With The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live marking Rick and Michonne’s return, the spinoff must avoid one dumb mistake in order to be successful.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will welcome back two of the franchise’s biggest characters, but it risks failure if it repeats a dumb Walking Dead mistake. Rick Grimes and Michonne both made appearances in The Walking Dead series finale after spending a long time away from the show. Their return in The Ones Who Live will be highly anticipated and should be a huge hit for the franchise. However, the show could still fail after its initial buzz if it can’t avoid a key mistake. The Walking Dead has made several errors throughout its run and repeating one specific problem could ruin Rick and Michonne’s spinoff.

Since the main series ended, The Walking Dead spinoffs have been mostly successful, with Dead City proving popular before Daryl Dixon managed to eclipse it. In theory, Rick and Michonne’s spinoff should be the biggest yet. Given there is still hype around The Walking Dead universe as shown by the recent spinoff’s performances, big character returns should make The Ones Who Live a massive hit. Michonne is enough of a draw on her own, but bringing back the protagonist of the entire series may hook plenty of viewers. Even those who stopped watching the franchise might get curious, making avoiding a previous mistake all the more important.

Rick and Michonne’s Reunion Can’t Come Right At The End Of The Season

Rick and Michonne’s Walking Dead reunion can’t come right at the end of the season, a mistake the franchise has made previously. Although the show might want to build as much suspense as possible to make Rick and Michonne’s reunion even bigger, waiting until the end of the season could backfire. There are plenty of mistakes The Walking Dead should have avoided in the past, but all these errors will hopefully lead to the showrunners learning their lesson. Outside killing off characters needlessly and fake-out deaths, one of the franchise’s biggest mistakes is relying on cliffhangers and audiences wanting more.

While The Walking Dead‘s cliffhanger endings sometimes worked, they were often more frustrating than rewarding. Of course, the story must continue, but season 8 proved that the show can wrap up a storyline without throwing some huge tease in, just so people will come back for the next season. The Walking Dead has had big character returns in previous finales, with Morgan reuniting with Rick in season 5 and Madison returning to Fear The Walking Dead in the season 7 finale. While these are big moments, making audiences wait for a whole new season for any follow-up becomes frustrating and something that must be avoided in The Ones Who Live.

The Ones Who Live Can Have A Second Season, But Not At The Expense Of Season 1

A second season of Rick and Michonne’s spinoff could still work, but not at the expense of season 1. The reunion between the spinoff’s two main characters is inevitable and putting this off until the end would feel like the show is just trying to prolong itself. Daryl Dixon did a great job with its pacing, and it feels like the show warranted a second season. Even still, Carol’s appearance in the Daryl Dixon season finale means The Ones Who Live can’t do the same thing. Whereas Carol’s involvement was unknown, both Rick and Michonne will be central to the story, making their reunion obvious.

The spinoff must have an actual story to tell, building up both characters’ journeys before having them take on the CRM together. Their reunion feels like it could happen just a few episodes into the show, which means too much filler would make it obvious that the show is being dragged out. Both Daryl Dixon and Dead City were renewed for second seasons, but The Ones Who Live must earn the right to come back. Rather than telling half a story in season 1 and the other half in season 2, Rick and Michonne’s spinoff needs to make sure season 1 is action-packed and fleshed out before thinking about a follow-up.

The Walking Dead Has Now Set These 2 Major Characters Up For A Future Crossover

With multiple shows in the franchise and existing crossover characters, The Walking Dead has set up 2 major characters for a future spinoff crossover.

Rick And Michonne’s Spinoff Needs To Have Them Fighting Together To Setup The Franchise’s Future

To set up the franchise’s future, Rick and Michonne need to fight alongside one another. If Rick has been part of the CRM all this time, it is clear someone like Michonne is needed to help free him. The two fighting alongside each other, strategizing an escape, and rekindling their relationship are all key components to making the spinoff successful. While season 1 of The Ones Who Live doesn’t need Rick and Michonne to make it back to the larger group, it should begin setting this up. The franchise’s future lies with Rick and his children, making it important to work towards this.

Rick hasn’t seen his children in around a decade on the show, and reuniting them is the best direction to take the universe. Simultaneously, Rick and Michonne fighting the CRM is the next big arc the show needs. Rather than having two people take down the biggest community in the entire series, The Ones Who Live can tease the impending war. This would allow all the main survivors – even those from Fear The Walking Dead – to band together and fight the CRM. For this to all happen, Rick and Michonne must reunite early and begin planting the seeds, rather than waiting until a potential season 2.