Review

The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 1: In Too Deep

The Walking Dead franchise includes an interesting mix of different media. Whether it’s the long running comic book, one of its hit TV shows, or a Telltale Game, all of them have continuous, separate stories despite sharing the same universe. Thankfully, understanding what’s going on with your preferred branch of the dead tree doesn’t require the surveying of everything that sways in the wind…

Of course, if you’re someone who indulges in everything TWD has to offer, there are times when your inside knowledge will elicit unparalleled excitement. This was the case when I first starting playing Telltale’s The Walking Dead series and saw a younger version of Glenn. Though I knew that the game followed the comic’s canon, the stories weren’t meant to converge that often. Now after two seasons of Telltale’s series, we’ve finally met up with another beloved character – the katana-wielding heroine, Michonne, stars in her own miniseries.

Her story isn’t a random one. She doesn’t run into Clementine while passing through some remote location (at least not in this episode) in order to bridge the two narratives again. Instead, Michonne is planted firmly within a past comic book arc. Taking place between issues #126 and #139, her journey finds her estranged from Rick’s group for some mysterious reason. The episode opens with her struggling to fight off a group of zombies; I assume she’s been alone for a while because she seems to be malnourished and on the verge of collapsing. After taking down a few walkers, she starts hallucinating the appearance of two little girls living in what looks to be a rundown apartment. In an effort to protect these ghostly figures, she musters enough strength to subdue each walker before snapping back to reality. Sadden by the ordeal, Michonne looks to end things right then and there. Thankfully her efforts inadvertently saved a man named Pete who offers her shelter on his ship.

One of the great things about this first episode is the level of inclusion. Gamers don’t need to know exactly what happened leading up to this point as continued play sheds light on all the necessary facts; something bad happened in Michonne’s past and she’s having a difficult time dealing with it. And while I’m sure that Telltale will elaborate as we go along, what’s more important is the here and now. After spending some time with Pete and his crew, Michonne has become an essential member of the group (or at the very least someone whose opinion matters when voiced). This becomes clear when Pete receives a distress call on his radio. They were headed to a port to meet up with friends to trade goods but hadn’t had luck in hailing them. Thinking that his friends might be in trouble, Pete decides to seek out the person asking for help. The other crewmates aren’t too happy about his decision, though because Michonne is on board – in both senses of the term – they comply with his wishes. Unfortunately, when they reach the source of the SoS, they find more than they bargained for. A seemingly abandoned boat has been decorated with mutilated corpses, some of which had their wrists zip tied together. None of them had any bite marks. I won’t spoil what happens next outside of saying that the episode’s title “In Too Deep” fits perfectly.

Though Telltale is known for crafting great stories, I can’t help be feel that this miniseries isn’t going to stretch their writing chops. For one, because these events explain why Michonne was briefly separated from her core group, we already know that she’s going to survive. There is some tension in deciding how she’ll affect those around her, but the weight of just trying to survive has been lifted from our shoulders; though most would expect the main character not to die, that isn’t always true with this series. Then there is the current happening, which starts off interestingly enough yet quickly becomes predictable. Humans are worse than zombies ad nauseam.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy what went down. The mystery surrounding Michonne’s deteriorating mind is worth playing through this episode alone. There was one particular moment where she sees something that isn’t there that startled me more than I expected. There is also the story’s pacing. The fact that everything unfolds over three episodes instead of five means that we get to the major plot points faster; there’s no filler whatsoever. That’s actually refreshing, even if we aren’t able to become fully invested in every character’s plight. All and all, I think fans of the games and comics will find “In Too Deep” a worthy opening. It doesn’t add anything to the Telltale formula, but it is interesting in its own right.