Listen, people stayed trying Michonne in this time jump. It was frustrating to say the least. But because Michonne is a great woman, she still made an effort to do what she felt was best for everyone. And while she herself didn’t claim to be the sole leader of this place, it’s clear that she has become the leader and the one they all look to. Because deep down errybody know Michonne is a boss woman.
And yes, she had to sometimes take a more stern approach but it really makes a lot of sense. Sis is raising two kids, went through serious trauma, and is expected to keep a whole community safe. So I ain’t mad at Michonne one bit for sometimes having to let these people know...
So after the opener between Michonne and technically Rick, we’re back to the moment with Judith in the woods. Judith is a caring girl cuz she’s all out here in the woods trying to help some strangers, a lot like Carl in season eight.
And even when the adults know it won’t go over well to bring Magna’s group, Judith clearly knows she can call the shots, cuz she’s tells them, “If they don’t go, I don’t go.” And I was like now I know your mama won’t stand for that lol. 😂 But the adults decide to let her take the lead and bring them along.
When they return home, it’s cool getting to see the way Alexandria has expanded even more in the last six years. As much pain as Michonne went through, she clearly mustered up enough strength to keep building this place into what they dreamt it could be. She wasn’t kidding when she said she hasn’t given up. 👸🏽👏
And Judith is all proud to say “This is Alexandria. This is home.” Which is really cute. 😊 While I don’t think she should be overriding her mom’s rules, I do like that she knows her mom’s got this place so secure that people can come and be safe and be comfortable. That’s the world Michonne has worked to build for Judith (and RJ!! 🤗).
Like in 5x11, it was Michonne who wanted to go to Alexandria for Judith’s sake. Michonne pushed for this place way back then because she wanted Judith to have a home.
And it just feels really full circle to now see an older Judith smile as she refers to Alexandria as home.
So then Alexandria’s royal leader shows up on her horse and tosses her bag cuz she’s not happy to see new visitors. Michonne has a stern approach with them and doesn’t trust them right off the bat, which I support. We don’t know them. 💯
The first interaction between Michonne and Judith is when Michonne is questioning why these newbies are here and Judith steps forward and says very confidently “I decided.” Michonne turns to her and says “Judith, you know the rules. You all do.” When I saw Judith like this, I was like okay she’s definitely strong willed like her mom. #BothBosses.
It’s interesting cuz Judith was so young before the time jump and so any exachange we saw between Michonne and Judith was just cute and sweet.
But now Judith is a pre-teen which brings about a bit more complications to navigate between a parent and adolescent. And it feels like there’s actually some parallels to Rick and Carl’s relationship when he was this age, except Michonne and Judith don’t get into it as much lol. Cuz Carl and Rick would get intoooo it sometimes. 😂
Michonne agrees to put Magna and co in holding and do a vote to see if they stay later. This is a different style to Michonne than we saw before this time jump. There’s a defense that wasn’t there in the first five episodes. And one of the things that most bothered me was the characters/parts of the audience’s lack of compassion for why this might be. 😒
Yes she’s harder than before, but for me I immediately knew something legit had to have happened to make her this way on top of losing Rick and being left to raise two kids on her own.
I personally did not get why people couldn’t understand that Michonne wouldn’t shift gears like this unless she felt she had legitimate reason to. They had to wait and see just how traumatic the events of the last six years were for her before having compassion and before realizing that she’s allowed to have emotions and decisions that aren’t always agreeable. 😑
Judith finds the figurine on the ground and it’s both sad and fascinating to see this girl who was raised by Rick in her early life but has spent a lot of her developmental years without him, because it’s like she’s greatly influenced by him but unfortunately also removed from him too.
We see Michonne and a group of council members on the panel as they deliberate over this group of newcomers in a sort of town hall setting. Again when I see this table I just think about how Rick would be sitting right next to Michonne if he was still around. 😢Notice too that Michonne wears darker clothes in this time jump. This loyal woman is still in mourning six years later. 😭
So this group is all giving their spiel on who they were and are and they think they’re having this deep relatable moment...but then the great Michonne Grimes; fellow council person, head of security, mother of Judith, RJ, Carl, and Andre, baddest chick in the game, leader and lover to Rick Grimes, queen of Alexandria and all who reside, has a question.
Michonne stands up and she shares how the community wants to be generous and kind and all that good stuff but she also knows (as they all know but act like they forgot 😑), that decisions like bringing new people in comes at a price.
Then she calls Magna out and reveals her prison background and the knife in her belt. The whole way this is done really makes me think TV Michonne’s background might also be in law. Either way, we know her background is being a boss woman and that’s what this moment was.
Michonne tells the community, “I remember. And I know you do too.” And now knowing what they all remember, they really tried Michonne. 😪 I said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times. I mean, Sis was out here getting branded for these kids and yet they wanna wonder why she’s hesitant to let strangers in. 🤔
She tells them to take their vote and she’ll second the motion. And then Magna gets a lesson on who you don’t come for. Cuz she asks Michonne if she can ask her a question...
And Michonne doesn’t even have to turn around. She just says a boss “No” and walks out. My queen setting people straight since day one. 👸🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Yet another paralelle to Rick, cuz he had a similar no-questions-asked “no” to Father G in season 5. R&M are legitimately cut from the same cloth.
Ok y’all, I won’t even go too into it but I just gotta say everyone was putting disrespeck on Michonne’s name in this time jump and they all owe her apologies. Like...
Cuz even in the scene that follows the town hall, Gabe and Rosita are out here talking about how Michonne just wanted to get that crowd riled up on purpose “ever since…you know”.
You know!? You know!? You mean ever since her best friend from before the apocalypse showed up and kidnapped Judith and most of the children, and made some crazy child soldiers brand her and cut her stomach while fully pregnant and then she had to kill them against her will in order for her and her daughter and unborn baby and all these other children to survive. 🤔 But sure lets just act like it’s “You know whatever”. Tried it. 🙄
(Side note: At least Rosita does seem to be one of the few though that did have a certain level of respect for Michonne in this time jump, so I’ll give her that.)
So then we hear Michonne’s voice as she paces in her bedroom and we’re seeing it all through Judith’s perspective as she quietly walks up the stairs.
Michonne says, “Thought I was done with this. Done with talking to you and never hearing you answer. But I watched what you did to protect him.” My heart hurts. 😔
Last time we saw Michonne in this room, she and Rick were together in one of the most beautiful and blissful scenes ever. And now she’s alone and still needing to talk to him. Still needing to talk things out with the man who’d been her partner in everything.
She says, “How nothing else mattered except him. And I need to be that now for them.” Michonne’s recalling the persistent way Rick protected and parented and she wants to embody that. I feel like this is also her wanting to confide in the one man that would understand her and everything she’s done. He’d be right there telling her she did what needed to be done and that she’s still okay.
She says, “And I know it’s not what we planned, not what we wanted.”All these years later and it still matters to her that she honor the “you and me” way. R&M are still a “we”. Here for it.
She says, “But you weren’t here and neither was he.” I’ve talked so much before about how Rick got his strength from Michonne but it’s important to note how Michonne absolutely got strength from Rick too. And both got strength from Carl. So to hear her talk about the times when it was the three of them and how she learned from him about what it’d take to protect your kids is devastating and deep. She needs them y’all. 😭
Michonne starts to say, “You didn’t have to go through the…” and then she hears Judith’s footsteps starting to walk away so she stops and calls her name.
Michonne tells her it’s almost time for her lesson and homework. And then, even though this moment felt a little tense, I had to celebrate cuz Judith looks at Michonne and says, “Okay, mom” 🥳🙌🏽
That’s the first time we hear Judith refer to Michonne as mom! Won’t He Do It!
Hearing Judith call Michonne mom is something I’d really wanted so I loved it and was just like...
Do you know some people really wondered who would parent Judith once Rick left the show?? Like she didn’t have a full blown mom already. The audacity. 🙄 But I’m glad that regardless of all that, Michonne and Judith are still absolutely a family unit and a mother daughter duo.
And it’s cool knowing that so much of who Judith is comes from being raised by her mom Michonne. She’s being raised by the best. 🙌🏽
So then, there’s a scene where Judith is doing homework and her tutor is…Negan!? 😦 Y’all, I was for real like...
I don’t know how I feel about her having any communication with this man whatsoever, no matter how innocent.
She holds onto the figurine and confides to Negan about how her mom’s gonna make the strangers they brought leave. And again, love how much we hear her call Michonne mom.
Negan says, “Let me guess. You being you. You wanna help them.” And all I can say is, I don’t want Negan to even know enough about Judith to know what she’d like or want.
What I do approve of is when Negan tells her a story about how he used to bring stray dogs home and his mom hated it and then one day one of the dogs killed all the other strays and when Negan’s mom tried to stop it, the dog chewed half her ear off. He says the dog seemed just as friendly as the rest but then he wised up and realized sometimes things aren’t what they seem.
I approve cuz I don’t know how much Negan knows of Michonne’s whole Joceylyn experience but, this story is clearly connected to what happened to her and airs on the side of him understanding why a mother would be cautious after getting scorned so painfully.
When he says he wised up I love that Judith starts to get up and tells Negan, “Yeah and look how great everything turned out for you.”
Judith has sassy remarks to Negan just like both her parents and brother did lol. 😋 And I’m glad she lets Negan know she just wants his help with math cuz he needs to know his place.
So far in the episode we got insight into who Judith and Michonne are six years later...But that’s not the only Grimes Family members we have to check in with. 😊🙌🏽🎉
bossed up || mean girls the musical: november 5th 2017 (evening).
in honor of it being one year since i first saw mean girls in dc, i’m sharing one of my favorite cut songs from the dc run. this show has become such a huge part of my life and i’ve met some wonderful people [shout out to the mcs] because of it and it’s hard to believe it’s been a year since it first entered my life. life bossed up, and i like it.
