The latest episode of The Walking Dead focuses on Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Carol (Melissa McBride) following the dramatic final moments of the previous episode, where the members of The Kingdom come under machine gun fire from the Saviours.
Whilst not a great deal happens in this episode in terms of action, it does spend a lot of time taking a look at the leader of The Kingdom, possibly more so than previous episodes have.
The Walking Dead has always depicted its leaders as people that inspire faith in their followers, whether it's Ricks (Andrew Lincoln) bravery, Maggies (Lauren Cohen) compassion, the fear that Negan (Jeffery Dean Morgan) commands, even way back in season three with the duplicity of the Governor (David Morrissey). As such, it was something of a question mark when Ezekiel showed up, a man acting like an over the top pantomime king that inspired the love of his people. How could he capture peoples hearts so well? Other than having a tiger, that is.
Whilst this episode doesn't go the whole way to explaining how Ezekiel inspires his people so much, it does show us that his people understand that him being a king is an act, but they don't care. The moment when Ezekiel tells Jerry (Cooper Andrews) that he doesn't have to call him majesty anymore, only for Jerry to respond with 'Dude, yes I do' is quite touching. Ezekiel is a man with charisma, he inspires his people through the force of who he is, and the love that Jerry clearly has for him shows through.
He's even able to convince Carol to abandon her mission to come and save him, something that she would not do for everyone. Carol has always put the greater good of her group first, so to let the guns she needs to secure go in order to save Ezekiel and Jerry shows how much she has come to care for them, how much she sees them as part of her group now.
The character arc of Carol has easily been one of the best in the show, if not one of the best on television. Her transformation from a frightened and beaten wife to one of the strongest survivors has been dramatic, her resourcefulness and willingness to go to any lengths to protect those she cares about makes her a force to be reckoned with, so it only makes sense that where every other member of the Kingdom's forces are taken out of action she continues on alone, and comes close to succeeding in their mission.
Whilst Carol is usually the highlight of any episode where she is given the spotlight she looses out due to the tragic demise of Shiva. Anyone who knows how expensive creating a fully CGI tiger is would know that her time on the show would be short, simply to save money, her death still comes as a shocking, and upsetting moment.
I know that she's not a real animal, but the sight of her being torn apart by walkers as she protects the person who means the most to her in the world is genuinely upsetting, and makes this one of the more memorable episodes of the new series.
The lack of action in this episode, and a focus on quieter character moments actually helps the episode. Whilst some fans may enjoy the prospect of 'all out war', these quieter moments help with the overall narrative and give quiet moments to appreciate the story and characters. Hopefully the series will incorporate more of these types of episodes before the end of the season.
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