Check out our review of this weeks episode “Not Tomorrow Yet” of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The Walking Dead – Season 6 episode 12: “Not Tomorrow Yet”

Warning: There will be spoilers.

Let’s get into it, not recapping just diving in…

Robert: This weeks episode showed us Carol going from prepping, collecting acorns, dealing w a Walker, baking cookies & delivering to the Alexandrians moments before the team returns from Hilltop. Was this some foreshadowing of Carol showing her old self mixed with her new self (dealing w the Walker without issue), perhaps Carol’s going to either have a bigger role or she’s the next main character to die this season. I don’t ever believe that these moments don’t have bigger meanings on the show.

Ian: In a weird way, the starting moments with Carol really drive home that feel of what we come to expect from the show. We’re use to dramatic speeches and little moments of character building like Carol gathering stuff to make cookies as the walker that stumbles upon her while gathering acorns is dealt with breathless sense of easy – Walkers ain’t nothing to what Carol has been through and considering how many seasons TWD is now, we’re feeling the same way despite how heavy Alexandria had it when the walls fell.

Robert: Okay so Rick returns and saves no time to organize everyone in their church to talk about the deal with Hilltop. Ignorant Rick does another powerful speech to rally the troops. Only Morgan tries to bring some mortality to the deal. Perhaps try to talk to the Saviors first? Yeah, no one buys what Morgan’s selling. All good on the poor decision to hit these Saviors w/o more research. I did feel that Aaron should have spoken up to do more spying & research, writers dropped the ball on that part. Aaron had said he watched Rick’s group for a while before approaching them before but this weeks he’s all “let’s go fuck them up before they fuck us up!” Now kinda understandable is Aaron’s guilt about the Wolves (they had his backpack, he likely feels guilt for their attack earlier this season).

Ian: I sometimes have to wonder how obvious they have to make the ying and yang relationship Morgan and Rick have. Despite how underwhelming of a threat and how quickly they were dealt with, Morgan still feels bad about keeping the leader of the Wolves locked up and he’s pretty standoffish with Carol about it. I get that his whole character drive is looking for a peaceful solution to counter how loco Rick can go when he’s full on being savage but it just gets dry here and there.  As Robert mentions with Aaron, isn’t it kinda odd that he had no clue about the Wolves or even Jesus with the Hilltop group? Hell, he’s probably never heard of Negan yet he’s the scout and messenger for the group, really underplayed for sure.

Robert: Okay so the team parks nearby and starts their terrible “raid” plan. On very poor map and info from the Hilltop resident who’s dealt with the Saviors, Rick should have stopped and done more research but no, it’s brash, head strong ignorant Savage Rick in charge.

Ian: That face punching for the head decoy was probably the most clever part of the plan, I bet Rick felt pretty proud. To be fair though, this was probably the most extensive plan compared to just getting armed and hoping nobody dies like previous incidents such as Terminus. Hell, they mostly got lucky when dealing with the Hunters in the Church and the biker gang? Savage luck.

Robert: The raid was well done as the team slowly takes out the guards then start to move through the Saviors outpost, grizzly killing other Saviors while they sleep. That was a point where I had to fast forward as it was so DARK & grim. While these terrible Saviors slept, they were getting knives through the head by Rick, Glenn and Darryl.

Ian: That stab and grab with the guard at the front was smooth as hell, it was like SWAT levels of prep.

Robert: Of course not everything goes according to plan and shit hits the fan, a Savior is up brushing his teeth and sounds the alarm. Now it’s a crazy fire fight through the telecommunication building that is the Saviors outpost. What bothered me, besides the sleep kills, was that NO ONE on Ricks team gets killed or shot. I know the group is extremely good but I mean, come on. I would have preferred someone them gotten some shots or grazed by all the firefight.

Ian: The raid fight itself was so damn intense but there’s two parts that really got me.

Ian: The first was the pair of them stumbling a pair of sleeping guards and Glenn is visibly shaken, offering to take his place to deliver a fatal blow for Heath. After the deed is done, there’s this moment as Glenn just soaks in what he had to do in order to carry out the raid, on the wall there’s a set of photographs that display some carnage of what can be assumed to be Negan’s fond times with Lucielle and that foreshadowing seems pretty damn thick.

Ian: The other moment is that once the fire alarm goes off, it just turns the dial up to 80’s action flick as Heath literally dives into an ammo room with Glenn and the pair of them grab whatever largest rifle is next to them before unleashing a long salvo of ammo against the door, hoping anything hits to those on the other side as Jesus shows up to deliver the final killing blow.

Robert: Some moments during the raid was Glenn and Heath about killing other people vs killing walkers. Heath ends up taking off right away after the raid to try and wash all of what has happened behind him. Likely not a good thing especially after what happens when Darryl find his bike. Suddenly the show ends as the tables have turned on Rick & crew when a Savior women seems to have Carol & Maggie captured. The lovely Alicia Witt is revealed as this Savior woman, a stunning actress who can play nasty & evil well.

Ian: Heath had some heavy weight on his shoulders, those were bro grabs exchanged in BLOOD. It’s kinda interesting that they have Alicia taking on the role that in the comics would seem to establish Dwight but considering how things go for him during the Negan vs Rick all out war, it’d be surprisingly dark if this results in Fem Dwight.

Overall

Robert: Overall this was a solid, edge of your seat type of action episode with yet not involved with many very walkers. I’m kinda happy that Ignorant Savage Rick is one upped by his lack of research before hand. The fact that Carol & Maggie are a perfect example of Rick rushing in blind. As an audience, especially those who follow the comicbook series, the Saviors are more than just this outpost but Ricks characters don’t know so as you’re watching, you know a bit more than the characters do which adds to the tension. Well done to all involved.

Ian: Considering that Carol pretty much saved everyone’s asses back during the Terminus trap, leaving them as back up really showed how desperate Rick was to get the building cleared out but it barely feels like they have that much of a stake in the fight. It’s almost handwaved as they merely mention their low on supplies yet two episodes ago, the whole trailer going into the lake is catching up with them, felt kinda weak.

Lastly

Robert: Oh and lastly, did you know that Johnny Depp made an appearance on the episode tonight? Yup, he’s the modeled head on the right here with this mouth open, if you squint – you can see Depp…

More on that here on Comic Book Resources about Johnny Depp’s head on TWD:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/johnny-depps-head-made-surprise-appearance-walking-dead

That wonderful tune during the raid in tonights episode is Arsonist’s Lullaby – Hozier, you can listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B2B-38EAxo&feature=youtu.be

Next Week teaser for Episode 613: The Walking Dead: The Same Boat