Remember when we were pumped for an all new Michonne on The Walking Dead ? Did I miss something? We haven't seen the katana-wielder for almost a month! What gives? The last we saw Michonne, she was greeting Daryl (and now, almost certainly Noah) at St. Sarah's Episcopal Church. Then we spent a week with Beth, a week with Team Abraham, and a week with Carol and Daryl. For all we know, Father Gabriel has bored everyone else to death with his whining. What has she been getting up to? Maybe Michonne and Rick got secretly married — they are in a church, for crying out loud. (Look, I'm not against that pairing in the slightest. Not all relationships have to built on angst.) Next Sunday's episode, "Crossed," will have a group of survivors holding down the church while the others raid the hospital. According to AMC's sneak peek, Michonne is in the former group.
In the clip below, Michonne watches after Judith while Carl tries to get Gabriel to learn how to defend himself. I don't know why you're trying, Carl! He tells Gabriel that he can't stay in one place anymore, nobody can. Why is Michonne just lurking? I know she can be mysterious, but is this all we're going to see of her this season? There must be more to Michonne's story. In fact, the lingering shots on her face make it seem like we're about to go into a flashback.
Meanwhile, in the graphic novel...
Based on the arrival of Father Gabriel Stokes, we're somewhere between Fear the Hunters and Life Among Them in Robert Kirkman's series. At this point, Michonne is traveling with Rick and Carl on the way to Washington DC. She reveals that she has a crush on Morgan. Gossip! She also had a thing with Tyreese. The group faces the Hunters, which most fans agree were the late folks at Terminus. They eventually reach the Alexandria Safe-Zone and Michonne has some trouble adjusting to normalcy in the walled community.
I'm beginning to think that, like Terminus last year, we aren't going to get to Alexandria until the end of this season. Remember what Noah said in "Slabtown" about there being "walls" in Virginia? I think that was a hint, even though the actual Safe-Zone seems further and further away with each passing episode.
Also, in the graphic novel, Michonne was a lawyer. With all of the talk of authority figures (doctors, cops, military, priests) in Season 5 of the show, I wonder if this will come up soon. It should. I'm not sure how that could come up with Father Gabriel, if that scene with Carl took place before the rescue and she's chosen to stay there. However, if Officer Dawn Lerner doesn't die soon in the upcoming Battle for Grady Memorial Hospital, then I recommend that the group lawyers up and brings Michonne over to reason with the corrupt cop. Dawn loves systems, and legalese might be the only way to relate and talk sense into her.
Image: Gene Page/AMC
