Contains Spoilers for “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” Episode 4 — “What We”

Never let it be said that Michonne (Danai Gurira. who also wrote the aforementioned episode) doesn’t know how to go all out when faced with highly adverse circumstances. And because Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) insists on denying their love and staying in Philidelphia with the CRM, she goes to extremes to wake him up. She risks both of their lives by grabbing him and pitching him into an open ocean during a raging storm from a helicopter. Following right after him, she gambles and wins — and, having survived the fall with her lover at her side, she takes refuge in a luxury high-rise. In the middle of a raging storm and across a few days, she and Rick crawl their way back to knowing and loving one another. And it’s definitely a worthwhile reunion that fixes one major “The Walking Dead” franchise mistake.

Underscoring that first scene are the smooth and anachronistic — yet lyrically precise — stylings of Tony Orlando and Dawn. “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree” is one of the band’s biggest hits, but they — and the individuals in the band — are definitely more than their 1970s toe-tapper.

Tony Orlando and Dawn’s smooth hits have stood the test of time

Tony Orlando and Dawn were a significant force on the charts in the 1970s. While “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 as the most popular song in the U.S. for four weeks in 1973, the trio also had other big hits in the form of “Candida,” “Knock Three Times” (their first No. 1 song), “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose,” and “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You).”

The group — eventually comprised of Tony Orlando and former Stax session singers Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, though there’s conflicting information on when they became established as this trio — rocketed into the stratosphere, eventually launching an eponymous variety show, which lasted for 56 episodes and three seasons. Tony Orlando and Dawn broke up in 1977.

Since then, each member has managed to keep themselves in the spotlight. Orlando continues to act and do voice-overs sporadically and made a memorable appearance as Todd Peterson/Han Solo Berger’s (Andy Samberg) boss, Steve Spirou, in “That’s My Boy.” Telma Hopkins has crafted quite the TV legacy for herself independent of the band and is likely familiar to Gen X-er or millennial fans from her roles on “Bosom Buddies,” “Gimme a Break” and “Family Matters.”  She had a prominent role on the latter show as  Aunt Rachel, who left the show with no explanation. More recently, she was Yolanda on “Dead to Me.”

Joyce Vincent Wilson, meanwhile, has mainly sung with groups such as the Former Ladies of the Supremes. Perhaps someday, Tony Orlando and Dawn may reunite again — just as warmly as Michonne and Rick have on “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.”