'The Walking Dead' Season 7, Episode 2 Review: The Kingdom of Ezekiel Is Here!

The Walking Dead Season 7's second episode gave viewers a reprieve after the carnage in the premiere that rocked the zombie apocalypse drama's die-hard followers. The previous episode of The Walking Dead saw the executions of Abraham and Glenn and the psychological torture of Rick Grames (Andrew Lincoln). After last week's show, fans are left astounded and are in doldrums on the how they will suffer in the next remaining episodes.

In tonight's episode, the AMC series introduced viewers to a new community called the Kingdom and their eccentric leader, King Ezekiel (played by the reliable Khary Payton) who has a monstrous pet pussy cat. Carol ran into the community and was saved by Morgan and the Kingdom's members.

The Kingdom episode has a much more lighthearted tone than the previous and is peppered with some comedy. Variety describes it as  preposterously bucolic.  One scene saw Ezekiel and Morgan meeting Negan's saviors. It turns that the Kingdom supplies slaughtered hogs to the Saviors to assure their weekly safety. That arrangement does not sit well with Ezekiel's men. Their resistance to the Saviors is done by rearing the pigs on zombie flesh.

Ezekiel's character is depicted as a post-apocalyptic Lloyd Dobler. Forbes magazine's columnist Erik Kain explains why Ezekiel is its favorite new character . A confrontation between Carol and Ezekiel led to the former criticizing the Kingdom as a "joke." Ezekiel explained why he is not setting up the Kingdom to be a zombie bait, "Life isn't. Where there's life, there's hope, and heroism and grace and love. Where there is life, there is life."

The Walking Dead Season 7's episode 2 is perfectly crafted to entice viewers who have grown weary of the show's nihilism. This mirrors to Carol's rushed and inconsequential departure from the Kingdom. For Carol, living in make-believe societies will make them weak and vulnerable.