Episode 2: The Well
Weeeell, have we all sufficiently recovered? As difficult as it was to continue on after last week's emotional annihilation, we must dutifully soldier on. We knew from the previews that S7E2 would be much, much less intense, focusing on Morgan, Carol and the new crew at The Kingdom. Silly, even. It was a broad pendulum swing in the other direction, and although that may raise questions of consistency and pacing, personally we were in desperate need of that break after 701.
Melissa McBride delivers just what she needed to: She again attempts to manipulate the new people into believing she is a sweet and innocent victim, but before the end of the episode Ezekiel has called her out on the act. Finally. There have been times in the past when that act was down right creepy, but then it was likely supposed to be. You can argue that someone mired down in a giant farce like "The Kingdom" would be able to spot someone else putting on an act right away. But, then by that logic we would have to assume all actors are human lie detectors, so we'll just engage our suspension of disbelief and imagine that Ezekiel's acting sensibilities make him a better judge of character than most.
Morgan is trying to fit in and seems to be gaining esteem with the locals while Carol is still plotting to escape to go out and live on her own. What's up with that, girl? She spots a small house near the gates of The Kingdom and eventually decides to take up residence there, with Ezekiel's blessing after he catches her stealing provisions to take with her. In fact, he is her first visitor at her new little house, in a scene that is ripe with electricity between the two characters. Perhaps she will become his "Queen", though predictably she thinks his fairy tale community is simply ridiculous. We're glad someone does. If none of our characters acted like they noticed, silly would be the least of our worries.
We weren't exactly excited about a CGI tiger in the midst of an apocalypse but admit it was done well enough to pass, though still a far fetched idea. Ezekiel's explanation that he was a zoo keeper that saved the tiger's life once and thereby gained it's trust is believable enough, but a zoo keeper would know that she would need to be kept in a proper enclosure if not for his safety then for those around him. It's more of that silliness, but so is the whole Renaissance Fair Community. It's hard to imagine that many people would want to actively engage in such a fantasy when everything around them is life or death. Is it permissible only because of the juxtaposition against Negan's extreme terrorism? What do you think?
At the end of the day we needed the silliness to help wash out the taste of last week's episode before we move forward with more tension and grief. Next week we'll be treated to Daryl's post-Lucilling plight which looks to be Negan's attempt at assimilating Daryl into his army. Good luck, Negan. The Daryl-Haters are already out in full force but remember, every character is important and has a part to play in our big picture.
Until next week, y'all!
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