Surgical strike.
By Matt Fowler
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Okay, so this was a pretty big and violent episode. I’m not going to go on and on again about how I like the quickened pace of this back half of the season, but “No Tomorrow Yet” could have easily all taken place back in Alexandria. With just a bunch of planning, plotting, and small splintered conversations. But it was only that for the first half.
The second half launched right into Rick’s hugely murderous preemptive strike against Negan. Who one could argue drew first blood when his boys threatened Daryl out on the open road, but really – this was a particularly icky assault. Really blurring the lines between good and bad here considering how much evil is done in the name of “we have to take them out first in case, one day in the future, they think about attacking us.” In fact, the current seasonal villain on The 100 is basically doing to the Grounders what Rick just did to Negan. An unprovoked attack filled with mass killing. Not to subjugate, to exterminate. And it’s a fascinating place to take these characters.
Because while Morgan’s refusal to kill was intriguing at first, and gave us a great Morgan one-off episode, he sort of become vilified in the midseason finale. Because he spared that Wolf leader. And then it all backfired. Eventually, his mercy was shown as weakness. In favor of Carol’s “kill ’em all, bury the pain down deep later” approach.
Well, now we’ve come to the absolute dark side of that mindset. Rick and his armed team invading a Negan outpost and freakin’ knifing guys in their sleep. Just sliding daggers into their brains. Again, Negan is most definitely an awful person, but he doesn’t know Rick or Alexandria exists. So this was all committed under the umbrella of “Well, one day he might find out about us.”
So make no mistake, this was all kind of vile. And we can root for Rick and our heroes in the moment because – yes – Negan’s crew are a***holes to the Nth degree. And so we’re pulling for our favorites in a machine gun fight. But stepping back one has to see this as being reprehensible. And that when retribution comes for Rick and his crew (maybe as soon as next week seeing as how Maggie and Carol are now prisoners) you won’t be able to say they didn’t have it coming.
The fight, though, was really intense. First a walker head (complete with busted nose) to stand in for Gregory’s melon. Then some stealth kills. Then the rescue. Then…the sweep inside to collect guns and kill everyone on site. And sure, you’re not going to mourn much a guy who keeps polaroids of bashed in faces taped above his bed, but offing a stranger in their slumber is still a heavy deal. So much so that Heath couldn’t do it. Glenn had to take over. And even he had severe qualms.
Soon, a full-fledged firefight ensued. With bullets ripping through all of Negan’s thugs. Some tense moments throughout in one of this show’s most violent human-on-human altercations ever. A really exciting piece that moved from suspenseful to thrilling. All with a really ugly undercurrent.
I am worried about Carol though. For next week. I doubt irreparable harm will come to a pregnant Maggie (though nothing’s ever off the table) so that leaves Carol as a possible sacrifice. Which I buy into even more considering her story during the first half of this one. Her leaving the cookie on Sam’s grave. Finding romance with Tobin. Listening to him describe her as being the fierce protective “mother” of the entire town. Her counting up her kills. You know the drill. Any time extra time is devoted to a character – specially anything involving a kiss or a shred of happiness – there’s a good chance that character’s getting a send off. On a show like this, anyhow. Just saying.
This first half of the episode was a little frustrating in places. Some moments worked, others did not. Sometimes the quiet was just filled with little random side scenes. Sometimes bigger moments. Man, Abraham was not fooling around with Rosita there. He had to split with her right then? Before they both headed out on a dangerous mission? Before he even had confirmation that there might be something between him and Sasha? And that damn “dingleberry” line was terrible to use in that moment.
Also, Maggie has to go? Because it was her idea? I don’t care how stubborn she’s being, you don’t let her put her baby in harm. That baby’s “hope,” right? It’s the new world. Building something meaningful amidst the chaos and death. WHY would someone let her tag along? And WHY would she want to? Or, rephrasing, she should want to but realize it to be a very unwise idea. And so here we are. She’s been captured.
By the way, a very similar situation happens on another big genre show this week. Stay tuned.
So the first half of this episode ran a little hit or miss. But the second half really sizzled. Gabriel turned into a killer priest, Jesus helped out heroes out with his ninja skills, and Glenn and Heath blasted through that door with their double machine gun damage (taking out a group of Saviors). It was a very violent “survival shades of grey” display from our so-called good guys featuring a lot of themes that are relevant to our real lives.
“No Tomorrow Yet” launched Rick right into his murderous assault on Negan’s crew. Only an outpost, as we’d discover, and not the main Savior base (I think), but still a successful, bloody operation from an increasingly disturbed Rick. A Rick who may soon feel the sting of his preemptive actions.
Yes, technically, Negan’s a creep. And his men killed people and kidnapped that one dude. But Rick didn’t just lead a “rescue” mission. The plan was laid out plainly. Kill ’em all. So with the enormous amount of engaging violence this week came a very interesting, and unsettling, theme of wasteland thuggery and the scarily slim line that separates Rick from the villains.
