Do you love or hate The Walking Dead’s Rick and Michonne?

They’re the power couple who have divided fans — are Rick and Michonne a match made in heaven or a hell of a mistake?

I HATE THEM

They’re the ultimate power couple, but that doesn’t mean they’re the hottest couple

#Sorrynotsorry, but I don’t think Rick and Michonne are a good couple. While some fans are mooning over the recent hook up, the show lost the plot when the pair randomly made out on the couch last season.

Rick’s previous girlfriend Jesse and her kids ONLY just died and we’ve seen not a single scene of grief. Instead we’ve witnessed the pair and Carl and Judith acting like a family unit, and it feels farcical.

Has anyone asked Judith if she likes Michonne as a Step-Mummy?

Fans of show are retrospectively finding false chemistry in past episodes, but it’s all just a little bit desperate. If anything they’ve been like brother and sister up until this point — companions, comrades in the war against the walkers, a leader and his deputy, cop buddies on patrol. But husband and wife? No way.

The best shows come from the best source material and in the case of The Walking Dead the comics have previewed all the successful plot lines for the series. But Rick and Michonne were not the pair conceived of by the comic’s writers. It was Andrea who Rick was dating but unlike in the books, her less popular TV counterpart was killed off by the Governor, so Michonne will just have to do.

While a total badass, Michonne has been introverted, emotionless and almost asexual for most of the television series, with a few moments of depth such as when her boyfriend got high and failed to protect their toddler son. Her boyfriend ended up becoming her zombie pet/bodyguard as punishment. Since then she’s kept her cards close to her chest. Her character has moved away from her comic character where she dated Tyreese AND Morgan, even making moves on Tyreese when he was already spoken for. Instead she’s got Rick and his kids to worry about and with Negan now ruling their lives to potentially drive a wedge between them. She has called Rick out before when he was wrong (Remember his early Alexandria meltdown?), how is she going to react to all that Negan is going to have Rick do, or do to his kids. This is a situation Rick himself blindly led the group into. Will she blame him?

Fancy a walk? Rick heads out with Carl and Jessie. It didn’t end well.

But maybe I’m worried about nothing. Rick’s previous two love interests — Lori and Jessie — both died. He’s the kiss of death. The hook up could simply be foreshadowing Michonne’s exit from the series, fan favourite or not.

Angela Connell is mother to two preschool-aged children, so she feels like a walking dead person most days. She is a fan of all things zombie and Game Of Thrones in book and TV form.

I LOVE THEM

RICHONNE makes perfect sense on so many levels and anyone who doesn’t think they work has about as much brains as Glenn or Abraham.

Oops, sorry about that ... or should that be #sorrynotsorry?

There’s many reasons why Rick and Michonne work as a couple, both emotional and practical.

Ultimately, they need to be together for the show to move forward, which is the same reason why Glenn had to die.

Yes, Rick and Michonne were not the couple drawn in the comics, that was Andrea and Rick.

Would you be happier seeing Andrea (Laurie Holden) with Rick?

But then the TV show hasn’t always followed the comics slavishly and has actually been better for it sometimes (hello, anyone prefer a show without Daryl?)

In a practical sense, Rick needs someone.

Negan wrecked him, emotionally, in the season premiere. Yes, that had to happen because Rick had grown arrogant. But he can’t stay beaten.

Rick will be completely broken and remade this series.

Judging by the way Carl has been acting in the last couple of episodes, we will see Carl grow less dependent on him and begin some classic teenage rebellion.

Rick needs someone to help him find his way back after what Negan does to them. Michonne already calls him out when he’s wrong, she can help him find his strength again but temper it with a little less arrogance. The writers need to show his anguish and he needs someone to bounce off. Michonne is the answer.

WHAT’S AHEAD FOR OUR HEROES IN SEASON SEVEN

Amid all the horror, there has to be hope. There has to be something to pull Rick back. Maggie’s baby could do that but she will probably end up, as in the comics, leading The Hilltop. So what else is there for Rick? Michonne.

But there is also an emotional heart to this relationship.

Michonne’s character was unable to move forward until she contemplated family again. She lost her son Andre because her boyfriend was on drugs when the Walkers broke into the camp. That turned her into a sword-wielding badass. But that’s a wound that will never heal until she has another child. Deanna kept asking her to define what she wanted and find who she really was. Love and family is the only thing that will make her whole.

Rick was (literally for a few episodes) haunted by Lori. She cheated on him and he will never know if Judith is really his. There are so many unresolved issues there. He needs love to balance his life out. We all know how his fling with Jessie turned out. Even if she hadn’t been eaten, she would not have been a match because she was another Lori.

Rick was never going to have a happy family with Lori.

Aside from being smoking hot, Michonne is his equal. Right from when they smouldered at each other through the wire fence of the prison, there’s been something between them.

Yes, she hasn’t had any romance before but is that not because she was too emotionally damaged?

Remember when The Governor smashed the prison and they went on the run? Michonne broke down when she found Rick and Carl.

No, they hadn’t made out before the couch scene but it’s a classic love story. Neither realised what they had when it was right in front of them — until it exploded (so to speak).

So, in a season that will be full of heartbreak, let’s celebrate something good — Richonne!

Duncan Lay is the author of nine fantasy books including Australian bestsellers Bridge Of Swords and The Wounded Guardian and a fan of GoT, The Walking Dead, all superheros and Star Wars.