Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 702: The Well

Episode 702: The Well

Morgan: He's called King Ezekiel.
Carol:  What?
Morgan: Yeah, King Ezekiel.  And he ... he does his own thing.

Carol (after meeting King Ezekiel):  You're shitting me, right?

Synopsis: TWD completely abandons the main Negan plotline to follow up on Morgan and Carol, who have taken shelter inside the Kingdom, another settlement run by King Ezekiel, a dreadlocked Shakespeare in the Park guy with his own pet tiger.   Morgan helps the Kingdom in return for their attending to Carol, and teaches Benjamin how to use the staff.  All is not as it seems though, as King Ezekiel is also under the thumb of the Saviors.  Few people inside the Kingdom know it, for Ezekiel fears the population will want to fight, and he is afraid the Saviors will destroy all they have built.   Carol has gathered enough supplies to leave, but Ezekiel calls her on her aw shucks act and offers to help her.  She settles in a home just outside the settlement surrounded by a tall fence, and Ezekiel visits her on her first night.

The Well is a somewhat jarring change of pace following the bloodbath of The Day Will Come When You Won't Be, and plays a few light comedic notes in addition to its revelation that the Saviors have co-opted even this seemingly idyllic community.  I'm still not quite buying the whole Carol doesn't want to kill anymore arc, but it's a welcome distraction from last week.   Overall, it is a lightweight episode, but it is deftly played by Melissa McBride, Lennie James, and newcomer Khary Payton.

Morgan marks the direction back to the main plot.

Carol regains consciousness in the bed of a horse-drawn wagon, and sees Morgan walking with the men on horseback they met at the end of Season Six in their improvised armor made from sports equipment (which begs the question: why hasn't this cropped up before in the series?  I am so tired of random walkers taking a chunk out of an exposed arm).  She loses consciousness again, and awakens to find her wagon overturned in the midst of a battle between the the humans and undead.   She begins hallucinating, seeing the walkers as they were when they were alive and then focusing back into their current undead state.  She staggers away and comes to rest at a tall wrought iron fence in front of a house.   She sees a woman in the window, who then morphs into a walker. A new group of horsemen approach and kill the remaining walkers.

He has his own quotes on a wall.  Riggggghhhht.

Carol wakes up in a bed, her wounds cleaned and dressed, where Morgan explains she has been asleep for two days.  Putting her in a wheelchair, she shows him around their temporary home, called the Kingdom.  It is a hive of activity, with well-developed gardens producing food, school in session for children, and even power in certain buildings.   The area is clean and well-kept.  Brick buildings are surrounded by people living and thriving in a community of hope.   It almost made me wonder if the settlement (filmed on the grounds of a 19th Century military base now owned by noted producer Tyler Perry) was part of a different show.   Compared to the chaos of Alexandria, the viewer is invited to explore the notion that maybe all the issues with our main group are a symptom of Rick's confrontational leadership style.

The dude has a tiger.  Let that sink in for a minute.

Morgan introduces Carol to King Ezekiel, who invites her to stay and recover.  He speaks using a commanding voice and archaic terms, as if from Shakespeare or some other classic author.   Carol, who has perfected the art of disappearing behind a guise of a helpless housewife, can't stand it and nearly laughs in his face, but recovers in time.  She tells Morgan that the Kingdom is a circus: a fantasy land that belies the horrors of the world in the worst way, by covering it up with some myth of royalty and knights.  Carol is leaving as soon as she gets better and can gather the supplies she needs to accomplish it.   Morgan insists that he is not going to let her die "out there."  She says he can't stop her.

Benjamin needs a red shirt.

Later, Morgan, Ezekiel and a small team led by Richard, Ezekiel's second in command, leave in a two-truck convoy and travel to a nearby city to hunt feral pigs, who themselves are feeding on the walkers.  They shoo them into a room in a warehouse where a tied up walker has been pre-positioned, and then shut the door.  As the pigs devour the walker, Richard remarks that he wanted the pigs to have "a belly full of rot."  Walkers approach because of the noise and Benjamin, a teenager who is new to the outside the wire group, is instructed to kill one using a machete.  He struggles to do so, and Ezekiel stabs the creature in the head with his sword. As they load up, Ezekiel instructs Morgan not to tell anyone about the hunt, and the pig truck leaves in a different direction than the other truck.

Ezekiel, impressed by Morgan, asks him to train Benjamin in the staff, because the younger man has shown little talent with other melee weapons or firearms.  Reluctantly, Morgan agrees to do so, but finds he enjoys instructing the young man.   Meanwhile, Carol wheels around in her wheelchair, stealing clothes, weapons, and supplies.

Morgan is training Benjamin when Ezekiel and Richard ask him to come with them.  Richard tells him to bring his gun.   The trio leave with a small team and rendezvous with the now slaughtered pigs in a parking lot.   A group of Saviors arrives, and when Dianne, a member of the Kingdom, explains to Morgan who they are, Morgan says, "I know who they are."

I really hope this guy dies soon.

As they load the pigs into the Saviors' trucks, one of them picks a fight with Richard.  Richard has the upper hand, is clearly very skilled at fighting.  Ezekiel orders his people to stand down, and the Savior uses the opportunity to get a few free shots in until the lead Savior orders him to stop.  He reminds Ezekiel that next week is produce week, and if they are short Richard will be the first to die.

Back at the Kingdom, Benjamin explains that Ezekiel is keeping their obligations to the Saviors a secret to prevent people from wanting to fight back and cause the Saviors to destroy them.  He knows the Saviors outmatch the Kingdom.  Benjamin's father was one of the best fighters in the Kingdom but died with eight others "clearing walkers from a building."  It would come as no surprise if it emerges that Negan killed those people, and Benjamin tries to seek revenge later.   

Ezekiel confronts Carol.

Exekiel confronts Carol in the apple orchard as she gathers fruit for her journey, and confesses that he is playing a part and being a leader "because people want to follow someone."  Carol thinks he is a joke, but then seems to understand.  He was a zookeeper who nursed Shiva back to health before the fall of civilization.   Carol explains that she wants to leave, but he encourages her to embrace life and the hope it offers.   He suggests a plan where she can "go and not go."

Morgan and Carol go on horseback to the fenced in cottage where she passed out, and she enters and kills the walker inside.  She cleans it out and sets it up as her home, safe behind the iron fences.  There is a knock at the door, and Ezekiel is there. He offers her a pomegranate and she smiles at him.

Preparedness Discussion

Over armor, not under armor.

It's about time someone started using body armor of some sort in this world.  When venturing into
danger, Rick's group routinely wears short sleeved t-shirts and no gloves while facing herds of dangerous walkers that have to be put down at close range, many times with melee weapons (then again, they can also gargle zombie guts and blood safely but one scratch and it's lights out, but I digress).  The Kingdom's armor is a mixture of sports elbow and knee pads, motor cross chest protectors, and other odds and ends, but it works:  no walker is going to chew through a plastic shinguard worn on the forearm.

Of course, the trade off with wearing armor is mobility. You are more protected but carrying extra weight, which slows you down and tires you out more quickly.   U.S. troops often wore full body armor in Iraq, where they were close to their operating bases and usually rode around in vehicles using that country's modern road network.  In Afghanistan, where the steep terrain often meant dismounted patrols for days at a time, troops, and special operations forces in particular, sometimes jettisoned their heavy ceramic body armor plates to cut weight.  When everything you own for upcoming operation is being carried on you back, the 10-15 pounds of body armor can be excruciating after a time.

The Kingdom is more worried about walkers than bullets, however, so what they have works for the situation.   As preppers, we should critically examine whether body armor is an expense we are willing to incur.  There are several reputable companies that market body armor, and a variety of plate carriers available on the market.  The question is:  what are you preparing for?   Does body armor make sense in that scope, and do you foresee a need for it?

Also think about your home.  If you plan to shelter in place during a crisis, will your home withstand gunfire?  For most of us, the answer is no, unless you have a brick home or poured concrete home.   These materials are more resistant to high velocity rounds.   Cinderblock is not and can be penetrated relatively quickly (don't believe me?  Check this video).  If you are planning to include a panic room or defending your home from armed attackers in your preparations, do a critical appraisal of your home and its ability to provide cover for you and your family.  Standard wood and drywall construction will do little to stop high-velocity rounds..

Also of note is the sheer amount of work the Kingdom puts into feeding itself.  There are gardens everywhere.  I particularly like the use of filing cabinets as containers for plants.  As a prepper, you should try to produce at least some of your own food.   It could be as simple as a few containers with a tomato plant in each one, but working with plants puts you back in touch with nature and also gives you insight into the challenges of agriculture. I know there are companies that sell "crisis seed vaults" of heirloom seeds  -- those that are not genetically modified and thus will germinate the next season if saved properly, unlike hybrid seeds that will not.  Do not expect that you would will be able to crack open one of those vaults and plant an acre garden that grows itself.   Gardening takes time and effort to be successful.  Again, experience and skills trump supplies and gear. 

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 702:

• Is body armor right for you?   Does it fit your preparedness plan?
• Consider how well protected you would be from gunfire in your home.  If you need to reinforce an area consider sandbags on the outer walls or fortifying a couple of key rooms to protect your family.
• Try some gardening, even if it's just one plant in a container.

Next week: Daryl gets to play Cool Hand Luke to Negan's Strother Martin.

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 701: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be

Episode 701: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be

Abraham: Suck my nuts.

Synopsis:  Negan kills Abraham, and when Daryl tries to intervene and punches him, Negan turns and kills Glenn. When Rick threatens to kill him one day in retaliation, Negan takes him in the camper and forces him to wade through a crowd of walkers to retrieve his own hatchet to display his power over the group.   When Rick still displays defiance, Negan orders him to cut of Carl's hand, but relents at the last minute when Rick begs him not to make him do such a horrific thing. Negan tells the group that he will be at Alexandria in one week to receive his tribute, takes Daryl hostage, and leaves the group, who load the bodies of their friends onto the camper and proceed to the Hilltop to get care for Maggie.  

The Day Will Come When You Won't Be is a solid hour of new bad guy Negan, who loves playing power games, breaking Rick's will and forcing him to comply with the "New World Order."  It opens with Rick threatening to kill Negan in retribution, but Negan, not impressed drags Rick to the camper with Rick's hatchet and goes on a short road trip to the log barricade built by the Saviors.   There, he forces Rick to wade into a crowd of walkers to retrieve his hand ax from the top of the RV.  During this scene, there are flashbacks to the events at the end of the last season, and while resting in relative safety on top of the RV, he relives in flashback the events from a few minutes before. 

He's just getting started. Or Something.

Negan chooses Abraham as his victim, and pummels the man once with his bat, Lucille.   Abraham, who might be dead, but was never defeated, utters "Suck my nuts," to his killer's face before Negan beats him to death.  He then orders Rosita, whom he has correctly surmised had some sort of previous relationship with Abraham, to look at his blood-soaked "vampire bat."  When she cannot, Daryl leaps up and punches Negan.  Once Daryl is subdued, Dwight asks to kill the man with his own crossbow.  Negan tells him know, but then immediately pivots and brains Glenn twice.   Glen manages to mutter a goodbye to Maggie, then collapses as Negan beats him to death.   

Back in the present, on top of the RV, Rick hears Negan losing his patience, and explains to Rick that he should imagine what could happen if Rick does not toe the line.   Rick, picturing the other members of the group falling to Lucille, makes it back inside, but it is clear he is still seething.   Negan tells him it must be "rough" for him, having been in charge so long.   He cleans the hatchet with alcohol and gives it back to Rick, telling him he can still live a long and productive life.

They drive back to the murder site, where the other hostages are waiting.  Negan orders Carl to come forward and he is held to the ground.   The head Savior then orders Rick to chop off his son's left hand to show loyalty.   As Rick lifts the hatchet after begging Negan to not make him do this (and Carl telling him to get it over with), Negan relents now that he sees Rick is truly broken.

Negan tells him that the Saviors will be in Alexandria in one week for the first tribute, and then the bigger group withdraws, taking Daryl as a hostage.   Negan sees potential in the man, who Negan says "isn't a bitch like someone else we know."  

The rest of the group is left weaponless and grieving.   Maggie is inconsolable, but stands unsteadily and announces she is marching to Hilltop alone while the rest of them go back and prepare to fight the Saviors.  Rick tells her it's useless;  they will kill Daryl if they resist. The group slowly pulls itself together and load the bodies onto the RV and depart.  As they leave, a lone walker wanders onto the scene and begins eating the scraps of flesh left on the ground from Glenn.

All in all, it is a solid, well-acted episode, but I was bothered with the amount of gore and the and the gratuitous violence on display.   This is an episode I will never re-watch because it is just too disturbing.  We have had deaths and gore on The Walking Dead before, but the gory deaths of walkers can be disconnected.  These are monsters, things, that are out to devour our heroes.   The deaths of two characters so central to the story of this series in such a shocking way just seemed way over the top.

At the center of it all is Negan, played by the excellent Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who delivers his "lessons" without a trace of the Governor's underlying malevolence.   He is a true sociopath.

Preparedness Discussion

This was a hard episode to derive preparedness advice from for me (always have alcohol on hand to sterilize your hatchet, though;  I wrote this in my show notes).  The biggest lesson derived is the need for developing as full of an intelligence picture as possible during a crisis situation.   Rick didn't understand the true nature of the threat he faced, and his friends paid the price.

Since presumably none of us are privy to classified government threat analyses, we should do what we can to develop local intelligence:

• Start with our immediate neighborhood.  If you take walks around the area, use the time not just to enhance physical fitness. Look around.  Note the general condition of the homes and yards -- are they well kept and tidy?  Is there a home or homes that don't fit that mold?   Why?  Is it a senior citizen that can't perform the labor anymore?  You now have a chance to get to know a neighbor and build community by helping them.  Do you notice strange traffic patterns, like strange cars coming to a particular house and then departing after only a few minutes? If so, there is a decent chance that a drug dealer has taken up residence.  Check local police blotter reports that are published in newspapers and scan for incidents close to you.
• Buy a handheld scanner and start listening to police radio reports.  While a growing number of cities are now encrypting communications, many still do not.   
• Enlist friends and family to help develop an intelligence picture.   In The Rabbit Hole has a really interesting podcast on how to accomplish this. 

Finally, you have to consider how Negan came to power.  Imagine the damage someone like him could do to a preparedness group.  Negan feigns concern for his people, but his real desire is to be the top dog of the food chain, and he could probably sacrifice the entire group if it suited his purposes.  You need to carefully consider who you decide to work with.  Natural News has a neat little article on recognizing sociopathic characteristics.  Only a trained mental health professional can correctly diagnose sociopaths, but if you notice any of those traits, you might want to steer clear.  Bottom line:  listen to your inner voice, and if something doesn't feel quite right about the person, distance yourself.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 701:

• Work on improving your personal intelligence picture.
• Learn to critically evaluate people and steer clear of potential hostiles by knowing some simple warning traits for sociopaths.

Next week:  The full impact of Negan's assault is felt as Rick has to tell Alexandria as whole he is no longer in charge.  Oh, and Glen and Abraham are still dead.

Some More Random Thoughts on The Walking Dead Episode 616

Here are some more random thoughts and items that I omitted from my review:

Negan has basically set up a feudal system. He is the lord, and the Saviors are his vassals. The peasants, or other colonies of survivors, work the land and feed the vassals and the lord. His New World Order is really the Old World Order. It's what Europe defaulted to after the fall of Roman civilization.

Like I said in my review, Rick is probably the biggest threat Negan has faced. Team Rick is well-armed, combat-proven, and utterly ruthless when confronted. The Saviors were totally unaware of Alexandria, and were taken by surprise when Rick attacked and wiped out an outpost of 30-40 people, plus hunted and killed the survivors, plus the recon team sent to retrieve the survivors. Add to that their motorcycle recon team was turned into a bloody smear on the pavement, and that even when they killed Denise they lost 4-5 guys and yet another road recon team to Carol, and you can see why Negan is concerned.

So he put his own recon teams out, and I am sure they have seen Alexandrian vehicles driving to Hilltop, so he knows they are working together. They have also done a close recon on Alexandria's perimeter (the Saviors in the truck identified Carol as being from there because the car and knew exactly where it was located). Negan put together this major effort to get Alexandria under his thumb because they are a threat. Right now Negan has numbers and organization, but if Rick can find other settlements being coerced by Negan and get them to work together ... then the game is up for him. His own people have to be whispering about the boogeymen from Alexandria. That speech he gave in the final episode was as much for the Saviors as it was for Team Rick.

It's not just about getting Alexandria's stuff. It's about stopping an insurgency before it begins.

That being said, I wonder where all the walkers are during his confrontation with the Alexandria gang.  My guess is that they had outward facing perimeter security to deal with walkers, and since the quarry has been emptied the walker concentration seems a lot lower in the area.

Armor:  Use it or not?

Finally, it was interesting to see the two survivors Morgan met are wearing makeshift body armor made out of sports equipment and motocross protective garments.   I am surprised no one  thought of that before.   Cut resistant Kevlar gloves are standard wear in industrial settings like sheet metal shops and machine shops.  Kevlar clothes have been on the market for a while now for motorcycle enthusiasts.  You'd think at least the bikers like Daryl would be privy to such information.

For that matter, from a survival standpoint, how advisable would it be for preppers to invest in cut-resistant clothes for post-disaster clean-up, or even body armor in case of armed encounters?  Many preppers already use plate carriers as load bearing vests for tactical gear. Ballistic plates are available commercially from vendors liker Infidel Body Armor  and AR500.  The question that we must ask is, does the cost and weight of body armor get outweighed by our perception of the likelihood we might need it?  Would we rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it?

My Fear the Walking Dead review will be posted later this week.   Until then ...

Reviews for the last four Walking Dead episodes are now posted

Thanks for the patience.   I have been busy doing "stuff and thangs" in real life, but I am now up to date.  Links to all four reviews are posted below to prevent having to scroll through the blog:

Episode 613: The Same Boat

Episode 614: Twice As Far

Episode 615: East

Episode 616: Last Day On Earth

Hope you enjoy them!

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 616: Last Day On Earth

Episode 616: Last Day On Earth

Negan's Henchman: You made it.  Welcome to where you're goin'.

Synopsis: Well, here we are. Maggie is ill, and the group must make a road trip to the Hilltop's doctor because of the silly plot contrivance that got Denise killed in Twice as Far.  Rick, Carl, Sasha, Eugene, Aaron, and Abraham move out in the RV, but find themselves thwarted at every turn by the Saviors, who seem to be everywhere.   Meanwhile, Morgan finds and treats Carol, who has seemingly lost the will to live.   She is shot by the Savior survivor from the truck ambush, but Morgan breaks his code of not killing and shoots her assailant.   They meet another group of friendly survivors, who offer to help Carol.  Rick and the RV team are backed into a corner and forced to proceed on foot carrying Maggie, but are captured by the Saviors.   Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, and Rosita are pulled from a truck and forced to join them.   Negan, the leader of the Saviors, appears, and after a long speech about how they all now work for him, uses his bat, Lucille,to kill one of the group. 

The episode opens with light streaming through holes in the wall of a dark room, coupled by the sounds of breathing and voices, presumably from someone being held captive.   Meanwhile, Morgan continues searching for Carol and finds a horse with a saddle -- perhaps the one the unknown man was looking for in the previous episode.  He mounts up and continues moving forward.  meanwhile, the Savior survivor from the road ambush continues tracking Carol as well.

A dirty, disheveled man flees through the woods, pursued by the Saviors.   They catch him and the leader of the group tells the new captive that his people at the library had to die because the broke Negan's rules and fought them.   They then beat the man on the ground.

Back at Alexandria, Maggie's condition is deteriorating.  Carl is urgently packing weapons into his bag, because he and Rick are planning to take Maggie to the Hilltop for medical care, because, you know Denise is now dead (Folks, that one contrivance has killed the back three episodes for me).  Enid begs to go to help Maggie, and confronts Carl about why he wants to go.  She accuses him of wanting to get into a firefight with the marauders.

"If you don't come back, how am I supposed to live with that?" she asks.  It's a curious question, given that Carl and Enid, at least on screen, have not been shown to be that close of late.  More on this later.  He locks her into a closet and then goes outside, where Rick is loading more bags into the RV.  Sasha, Eugene, and Abraham insist on accompanying him as security.  As Rick works on the RV, Aaron joins the party.

A long range scope on a short barrelled rifle - okey dokey.

Just before leaving, Rick and Gabriel review the security measures for Alexandria in the event of a Savior attack:  guard posts are manned and ready, and cars are positioned for a quick getaway.  Drivers have been pre-assigned to each one, so that if they are forced to abandon the settlement, the survivors can make a quick getaway.   A rally point has been designated, and Gabriel's first priority is ensuring the safety of Judith.  It's an impressive amount of planning, much better than the pathetic escape plan from the prison in Season 4, but it's a shame it had to come to this.  A little more recon on the Saviors might have allowed Rick to better understand the nature of the threat and developed a better strategy.

Morgan finds Carol lying across the stoop of a building behind a wrought iron fence.  The secures the horse, clears the inside of the building, which appears to be the library referred to by the Savior captive earlier in the episode, and treats a knife wound to her abdomen.  She tells him to go back and let her go .  He tells her that they will stay for the night, but then they will return to Alexandria.

The Saviors drag the beaten man on the road.  He asks why they are doing this, because everyone in his group at the library is now dead.  The leader tells him they are going to make an example of him for someone else.

The RV is on the road, with Maggie lying in the back.  Rick assures her the doctor will be able to help, and that "as long as it's all of us, we can do anything."

Pride goeth before the fall.  Rick still does not understand the nature of the threat and how dangerous the Saviors are to Alexandria.  They have numbers, weapons and organization.   He is committing the sin of assumption -- assuming that just because things have always been a certain way, they will stay that way. If he's not careful, he is going to get everyone at Alexandria killed.  Just then, Abraham runs into a Savior roadblock -- the one where the Saviors are holding the captive as an example.

Rick’s group steps out of the RV. Rick puts his hands up and offers to make a deal. “Give us all your stuff,” the leader commands.  He also explains that they will have to kill one of the group as an example, but then they can "move forward."  Rick refuses before getting back in the RV to turn around.

“What if it’s the last day on Earth for you?” the leader asks before Rick leaves. “Maybe you should be extra nice to those people in that RV. Because you never know.”  Rick tells him to do the same, and the man says there are plenty of ways for Rick to get to where he's going.

As the RV retreats, Eugene finds an alternate route that offers more visibility to spot potential ambushes.   The group moves out to follow the new road, but encounter and even larger gang at the next roadblock.  They back away as the Saviors fire warning shots.

Carol tells Morgan that she cares about the people at Alexandria and would kill to protect them, but she no longer wants to.

“If you don’t want to kill, or if you can’t, then you have to get away from them. You do not get both."  She tries to get him to leave, but he tells her she can come back from this.

Conga line!

The RV encounters yet another roadblock: this time, a line of walkers chained together across the road. The group gets out to investigate. Aaron notices that one of the walkers has two of Michonne’s dreadlocks stapled to it, and Sasha notices Daryl’s crossbow bolts embedded through another walker’s chest. Saviors fire at them from the woods. Rick cuts the chain, letting the walkers loose. They pile into the RV and drive forward.  Rick notes they were firing at their feet, which means they really wanted them to go through the roadblock.  The Saviors are funneling Rick into the direction they want the group to go, shaping the battlespace by playing a game of chess, and so far they are thinking about five moves ahead of Rick.  They hit another roadblock and are forced to turn back again.  Maggie is growing weaker and feverish, and Rick is becoming increasingly desperate to figure a way through the gauntlet.

In over his head, Rick is.

The RV then encounters a giant wall of logs blocking the road.  The Saviors drop the captive beaten man over an overpass from a chain and hang him in front of the group.  The logs erupt in flames and the voice of the man from the first roadblock tells them to hurry, because they have to get to where they are going.  This took a lot of work, planning, and execution, as well as manpower and heavy equipment to accomplish.   Again. more on this later.  

In the nearby town, Morgan goes outside to kill a walker hanging from an antenna assembly, killed like the man at the wood roadblock.  He kills it, but returns to find Carol has fled.  He grabs the horse and searches the town, but she has been shot by the wounded Savior that has been tracking her.   He says he plans to watch her die slowly, and she taunts him, attempting to goad him into killing her. Morgan intervenes and tells him to drop the gun, but is forced to shoot the man, breaking his code.

Carol is given short shrift.  And bullet wounds.

This is probably the most interesting moment of the episode in terms of real drama:  Carol is in the same mental condition as Morgan when he was captured and helped to recover from his trauma at the cabin in the woods, and Morgan was forced to kill again.   The implications of this aren't even briefly considered by the story, however, because the man who was searching for his horse earlier in the day appears with a friend and offers to help Carol.  If this wasn't a season finale, the whole episode could have focused on the aftermath of this scene, but we can't here, because NEGAN IS COMING!

The group in the RV is contemplating their next move, with their fuel running low and a mechanical issue beginning to degrade the camper's abilities.  Eugene points out that the Saviors are looking for the RV, and probably would not expect them to travel on foot.   He volunteers to continue driving around in the RV as a decoy while the rest of the group proceeds on foot through the forest carrying Maggie on a stretcher.  The plan fails, as the stretcher team is surrounded by dozens of Saviors, and Eugene is already there, captured, beaten, and on his knees.   They are surrounded by over a hundred of their enemy, and are forced to surrender.

Inside the dark room, the voices of Rick and the Saviors are heard, the door opens, and the room, which is the back of the van, is flooded with light.   D pulls Daryl, who has been shot, Michonne, Glenn, and Rosita from the back and forces them to their knees with the others.  

My name is Negan.  You killed my men.  Prepare to die.

Negan steps out of the RV with his trademark weapon Lucille.  He explains to Rick (he knows Rick by name; more on that later) that the Saviors  are in control and they now work for him.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan delivers a slick, smarmy performance that is mesmerizing, but I think the speech went  a little bit too long.   He explains that he doesn't want to kill anyone, but because Team Rick has killed so many of his men, "Not cool," he says, that he is going to kill one of them with Lucille to teach them a lesson.   Rick has totally lost his control at this point, and realizes just how much he has underestimated the Saviors.

Negan's uses Lucille to beat one of the group to death, but the victim's identity is not revealed.

Leaving aside the issue of the cliffhanger, this episode is hampered by the fact that the whole plot is propelled by the death of Denise and the illness of Maggie.  If Denise had not been killed off, she could have treated Maggie at Alexandria.   That Negan was going to be introduced was a given, but we could have found a much more believable way to get there.


Preparedness Discussion

There have been critics of how the Saviors could be so all knowing as well.  We know from previous episodes that the Saviors know the terrain, and have the location of Alexandria pinpointed.  They probably know by now that the Hilltop and Alexandria are working together by now as well.  All they have to do is set up an observation post (OP) on the road that leads to Hilltop and watch movement along the route, something well within their abilities.

The question becomes one of how did they know the Alexandrians were traveling to the Hilltop on that day, on such a very important mission.  The answer is pretty simple - there is a mole in Alexandria.   Someone is feeding the Saviors information.  It's the only way it makes sense.  My money is on Enid.   She is the one who gave Maggie the pickle jar and then took her guard shift at the wall.   Shortly thereafter Maggie became sick.   Enid could have easily dropped a not over the wall on guard duty letting the Saviors know that the Alexandrians would shortly need to leave for the Hilltop thanks to her poisoning Maggie.  Remember her abruptly cut off discussion with Carl in JSS?  At the time I thought she was working with the Wolves.  What if she was working with the Saviors?  She tries to get Carl to stay at the settlement, and when he won't, tries to go with him.  She seems to be strident to the point of desperation during the exchange, so perhaps she knew what was coming and wanted to keep Carl safe. 

The Saviors have a master strategy of ratcheting up pressure and and slowly cutting off avenues so that Rick and his team are forced into a ground of their choosing, thus shaping the battlespace.  What does this mean?  From Wikipedia:

Battlespace is a term used to signify a unified military strategy to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea, and space to achieve military goals. It includes the environment, factors, and conditions that must be understood to successfully apply combat power, protect the force, or complete the mission.

In other words, by shaping the battlespace, Negan is using the terrain, his forces, and the weaknesses of the opposing forces to ensure a victory.

Why is Negan doing this?  He is fighting a strategic war.   Rick is fighting a running tactical battle.   The key as to why he was willing to invest so much to run Rick to ground lies in his speech.  He perceives Rick and his group as a danger for "killing more of my guys than I am comfortable with."  Not only has Alexandria evaded detection until now, but they have the knowledge and combat skills to pose a serious threat.   They have taken down one Savior encampment, killed many more of his men than probably any other foe, and are working with another settlement to thwart Negan's plans.

The Saviors have more numbers than any other single group in the area, but if Alexandria can convince other survival settlements to work together, it can at least partially negate that advantage.  Since the Saviors don't really produce anything, but rely on terror and intimidation to extort supplies from other colonies, once that happens, it's game over for Negan if he can't get what he needs from other people.

The Saviors' "Operation Alexandria" was not implemented to just to show Rick who was the boss.  It was carried out to put down the start of a rebellion against the Negan and his group.

Rick and his group are simply to good at surviving for Negan not to address in some way.  Rick's first instinct is to kill the Saviors who oppose his group.  What if, instead of going on a raid to kill the Saviors, he had proffered up something that would have allowed the Hilltop folks to get Craig back and satisfied the demands of the rogue group.  Since they know where the solar panel factory is, they could have had Eugene put together a solar array with batteries and and the controller to hand over to the Saviors in lieu of Gregory's head.  The Hilltop people could have handled it, thus keeping the Alexandria's existence secret and allowing the group to do a proper recon.

Then again, the Saviors may have killed Craig anyway.  Eventually, Rick and his people would have had to fight, but at least they could have done more to shape the battlespace in Alexandria's favor.

Preparedness Lessons from Episode 616:

• Practice operational security, but work on finding like-minded individuals you can forge mutual assistance agreements with.
• Take a long, hard look at who might be your potential adversaries in a survival situation, and devise methods for dealing with contingencies through hardening structures and other defensive measures.
• Don't underestimate the challenges of a survival situation. Real life has a way of burning through fuel, supplies, ammunition, and equipment in a way that cannot be fully understood until you have experienced it.
• Always try to have an alternative to fighting.  Generally, in a firefight, lots of people are going to die.  Some of them will be people you hold dear.

Next week:  The Walking Dead is done until October, but Fear the Walking Dead is kicking into high gear.  I am actually looking forward to the second season, as at least people doing stupid things in a survival situation would make more sense at the beginning of the downfall of civilization.

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 615: East

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Episode 615: East

Morgan:  What I believe, I'm not right. There is no right. There's just the wrong that doesn't pull you down."

Synopsis:  Carol encounters Saviors on the road, and kills most of them before fleeing on foot.   Her absence is discovered, and Rick and Morgan go out to find her.   Meanwhile, Daryl rolls out on his bike to track and kill D, the Savior who killed Denise.   Rosita, Glenn, and Michonne go after him.  They try to talk him out of his pursuit, but he walks off, and so does Rosita, who also blames herself for the doctor's murder.   Glen and Michonne are captured by Saviors.  Rick and Morgan track Carol to a farm area where they encounter a man beset by walkers.  He leaves behind a spear like the ones made by the Hilltop.  Morgan tells Rick to head back while he continues the search.  Maggie has Enid cut her hair, but begins suffering abdominal pain.  Daryl and Rosita infiltrate the camp where Glenn and Michonne are being held, but D surprises them from behind and shoots Daryl.

Carol hits the road and kills some Saviors.

The plot contrivances of previous episode come back to haunt us in East, where the death of Denise and Carol's crisis of conscience split the group and make them easy pickings for the Saviors.  We open on a car idling on the road with a bullet-smashed windshield and blood dripping on the pavement. Carol has left Alexandria, and has encountered a group of Saviors in a pickup truck. She tries to play dumb, but they know her car, with it's stakes pointed outward to trap walkers, came from the entrance to Alexandria, and tell her the town is only 12 miles away. It's clear the Saviors have been conducting a thorough reconnaissance of the settlement. She asks them to let her go but they tell her no, and she kills most of them with a gun hidden in her sleeve.   She tracks who she believes is the last survivor, who attacks her with a knife.  She shoots him and flees on foot.

Back in Alexandria, Rick and Michonne snuggle in bed.  Michonne gets dressed so that she can help Glenn and Maggie improve security.   She tells him Maggie is worried about an attack, but Rick is confident they can repel the Saviors.

Pride goeth before the fall.

Michonne joins Maggie and Glenn outside, where Maggie has collected part of their arsenal.   She suggests they disperse the weapons in caches only they know about to guarantee weapons access in case of an attack.  That way, the Saviors can't do to them what they did to the Saviors -- lock down their armory and prevent them from defending themselves.

HALLELUJAH!!!!  Someone has seen the light!

Daryl approaches the gates on his motorcycle.   He is going out to extract revenge on D for Denise's death.   Rosita tries to stop him, but he leaves anyway.  Glenn, Rosita, and Michonne drive after him, with Rosita leading them to the site of the ambush.

Tobin shows Carol's farewell note to Rick.  They confer with Sasha and Abraham at the gate and realize Carol took one of the cars recently placed to guard against walkers the day before, probably when the guard shift changed.   Rick and Morgan grab a car and pursue her.

Later, Maggie stops by the pantry to eat lunch before beginning a guard shift.  Enid offers to cover her shift so she can rest.  Enid hands her a jar of pickles as she leaves.

At the scene of Carol's shootout, a Savior survivor stumbles out of the truck and hides as Morgan and Rick approach.  They find Carol's tracks and set off for her on foot after stashing the car.   The wounded Savior follows behind them at a distance.

Rosita, Glenn and Michonne arrive at the spot where Dwight killed Denise. They find Daryl’s motorcycle hidden underneath some branches, confirming Rosita’s hunch that Daryl came back to kill Dwight. Rosita points in the direction that Dwight escaped, but wonders if they shouldn’t let just let him go and do what he needs to do.  They catch up to Daryl in the woods, but Daryl won't listen.  Rosita decides to join him, and the move off in pursuit of Daryl.  Glenn and Michonne turn back, but in the midst of holding a discussion in the middle of a forest filled with bad guys (because that is a good thing to do)  they are captured by D's Savior crew.

Daryl is on the warpath.

Rick and Morgan discuss Carol.  Morgan tells him he knows that he banished Carol at the prison for murdering two people, and how he would handle the issue today. Rick says he would thank her.  Morgan points out she was able to save the group at Terminus, and that people can come back.  They encounter a man at a farm swarmed with walkers in makeshift body armor, looking for his horse.  They try to question him, but he runs off.  Rick takes a shot, but Morgan spoils his aim.  Morgan tells him to go back and he will continue the search.   He confesses to the events regarding the wounded Wolf he captured at Alexandria, and that the Wolf later saved Denise, and Denise was able to save Carl.

Of course, if he hadn't taken Denise to treat the Wolf and just killed the dude in the first place, Denise would never have been in danger, but that way lies the madness of actual logic as opposed to Hollywood plot logic.

Someone is about to get an ouchie.

Rick returns to Alexandria to learn the party that pursued Daryl has not yet returned.   Maggie asks Enid to help her cut her hair, but collapses in pain as she is finishing.   They need to get her to Denise ... oh, wait.  They can't.  She will have to go to the doctor at the Hilltop, right as the Saviors are closing in on Alexandria.

In the woods, Daryl and Rosita creep up on the Saviors’ camp where Glenn and Michonne are being held. Glenn tries to scream a warning to Daryl through his gag, but Daryl is caught off-guard by Dwight sneaking up behind him. Dwight has a gun trained on Daryl’s back. He shoots Daryl. Blood sprays across the screen, with Daryl's fate left uncertain.  The fate of Carol is also left unsettled.

Preparedness Discussion

The overconfidence of Team Rick is its undoing, in the end.   They have become so accustomed to beating the odds that they really cannot conceive of losing or being beaten.  The Saviors are surrounding Alexandria, and are tightening the noose at every turn.  Rick still has no idea of the size and disposition of the forces he faces.   I feel this is going to bite them in the collective rear during the season finale as it does here.  While Daryl and Rosita move stealthily through the woods in combat mode, Glenn and Michonne do not and it gets them captured.   Survival situations are a full-time proposition.   You have to maintain your focus completely, especially if hostile forces are nearby.

Daryl never should have left.  Denise is dead.  He cannot change that.  He can help protect the others, but instead goes off on a rather selfish revenge errand, and pulls Rosita along with him.   Likewise, I question whether Rick should have pursued Carol. She wanted to leave and they have other priorities.

Finally, everyone is seriously underestimating the Saviors.   They have now managed to successfully ambush our heroes three times, killing one and taking four others hostage.  The crew taking Carol went down for the count, but all in all, the Saviors have numbers, and the Alexandrians do not.  Further, the Saviors have proven they are not above torture and murder to achieve their ends.   That means the four captives are now bargaining chips to use against Rick.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 615:

• Don't overestimate your abilities, or underestimate your opponent's abilities.
• If faced with a potential attack, consolidate your numbers and your position to maximize the potential for success. 
• Don't put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to supplies.  Cache critical supplies as discussed in previous reviews in several locations to prevent a catastrophic loss.

Next week:  They have to get Maggie to Hilltop, and Negan makes his entrance with Lucille.

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 614: Twice As Far

Episode 614: Twice As Far

Eugene:  Do you apologize for questioning my skills?
Abraham:  I apologize for questioning your skills.  You know how to bite a dick Eugene, and I mean that with the utmost respect.

Synopsis: The pantry shelves are getting filled with goods from The Hilltop, and two small groups go out on supply runs.   Abraham and Eugene leave on foot to check out a local metal shop, and Denise talks Rosita and Daryl into checking out an apothecary shop for needed medications.   Abraham and Eugene separate, and Eugene gets captured by D, the blond man who robbed Daryl in the burned forest, but who now appears to lead a gang of Saviors after suffering horrific burns to his face.   D and his group ambush the other party, and shoot Denise in the head with Daryl's crossbow.   Eugene bites D's crotch as a gunfight ensues, and the Saviors retreat after losing several men.  The group carries an injured Eugene back to the settlement, and later retrieve Denise's body for burial.    Daryl feels burdened by guilt over Denise's death, and Carol, having decided she cannot kill again, leaves Alexandria, seemingly for good.

Twice As Far begins with a series of tranquil set piece moments that seems to show Alexandria has reached an equilibrium of sorts:  food deliveries are arriving regularly from the Hilltop, guards, including Father Gabriel, make their rounds, and Eugene, whose mullet has been trimmed into a ponytail, is helping out guarding the front gate.   Carol smokes and fingers the rosary beads she found in the Savior safe house;  she and Tobin are now dating.

Rosita is taking the break-up with Abraham hard;  she is sleeping with Spencer, but it is clear she has regrets.  Later, when he approaches her about having dinner, she agrees, but is dismissive about it.

Morgan spends his days practicing Aikido while working to build a better jail cell with a metal door and cinder block walls int he basement of the brownstone.   He explains to an inquisitive Rick, "it'll give you choices next time."

Carol and Daryl have a discussion on the nature of the threat of the Saviors.  He has checked out his motorcycle and found the wooden figure D was carving when the met in the burned forest.  He tells Carol he should have killed him when he had the chance.   He asks Carol what the Saviors did to her and Maggie, to which she responds, "To us?  They didn't do anything.

These scenes are repeated several times showing that Alexandria is in a calm before the storm.  It's a rare moment of tedium for the survivors, one that will not last.

Denise, the surviving doctor, watches Abraham and Eugene leave on foot on a scavenging mission.   She is holding a page from a phone book and wants to go out on a mission of her own.   She asks Daryl and Rosita to take her to a nearby apothecary that might have antibiotics and other drugs they need.   They agree to go but tell her to stay behind; she tells them she is going to go, with or without them (this is simply ludicrous from a survival standpoint, but more on this later in the Preparedness Discussion).

The trio travel by truck until they are forced to move through on foot due to a downed tree.  Rosita suggests they take a short cut via railroad tracks, but Daryl insists on taking the road.   Denise and Daryl move off separately, while Rosita travels alone. This is not a good move.   There are so many dumb moves made by characters in this episode, in fact, that it seems what the group feared when they arrived at Alexandria has come to pass -- everyone has become complacent and careless.  They are noisy, separate into small groups that could be easily swarmed by walkers, and take the potential threat of the saviors less than seriously.   It leaves you shaking your head that the writers were this nonchalant with the characters and the plot.

The odd couple on the road.

Meanwhile, Abraham and Eugene walk into a local down and have a discussion on Eugene's new outlook.  It's more than a new haircut.  He has learned to use weapons, is pulling guard duty, and has been flirting with the women in the settlement.  Abraham isn't convinced he is ready for the world.

FYI, Eugene is my favorite character;  he's a big guy who's smart and knows how to use firearms.  He reminds me of a certain blog writer ...

Eugene and Abraham find a machine shop with a furnace, and Eugene proclaims he is looking for a
spot just like this to begin making lead bullets to help replace their dwindling stocks of ammunition. If they can cast the bullets, they can use spent shell casings, along with primers and gunpowder, to make new rounds of ammunition.  They are interrupted by a walker who was killed by molten metal poured on his head.  Eugene tries to kill it with a machete but cannot penetrate the now hardened metal (Game of Thrones Season One, anyone?), and Abraham is forced to intervene.  Eugene claims he didn't need assistance, and Abraham leaves, telling him to find his own way home.

Daryl, Rosita, and Denise find the apothecary shop, and Daryl pries the door open.  Denise
apologizes to Rosita for choosing Daryl over her and asks her who taught her how to use weapons. Rosita says it wasn’t Abraham. He was just one person in a long list of people who taught her a lot of things. They loot the shop of the drugs, and Denise retrieves a keychain with the name "Dennis" on it.  She investigates the backroom, and finds a badly decomposed walker in a leg cast.  An industrial sink filled with water and blood has a child's shoe protruding from it, and an empty play pen in the room suggests the walker, a parent, drowned her child in the sink in desperation to keep it from being eaten by walkers.  Denise flees outside, crying.

Their mission complete, they head back together on the tracks.   Daryl praises Denise for finding the apothecary shop, and the two discuss her brother Dennis and his brother Merle, noting similarities.

April Fool, Alexandria!

Denises insists on checking out a car with a walker inside because a cooler might contain something they can use.  She kills the walker and retrieves a can of orange soda from the cooler.  Daryl is angry she risked her life for a soda (but he is risking her life by having her outside the walls).  She replies that it was not about the soda, she was trying to help them.  She explains she had Daryl go with her because she reminded him of her brother and made her feel safe, and tells Rosita she wanted her to go to help her cope with being along for the first time in a long time.

“You’re strong, and you’re smart and you’re both really good people,” Denise urges, “and if you don’t wake up— “and just then a crossbow bolt from Daryl's old crossbow strikes Denise in the eye, killing her. D, the man who stole Daryl's bike, appears holding the weapon with a group of Saviors.  He is now horribly burned on one side of his face, and they have Eugene as a hostage.  They disarm the pair and order them to lead them to Alexandria.

He flew to close to the sun ...

Eugene claims they have a friend hiding behind some nearby oil barrels and they should kill him first; he uses the distraction to turn and bite D's crotch while Abraham begins killing Saviors.   Daryl and Rosita retrieve their weapons and return fire as well.  Several Saviors are down, and D, who has now freed himself from Eugene, orders a retreat.  Both sides leave to lick their wounds;  Eugene has been grazed by a round, and Denise is dead.

Afterwards, Rosita keeps watch over Eugene in the infirmary. Eugene wakes, and tells Abraham that he wasn’t trying to kill him earlier. Abraham apologizes for questioning his survival skills. Later, Abraham goes to Sasha's house and tells her he is ready for a relationship.  She lets him inside.

Daryl and Carol bury Denise. She watches Daryl pocket the Dennis keychain and take a drink of whiskey as he contemplates her death.

“You were right,” Carol says, referring to Daryl’s regret about letting the Saviors live.

Later, Tobin reads a note from Carol in which she writes that she’s leaving Alexandria. “I love you all here, I do, and I’d have to kill for you. And I can’t. I won’t,” she writes.

Another day dawns in Alexandria, and  Rosita guards the front gate instead of Eugene. Sasha glances at Rosita from her post on the platform.

Morgan looks at Carol’s porch. The swing is empty.

Preparedness Discussion

The notion that Denise should be allowed to go on a scavenging mission when the group knows that there are walkers and more Saviors out there is simply stupid.  It's a horrible plot device used to drive later actions; that is, plotting simply for plotting's sake.  It drives the action for the rest of the story, and not in a good way.  The reaction to this development, from preppers everywhere, should have been something like this:

Denise is the only doctor left in the settlement.  She should never be allowed outside the walls.  She has essential, irreplaceable knowledge that cannot be duplicated easily.   If fact, in the event of an attack or incursion, she should have her own close protection detail that locates her and keeps her safe until the crisis has passed.   Denise cannot be replaced.  Instead, we get this ad hoc scavenging mission that finds needed medical supplies but gets the one person best qualified to use them killed.

Likewise, Eugene has irreplaceable scientific knowledge.   He repaired the solar arrays powering Alexandria.  He is tacking the issue of replacing finite ammunition.  He is the smartest guy in the room, for lack of a better term.  While he doesn't possess the specialized knowledge of a doctor, he knows a great deal about a wide array of subjects.  He is an everyman, a jack of all trades, and needs to be protected as well.

It's about time the subject of reloading ammunition was broached in the series.  While the downfall of civilization occurred rapidly, and no doubt there are still supplies of ammunition lying undiscovered in smaller, out of the way gun shops, private homes, retail distribution warehouses, and even military bases, finding it takes time and travel via cars.  Further, while stores may be cleaned out of ammunition, the reloading supplies would probably be untouched.    Reloading is a skill that requires time and effort to learn. It's not something you do on the fly with zombies at the door.   If they can find or cast the bullets and either make or find supplies of powder and primers, the Alexandrians can make their own ammunition.  They sure have been running through a bunch of it lately.  For the record, complete "bullets" are called cartridges or rounds of ammunition.   The bullet is the hard pointy part at the front. 

This brings us to the next topic:  where are all the automatic AK-47s coming from?  Rick has one, and one of the Saviors have one.  Automatic weapons are heavily regulated in the United States -- as I understand it, any automatic weapon made after 1986 cannot be owned by a private citizen.  Those made before that date may be owned by collectors, but those weapons sell for as high as $30,000.  They are rare.  Again, I am not an expert, and I welcome clarification, but the notion that everyone has a fully automatic AK or AR variant sitting in their closet here is Hollywood fiction.

The ARs are more believable than the AKs; the AR platform is the primary weapon of the United States military, and parts are fairly interchangeable between models.   I built my own semi-automatic AR from parts I ordered online and the help of a family friend a few months ago.  Conceivably, you can switch a mil-spec AR upper receiver to a military issue M-4 or M-16 lower capable of automatic fire retrieved from a military outpost and have a fully automatic weapon.  This would give the ability to use different uppers, with say Magpul forward furniture like Rosita's with a fully automatic lower. Abraham's weapon, a Vietnam-era M-16A1, is possibly a collector's item someone scavenged.

Finally, there is the issue of the Saviors.  They are working themselves closer to Alexandria, patrolling in an attempt to recon the community before pressing home an attack with their superior numbers.  This is where Alexandria's lack of hardened defenses becomes a glaring problem.  More watch towers are only a start;  they need battlements so they can move along the top of the wall and respond to threats, and the firing positions need to be fortified with sandbags and other protection.  All the lookouts are as of now are sitting targets.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 614:

• Make sure that personnel in your preparedness group with essential, critical skills are not on the front line or put into unnecessary danger.  Have a plan to protect the human assets.   Cross-train the group so that essential skills are learned by several members to build redundancy.
• Reloading should be a consideration for any preparedness group for long-term survival.
• Harden your bugout location against attack.  You can use physical barriers, security systems, sentries, and patrols to guard against attack.

Next week:  Carol's crisis of conscience leads her to make a decision that will affect the entire group;  Daryl goes out for revenge and finds a whole mess of trouble.

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 612: Not Tomorrow Yet

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.

Look at the flowers, Tobin.

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.

Andy loses his head.

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.

Rosita is working on some anger issues.

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.

Rick is not as successful as he hoped.

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:

• 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.

 Next week:   Rick has to handle a hostage situation, and Alicia Witt comes on board as a female Savior with an attitude.