TV Review: The Walking Dead S06 E12, “Not Tomorrow Yet”

By Laury Scarbro

This week’s installment of The Walking Dead is what I like to think of as “the moment when everything changes.” Sure, the show is always evolving, always changing, but I can’t help having the overwhelming sense that there’s a major shift lurking just around the corner. Carol’s back to her baking, this time with acorn and beet cookies that she hand delivers to everyone. Recall in Season 5, she explained to Sam that cooking distracted her and made her forget when she was sad? I’m thinking she’s dealing with much more than she’s letting on. That much is evident by her leaving a cookie on Sam’s grave.

Rick calls a meeting and informs everyone that the situation boils down to killing the Saviors or eating. The food situation is just getting worse, and without the food Hilltop can provide, they will not survive. Morgan and Rick disagree on the subject, and it looks very much like a Shane v. Rick situation, except now Rick’s the one in Shane’s position and Morgan is cautioning mercy and reason. Morgan’s naivety and peace-loving ways are endearing, but let’s be real here: In the world they’re living in, it’s kill or be killed. You can’t be huggy snuggy and get along with everyone and expect to survive very long.

Carol’s keeping a kill list, tallying up the number of people she’s been forced to take out, and the weight of it is keeping her awake, so she takes a walk which ends up in a kiss between her and Tobin. Tobin calls it like he sees it, and how he sees it is that Carol is everyone’s mom. Everyone but him, obviously, otherwise that kissing scene could have been a little awkward.

Abraham and Rosita’s relationship takes a hit, for whatever reason, because he’s just not willing to be straight about his reasons for leaving her as he’s packing his stuff. What? What happened to his nesting urges? Is it just a matter of cold feet? Or is it because of feelings he’s harboring for Sasha? Doesn’t matter, he’s pretty much trashed anything he could have had with Rosita, telling her he thought she was the last woman on earth, but he found out she’s not. Harsh, bro. And lost a bit of my respect in the process. And right now, I hope Sasha finds out and sends him packing, too.

Tara and Denise have a moment which is suppose to be the moment they express their love for one another, but the whole scene comes off more like two friends hugging and kissing. If you’re hoping for a passionate lesbian scene from this show, you’d better keep looking, because these two are the two most platonic lesbians in the history of television.

There was a bit of buzz around the fact that Johnny Depp’s head made an appearance in this episode as well–that’s him on the far right–when the gang goes off in search of walker heads that could serve as “Gregory” in their attempt to infiltrate the Savior’s encampment. Encampment seems to be a misnomer, as it looks like it’s just a building that may have been an old TV or radio station. While the others are inside killing people in their sleep, Tara confesses to Gabriel and Jesus that she told Denise she loved her as a diversion from what she was actually thinking about. Abe gets caught by one of the Saviors and trips an alarm, forcing those outside to rush to their aid. Carol tries to stop Maggie, but of course Maggie isn’t having any of it.

My personal favorite scene of the show is Gabriel quoting the Bible before offing one of the Saviors who had tried to escape. It had an almost Pulp Fiction feel to it, and I honestly wish they’d chosen to use the same quote. If Gabriel keeps on along this path, he might just redeem himself in my eyes and become a more viable character.

The aftermath of it all, everyone seems to be all right, with shots of Morgan welding and crying. Crying?? Insert facepalm here. Seriously, I’m not even sure why he’s welding stuff together, let alone crying. Cut back to the Saviors’ compound, the group misses one but catches him before he can make his escape. Just as Rick’s about to kill the guy, a female voice comes over the man’s walkie, telling them to lay down their weapons, and that they have Carol and Maggie. REALLY? How the hell do you get the drop on the Queens of Badassery? Might as well have said “We captured Daryl.”

Still no sign of Negan, but it definitely feels like it’s getting closer. The threat level is definitely increasing, and with Maggie and Carol being taken hostage, I’d say threat level is very much in the red. Every episode thus far has amped up the dread and suspense, I’m just hoping they don’t wait until the season finale to reveal Negan. There are four episodes to go, and if the episode titles are any indication, that could just be the case.

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