Sumith Prasad
In AMC’s post-apocalyptic series ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live,’ Rick Grimes is trapped in the Civic Republic, a closed and secret community where Jadis Stokes/Anne takes him after the former nearly sacrifices himself in ‘The Walking Dead.’ The location of the community should be a mystery to many of the fans of the franchise, especially due to the group’s emphasis on secrecy. The leaders of the community, including the supreme head Major General Beale, believe that they should remain hidden from the outside world to not become vulnerable. Still, the shows in ‘The Walking Dead’ franchise leave behind enough clues to find out where Rick is currently living almost as a prisoner! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fortified City of Philadelphia
The Civic Republic is located within the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Major General Beale and his subordinates have secured the city to stop outside forces from entering the community and the residents of the group from leaving the lot, which would threaten their secret nature. In a couple of scenes in the premiere of ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live,’ Rick sits on a bench facing the ruined One and Two Liberty Place, two of the iconic skyscrapers situated in Philadelphia in reality. The buildings can be seen in ‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond,’ another spin-off show of ‘The Walking Dead,’ as well.
In the second episode of ‘The Ones Who Live,’ Michonne sets out to find Rick and her path crosses with a community on the move. Nat, an integral part of the group, talks about guiding Michonne to the Delaware border, which is only around 20 miles away from Philadelphia in real life. The Civic Republic’s army, which is known as the Civic Republic Military or CRM, is also based in Philadelphia. Since the Republic is located in Philadelphia and its presence extends to surrounding regions in Pennsylvania, the storylines of ‘The Walking Dead’ had to be set elsewhere, especially concerning the character Paola Lazaro’s Juanita/Princess.
In Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard’s ‘The Walking Dead’ comic book series, which serves as the source material of the original show, the introduction of Juanita is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When Angela Kang was serving as the showrunner of the later seasons of ‘The Walking Dead,’ Scott M. Gimple, the co-creator of ‘The Ones Who Live’ and the chief of content of the franchise, requested her to keep the region away from the narrative. “No, it’s not supposed to be Pittsburgh. We took a different path. The comic book destinations, we were mapping and we’re like, ‘Pittsburgh does feel a little out of the way.’ And also, there was a request from Scott from the universe side to sort of avoid that area, and so we are on a different path,” Kang told ComicBook.
Rick and Michonne’s son Rick Grimes Jr. and adoptive daughter Judith are living in the Commonwealth, a community to which they relocated following the fall of Alexandria in the eleventh and final season of ‘The Walking Dead.’ The community is located in Ohio, a neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Thus, Rick and Michonne are not that far away from their kids. However, the long walls of the Civic Republic, with the CRM remaining as an omnipresent force in and around Philadelphia to keep an eye on the residents of the region, are quite tall for the couple to climb.
In the upcoming episodes of the series, we can expect Rick and Michonne to come up with a plan to disappear from Philadelphia to leave for the Commonwealth. Since Jadis has made it clear that she will try to stop the couple from escaping from the Republic, it may not be an easy task for the duo.
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