The Well (The Walking Dead)
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"The Well" is the second episode of the seventh season of the
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
'' The Walking Dead'', which aired on
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on October 30, 2016. The episode was written by Matthew Negrete and directed by
Greg Nicotero Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film ''Day of the Dead'' (1985), under the tutelag ...
. The episode focuses on Carol (
Melissa McBride Melissa Suzanne McBride (born May 23, 1965) is an American actress. Her breakout role was Carol Peletier on the AMC series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). She has garnered critical acclaim and received multiple awards and nominations for h ...
) and
Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...
( Lennie James) finding refuge and being introduced to a new well-established community called the Kingdom. It marks the first appearances of King Ezekiel ( Khary Payton), his pet
Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
named Shiva, and his right-hand man
Jerry Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...
(
Cooper Andrews Andrew Lawrence Cooper (born March 10, 1985), known professionally as Cooper Andrews, is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Jerry in '' The Walking Dead''. Early life Andrews was born in Smithtown, New York on Long Island. His ...
).


Plot

Carol regains consciousness in the bed of a
horse-drawn wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
. Her wounds are fresh; it's only been a couple hours since she was shot repeatedly by a Savior and rescued by
Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...
. The men on horseback, who previously offered to get Carol medical assistance, lead the way to their survivor community: The Kingdom. Morgan walks alongside the wagon and Carol falls back asleep. However, en route, Carol experiences visions of a decrepit female walker that is inside an abandoned house outside the community. Two days later, Carol is fully conscious, though still weak, and is taken by Morgan to meet King Ezekiel ( Khary Payton), the leader of the Kingdom, and his pet
Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
, Shiva. Carol is taken aback by Ezekiel's over-the-top manner, but feigns approval of his hospitality and politely rejects his offer of fruit, stating that pomegranates are not to her liking. Later, Carol confides in Morgan that she is going to leave at the first opportunity. As Carol recovers, Morgan is invited by Ezekiel on a secret mission with a small group to collect eight wild pigs, let them feed on walkers, and slaughter them as their current offering to the Saviors. At the arranged meeting, there is open hostility between the Saviors and Kingdom, but the Saviors accept the pigs and demand produce for their next offering or threaten to kill one of the Kingdom's men. Ezekiel, impressed with Morgan's performance in this mission, asks him to train one of his men, Benjamin (
Logan Miller Logan Miller (born ) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the Disney XD sitcom ''I'm in the Band'' and he has also voiced Nova / Sam Alexander in the animated series ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. In films, he has starred in ''A Dog's Pu ...
), in staff combat skills. While training, Benjamin reveals that Ezekiel continues to meet the Saviors' demands as he does not believe the Kingdom can beat them. Some time later, Carol attempts to collect some provisions from the Kingdom's stores before she leaves, but Ezekiel catches her. He tells her he knew she was feigning her approval but is curious about her strong survival abilities. Carol explains some of her past, leading Ezekiel to reveal his own "King" is an act; he was a former zookeeper and amateur actor, but took on the King persona to give his people someone to follow and know there is good in the world. Carol still wishes to leave and Ezekiel suggests that she can stay nearby in the abandoned house, so that she could "go and not go." Subsequently, Morgan escorts Carol to the house. There, she clears it of the walker she had spotted earlier. Later, Carol gets a visit from Ezekiel and Shiva. He offers her a
pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
, telling her how good they are; she smiles.


Production

Beginning with this episode,
Steven Yeun Yeun Sang-yeop ( ko, 연상엽; born December 21, 1983), known professionally as Steven Yeun (), is a South Korean-born American actor. Yeun initially rose to prominence for his roles as Glenn Rhee in the television series '' The Walking Dead ...
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. It is also the best reviewed episode of the season on
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. On the aforementioned website, it holds a 95% with an
average rating In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 7.85 out of 10, based on 41 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.


Ratings

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


References


External links


"The Well"
at
AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Well (The Walking Dead, The 2016 American television episodes The Walking Dead (season 7) episodes