The Walking Dead Recap: The Well

The premiere of Season 7 is over. As we’re all still nursing our wounds from last week, episode 2 shows up with a little less shock factor.

“The Well” brings Carol and Morgan back into the picture and they’ve found themselves a new home in a place called The Kingdom, ruled by a King. So everything seems good, right?

Keep in mind neither of them know about what Rick and the gang have just been through. Carol’s being carried via horseback to get the medical help she needs from her gunshots. She wakes up mid-ride to a horde of walkers attacking Morgan and the two men they’re with. But this is Carol we’re talking about, and she’s going to put up a fight. She begins to hallucinate though, and runs off into the woods. At this point, more people on horseback are coming out to put up a fight against these walkers. She’s disoriented and passes out. Carol then sleeps for two days.

Image via AMC

A drugged up, yet healthier Carol, wakes up to Morgan watching over her. “They’ve been helping you, so I’ve been helping them,” he explains to her. “Did you tell them about what happened to me, about what we are,” Carol asks Morgan. He replies, “What are we?” Classic Carol/Morgan exchange. He’s telling her about this place they’ve found themselves in, The Kingdom, as he’s wheeling her to go meet the ruler of it, King Ezekiel. She’s left speechless at the term “King Ezekiel.” That is until Morgan informs her that King Ezekiel also has a tiger, and that he “does his own thing.” Queue Carol’s Suzie homemaker mode so she can win over the man with the giant tiger.

As comical as it is to have a tiger on this show, I’m at least happy there’s a new threat other than hungry walkers and suspicious humans. If anyone can win over King Ezekiel and his tiger, it’s Carol all right. He asks her what she thinks of The Kingdom. She replies,

"“I would be speechless if I wasn’t already speaking. I don’t know what the hell’s going on in the most wonderful way!”"

The two continue their chat and he offers her anything they have there. But reminds her that she’ll need to return the favor once she’s healthy. “Drink from the well, replenish the well,” he says. Carol agrees, referring to him as royalty, and continuing the small talk. But of course, while giving Morgan the “what did you get us into” look. The King offers her a basket of fruit, tempting her with fresh pomegranates, but Carol refuses. She says she’d rather have chocolate.

Morgan rolls her away from the King. “This place is a circus,” she says to Morgan, and says that she can’t stay here.

Image via AMC

King Ezekiel includes Morgan in a supply run. They lure wild pigs into a room with a tied up walker. Morgan is quick to ask why they’re letting the pigs eat the walker and someone replies, “he wants their bellies full of rot,” and mentions not to tell anyone back home about this trip. Something smells a little fishy here. It’s not what we think though. The rot-filled pigs are delivered to a group of people we know and hate all too well- the Saviors. The Saviors seem to be blackmailing King Ezekiel, like they are with everyone else, and the people of The Kingdom aren’t having it.

Back at The Kingdom, some choir practice is happening, and the community is bubbling with hymns- which is just really weird in this show. Morgan is training a young man to fight with a wooden staff, as the boy is having trouble fighting with the machete he was given. At the same time, Carol is sneaking around The Kingdom, stealing things to make her escape- a knife, some clothes, a chocolate bar. While each are doing this, the two begin to question their past and all they’ve been through. Are they the same people today that they were a few weeks ago? “Sometimes we change our minds,” Morgan tells the boy he’s training.

While Carol is still planning her escape, she’s out picking apples one night and Ezekiel catches her. “That sweet and innocent act you’ve been doing… worked on me.” But exclaims, “never bullshit a bullshitter.” Ezekiel goes on, “People want someone to follow. It’s human nature. They want someone to make them feel safe. People who feel safe are less dangerous, more productive.” He talks about Shiva, the tiger. “They see a dude with a tiger, they start telling stories about finding it in the wild, wrestling it into submission, turning it into his pet. They make the guy larger than life. A hero.” They started to treat him like royalty so he played along. But he was just a zookeeper. A bullshitter.

Image via AMC

He understands that Carol wants to leave, so he offers her some supplies and to escort her to a house nearby, and she can stay there as long as she wants. That’s what she wants. Morgan and her say goodbye, and Carol starts to clear the house of walkers. She lights a fire and cozies in until she hears a knock on the door. It’s Ezekiel and Shiva. “You really gotta try one of these,” Ezekiel says, holding a pomegranate.

Is there a potential new romance unfolding right in front of our eyes? Are we finally going to see Rick and survivors next week? Are they going to be reunited with Carol and Morgan? We’ll have to wait another week to find out.

Next: The Walking Dead: A Musical Rendition

Catch the next episode of The Walking Dead next Sunday on AMC at 9/8c.