Michonne more substance so that the jeopardy that they then face has a greater impact. Breeda Wool brings a sense of quiet pathos to the role of Aiden, while Matthew Jeffers excels in the much more demonstrative portrayal of the feisty fixer Nat.

The opening episode had a lot of new world-building to get through, establishing the nature of the Civic Republic Military (CRM) enclave, the isolationist philosophy that governs it, and the extent of Rick’s entrapment. Gone does not have to carry the same expository burden, which allows directors Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood (aka “Bert and Bertie”) to really focus on Michonne’s literal and figurative journey. Along the way, there are some interesting revelations about life in this part of North America. Elle’s nomadic cavalcade is a form of community rarely seen in the Walking Dead universe, although it’s clear that her group can be little more than rootless hunter-gatherers who relocate with the seasons. Michonne also learns about “the Wailing”, a mass migration of walkers who seem to pose an insurmountable obstacle on her route.

The gas attack, launched from CRM helicopters to protect the isolation of their city, makes for a horrific set-piece and provides some fantastic visuals. Nat’s missile attack on “the Wailing” had earlier demonstrated his prowess with weaponry, and the murderous CRM attack from the air gives all the justification required for the later retaliatory attack on the chopper piloted by Rick. In the aftermath of the gas bombing, the survivors hunker down in an abandoned shopping mall to give their damaged lungs time to recover. The passing of the months that they need to recuperate is evoked through a downbeat and melancholic montage, something which invests the reunion all viewers now know is imminent with an even stronger sense of emotional release.

Danai Gurira’s return to the role of Michonne impresses immediately. Gurira delivers a masterful and emotionally exposed performance as her character’s belief system is tested almost to the point of destruction. The reunion with Rick is a moment of triumphant personal vindication that’s undercut by the need to agree on a cover story that can deceive approaching CRM reinforcements and buy the pair time. The moment does exonerate Michonne’s refusal to surrender her search for Rick, but this is not presented as a simple, sentimental assertion of the power of belief. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that everyone who broke away from Elle’s convoy hoping for a better life in Michonne’s company is dead by the time that she and Rick return to the CRM citadel. Any hope of escape is quickly compromised by the return of an old adversary who knows the duo’s full backstory. And Michonne’s own relief is quickly tempered by doubts about the ways in which Rick may have changed and what he has been willing to surrender.

Gone lands the emotional payoff of the reunion with fan-pleasing conviction, at the end of what’s an engrossing backstory for Michonne. But what impresses just as much is the fresh jeopardy that the Grimeses are immediately plunged into, as a new high-stakes crisis ensnares them.

New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE premiere on AMC and AMC+ in the US each Sunday

Read our previous reviews of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE below:

Season 1, Episode 1, YEARS

Wolf Like Me debuted in January 2022, and despite being well-received by those who saw it, the series seemed to fly under the radar –  swamped by bigger, louder genre series – which is a shame; the first six-episode run was a witty, clever love story in which boy-meets-girl and, inevitably the girl turns out to be a werewolf.  Set in and around Adelaide, the series features Josh Gad as Gary, a widowed father living with his 11-year-old wise-beyond-her-years daughter Emma (Ariel Donoghue) as they try to come to terms with the death of Emma’s mother, Lisa. Their lives are changed forever following a nasty fender bender with  Mary (Isla Fisher); Gary and Lisa end up meeting coincidentally again and again, and before long, they find themselves in a relationship. But Mary has a secret that forces her to run home before nightfall whenever there’s a full moon…

Season Two has now arrived, and it’s even better than Season One. Gary and Mary are now together and dealing with Mary’s ‘problem’ the best way they can. She has now moved in with him, and he’s created a new hi-tech basement for her to hide in when she undergoes her ‘change’, but across these seven brisk, crisp thirty-minute (at the most) episodes, new obstacles rise up to threaten the future of their relationship and events from the end of series one eventually return to haunt them.

Wolf Like Me doesn’t reinvent the werewolf wheel, but it’s a hugely enjoyable, immersive experience – you’ll binge the series across one evening, it’s that sort of show – and where season one had a certain lightness, Season Two is a little darker. The laughs are fewer and further between. Gary finds himself trapped in the house with Mary-as-wolf (the transformation and wolf effects dotted throughout the episodes are surprisingly effective) when he accidentally turns off the basement security system. A face from Mary’s past reappears and looks to be in danger of coming between the pair. The local police call Gary in for questioning about unexplained deaths in the Outback at the conclusion of the first season. Gad and Fisher are superb as one of TV’s most unusual pairings, and they’re supported by an excellent regular cast, including Emma Lung as Gary’s sister-in-law, Sarah. The series ends on a terrific cliffhanger, and whilst Season Three is yet to be confirmed, there’s clearly plenty of bite left in this quirky, likable and shamelessly moreish little series.

WOLF LIKE ME: Seasons One and Two are now streaming on Prime Video.

 

With The Walking Dead franchise now producing so much new content, each TV spin-off must establish its own distinctive identity and aesthetic immediately. Its makers have to give battle-hardened Walking Dead viewers a reason to commit to following yet another show set in the sprawling world of the walkers.

The extra challenge facing the showrunners of The Ones Who Live is crafting stories that deliver upset and surprise. That’s because they are duty-bound to make good on the show’s much-trailed premise: Rick and Michonne will be reunited, and – if that title is to be believed – neither of them will die. While that will be a fan-pleasing moment, it’s not enough on its own to sustain a series. The opening episode Years shows that the Rick-Michonne storyline will unfold in the context of a much larger military-political conflict involving the ruthless Civic Republic Military (CRM) and their equally implacable opponents.

Five years on from his abduction, Rick is once again a prisoner. Now fully recovered, he’s conscripted labour, part of a chain gang keeping a CRM-held city free of encroaching walkers. Ensuring that the city’s location remains secret means that no one is ever allowed to leave. The only hope is to survive long enough to win citizenship and enter the inner sanctum.

Even when Rick’s attempts to escape end in failure, his resilience and determination attract the attention of Lieutenant Okafor (an assured turn from Craig Tate), who tries to convince him his future lies in joining the CRM and reforming it from within. Rick also catches the eye of Major General Beale (Terry O’Quinn, at his enigmatic best), who’s keen to work out where Grimes’ loyalties lie. Rick must decide if any hope of returning to his family has gone and if he can reconcile himself to a soldier’s life instead.

What was originally announced as a trilogy of big-screen movies has evolved into this six-episode TV miniseries. The Ones Who Live is now the sixth Walking Dead spin-off (following on from Fear, World Beyond, Tales, Dead City, and Daryl Dixon). Its producers are keeping open the option of a second series, but insist that this story will unfold without crossovers with other TWD properties.

One of the attractions for Andrew Lincoln in returning to the role of Rick Grimes was the chance to do something different with the character. Scott Gimple’s script delivers that by taking Grimes’ mix of strength and world-weariness and putting him in a setting where he’s essentially powerless, alone, and out of options. Fans will relish Lincoln’s return to the role and the actor’s evident commitment to seeing Grimes’ story through to its conclusion. There’s nothing perfunctory about Lincoln’s performance.

Much of the running time of Years is spent on renewed world-building, introducing the culture of the CRM and teasing at the tensions and hidden divisions within it. That’s mixed in with flashbacks that reveal Grimes’ unseen life history following his character’s explosive departure from the original series in Season Nine. The episode covers a lot of ground, using what’s quite a complex structure, blending dream sequences, narrated montages, and time jumps to relate the story.

Dead City has its own signature design motifs, Daryl Dixon even more so. Despite its larger sense of scale, The Ones Who Live is not immediately able to match the same evocative sense of place. If anything, its larger canvas and functioning, populated city setting makes less visual impact – despite the reasonable quality CGI of urban degeneration. That might well improve as the show’s dramatic tone and texture evolves, and its key locations are settled.

Years ends with an audacious shock reveal that confirms that Gimple is no fan of deferred gratification. It’s a gutsy moment, which accelerates the narrative tempo and succeeds as the episode’s most confident single beat. But Years is a less compelling debut than those of either Dead City or Daryl Dixon. It’s an entertaining story, right enough, but there are too many big themes, secondary plot points, and short-lived supporting characters competing for attention for it to thoroughly convince.

New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE premiere on AMC and AMC+ in the US each Sunday.

Adapting Avatar: The Last Airbender into a live-action series was always going to be a challenge. Netflix might have gotten it right with One Piece, but unfortunately, they cannot repeat that success. The new show has its moments but never escapes the shadow of its superior forebear, nor does it ever really manage to justify being made in the first place. 

The new Avatar feels somehow rushed and too slow at the same time. The stories of Aang, Kotara, Sokka, and Zuko lose their rich detail and tonal consistency as the series struggles to marry the original’s cheeky humour with a drive for maturity. The young cast do what they can but never bring their characters to life with the vivid expressiveness and depth they deserve. Even the action, visually impressive as it is courtesy of a sizable budget, lacks the energy and zip that animation originally gifted them. At no point do you believe that Netflix truly understands the world they have inherited, hence the series’ apparent need to dump information in chunks rather than approaching characterisation with patience and trust. 

The final two episodes are the strongest, blessed with tighter and more emotionally impactful storytelling that escapes the preceding entries. Before this, Avatar: The Last Airbender is much like Aang himself, unsure of what it is supposed to be and carrying the unavoidable weight of a burdensome legacy. This new Avatar is less colourful, less fun, and somehow less awe-inspiring than what came before it. It remains to be seen whether this can be amended with a (surely inevitable) second season. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender is available to stream on Netflix now.