The Walking Dead – The Well

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

Well, I’m sure you need a palate cleanser just as much as I do this week! In last week’s episode, we watched as Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) took not just one, but two of our favorite characters: Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yeun). Not to mention, Daryl (Norman Reedus) is now a prisoner of The Saviors. This week, we finally find out where Carol (Melissa McBride) and Morgan (Lennie James) were being taken to last season.

Found by two men named Daniel (Daniel Newman) and Richard (Karl Makinen), Carol is transported back to their community with Morgan in tow. Carol, who was severely injured in the prior season, is in and out of consciousness during the trip. At first, all is calm and quiet. Then, Carol is on the ground while Daniel, Richard and Morgan fight off a group of walkers. In Carol’s mind, the walkers shift back and forth between dead and alive. In the chaos, she tries to flee, but more community members come to the rescue and fend off remaining walkers. When Carol wakes up again, she is in a room with Morgan by her bedside.

As Carol is wheeled around the community by Morgan, he tells her they have found their way to “The Kingdom.” Morgan helped them in exchange for treating Carol’s wounds. Now that Carol is up and about, the leader King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) wants to meet her. When Carol is wheeled in, there is one more surprise: King Ezekiel is also in possession of a tiger named Shiva. One of Ezekiel’s men, Jerry (Cooper Andrews), assures her that Shiva will not harm her. Ezekiel shares his philosophy for the community: drink from the well, replenish the well. Carol is not quite sure what to make of the situation before her, but plays it off as being in awe. Later, as Morgan wheels her out, she tells him what a joke she thinks this community is and how she still wants to leave. Morgan still refuses to let her go, but Carol reminds him she will find a way to leave.

Morgan is quickly accepted into Ezekiel’s inner group, as he is taken out on the road to participate in hunting with the group. There are wild pigs in the area that Ezekiel rounds up, letting them feast on the rotting flesh of the walkers before they are killed for food. During their hunt, Ezekiel has brought along Benjamin (Logan Miller), a young man he is training to be part of his court. Benjamin flounders when it comes to killing walkers, but Morgan quickly steps up to assist, which piques Ezekiel’s interest. Before driving back to The Kingdom, Ezekiel asks Morgan not to say anything about the pigs to anyone.

At The Kingdom, Ezekiel asks Morgan for a favor: he needs him to train Benjamin in combat because it is important that he lives. While Morgan is training Ben, Carol starts to collect her materials to make an escape. Utilizing her wheelchair with a blanket over her lap, we see her grab a knife and a change of clothes. A choir singing “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” plays in the background.

Benjamin quickly catches on to the Aikido that Morgan has taught him and takes a liking to the philosophies. Morgan gifts him with the book that Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) had given him before he died, as poor Benjamin has ready every book twice in The Kingdom – including an air conditioning manual. Ezekiel approaches both Ben and Morgan, asking them to accompany him on another outing.

This time, with the swine now killed and gutted, we find out the intended recipients: The Saviors. Gavin (Jayson Warner Smith), the Savior leading the group to collect swine, is gracious for Ezekiel’s offering. Unfortunately, one of the other Saviors, Jared (Joshua Mikel), begins to pick a fight with Richard. It results in a sparring match, which goes against Ezekiel’s methods. Eventually, Gavin breaks up the fight, but Jared gets in a few hits before that happens. Before leaving with his group, Gavin reminds Ezekiel that produce will be required next and that if he fails to deliver, Richard will be first to die.

Upon their return, Morgan shares his own sordid history with the Saviors about how he killed the one who came after Carol. Later on in the dining hall, Benjamin tells Morgan about his own father and how he died while out on the road. Because he does not want to lose any more people, Ezekiel refuses to fight Negan and instead keeps their deal a secret. When Morgan leaves the dining hall to bring food to Carol, he finds that she is now gone.

Carol, who has now procured her supplies to leave the compound, is caught by Ezekiel as she plucks fruit from the tree. Ezekiel sees right through her sugary sweet exterior, knowing that she must be tough if she had weapons from the Saviors on her person when found. Carol still believes Ezekiel is a joke, but he lets her in on his secret: that maybe people need the fairytale to live. They need a leader, someone who brings results.

As it turns out, Ezekiel was an actor in community theater. He spent time perfecting accents and mannerisms for different roles. In regards to Shiva, he discovered her in a concrete moat with her leg ripped open. He took the chance and dressed her wounds, effectively saving her life. When the outbreak occurred, he went to get Shiva at the zoo; she was one of the only animals left. Because of his kindness, Shiva trusted him and with a tiger by his side, Ezekiel appears larger than life to those around him.

While sitting there listening, Carol still wants to go away. Ezekiel reaches a compromise, that Carol leave but not leave. She needs time to heal and be away from everyone, rather than surrounded. But in her time away, she should embrace the contradiction. When Carol asks why Ezekiel cares, he merely shares that it makes him feel good.

The next morning, Morgan escorts Carol to the gates, stopping at a house that Carol had seen in the beginning of the episode. She will be away from everyone, but still around. Morgan now understands that he has to let her go, but tells her that she is his favorite person that he has ever knocked out. Later, as Carol clears the home and settles in, she gets a knock at the door that is followed by a tiger’s growl. Ezekiel and Shiva have come to visit her, Ezekiel offering her a pomegranate. This makes her smile.

Next Sunday we find out where Daryl has been taken. What will happen when he is brought to the Saviors compound? Join me for next week’s recap of The Walking Dead!