‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’: What Is the CRM?
It’s been 14 years since The Walking Dead premiered, and here we are in 2024 with the seventh The Walking Dead series, including the OG. This one has been in the making for six years since Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes left the mothership back in 2018 with the expectation, at the time, of leading three spin-off films. Thanks to a variety of factors, including the pandemic and ratings erosion, those three movies have been reduced to one six-episode spin-off series called The Ones Who Live, which premiered on AMC this week.
The premiere episode of The Ones Who Live catches us up on Rick Grimes since “The Bridge” incident on The Walking Dead, when he was picked up by a CRM (Civic Republic Military) helicopter under the direction of Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), who most probably remember as Jadis in the original series. For those who may not recall, the CRM made a few Easter-Egg-like appearances on The Walking Dead, was featured in a couple of episodes involving Maggie Grace’s character in Fear the Walking Dead, and acted as the main antagonist group in the profoundly pointless The Walking Dead: The World Beyond.
For long-time viewers of The Walking Dead, we also found out the answer to a mystery that has been brewing for six or seven years: What is an “A” and what is a “B”? The CRM categorizes everyone as either an “A” or a “B.” An “A” is a strong-willed, free thinker. The CRM does not like As. A “B” is someone easy to keep in line. They are ideal for the CRM communities: They don’t ask questions. They don’t question authority. They do as they say. Dave Matthews wrote a song about them called “Ants Marching.”
The CRM, meanwhile, is secretly an evil and powerful organization, though it may not be obvious from this first episode. The CRM is building communities with modern amenities, like the one at the center of this episode set in Philadelphia. To become a citizen of one of these communities, one needs to work for six years killing zombies and carrying out other tasks. “Bs” are happy enough to do this, but Rick Grimes is not a B. He’s an A. He wants to escape and get back to his family so badly that he makes several attempts to do so, including one in which he cuts off his own hand and cauterizes it in the molten belly of a zombie (in the comics, Rick lost his hand early on, so this is meant to be a big deal).
Rick is unsuccessful in repeated escape attempts, and so he decides to play the game, at least until he can fake his death and escape, an attempt that once again fails. Meanwhile, a guy named Okafor knows that Rick and another woman, Pearl (Lesley Ann Brandt), are As and are desperate to escape, but Okafor wants to bring them in on a secret mission to change the CRM from the inside because Okafor believes they are the kind of leaders the CRM needs. It’s typical TWD hokum.
It’s worth noting here, based on context clues from the spin-off The World Beyond, that As are typically used as test subjects in the CRM’s efforts to find a cure for the zombie virus (things do not go well for the test subjects). This episode also mentions that the CRM’s Omaha community falls. The official story was that it was overrun by zombies. What we know from The World Beyond, however, is that it was an inside job. The CRM destroyed its own community and all the people inside of it — the reason given in The World Beyond is some vague bullshit notions about focusing their limited resources to better benefit the future of mankind. The World Beyond was not a well-considered series, although I do appreciate that Scott Gimple has maintained some continuity instead of completely memory-holing the forgotten spin-off. With the destruction of Omaha, there are only two fully functioning cities remaining in America: Portland (Oregon) and Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Rick and Pearl are transferred to Oregon to work on a military base. At this point, Rick has given up. He realizes he’s never going to be able to escape the CRM, and after contemplating suicide, he decides to make the best of it. He writes a final letter to Michonne and tosses his iPhone cases in the fire. He is going to forget about his past life and contribute his skills to the CRM to “make the world a better place,” although he doesn’t yet realize that the CRM is a nefarious organization.
As the series jumps ahead to the present day, Rick’s helicopter is shot down, and Okafor is killed. A rebel organization has attacked the CRM helicopter. Rick tries to run away before someone from the rebel group grabs him and takes off his helmet. It’s Michonne and, man alive, these two look surprised to see each other. It’s the first time I felt anything while watching The Walking Dead in years. The audience is likewise surprised because most of us expected that the six-episode series would culminate in their reunion. Not so: It appears they will probably end up working together to take down the CRM. I hope they are successful because, after years of piecing together clues about the CRM and their motivations, I never want to write about that group again.
