This episode was more engaging, with better and more likable characters, and had more emotional weight to me. Even the same scene of them reuniting was more emotional to me than the last episode's (where I didn't really care much) for some reason.
I guess seeing Michonne desperately looking for Rick in this episode and what she goes through here was presented in a better way that made me care more.
This episode is surprisingly emotional too, and yeah, maybe they were trying too hard to be emotional and did it for the sake of shock value and an artificial way of making an emotional scene. But damn if it wasn't effective. I thought it was weird that in a one-hour episode, they still decided that all we needed to see from Michonne and that couple from season 10 or 11, was the interview she had with their leader. But after what happened in this episode, I'm sure this is way more engaging than whatever they would've shown as flashbacks. And it would be hypocritical of me to demand flashbacks when they can just show their journey and develop those characters through the story and not flashback, as I have said multiple times that I don't like flashbacks that much. Although technically it was still a flashback.
One thing this episode does a great job of is giving Michonne motivation and a reason to do what she did at the end of the last episode. We all know what this episode is gonna lead to, but we don't know why and how. So I think the reason they give Michonne to hate them this much is believable and warranted, and surprisingly personal and emotional. I liked it very much. I didn't think I would care about these new characters since we don't know much about them, but they did a good job of making you care in the span of a few minutes.
I also have to mention a criticism that I had from the last episode that this episode totally debunks and I probably didn't pay attention that much, so I stand corrected about that. It was about Michonne killing everyone with masks on, but only takes the mask off when it's Rick. It's way different here and I was wrong.
All in all, I thought this episode did a surprisingly good job of setting up conflicts (with the awful haircut lady), gave a good motivation and reason to Michonne, and instead of telling us why she is gonna hate all these people, they showed us and made us care. Usually TV shows drop the ball on their second episodes and not much happens and they're boring. But at least for me, this episode was better than the first one, had less nonsensical and laughable dialogue and writing choices, and overall did a better job of making me have an emotional attachment to the characters and care about them and what they're doing.