Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 4.

After multiple episodes of conflict between Rick and Michonne The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 4 devoted its entire runtime to an exploration of the pair’s relationship. Almost play-like in its structure, the episode saw the two world-weary fighters rekindle their love and share the burdens they have carried in the years since they were first separated. Impressively, the episode was written by Michonne actor Danai Gurira, who is a celebrated playwright.

As Screen Rant’s The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live review pointed out, the return of Rick and Michonne is the highlight of the series, and the fourth episode is a deep exploration of that dynamic. The episode was directed by Michael Slovis, whose previous work includes Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and New Amsterdam. Slovis also directed the series’ third episode.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is largely based within the Civic Republic – a community that is famous for keeping its location a secret.

Screen Rant interviewed Michael Slovis for a spoiler-filled discussion of The Ones Who Live episode 4. He gleefully shared his favorite moments, explained making sure that a powerful Rick moment felt earned, and played coy about whether any familiar faces will show up in the show’s final two episodes.

Michael Slovis Details Episode 4’s Most Emotional Moment

Screen Rant: To me, the big moment in this episode was the moment at the end where Rick totally breaks down in a way that, as someone who has seen everything he’s done in this world, I haven’t seen from him. How much work went into making sure that felt earned at that point in the episode?

Michael Slovis: Amazing, right? A lot. We always knew that this episode could not be a linear episode. [It] had to be pull, release, pull, release, pull, compress, until that moment, because nothing for any human being — especially emotionally— goes in a single line. That scene is all in that bed, right?

I saw an interview with Andy where Andy goes, “We did this one scene, and after we did the scene, Michael Slovis came up to us and said, ‘Andy, that was 17 minutes.’” Because I knew that the scene was that important, we had to do it almost like we were rehearsing a play. We had to get there, and we tried all kinds of things, and Andy tried all kinds of things to make it honest. You phrased it in an interesting way, because I think we earned the moment [by] leading up to that moment. I think we earned it, and we worked very hard to do that, but making that moment as revelatory and as honest as [it] could be took some work on the day.

It was not a complicated scene to shoot because they’re in bed, and when he gets out of bed he’s sort of in the same line. So, the coverage that we were doing could all be linear in terms of shot structures, and I designed it to be shot very simply and elegantly. When I design shots — in spite of the fact that I was the director of photography on Breaking Bad— I don’t like it when people notice the shots. I like it when the photography feels integrated and part of the story. To me, a great shot is one that tells the story from the right perspective, honestly. I tried to put together shot structures for that scene that [allowed us to] focus on the performance, and we did. We spent an entire day in that bed together.

I want to quickly follow up on the 17 minutes. That scene isn’t 17 minutes of dialogue, so how did it work out that a take went that long?

Michael Slovis: There was thinking and pausing and figuring things out. And that’s just one act, so it’s totally logical that for something that is “the” moment in the show, we needed to figure out what it was. Then, we could get it into a shape that would fit within the structure of the show.

But if you’re rehearsing something that’s that emotional, things come into people’s heads and they say them and they do it, and you’re not going to stop. You don’t say “cut” because they paused or went back or said something that wasn’t scripted, because sometimes that’s the source of unpolished diamonds. Sometimes those are the little golden nuggets that make an episode, or a movie, or whatever, special.

On Michonne’s Dedication To Getting The Truth Out Of Rick

I’m not sure how much you talked to Danai about this, but this episode is the most I’ve seen Michonne talk in all of The Walking Dead. Is there anything that she especially wanted to bring out of the character with this opportunity?

Michael Slovis: That’s a really great observation. We did not talk about it, but because of the epicness of this love story, the grandeur of this love story, and because of how important it was, if you really think about it, she was there to do a job. It made sense for her to draw it out of him, because she waited eight years, right?

She waited eight years. She finally finds him. He’s in his own world suffering from PTSD or brainwash. Whatever it is, he’s afraid. He’s so afraid for everything, for the right reasons — his family, his kids — and she’s not going to leave without him. So, she has to drive it. She has to, or else he’s not opening up. In that way, I think it was really earned. She did what many women do in many relationships: she brought it all forth and she said, “We have to talk about it.” And he needed to hear it, I think.

One Fun End-Of-Episode Moment Was Unscripted

The episode felt like it started as an action movie, then there was a play, and then it ended on a heist. One of my favorite moments was the end, where they get in the car and he can’t drive stick. I loved that vibe, with them getting in the getaway car and driving away. How much of a challenge was it for you as a director to navigate those different tones?

Michael Slovis: I love that moment too. I love two moments there. I had them kiss when they were on top of each other. After they made love, to me, it was that they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Now that he’s been released and she welcomes it, she’s like, “We’re partners again.” And indeed, it’s what Jadis says in a previous episode, that no one can touch them when they’re together. No one is stronger than the sum of the total of their energies.

But my favorite part of that scene, actually, is when that walker hits the window and [Rick] goes, “Yep, got to go.” That was not scripted. That just happened on the day, I believe. It was great. One of the things that’s so great about these two actors is that they’re always so present. Even if they’re not saying something that’s scripted, even if they’re going off book, even if they’re doing something that was unanticipated, it’s always within what the characters would do. They are always, the two of them, at one with their characters, and they’re always honest. So, even little things like that play true.

Michael Slovis (Allegedly) Also Wants To Know If Familiar Characters Will Return

I selfishly wanted to see a modern-day Chandler Riggs in that very brief Carl flashback. Now that Rick and Michonne are free and out of this place, for those holding out hope that we’re going to see familiar faces over the course of the rest of the season, do you have any encouragement or discouragement?

Michael Slovis: I can’t wait to see the episodes. I really can’t. I’m looking forward to it too. I want to know.

About The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?