The previous episode "The Day Will Come Before You Won't Be" was surprisingly not bad at all, despite going too overboard on the violent tone. Am saying surprisingly, because it followed on from such a disappointing finish to the previous season, an inconsistent one but with many fine things. And because it opened the season where 'The Walking Dead' went notoriously downhill and felt like a completely different show altogether.
Despite a much lower rating here as of now, for me Season 7's second episode "The Well" was a little better and it is not hard to see why it was one of the best received episodes of the season by quite a large margin. It is a very solid episode, interesting for introducing one to The Kingdom and another new character, albeit a very different one compared to the previous episode, its more restrained and calmer tone being a welcome departure from before. While it won't be for all tastes and it's a long way from being 'The Walking Dead' at its best, "The Well" is one of Season 7's better episodes in my view.
It is certainly not perfect. It is a little too slow in spots, the episode being somewhat of a slow-starter and it is with the Saviors when it gets going, and bogged down by being a little too exposition heavy. Some of it being rambling (if not as much as Negan's dialogue in "The Day Will Come Before You Won't Be").
Other episodes did a better job at progressing the characters, with the introduction of Ezekiel being the most striking thing in this regard, and at moving the story forward (the episode is not complete filler though), the closest "The Well" comes to being that is other than the introduction to the Kingdom the hostility between the Kingdom and the Saviors.
However, "The Well" is stylishly photographed without trying to do too much, no trying-to-be-too-clever editing to be seen here, or being too static. Shiva looks great. The music avoids being too bombastic or being too low-key, being suitably haunting. Personally do prefer it when the direction has more tension, especially of the uncompromising kind, but did appreciate the sensitivity of it here. While the dialogue is not perfect, it is quite thought-provoking and intrigues enough, especially between Ezekial and Carol. Melissa McBride, Lennie James and Khary Payton are excellent throughout.
Although, like the script, the storytelling is flawed, there are things done well. The big scene between Ezekiel and Carol is particularly well done, great chemistry between the two, not too heavy-handed and really probes thought. Close behind is with the Saviors, that had intensity and a further sign of how dangerous they are. Carol and Morgan's story here is on the most part more interesting than in "Last Day on Earth", which didn't fit with the rest of the episode. It was great to have "The Well" focusing on two of the show's better regular characters and focusing on less characters than tends to be the case, am aware that fans had issues with Carol's development in the latter episodes of Season 6 but she is very well handled here and Morgan has come on a lot. Ezekiel is a colourfully characterised character, very intriguing and enigmatic.
In summary, well done if not top-'The Walking Dead' standard. Better than a lot of what came after though, which was a completely different story. 7/10
Despite a much lower rating here as of now, for me Season 7's second episode "The Well" was a little better and it is not hard to see why it was one of the best received episodes of the season by quite a large margin. It is a very solid episode, interesting for introducing one to The Kingdom and another new character, albeit a very different one compared to the previous episode, its more restrained and calmer tone being a welcome departure from before. While it won't be for all tastes and it's a long way from being 'The Walking Dead' at its best, "The Well" is one of Season 7's better episodes in my view.
It is certainly not perfect. It is a little too slow in spots, the episode being somewhat of a slow-starter and it is with the Saviors when it gets going, and bogged down by being a little too exposition heavy. Some of it being rambling (if not as much as Negan's dialogue in "The Day Will Come Before You Won't Be").
Other episodes did a better job at progressing the characters, with the introduction of Ezekiel being the most striking thing in this regard, and at moving the story forward (the episode is not complete filler though), the closest "The Well" comes to being that is other than the introduction to the Kingdom the hostility between the Kingdom and the Saviors.
However, "The Well" is stylishly photographed without trying to do too much, no trying-to-be-too-clever editing to be seen here, or being too static. Shiva looks great. The music avoids being too bombastic or being too low-key, being suitably haunting. Personally do prefer it when the direction has more tension, especially of the uncompromising kind, but did appreciate the sensitivity of it here. While the dialogue is not perfect, it is quite thought-provoking and intrigues enough, especially between Ezekial and Carol. Melissa McBride, Lennie James and Khary Payton are excellent throughout.
Although, like the script, the storytelling is flawed, there are things done well. The big scene between Ezekiel and Carol is particularly well done, great chemistry between the two, not too heavy-handed and really probes thought. Close behind is with the Saviors, that had intensity and a further sign of how dangerous they are. Carol and Morgan's story here is on the most part more interesting than in "Last Day on Earth", which didn't fit with the rest of the episode. It was great to have "The Well" focusing on two of the show's better regular characters and focusing on less characters than tends to be the case, am aware that fans had issues with Carol's development in the latter episodes of Season 6 but she is very well handled here and Morgan has come on a lot. Ezekiel is a colourfully characterised character, very intriguing and enigmatic.
In summary, well done if not top-'The Walking Dead' standard. Better than a lot of what came after though, which was a completely different story. 7/10