The Ones Who Live’s Danai Gurira Dishes on Michonne’s Explosive Return

Warning! Contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Season 1, Episode 1, Years.

“Reunited… and it feels so good!” Well, fans might have to ask Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) to make sure about that. After all, his wife, Michonne (Danai Gurira) did nearly kill him before the lovebirds finally realized they had been reunited at the conclusion of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’s Season 1 premiere, which is titled Years. And Gurira dishes on Michonne’s splashy return. Gurira said in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“I think it made sense. Because we had to get into the meat of the story, which is: What happens when these two people who obviously have been changed by all this time apart come back together? What does that look like with this massive barrier and obstacle of the CRM being between them? How do they get through that? What is it going to be? We can’t do that until we connect them.”

Showrunner Scott M. Gimple also offered some insight into where Rick and Michonne are now after having been separated for so many years — literally since Lincoln left The Walking Dead in Season 9, Episode 5’s What Comes After over five years ago. Gimple told EW:

“They look like two different people. They are two different people. And I don’t mean from each other, I’m saying from themselves. They’re different than when the audience last saw them and when they last saw each other. They’re completely different people than who they were.”

Michonne’s Jaw-Dropping Return

Rick Grimes (Lincoln) losing his left hand was but one of many jaw-dropping moments from The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. But it’s hard to top Michonne realizing she’s fixing to murder her husband! One of the true pleasures of this modern age is the ability to watch the reactions of fans soaking in their favorite media. And actress Danai Gurira got a kick out of seeing TWD audiences responding so favorably to the way her character, Michonne, returned in The Ones Who Live’s series premiere. Gurira said in the same interview:

“I love that the audience gets thrown by the fact that BOOM — there she is! Just as they think Rick is settling and accepting the fact that Rick is basically broken and going to stay here and not fight it anymore — just as they feel like they’ve lost him, he’s found. In my mind, that’s good drama. So, I think that was what was behind the decision.”

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Gurira followed Andrew Lincoln’s departure from The Walking Dead’s mothership series a season after the disappearance of Rick Grimes. Michonne’s last episode came in 2020’s Season 10, Episode 13, What We Become. But nearly four years later, Gurira admits it wasn’t that difficult to get back into her character, thanks to the actress’ workout routine and some stellar writing by the creatives. Gurira said in a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“It didn’t take much. I sometimes work out and do forms with my Katana. I’m never that far from my sword or some weapon. There was so much writing and development of the whole thing before we started shooting, so I was pretty connected.”