The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live — What the Hell Has Rick Grimes Been Doing for 7 Years?

This post contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. For our advance review of the first four episodes of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, head here.

Back in 2018, Walking Dead fans bid farewell to series lead Andrew Lincoln as apex survivor Rick Grimes was written off the series in the fifth episode of Season 9. But, unlike most Walking Dead exits, Rick was not killed off. This exodus has been the series’ biggest cliffhanger to date, followed only by Danai Gurira leaving a year later when Michonne took off on her own to find Rick.

Despite the fact that, immediately following Rick’s last episode, Walking Dead chief content officer Scott Gimple announced there would be three Rick Grimes AMC movies — which then, a year later, turned into one movie that would debut in theaters, and then in 2022 was announced as a Rick and Michonne limited series — a huge concern remained. Rick was gone for a very long time. Rick’s final episode, “What Comes After,” ended with a six-year time jump, revealing an older Judith Grimes. Not only did we wonder where Rick went but now we were faced with…why did he never come back?

Because the Rick Grimes we knew would stop at nothing — NOTHING — to get back to his friends and loved ones. This new series, which was once a movie (or movies), had a lot of explaining to do. Right out of the gate, it came with a huge burden because the reasons for Rick never making it back home had to be damn good. And then, as the project kept getting delayed, as it shifted formats, and then COVID hitting and putting everything on the back burner, Rick has now been away from us almost as long as he’s been away from his family on the show.

Where Was/Is Rick?Rick Grimes was taken by the Civic Republic Military. Jadis, played by Polyana McIntosh, who was the leader of the Trash Tribe, had a working relationship with the CRM, who were flying around in helicopters. They would provide her garbage gang with resources and she would give them humans — classified as “A”s and “B”s — for, er, CRM purposes. Jadis tells the CRM that Rick is a “B,” though we could tell she was lying. He’s an “A,” whatever that means.

Some fans, based on the events in The Walking Dead: World Beyond, theorized that it had to do with people who were bit by walkers but that doesn’t really hold up if you consider Jadis fibbing to her soldier pals. Regardless, we’ll find out what those labels truly mean on The Ones Who Live, as well as what force on Earth could have kept Rick from escaping. The CRM saved Rick Grimes’ life. He was all set to die in the bridge explosion, sacrificing himself for his family and now he’s got a new lease on life. But at what cost? He never wanted to live like this.

Who are the CRM?Simply put, the Civic Republic Military is the dangerous army extension for the Civic Republic, which itself is an alliance of three large city-size survivor colonies (hence the Three Circle logo). The CRM, which seems to operate separately from the civilian government, represents the most powerful and formidable fighting force on the planet. Was it strange to introduce this huge clandestine “bogeyman” collective before The Walking Dead series brought in The Commonwealth? It sure was!

In fact, fans wondered, at first, if it was The Commonwealth that took Rick. It wasn’t, but giving us a glimpse of something way bigger like that, something tied to a mystery we wanted solved sooner than later, sure took the wind out of The Commonwealth’s sails.

Portland and Omaha are the two acquired survivor communities in the CRM, allowing the group to span across the country. The main city is back east and its location is kept secret from the other two. Much like the CRM keeps tons of secrets from the Civic Republic itself. Nonetheless, this alliance, within The Walking Dead universe, is the largest effort to preserve humanity and push it forward in an effort to reclaim all that was lost in the zompocalypse. They have all the weapons, all the research labs, and all the calculating coldness of a lethally pragmatic society obsessed with the greater good (and not so much with any or all human casualties).

The two seasons of The Walking Dead: World Beyond took place squarely within the world of the Civic Republic as our youg heroes on that show grew up in the Omaha colony and made a big trek, by foot, to a CRM research lab in upstate New York. They never make it to the main city but we catch glimpses of it here and there.

Do you need to watch World Beyond before The Ones Who Live? Not really, though it will introduce you to the CRM’s weapons, their poison gas (big plot point), their policies, along with their ruthless two-facedness. There’s a big World Beyond event that you will see happen on The Ones Who Live, from Rick’s side. You’ll also meet Major General Beale, played by Lost’s Terry O’ Quinn. If you caught World Beyond than you’ll have met his son, Mason Beale. So, overall, there are little fun bits of connective tissue but nothing major. Except for maybe…

Jadis The Walking Dead: World Beyond, in its second season, established Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis, now known as Anne in the CRM, as a major antagonist. After bringing Rick to the CRM, Jadis apparently joined their ranks, and moved up through the system as a hardcore CRM true believer. Of course, why wouldn’t she? Her trash goblins had all been annihilated and she was now a woman without a junkyard.

Again, it’s not necessary to watch World Beyond before The Ones Who Live but if their was then Jadis is probably the best reason. Though, smartly, The Ones Who Live is crafted with fans having skipped World Beyond in mind, so Jadis is brought in through the context of Rick and Michonne and not anything directly related to World Beyond’s story.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live – 12 New ImagesThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has a lot to live up to. For one thing, it didn’t get to us as soon as we, or those involved, wanted it to. Rick and Michonne have been gone from our lives for a long stretch and, in general, interest for The Walking Dead wanes more and more, year after year. So it has viewer apathy to contend with.

Secondly, it has to give us a damn good explaination for Rick being gone. This isn’t something fans have gradually wondered about in the seasons since Andrew Lincoln left the show. It was immediate, because of the time jump. And it remained this vital nagging mystery that the Walking Dead universe almost seemed to be actively avoiding. Especially when World Beyond rolled around and gave us so much of the CRM but not in the way any of us wanted. No, we didn’t want to know “all about the group that took Rick.” We wanted the CRM specifically fuctioning within the Rick Grimes story.

Will you be checking out The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live? It’s very good, fortunately. Well, the first four episodes are. Let us know below!