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[whateverisbeautiful]

Reveling in Richonne

#177: The Unstoppable Life (11x24) 

Y’all, I can’t help it. I have got to revel in Richonne right quick. 😋 It hit me that we very much got a Richonne sequence at the end of the series finale and, as are the rules, if anything Richonne-related was recorded and released, I gots to analyze it. Even years later. The Richonne love never ends cuz they are the gift that keeps on giving. 💯

And boy were we blessed with Rick and Michonne’s first return to the franchise after years away. How absolutely perfect is it that this show ended on the two of them, Rick and Michonne’s impeccable unstoppable love, and their precious family! They’re the show’s heart and my heart, y’all. 

There’s a lot to react to in their final moments of TWD so, finally, it’s time for more reveling. Because our lovely Richonne is back!! Won’t He Do It! 

(Also I’m still extra years later when it comes to R&M so I thought I could do a brief reveling, especially since I’m rusty...but it still ended up being a 2-part dissertation 🫣🤗) 

R&M’s return was every last thing and it was wonderful to see them be the final note of the series as they prepare to bless us ten times over in a spinoff show further dedicated to them and their love. Like this is legit what dreams are made of. 🤩

So to start, while I completely stopped watching TWD shortly after Michonne left, I returned to watch the series finale with hopes of one thing and one thing only - seeing the return of our king and queen.  

And truly all it took was seeing them back on my screen for my brain to be consumed with this couple like old times. The hold they have on me lol. But how could you not adore the GOAT TV couple and this special love story that was incredible from beginning to “end.” 

Just when it was looking like the finale was about to close with Daryl riding off to his spinoff, a single match was lit. 😏And y’all what a glorious match it was. 

Finally, after years, we see him. Rick Grimes is back. And just the very first glimpse of his face had me rejoicing. 

Rick’s face is lit by a fire as he looks down and writes fervently to someone. And learning who he’s writing to - it’s perfect and it only makes sense for Rick’s return to the show to be so focused on Michonne. 

Then we see gorgeous Michonne also writing a letter by a fire. 

And seeing both of them back, this was legit my reaction the second Michonne and Rick were on screen...

And I love that they both look goodT, with a capital T at the end. 🤩 Like they both age like fine wine, and I know Rick won’t know what to do with himself seeing Michonne’s stunning new look, and Michonne’s gonna love that her handsome man’s curls are back lol. 

I also love the use of fire to tie Michonne and Rick’s final moments together. I’m sure there’s more eloquent symbolism to be drawn, but I just love the visual and the way it can feel like their actions (and their outfits) are still so in sync and aligned. They’re sharing this moment, even apart and in different time periods. And there’s so clearly a burning fire within them as well, as they continue to resolutely search and long for one another. 

It also just reminded me of a time when they really were together by a fire in the s4 finale. How far we’ve come in their journey since then ☺️ and how wonderful it’ll be when they’re finally together again.  

We start to hear bits and pieces of their letters, with Rick’s iconic voice beginning, “I think of the dead all the time,” as a montage plays of the many memorable characters throughout TWD. The first character shown is fittingly young Carl wearing the sheriff hat which is precious and emotional. 😭

Rick goes on to say he thinks about the living that he lost too, because he lost literally everyone when he was carted off on that helicopter. It’s so sad knowing it was all taken away from him so quickly without a single goodbye. But while he physically lost them, it’s clear they haven’t at all left his heart. 

Then Michonne’s sweet voice reads her letter to Judith and RJ about how she tried to get back to them “again and again,” but she’s too far for the radio. I adore the many layers of Michonne, with her Mama Michonne side being one of my favorites, so I’m glad that was spotlighted in the finale. 

Michonne then breaks my heart and warms it all at once when she states, “But I still got you and you got me. We’re connected. We’re still connected.” Y’all one thing about Danai, she never misses when it comes to perfectly delivering lines. Like sis makes the right choice every time in just how to capture the emotion behind the line. 

As she speaks, we see sweet flashback moments between her, Judith, and RJ. And truly, what a testament to the power of Michonne that amid all the trauma and loss after losing Rick and Carl, she still gave her kids a good life filled with love and smiles. 

The montage continues with more clips of past members of TF and one thing I noticed and appreciated is that the clips used for each character aren’t of them in action or being walker-slaying warriors, but rather quieter moments for each character, during times where the character might have most believed in hope and a future worth living. Such as Abraham looking at Maggie and Glenn’s sonogram. 

I feel using these type of flashback scenes was a subtle way to further emphasize the show’s final message about life and the living prevailing. Even if some of them are not literally living, their legacy and impact lives on and it was the simple, familial, human moments of their life that they’re remembered by. 

Rick says he thinks about them all everyday, which of course. Still the family man we know and love. I know some people were worried that after so many years Rick would be forced to move on or even start to have a foggy memory of his family, but that’s not Rick Grimes. I think even if Homeboy were to have literal amnesia he’d somehow still remember TF, and especially still remember and think about Michonne. 

I love knowing that while he’s been away, he’s held those he loves so close to his heart nonstop. And as his letter will further confirm, he’s not just thought about them but been fueled to keep going by them, and most of all by Michonne. 

Rick acknowledges how he thinks about what he learned from TF and how those in his life made him who he is, even more so than all the stuff he’s experienced while away. All these years away and still no one has been more impactful than the family he was taken from. 

I love Michonne saying, “We’ll always be together. Even when we’re apart. We together are the strongest thing.” That sentiment is why she’s still so connected to Rick all this time. 

And Michonne later shares the uplifting gospel truth, “We’re love. And love is endless. We are endless.” Amen. 

I also love Rick acknowledging “all of our lives becoming one life,” because one; he still feels so one with his family and two; he and Michonne’s lives really did become one and then created a life in RJ. 🥹

So then we get to the best part of these flashbacks. 

Because time-jump Rick finally looks up over the fire as if there’s one particular person he thinks of that most takes up his mind. One person whose memory he doesn’t just recall once or twice, but several times because he can’t stop thinking of her once he starts. 

And we don’t have to guess who he’s thinking about, who’s fueling him, because four different flashbacks of Michonne then come on screen and y’all…perfection. 

Very telling too that Rick and Michonne are the only ones to get four back to back flashbacks. It just so emphasizes their love, their importance, and them being the drive of this show and of each other’s lives. 

I love that Rick also emphasizes, “We’re together. Pieces of a whole that just keep going for what we gave each other,” as we get Michonne flashbacks. 

In Rick's mind, heart, and soul, he and Michonne are still together. They’re still one. Rick knows Michonne gave him the most valuable thing possible by giving him a love worth fighting for and a life worth living. That doesn’t die, regardless of distance. 

I love the choice of Michonne flashbacks too. They’re all sweet and significant in their own way. 

We first see Michonne arriving at the fence for her iconic entrance into Rick and TF’s life, which I still say is the most significant introduction between any two characters in TWD. It’s the unforgettable moment where R&M’s lives became intertwined and forever changed for the better.

Then it’s the always amazing s5 moment where Michonne places a comforting hand on Rick’s to ask if he’s ready to head into Alexandria for the first time. It’s pre-canon but still such a confirmation of how they’ve become partners that support, lean on, and encourage one another. 

Then it’s Michonne smiling and looking like a glowing mother in s9 while painting with Judith during one of the most calm and domestic times she and Rick got to enjoy. It’s joyously casual moments like that one that I know Rick wanted to live out for years to come with his Grimes girls. Moments like that morning are why life was still so worth living. 

And of course, there’s the special moment when Michonne and Rick first held hands over mints, where the rest was history and R&M never looked back nor held back their love for one another from then on. 

Rick’s letter then just gets better and better y’all. Because then he starts to get specific. This is when it becomes clear this letter isn’t just to anyone in TF but to Michonne directly. 👌

He states, “One unstoppable life. You showed me that.” 

And it’s just perfection and the utter truth. She really did show him that time and time again. It also reminds me of blessed 7x12 when Rick tells Michonne in the van how she led him. Rick always happily has taken to heart what Michonne says and shows him, and he still does here, miles and miles away This love story is something else, man. 🥹

I love that Rick and Michonne both believe so strongly that their resilient love is unstoppable and endless. It absolutely is. 

After Michonne’s flashbacks, we see current-day Michonne finally looking up, also reflecting on the man that still has her whole heart. 

And I especially love each of the four Rick flashbacks, especially one subtle s5 scene in particular that had me thrilled. 

Fittingly, they pair Michonne and Rick’s first hand hold in 6x10 with their last hand hold in 9x03. 

I love these hand holding visuals because it just illustrates how united they are and have always been. They’re always in it together, as both their letters reiterate. 

We get Rick’s reaction to Michonne at the fence in s3, as he takes in the woman that will change his world and become the love of his life. It’ll forever be gold. 

But then…y’all then!! The third Rick flashback is from season 5 where Rick is in his constable outfit and leaning against the wall. And y’all can I say why I love this!!

I immediately remembered this scene when I saw it return in the finale, and I knew this is when he’s staring at Michonne in her matching constable outfit.

This is a pre-canon moment but was still so clear that Rick had an attraction to his then-bestie, Michonne. And y’all this scene was during that one storyline-that-shall-not-be-named, so in my mind, using this scene in the final moments of TWD is just further confirmation that Michonne was always who Rick wanted. Always. 😌

And the final flashback of Rick, is him beaming up at Michonne during their romantic candle-lit dinner in the treasured 7x12 episode. The day he and her established they want the rest of their lives to be the two of them, “you and me.” And while a major curveball was thrown with Rick being taken, it’s clear they are still very much embarking on life the “you and me” way.  

Seeing that whole Rick and Michonne sequence I was like ‘did we really just get a Richonne fan edit at the end of TWD?’ #Blessed. 🤭 I love that every single one of their flashback moments were Richonne-related. And like I noted earlier, a lot of these flashbacks are from when the characters were at some of their most alive, happy, hopeful, and human. So of course all Rick and Michonne’s flashback scenes were with each other. 

The reading of the letters concludes with my favorite part, Rick saying “You gave me that.”

Y’all Rick is literally writing love letters to Michonne, telling her that she gave him life. 😭🥹🥰 Unstoppable life. #WeWon. 

And his statement is truer than he even realizes. (I promise you my heart will soar to another dimension when Rick learns about and meets RJ, his son, and the life he created with Michonne, cementing their love is truly endless.) 

Also I love how Rick is still trying to ensure that Michonne knows her impact. He did so right before he left in season 9 by thanking her for everything, and years later it’s still important to him that Michonne know all she’s given him. I love their never-ending love. 

And y’all while that ends the little letter overlap part. There is still more to take in. So you know my extra self has to do a part 2. 😁