SPOILER ALERT!!!
Episode 612: Not Tomorrow Yet
Rick (to himself more than to the assault team): This is how we eat.
Synopsis: Rick talks Alexandria into raiding Negan's compound, and despite reservations voiced by Morgan, the group moves forward. Abraham breaks up with Rosita, and then moves out of their house. They come up with a workable plan, and use Andy as a decoy with the guards to get inside. The war party eliminates most of Negan's men, but they don't know which one might be the leader. Maggie and Carol are captured by escapees from the facility, who contact Rick and demand they release a captive.
Carol is baking cookies again, after scavenging acorns and supplies from the pantry. She delivers cookies to Tobin, and the two flirt. While she is making rounds, Rick and the group return from the Hilltop and tells Carol to gather everyone at the church so they can discuss the deal they made with the Hilltop.
He explains the deal they made, and that the Saviors need to be dealt with, anyway, because eventually they would have found Alexandria and made the same demands. Low on food, and fighting to defend their perimeter, they would not have the initiative. Morgan argues that if they are so sure they can win, they should contact the saviors, have a show of force and demonstrate that they can do it and avoid bloodshed.
Carol is having a crisis of conscience. She is keeping a log of all she has killed - 18 people in total. She is smoking now, after chastising a now-dead Alexandrian about the habit. She joins Tobin on his front porch, where he admits that she scares him. Many feel that she is a mother figure, but he feels something else. They kiss.
Maggie tells Glenn she is going on the mission, but that she will stay with the cars and safeguard the rally point. How many watching just knew that wasn't going to happen? Meanwhile, Abraham breaks up with Rosita and tells her that when he met her, he thought she was the last woman on Earth.
"You're not," he simply says, and walks out.
Denise and Tara discuss the situation, and Tara tells her she loves her. Denise says she will tell Tara that when she returns. Tara is clearly struggling with the parallels between what they are doing now and what happened with the Governor. After the assualt, Tara and Health are leaving on a two-week extended supply run as previously scheduled.
The assault team leaves the next day. Andy has provided detailed intelligence on what he knows of The Saviors' compound, and they decide to use Negan's previous collusion to bring back Gregory's head to free the hostage he took in the last episode. The group spreads out and finds a walker that looks somewhat like Gregory, severs the head, and kills the brain.
While looking for the walker head, the group separates and they begin contemplating their mission. Heath and Glenn have never killed another human, and both are struggling with the coming slaughter. Rick tells Father Gabriel that there's no turning back from the mission now, and asks him why he still wears his priest's clothing. Gabriel replies that he is still who he was, and besides, it will be harder for their enemies to see him in the dark.
Grabriel is making a startling transformation. He is now a warrior priest, someone who is still a man of God but realizes he cannot stand by idly while his flock is at risk. It is an interesting juxtaposition and a real study in a character arc. It might feel a bit rushed, but I think it's a great evolution in the character, and Seth Gilliam portrays him with an amazing calm and resoluteness.
Rosita and Carol argue about Morgan. They all agreed to keep Morgan's secret with the captured Wolf from the rest of the group, but Rosita is incensed that he spoke out against the attack in the meeting. Carol defends him, saying he doesn't want to kill, and they should respect him for acting on the courage of his convictions. Later, though, Carol confronts Rick about Maggie being on the team, saying she doesn't need to be there. She tells him she will stay with Maggie to guard the rally point.
Rick decides they should attack a couple of hours before dawn. Jesus picks the best walker head that looks like Gregory out of three, but remarks the nose is different. Rick punches the head in the nose and tells Andy he can tell the Saviors he broke his nose in the struggle.
That night, Andy drives up to the Saviors compound with the head. Negan's guards, who are clearly
low-level thugs who don't think for themselves much, don't question why Andy is traveling at night, and don't really search him. One of the guards goes to get Craig, and while he is inside Rick kills the one guard with a knife, silently. When the other guard emerges with Craig, Michonne slays the other guard. He doesn't even have time to notice the first guard is missing.
This is something that Rick and Michonne are the very best at, and why their pairing is so formidable. They still have their humanity for each other, but are capable of dialing the violence dial up to 11 without showing remorse or pity.
The assault team infiltrates the building and fans out, taking down a room at a time and killing the occupants asleep inside with knives, silently. Glenn makes his first human kill, and when Health hesitates, he kills Heath's man as well. Glenn took the burden so Health wouldn't have to and become dehumanized.
Tara, Jesus, Andy, and Craig wait outside in the car with Gabriel. Tara tells Gabriel about her time with the Governor, and only told Denise she loved her to avoid discussing misgivings about the mission. Gabriel asks if she really does love her, and Tara says yes. Jesus then tells her she knows what she's fighting for now.
Abraham and Sasha are working room-to-room when a Savior discovers them. They kill him, but not before he pulls the fire alarm. Maggie and Carol hear the alarm outside and rush to the compound, which is a very bad move. No one is expecting them to reinforce the assault. They are supposed to guard the rally point where the cars are parked for their escape. What if the team was forced to withdraw and break contact, and needed covering fire? Team Rick has a ton of warrior ethic, and they can mow down walkers, but they are still not as well trained as Abraham and Rosita with their military experience. By moving inside to reinforce the attack they also run the risk of being shot by their own people in a blue-on-blue incident.
Jesus and Gabriel decamp from the car while Tara takes Andy and Craig back to the Hilltop to fulfill the deal. The pair go inside to help while Team Rick engages in a close quarter battle fight with the surviving Saviors, who are now awake and armed. Aaron stabs a Savior in self-defense, while Tara and Gabriel take down Saviors who are fleeing the compound. Heath and Glenn find the Savior armory while trying to elude some of the defenders, and shut the door behind them. Quickly, Glen and Heath grab weapons of the racks (two FAL rifles!) and fire through the door, killing most of the Saviors outside. Jesus kills a survivor.
The fight is over, and when the team emerges into the open, they find a small parking lot. Heath and Tara, who has returned to the scene, depart on the scavenging mission. Meanwhile, in Alexandria, Morgan welds a gate for a new prison cell. Michonne wonders whether they actually killed Negan.
A savior tries to escape on Daryl's motorcycle, and is shot. Rick and Daryl are interrogating him when a female voice comes up on the Saviors' radio, telling them they have captured Maggie and Carol (see my comments above).
Overall, Not Tomorrow Yet is a tour de force in action storytelling, and is well-executed in terms of the attack. There are a couple of muzzle sweeps across the backs of teammates along the way, but the technical people who advised the production on CQB tactics delivered. Greg Nicotero doesn't waste a frame in his directing, and the narrative is taut. I do question how stupid the second guard had to be not to notice his compatriot was missing, but I am willing to overlook that possible hole simply because the Saviors are too darn cocky. They seem to assume everything is going to go their way.
Preparedness Discussion
The preparedness discussion is pretty simple for this episode. Assuming you are faced with the same
situation, are you willing to pull the trigger on another human being? Some may argue that, like Morgan suggested, Team Rick should have talked to Negan's people first. That wasn't going to work. First, Daryl killed a bunch of the saviors with an RPG. Then, Rick saw Negan's sadism on display at the Hilltop. Finally, if there was any doubt, the guards' actions with Andy showed they were thugs who wholly joined Negan's cruel crusade of terror.
Still, killing zombies is one thing, killing humans is another. Rick, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, and Sasha have done the majority of the heavy lifting in that respect for much of the series. Glenn and Heath's dilemma and moral struggle provide a welcome insight into the dark places one might have to go.
Next, if you do have to pull the trigger, are you trained to do so? Too many of us preppers spend inordinate amounts of treasure buying firearms and ammunition, but how many of those guns are safe queens that never even make it to the range? Find a range that offers tactical training and get some quality time in with certified instructors.
Finally, if you are forced to take action like Rick and his team are forced to do in order to survive, make sure to recon your target well in advance. I would have felt much better with an extended two- or three-day recon of the area to figure out how many people are in the compound, determine possible escape routes personnel might use, and lay ambushes outside the building to keep anyone from getting away. The personnel securing the rally point need to stay in place and do their jobs, trusting that the assault team can handle unexpected contingencies.
Preparedness Lessons for Episode 612:
Episode 612: Not Tomorrow Yet
Rick (to himself more than to the assault team): This is how we eat.
Synopsis: Rick talks Alexandria into raiding Negan's compound, and despite reservations voiced by Morgan, the group moves forward. Abraham breaks up with Rosita, and then moves out of their house. They come up with a workable plan, and use Andy as a decoy with the guards to get inside. The war party eliminates most of Negan's men, but they don't know which one might be the leader. Maggie and Carol are captured by escapees from the facility, who contact Rick and demand they release a captive.
Carol is baking cookies again, after scavenging acorns and supplies from the pantry. She delivers cookies to Tobin, and the two flirt. While she is making rounds, Rick and the group return from the Hilltop and tells Carol to gather everyone at the church so they can discuss the deal they made with the Hilltop.
He explains the deal they made, and that the Saviors need to be dealt with, anyway, because eventually they would have found Alexandria and made the same demands. Low on food, and fighting to defend their perimeter, they would not have the initiative. Morgan argues that if they are so sure they can win, they should contact the saviors, have a show of force and demonstrate that they can do it and avoid bloodshed.
 |
| Look at the flowers, Tobin. |
Maggie tells Glenn she is going on the mission, but that she will stay with the cars and safeguard the rally point. How many watching just knew that wasn't going to happen? Meanwhile, Abraham breaks up with Rosita and tells her that when he met her, he thought she was the last woman on Earth.
"You're not," he simply says, and walks out.
Denise and Tara discuss the situation, and Tara tells her she loves her. Denise says she will tell Tara that when she returns. Tara is clearly struggling with the parallels between what they are doing now and what happened with the Governor. After the assualt, Tara and Health are leaving on a two-week extended supply run as previously scheduled.
The assault team leaves the next day. Andy has provided detailed intelligence on what he knows of The Saviors' compound, and they decide to use Negan's previous collusion to bring back Gregory's head to free the hostage he took in the last episode. The group spreads out and finds a walker that looks somewhat like Gregory, severs the head, and kills the brain.
While looking for the walker head, the group separates and they begin contemplating their mission. Heath and Glenn have never killed another human, and both are struggling with the coming slaughter. Rick tells Father Gabriel that there's no turning back from the mission now, and asks him why he still wears his priest's clothing. Gabriel replies that he is still who he was, and besides, it will be harder for their enemies to see him in the dark.
Grabriel is making a startling transformation. He is now a warrior priest, someone who is still a man of God but realizes he cannot stand by idly while his flock is at risk. It is an interesting juxtaposition and a real study in a character arc. It might feel a bit rushed, but I think it's a great evolution in the character, and Seth Gilliam portrays him with an amazing calm and resoluteness.
Rosita and Carol argue about Morgan. They all agreed to keep Morgan's secret with the captured Wolf from the rest of the group, but Rosita is incensed that he spoke out against the attack in the meeting. Carol defends him, saying he doesn't want to kill, and they should respect him for acting on the courage of his convictions. Later, though, Carol confronts Rick about Maggie being on the team, saying she doesn't need to be there. She tells him she will stay with Maggie to guard the rally point.
 |
| Andy loses his head. |
That night, Andy drives up to the Saviors compound with the head. Negan's guards, who are clearly
low-level thugs who don't think for themselves much, don't question why Andy is traveling at night, and don't really search him. One of the guards goes to get Craig, and while he is inside Rick kills the one guard with a knife, silently. When the other guard emerges with Craig, Michonne slays the other guard. He doesn't even have time to notice the first guard is missing.
This is something that Rick and Michonne are the very best at, and why their pairing is so formidable. They still have their humanity for each other, but are capable of dialing the violence dial up to 11 without showing remorse or pity.
The assault team infiltrates the building and fans out, taking down a room at a time and killing the occupants asleep inside with knives, silently. Glenn makes his first human kill, and when Health hesitates, he kills Heath's man as well. Glenn took the burden so Health wouldn't have to and become dehumanized.
Tara, Jesus, Andy, and Craig wait outside in the car with Gabriel. Tara tells Gabriel about her time with the Governor, and only told Denise she loved her to avoid discussing misgivings about the mission. Gabriel asks if she really does love her, and Tara says yes. Jesus then tells her she knows what she's fighting for now.
 |
| Rosita is working on some anger issues. |
Jesus and Gabriel decamp from the car while Tara takes Andy and Craig back to the Hilltop to fulfill the deal. The pair go inside to help while Team Rick engages in a close quarter battle fight with the surviving Saviors, who are now awake and armed. Aaron stabs a Savior in self-defense, while Tara and Gabriel take down Saviors who are fleeing the compound. Heath and Glenn find the Savior armory while trying to elude some of the defenders, and shut the door behind them. Quickly, Glen and Heath grab weapons of the racks (two FAL rifles!) and fire through the door, killing most of the Saviors outside. Jesus kills a survivor.
 |
| Rick is not as successful as he hoped. |
A savior tries to escape on Daryl's motorcycle, and is shot. Rick and Daryl are interrogating him when a female voice comes up on the Saviors' radio, telling them they have captured Maggie and Carol (see my comments above).
Overall, Not Tomorrow Yet is a tour de force in action storytelling, and is well-executed in terms of the attack. There are a couple of muzzle sweeps across the backs of teammates along the way, but the technical people who advised the production on CQB tactics delivered. Greg Nicotero doesn't waste a frame in his directing, and the narrative is taut. I do question how stupid the second guard had to be not to notice his compatriot was missing, but I am willing to overlook that possible hole simply because the Saviors are too darn cocky. They seem to assume everything is going to go their way.
Preparedness Discussion
The preparedness discussion is pretty simple for this episode. Assuming you are faced with the same
situation, are you willing to pull the trigger on another human being? Some may argue that, like Morgan suggested, Team Rick should have talked to Negan's people first. That wasn't going to work. First, Daryl killed a bunch of the saviors with an RPG. Then, Rick saw Negan's sadism on display at the Hilltop. Finally, if there was any doubt, the guards' actions with Andy showed they were thugs who wholly joined Negan's cruel crusade of terror.
Still, killing zombies is one thing, killing humans is another. Rick, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, and Sasha have done the majority of the heavy lifting in that respect for much of the series. Glenn and Heath's dilemma and moral struggle provide a welcome insight into the dark places one might have to go.
Next, if you do have to pull the trigger, are you trained to do so? Too many of us preppers spend inordinate amounts of treasure buying firearms and ammunition, but how many of those guns are safe queens that never even make it to the range? Find a range that offers tactical training and get some quality time in with certified instructors.
Finally, if you are forced to take action like Rick and his team are forced to do in order to survive, make sure to recon your target well in advance. I would have felt much better with an extended two- or three-day recon of the area to figure out how many people are in the compound, determine possible escape routes personnel might use, and lay ambushes outside the building to keep anyone from getting away. The personnel securing the rally point need to stay in place and do their jobs, trusting that the assault team can handle unexpected contingencies.
Preparedness Lessons for Episode 612:
- If a person attacks you with potential lethal force, they have defined your relationship. If you attack them first, you have defined the relationship. Make sure you are ready to pull the trigger before you are faced with the situation. Otherwise, you are a liability.
- Get some tactical training. Owning 42 AR-15s for a family of three is a waste. Invest in tactical training and replacement parts kits for a few high quality guns. Also invest in ammunition, because without it a gun is just a club, and not a very good one.
- Your training should take into account planning and executing operations. Follow the plan and make sure that you play your part appropriately in mock drills. Now is the time to learn while you can laugh about it and go to the local McDonald's afterward.
