The Well (''The Walking Dead'')

"The Well" is the second episode of the seventh season and 85th episode overall of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 30, 2016. The episode was written by Matthew Negrete and directed by Greg Nicotero.

The episode focuses on Carol (Melissa McBride) and Morgan (Lennie James) finding refuge and being introduced to a new well-established community called The Kingdom. It also marks the debut of King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and his pet Bengal tiger, Shiva.

Plot

Carol (Melissa McBride) – after being shot multiple times by one of the Saviors, who was then shot dead by Morgan (Lennie James) – regains consciousness in the bed of a horse-drawn wagon being stretchered to "The Kingdom" by Morgan and Kingdom members, Daniel (Daniel Newman) and Richard (Karl Makinen). Some walkers appear and Carol escapes again, but only briefly. She sees a vision of a woman in a window, who is in fact a walker; these strange visions continue as Morgan and the Kingdom members deal with a walker group.

Carol wakes up in a bed and Morgan, waiting at her bedside, tells her she's been asleep for two days. He tells Carol where they are and brings her to meet King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and his pet Bengal tiger, Shiva. Ezekiel's over-the-top, quasi-Shakespearean manner leaves Carol quietly incredulous. When Ezekiel asks what she thinks of his sanctuary and him, she sarcastically tells him it's amazing and refuses his offer of fruit, stating that pomegranates aren't worth the trouble. Outside, she reiterates to Morgan her desire to leave and assures him that she will do so at the first opportunity, no matter how hard he tries to stop her.

Morgan, having swiftly gained Ezekiel's confidence, is taken out with his inner circle to perform a seemingly pointless task: herd a group of wild pigs into a barn far outside the Kingdom, where they feed on walkers. After herding them into the truck, Richard tells Morgan that no one back at the Kingdom can know about anything that has just transpired. Ezekiel asks Morgan about his combat skills, as he sees he is capable of using a staff and asks him to train one of his men, Benjamin (Logan Miller). After hesitating, Morgan agrees.

Ezekiel brings Morgan and Benjamin to a secret meeting with the Saviors, who are given the walker-fed pigs, now slaughtered, as part of their tribute from the Kingdom. One of the Saviors, Jared, tells Richard the Saviors are letting the Kingdom off easy by taking only eight pigs, to which Richard replies that the Saviors are the ones being let off easy. Jared attacks Richard and Ezekiel makes them break up the fight. The leader of the Saviors group tells Jared to stop only after Jared has hit Richard a few times. The Saviors leave and say they will want produce next time, or Richard will be the first to die. Later, Benjamin tells Morgan his father was killed and that the Kingdom obeys the Saviors because they think they would never be able to defeat them.

After a while, Morgan discovers Carol is gone once again. During the night, Carol is picking fruit for her flight and Ezekiel catches her. He explains that he realized Carol's innocence was just an act but wonders how Carol could survive and wants to know where she originally came from. After a few moments, Ezekiel slowly drops his guard and reveals that he was a zookeeper and amateur actor. He tells her that he developed the "King Ezekiel" persona so that the people would have someone to follow and to emphasize that there is still good in the world. Carol still wishes to leave, so Ezekiel suggests that she live in the abandoned house that she passed on the way to the Kingdom, so that she could "go and not go". She agrees to this arrangement.

Morgan takes Carol out to the house, tells her to take care of herself, and returns to the Kingdom. Carol then enters the house and kills the walker she saw earlier. Later, she gets a visit from Ezekiel and Shiva; he once again offers her a pomegranate. She smiles.

Production

Beginning with this episode, Steven Yeun and Michael Cudlitz are removed from the opening credits, while Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt and Christian Serratos are added, having joined the series in the fourth season.

Reception

Critical reception

"The Well" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% with an average rating of 7.84 out of 10, based on 36 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "The Well" brings a welcome reprieve from the brutality of the season premiere, introducing a colorful new character and focusing on two of The Walking Dead's most fascinating regulars.^[1]

Ratings

The episode received a 6.1 rating in the key 18-49 demographic with 12.46 million total viewers.^[2]

References

External links

• "The Well" at AMC
• "The Well" on IMDb
• "The Well" at TV.com