At first glance, The Walking Dead‘s latest episode may be titled “The Lucky Ones” for Lance and Pamela’s observation of Alexandria and Hilltop still standing after devastating losses, but it’s actually in honor of Ezekiel. The King’s cancer diagnosis is scarily becoming a reality for himself and his loved ones, but his noble attitude may just be the cure.
“The Lucky Ones” takes a detour after the last couple of episodes that have focused on new life in the Commonwealth, and the secret rebellion that has been quietly building. It’s about time that Pamela and Lance see Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside for themselves, and take a tour of the communities. Meanwhile, most of the remaining Alexandrians are continuing their lives in the Commonwealth. Eugene copes with the blindsiding revelation about the two Stephanies, and Rosita helps him move forward. On the other side of town, Ezekiel goes in for his first cancer treatment with hesitation and a bunch of questions.
In “New Haunts,” Carol discovers that Ezekiel is too far in the back of the line to receive surgery, and his chances of surviving are extremely low. Out of love for her ex-husband, Carol bribes Lance with wine to use at the masquerade ball in exchange for Ezekiel moving up in the line. Her pay-off is successful — with an additional tag-along to an off-the-grid opium production farm in “Rogue Element” — and “The Lucky Ones” begins Ezekiel’s story with him believing he’s just getting test work done, but is actually preparing for surgery that could possibly remove the tumor from his neck. It’s a happy moment for his right-hand man and best friend, Jerry, who expectedly jumps up and down in joy over the news. But Ezekiel is too prideful for any type of celebration, and begins to wonder how he became so special all of a sudden.
It doesn’t take long for Ezekiel to figure out that Carol had something to do with his placement in the surgery queue. Carol has always gone to the extremes to protect the ones she loves, especially without thinking how other people would be affected. They say opposites attract, and with Carol and Ezekiel, it’s most certainly the case. Ezekiel shows his love through acts of peace and careful concern, first shown in Season 7 by keeping the Savior deal with the Kingdom quiet and not allowing Saviors inside the gates. One of Carol’s first defining moments as a morally complex character is when she killed Karen and David at the prison to avoid the spread of a deadly flu, which was controversial among her fellow allies.
The discussion of ethics is brought up between Ezekiel and Carol in this episode. Ezekiel berates Carol for putting him first, knowing full well that other people may die because of his privileges. Ezekiel doesn’t believe he deserves this one lucky chance he’s been given, but it could all be a matter of fate. Sure, Carol had a huge play in this outcome, but Ezekiel has always been one of the more morally good people on The Walking Dead, and has never really done a notoriously bad thing in his time on the show. Even in situations that are out of his control, like the Savior ambush that killed all of his soldiers in Season 8 and the Kingdom falling apart in Season 9, he blames himself for letting down his people.
Now the King isn’t a king anymore; he’s just some normal guy who is suffering the most unfortunate illness in a world where the dead is the greatest threat. Ezekiel deserves a chance to be looked after for once, because when Ezekiel was taking care of everyone else, who was taking care of him? Of course, he always had Jerry and Carol, which is why they stuck by him in his most desperate time of need. Ezekiel doesn’t see his luck as any form of good fortune now, but maybe a successful outcome that will put a few more years on his life will make him see the bright side of this situation.
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