It’s a matter of life or death. And Rick Grimes wants to choose life. In “Not Tomorrow Yet” on The Walking Dead, the group follows yet another one of Rick’s plans to keep their word to the Hilltop in rescuing Craig and taking down Negan and the Saviors. A few members of the group, including Carol, do question the unnecessary killing, but Morgan, of course, is the only one who speaks up. Meanwhile, a few romances bloom, while one fizzles in Alexandria.
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No Talking — Kill Them All
Rick gets back to Alexandria with the food and supplies from the Hilltop. He gathers everyone in the church and explains the deal they have made with Gregory and the Hilltop. He knows that it will be a tough job to do, but he explains they have no other choice.
When he asks for objections from the group, everyone looks to Morgan, who doesn’t want any more bloodshed. He questions if there is another way, perhaps just talking to the group. Rick takes a vote on talking to the Saviors instead, and no one raises their hands. It’s decided, Rick says. No talking, kill them all.
Mission Preps
Everyone prepares for what could be a suicide mission differently. Carol questions all of the human lives she’s taken, perhaps because Morgan has really gotten to her. In fact, when Morgan questions her about why she hasn’t told Rick how he kept the Wolf in the basement, she just says she wants to move past it. The way she moves past it is making cookies and getting closer to Tobin in Alexandria.
Denise questions Tara about going on the mission and to avoid getting into her past. Tara tells Denise she loves her. Denise says she’ll tell Tara she loves her when she returns, even though Tara is going on a two-week run with Heath.
And while love is in the air, at Abraham’s house, he leaves Rosita, basically saying that he never would have been with her if he realized there were other women out there in the world when they had met.
Intel and a Takedown
The group heads out and does some intel on the area around Negan’s compound, after taking notes from Andy, of the Hilltop. They find a walker head that looks like Gregory to bring to the compound in order to “walk right in.” Carol continues to be aloof, while Gabriel turns a new leaf and is ready to fight.
Before they head in after midnight, Carol says she’s staying behind to protect Maggie, who she feels shouldn’t even be out there.
The fake Gregory head works, and the group moves in. At first, it goes smoothly, as Rick and the gang make their way from room to room, killing people in their sleep. There’s a hiccup when someone spots Abraham and Sasha and pulls an alarm. Then it becomes an all-out bloodbath, with no one from Rick’s group getting harmed and everyone in that particular building at the compound getting killed.
Outside the fence, Tara tells Andy to take the now freed Craig back to the Hilltop to honor the deal. She and Gabriel start to fight, with Gabriel not hesitating to pull the trigger. Meanwhile, Carol tries to stop Maggie from heading in to help in the fight.
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Now It’s Time to Talk
As the sun comes up, it looks like the group has made some headway, and Michonne wonders which one was Negan. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. Someone comes out on a motorcycle. Daryl takes him down and a woman’s voice is heard on the guy’s walkie talkie. Rick picks up and tells them to come out to talk. She says they can talk, but they won’t come out. And just as Rick starts to argue, the woman says they have Carol and Maggie.
Was This a Good Idea?
So was this a good plan? Or did Rick rush into this not thinking clearly again? Think about the beginning of the season when he had the brilliant plan to draw all the walkers away from Alexandria and then they ended up in Alexandria. Granted, that sort of turned out okay; it was still a plan that was poorly executed. And that was a plan they had plenty of time to think about.
This time around, they didn’t really have that much time to make the plan to take down Negan and the Saviors. They had one guy, Andy, who may or may not have known where everything was. And you had people who questioned their morals when faced with killing humans.
I remember that it took Rick a while to jump on the ‘kill or be killed’ bandwagon, and it’s hard to see him kind of bully people into doing what he says. He acts like they have a choice, but he’s very pushy, even when Carol questioned his judgment to have Maggie along. I understand Maggie wants to be part of the group, but she’s pregnant. And if they really want to start a new life and live in a new world with their child, going out and killing people is not the way to start that.
But this world that The Walking Dead lives in is a whole different world and new rules apply. And I really can’t wait for Negan to show his face. I really think that Rick is in way over his head. But only time will tell.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
