Huzzah!
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
"The Well," while not devoid of drama, was certainly the most upbeat Walking Dead episode to date - and yes, I am considering Season 6's "The Next World," which featured a time jump, a new romance, and the introduction of Jesus. But that now stands as the second most playful episode.
When we're presented with a tonally different Walking Dead episode, it's hard not to feel a certain amount of whiplash. The show is naturally grim so it's difficult to be prepared for an episode with intentionally silly elements to it. "The Next World" worked because of that leap forward in time that helped distance us from the trauma of "No Way Out." Here though, given the weighty atrocities of the Season 7 premiere -- which was way too manipulative, full of itself, and gimmicky to be effective -- "The Well" operates on a much more disjointed level. It was a solid episode, and a fun breather, though the fact that it's taking place at the same time as the Lucille ordeal creates a weird vibe.
But let's get into it. Welcome to the zompocalypse Ren Faire! Or as it's called here, The Kingdom, home to purposefully misled wasteland survivors looking for a bit of fantasy to alleviate the agony of sheer existence. Our host is King Ezekiel. Ezekiel has a roaring tiger named Shiva and a dutiful manservant named Jerry. It's all utterly preposterous, but the episode handled the situation, and Ezekiel's introduction, very well.
The Kingdom makes Alexandria look like Thunderdome. There are minstrels singing Bob Dylan tunes, cobbler for every meal, a leader who speaks like he's the host of a traveling pageant wagon... It's all a bizarre bubble of cosplay and caution. Of course, Carol was going to think it was all a big joke, but even Morgan, with all his enlightenment, found the place to be off its rocker. Melissa McBride and Lennie James were both great in the chapter, reacting to various absurdities in different ways. Carol and Morgan never get to play things lightly given their respective arcs, so I liked seeing them given different notes to play here.
Ezekiel, joyfully played by voice actor Khary Payton (Young Justice and Metal Gear Solid 4 are among his many credits), could easily be this show's fool. He's pompous and his methods of rule feel antiquated and unrealistic. But underneath his throwback wordiness, his messages make sense and within his makeshift feudal system is an air of kindness and care. If you scratch off the surface, and get past the fact that he expects people to show him a modicum of reverence, he's got a spark. He keeps his people in the dark about the Saviors because he knows they'd lose in a head-on battle. He has to pretend everything's hunky dory so that cooler heads always prevail. Oh, and he's got a magnificent bulls*** detector because he himself is a faker.
I enjoyed his sit down with Carol at the end, and how it helped balance out her character a bit. He came clean with her and convinced her to enter into a sort of stay/go truce in which she'd live just on the outskirts of the Kingdom in a house - perhaps even as a guard if she felt it necessary. There are only a handful of characters on this show that I feel really invested in, and both Carol and Morgan are part of that group. That's a big reason why this episode sat so well with me even though the stakes were very low. It was a world-opener and an offbeat journey that made the show feel bigger and full of more possibilities other than just the lather/rinse/repeat aspects of Rick's usual trek.
It was also interesting to see how a different community handled the Saviors. Tensions ran high, and that Richard character sure held a lot of resentment, but compared to Alexandria and Hilltop, Ezekiel has figured out how to produce for Negan and not make waves. Plus, even though the Kingdom would most likely lose in a battle with the Saviors, Zeke's Riders of Rohan aren't without skill. The Saviors would also lose men and they know that so there's this cautionary unease at play.
The Verdict
"The Well" took us in a wild new direction for the show, especially when you pair it up with the gruesome and gimmicky events from last week's season premiere. But in doing so, and focusing on two characters easy to invest in, the community of the Kingdom was able to shine as both a silly bubble and a workable system. It's a total "so crazy it just might work" scenario and I really enjoyed the interplay between Carol and Ezekiel. Morgan too, with his particular set of fighting skills, seemed to find a place that he could fit in. - not one without violence, but one that wasn't actively seeking violence.
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