The Walking Dead: The Well
October 30, 2016 7:06 PM - Season 7, Episode 2 - Subscribe
For a number of familiar faces, a new, well-established community seems too good to be true.
Liars and tigers and boars, oh my!
Liars and tigers and boars, oh my!
I haven't seen it yet because baseball (Go Tribe), but Ezekiel. Ezekiel and the tiger! This is the point I was waiting for in the comic that I never thought would arrive -- the point where "realism" gave way to the batshit insanity of (IMO) the best post-apocalyptic fiction* -- and I am delighted the show has decided to go there too.
Perhaps coincidentally, the Kingdom reminds me of nothing so much as the movie Knightriders, which means TWD is at this point an homage to two different George Romero movies at once. Maybe next we'll have an evil monkey.
*Or at least of the pulpy variety that TWD trades in. I don't know that, like, Threads or The Road would be improved by a man and his tiger. I feel like they would?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:13 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Perhaps coincidentally, the Kingdom reminds me of nothing so much as the movie Knightriders, which means TWD is at this point an homage to two different George Romero movies at once. Maybe next we'll have an evil monkey.
*Or at least of the pulpy variety that TWD trades in. I don't know that, like, Threads or The Road would be improved by a man and his tiger. I feel like they would?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:13 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Definitely an improvement over last week.
Curious to see what the long-term effects of eating wild hogs who feed on walkers will be. Maybe it's time for a zoonotic mutation?
posted by invisible ink at 10:06 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Curious to see what the long-term effects of eating wild hogs who feed on walkers will be. Maybe it's time for a zoonotic mutation?
posted by invisible ink at 10:06 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
I love a Morgan Carol episode. The scenes at the kingdom were everything I love about post-apocalypse tv and I'd be content with a season of just watching how they make the community run. The tiger was pretty ridiculous, but I thought Morgan's introduction "also, he has a tiger" was funny. We got to see Carol play her silly housewife role again, and I found it pretty satisfying when Ezekiel saw through it and told her to drop the act. As far as TWD goes, I enjoyed the episode quite a bit.
Can anyone help? I missed the convo with the kid telling Morgan how his dad died. Did he go on a mission and get overtaken by zombies? Is it possible he's a hostage? I couldn't hear what he said.
posted by areaperson at 10:11 AM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
Can anyone help? I missed the convo with the kid telling Morgan how his dad died. Did he go on a mission and get overtaken by zombies? Is it possible he's a hostage? I couldn't hear what he said.
posted by areaperson at 10:11 AM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
Re the kid-Morgan conversation - The kid's dad was on a team that Ezekiel had clearing a building and they got caught by zombies/were eaten.
posted by longdaysjourney at 10:15 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by longdaysjourney at 10:15 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Next week the tiger will jump over a shark.
posted by FallowKing at 3:48 PM on October 31, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by FallowKing at 3:48 PM on October 31, 2016 [5 favorites]
Despite the tiger, I have to say that Ezekial is perhaps the least crazy story element we've seen so far. Unlike Negan, the Governor, and even Rick on several occasions, Ezekial actually acts like a leader - planning ahead, listening as much or more than he speaks, tailoring his approach to the situation at hand. I mean, he talked Carol down from her plan and worked out a compromise with her, something both Rick and Morgan had repeatedly failed to do, despite knowing her much longer.
As has been mentioned in previous show threads, it's far more likely that people will come together in a disaster than descend into anarchy, and Ezekial is exactly the kind of leader who would wind up helping that to happen.
So, yes, I did watch one more episode, largely because I wanted to say goodbye to Carol, but Ezekial might make me stick around longer. I am now Team Ezekial, waiting for Carol to finish her hermitage and come back in to finish off Negan.
posted by Mogur at 4:43 PM on October 31, 2016 [5 favorites]
As has been mentioned in previous show threads, it's far more likely that people will come together in a disaster than descend into anarchy, and Ezekial is exactly the kind of leader who would wind up helping that to happen.
So, yes, I did watch one more episode, largely because I wanted to say goodbye to Carol, but Ezekial might make me stick around longer. I am now Team Ezekial, waiting for Carol to finish her hermitage and come back in to finish off Negan.
posted by Mogur at 4:43 PM on October 31, 2016 [5 favorites]
The kid's dad was on a team that Ezekiel had clearing a building and they got caught by zombies/were eaten.
That's the official story anyway. Ezekial hasn't made the existence of the Saviors public knowledge. It's also possible that the 8 people who died on that run were actually killed by Negan's band and that's why the Kingdom is paying secret tribute.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:32 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
That's the official story anyway. Ezekial hasn't made the existence of the Saviors public knowledge. It's also possible that the 8 people who died on that run were actually killed by Negan's band and that's why the Kingdom is paying secret tribute.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:32 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
So now that Carol is living on a house on her own, this means she'll be free to save whichever camp gets attacked next, right? At least we got rid of weepy weep Carol.
posted by astapasta24 at 9:20 PM on October 31, 2016
posted by astapasta24 at 9:20 PM on October 31, 2016
Yes, please no more weepy, hermitage Carol. Even if Ezecarol turns out to be true, we are way overdue for the return of badass Carol. I don't care if Ezekial sweeps her off her feet with a tiger. No more excuses, Carol, there's a psychopath chopping off peoples' heads out there.
And I sincerely hope that the writers are not planning a love triangle between Korl, Ben and Enid (assuming she eventually gets out of that closet).
posted by invisible ink at 10:36 PM on October 31, 2016
And I sincerely hope that the writers are not planning a love triangle between Korl, Ben and Enid (assuming she eventually gets out of that closet).
posted by invisible ink at 10:36 PM on October 31, 2016
Despite the tiger, I have to say that Ezekial is perhaps the least crazy story element we've seen so far. Unlike Negan, the Governor, and even Rick on several occasions, Ezekial actually acts like a leader - planning ahead, listening as much or more than he speaks, tailoring his approach to the situation at hand.
Yes, I agree. It's particularly meta-funny that folks finally meet an actually competent leader for once and can't believe what they're saying.
If the whole series were like this episode, I'd be actually watching it again instead of playing video games with my headphones on while my partner watches it next to me.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:48 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes, I agree. It's particularly meta-funny that folks finally meet an actually competent leader for once and can't believe what they're saying.
If the whole series were like this episode, I'd be actually watching it again instead of playing video games with my headphones on while my partner watches it next to me.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:48 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can we just have a show where Morgan and Carol go around to the different little civilizations and laugh at the crazy?
Carol's new house is right on the road. That's probably not a good idea.
I get that none of you want weepy Carol, you want badass Carol. But I find it disconcerting to yearn for that when her entire character arc has led her to the place where she wants no more killing: not zombies, not people, not by her, and not by someone else for her. It's like Morgan said about finding your own path. She found hers after lots and lots of suffering and violence.
Of course by the end of the season, the writers will have her "come to the light" and embrace violence once again probably. And it will probably take some poorly conceived conflict that brings her around.
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:55 AM on November 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Carol's new house is right on the road. That's probably not a good idea.
I get that none of you want weepy Carol, you want badass Carol. But I find it disconcerting to yearn for that when her entire character arc has led her to the place where she wants no more killing: not zombies, not people, not by her, and not by someone else for her. It's like Morgan said about finding your own path. She found hers after lots and lots of suffering and violence.
Of course by the end of the season, the writers will have her "come to the light" and embrace violence once again probably. And it will probably take some poorly conceived conflict that brings her around.
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:55 AM on November 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh good lord. I just realized that it's The Lady or the Tiger.
Actually, I kind of like a good pun, so I'll let that go because I'm wanting to mention Ezekial looking at Carol's wounded arm and telling her about he bandaged Shiva's wounded leg (which I'm betting was the right foreleg) and now Shiva loves him, even though she could take his arm off whenever she wanted to.
posted by Mogur at 9:28 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Actually, I kind of like a good pun, so I'll let that go because I'm wanting to mention Ezekial looking at Carol's wounded arm and telling her about he bandaged Shiva's wounded leg (which I'm betting was the right foreleg) and now Shiva loves him, even though she could take his arm off whenever she wanted to.
posted by Mogur at 9:28 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I wasn't familiar with that short story, but pretty much immediately after that scene happened, I turned to my partner and said, "So, Carol is the tiger, right?" And she just nodded back.
I'll take a ham-fistedly obvious metaphor like that over misery porn any day, though.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:47 AM on November 1, 2016
I'll take a ham-fistedly obvious metaphor like that over misery porn any day, though.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:47 AM on November 1, 2016
The lack of comment activity here... did all the people who said they were out actually mean it this time?
A shame, because this is Walking Dead at its best. A little over the top silly? Yep. Cartoonish? Definitely. But so much fun!
We finally get to explore another new little society. And for once the show doesn't try to play up some silly suspense. There's no pretense, no seedy underbelly, no maniacal power play. Everything Ezekiel said made a certain sort of sense, and he comes across as one of the first good leaders we've run into.
(Heck, thinking back on it I can barely remember why Woodbury and the Governor were so bad...)
posted by 2ht at 2:13 PM on November 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
A shame, because this is Walking Dead at its best. A little over the top silly? Yep. Cartoonish? Definitely. But so much fun!
We finally get to explore another new little society. And for once the show doesn't try to play up some silly suspense. There's no pretense, no seedy underbelly, no maniacal power play. Everything Ezekiel said made a certain sort of sense, and he comes across as one of the first good leaders we've run into.
(Heck, thinking back on it I can barely remember why Woodbury and the Governor were so bad...)
posted by 2ht at 2:13 PM on November 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
For my first ever MetaFilter post - let's toss a bit of Greek mythology into the mix :
Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone was such a beautiful young woman that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. One day, when she was collecting flowers on the plain of Enna, the earth suddenly opened and Hades rose up from the gap and abducted her. None but Zeus, and the all-seeing sun, Helios, had noticed it.
Broken-hearted, Demeter wandered the earth, looking for her daughter until Helios revealed what had happened. Demeter was so angry that she withdrew herself in loneliness, and the earth ceased to be fertile. Knowing this could not continue much longer, Zeus sent Hermes down to Hades to make him release Persephone. Hades grudgingly agreed, but before she went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate (or the seeds of a pomegranate, according to some sources). When she later ate of it, it bound her to underworld forever and she had to stay there one-third of the year. The other months she stayed with her mother. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow and winter began. This myth is a symbol of the budding and dying of nature.
Carol just might be our post-apocalyptic Persephone - going back and forth between the light and the dark! Now to figure out which is which. It was the pomegranate that got me thinking......
posted by ZenMajek at 4:39 PM on November 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone was such a beautiful young woman that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. One day, when she was collecting flowers on the plain of Enna, the earth suddenly opened and Hades rose up from the gap and abducted her. None but Zeus, and the all-seeing sun, Helios, had noticed it.
Broken-hearted, Demeter wandered the earth, looking for her daughter until Helios revealed what had happened. Demeter was so angry that she withdrew herself in loneliness, and the earth ceased to be fertile. Knowing this could not continue much longer, Zeus sent Hermes down to Hades to make him release Persephone. Hades grudgingly agreed, but before she went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate (or the seeds of a pomegranate, according to some sources). When she later ate of it, it bound her to underworld forever and she had to stay there one-third of the year. The other months she stayed with her mother. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow and winter began. This myth is a symbol of the budding and dying of nature.
Carol just might be our post-apocalyptic Persephone - going back and forth between the light and the dark! Now to figure out which is which. It was the pomegranate that got me thinking......
posted by ZenMajek at 4:39 PM on November 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
Yeah, the pomegranate reference there seemed pretty significant to me.
Last episode was hard to watch, this one less so. I did quite like the insanity of Ezekiel, and how quickly he dropped the facade when Carol was alone with him. His reasoning for the play-acting was sound. I'm wondering if he's a new moral compass for the show.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:59 AM on November 4, 2016
Last episode was hard to watch, this one less so. I did quite like the insanity of Ezekiel, and how quickly he dropped the facade when Carol was alone with him. His reasoning for the play-acting was sound. I'm wondering if he's a new moral compass for the show.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:59 AM on November 4, 2016
I finally watched this! Here's my guess about what's going on with Carol. Ezekiel seemed to realize that Carol was, if not suicidal, at least indifferent to the prospect of her own continued survival; then he asked if maybe she could both stay and leave the Kingdom. I think that Carol's new house is located somewhere that the Saviors will pass through. If Carol joins the Saviors, she may be able to get close enough to Negan to kill him. If she dies, she gets what she wanted anyway. If she's captured, no one will presume she was working for anybody. If she kills Negan, well, Negan's dead.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:47 PM on November 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:47 PM on November 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
I finally watched this!
Me too: hated hated hated last episode, and this one had been sitting unwatched on the DVR for a week before I ran out of other things to watch. This was much better; I like "pastoral with a hint of unease" TWD a lot better than "bleak nihilism torture hour".
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:06 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Me too: hated hated hated last episode, and this one had been sitting unwatched on the DVR for a week before I ran out of other things to watch. This was much better; I like "pastoral with a hint of unease" TWD a lot better than "bleak nihilism torture hour".
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:06 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
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