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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Season 7, Episode 2
By Garrett Yoshitomi
After
the craziness that was last week’s season premiere, The Walking Dead offers to cleanse the palate with season seven,
episode two, “The Well.” I’m usually not a fan of episodes completely ignoring
the events of the immediately preceding episode- especially when said events
are incredibly crucial plot-wise. However, last week was so emotionally
draining that an hour of The Walking Dead,
with zero acknowledgment of the Glenn-less world we now live in, is a welcome luxury
I’m sure we won’t be able to afford much longer. From a scheduling standpoint,
it makes sense to catch up on Carol and Morgan, rather than dive into the
aftermath of Negan and Lucille. It keeps their side of the story relevant, while
also preventing them from going forgotten amongst the show’s more casual fans. In
doing so, “The Well” picks up where the season six finale’s other dangling cliffhanger left off- namely,
what happens to Carol and Morgan, and who are those guys in the catcher’s
gear?
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I
was never big on the writers’ decision to pair Carol and Morgan together for
much of last season. I understand the need to showcase their conflicting moral
values- Morgan won’t kill, Carol only kills. But, the “fit” never felt
natural, and the tension forced. The obvious choice for Morgan’s foil was very clearly
Rick. Rick and Morgan’s relationship goes back to the literal beginning, and their
reunion was long teased throughout season five. A half-season centered around
these two long-lost companions, and their clashing ideologies, could have been
quite compelling. Instead, Rick peeled off in his own narrative direction to
set up Negan and the Saviors; leaving us with a frustratingly stubborn Morgan,
and a Carol who only half-heartedly challenged him.
Last
season, Carol underwent a strangely laid arc, going from a one woman stabbing crew, to a guilt ridden wreck with an unsettling death wish. It
was a sudden change of heart for one of the show’s seemingly more hardened
characters, making it even harder to accept, as her transformation took place
over the span of just two episodes. (Although, to be fair there was a
significant time lapse between them.) It also didn’t help that her new found
moral compass turned her into the polar opposite of the person she had been for
the previous two and a half years. Maybe next time, ease into it a little bit
when you’re fundamentally altering a character? Carol spends most of this
episode doing typical Carol things. She dons her “Suzy Homemaker” persona to
feign unsuspecting Kingdom-ers, and appropriates anything useful, and
dangerous, without hesitation.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
None
of this would be worth mentioning, though, if not for the fact that two days
ago (show time) Carol was practically begging a revenge-bent Savior to put her
out of her misery. And as much as I love badass Carol, the writers need to pick
a direction, and decide if Carol wants to live or not. Personally, I’m not
exactly sure where Carol goes from here. Usually characters who decide they’re done
with all the senseless violence, aren’t long for this world (R.I.P. Tyreese).
But in Carol’s case, I kind of doubt the writers will bring her back from so
close to death, only to turn around, and immediately kill her off. (Although,
last week’s episode certainly spits in the face of this theory). For now, Carol
serves as a useful character, with ties to all of the major players, and is one
of the few non-Rick survivors with a fleshed out backstory. For a show that
just wrote off two solidly established cast members, that matters.
A
slightly less solidly established character is Morgan, who also features
heavily this week. Other than his flashback solo episode, “Here’s Not Here,” I
was fairly mixed on Morgan’s role in season six. He was just kind of “there”
for most of the season, cryptically warning everyone that “all life is
precious,” but with precious little to show for it. His unwavering pacifism could
have been a much needed break from The Group’s “shoot first, ask questions
never” policy- if the writers had
given us the slightest of inklings that he might actually be right. Alas, it
appears that Morgan will actually get to do
something in season seven, rather than just exist on the periphery. His
mentorship role with one of The Kingdom’s younger, less capable soldiers
knights, fits his arc quite well, and has the potential to more deeply explore
a character who, despite appearing regularly last season, remains quite
enigmatic.
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Undoubtedly,
the highlight of this week’s episode is the debut of The Kingdom. Over the
years, we’ve seen a lot of different makeshift communities. Some have giant
walls, others have homicidal cannibals; but so far, none have had the strikingly
medieval feel of The Kingdom. From the “knights” clad in catcher’s gear, to the
sounds of trotting horses, The Kingdom is unique in both name and image. Comic
readers have waited patiently for The Kingdom and its leader, King Ezekiel, to
finally appear on the small screen. And, while I was slightly skeptical towards
how the show would handle King Zeke and his CGI-heavy companion, I’m happy to
report that the early returns are quite promising.
It’s
been a while since The Walking Dead
has introduced a truly memorable new character (you’d probably have to go all
the way back to Abraham’s debut in season four, for the most recent instance). Two
episodes in, though, and season seven has already given us two, in Negan and King
Ezekiel. Right from jump street, Ezekiel dominates the first scene he’s in- an
admittedly easy task when you’re sitting next to a tiger. But take away Shiva,
and he remains a dominating presence, thanks largely to the dynamic performance
of Khary Payton. Ezekiel’s late night meeting with Carol speaks volumes to
Payton’s talent, as he’s able to command the scene with his mesmerizing voice, both
in and out of “character.” What’s more impressive is how subtly Payton
overshadows Melissa McBride. McBride, an outstanding actor in her own right,
says very few words during this scene- a fact that you don’t even realize until
its already over. Payton is just that captivating.
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This
episode, along with the season premiere, have succeeded in bringing some long
overdue world building to The Walking
Dead universe. For the longest time, Team Grimes has existed in their own
little bubble- so confident and tested, handling any outside threat with
relative ease and minimal loss. With the introduction of Negan, The Saviors,
and The Kingdom, we finally get some perspective, and hints at where the series
goes from here. Admittedly, King Ezekiel and his pet tiger, and by extension
the entire existence of The Kingdom, requires a higher suspension of disbelief than
we’ve had to accept in recent seasons. Which is weird, considering this is a
show about zombies. However, the premise has gotten undeniably stale, to a
degree, and the new characters we’ve encountered could go a long way in fixing
this. It’s been no cake walk, but so far, season seven is turning out to be
just the shakeup that The Walking Dead
needs.
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