The Walking Dead Chow Down – What’s In Store?

Mar 22, 2012

Well, that was a hell of a season, eh? Looks like we have lots to look forward to as the group moves on to new adventures.  I sure didn’t expect the barn to burn down and hundreds of walkers to converge on the place.

The new character: looks bad assicle and seems to have figured a way to deal with the Walkers.

Here are some questions to speculate in the meantime:

• Where will they end up?
• Is it true that they are all infected?
• Could it be that the only thing that initiates zombie-dom is death?
• Who will be the leader of the group?
• Will Lori continue to be hella annoying?
• Will the new character and Andrea form a legion?

Speaking of Lori, it seems she doesn’t annoy everyone.  There is a “Lori side of the fence” and an “Andrea side of the fence” and the other women are just kind of there because they aren’t main characters.  Which side of the fence are you on?

Whether you like Lori or not, you probably agree she is the worst mother in the world.  Hopefully she runs into another mother next season and gets enlightened on parenting skills.  They’ll discuss things such as kids running off unsupervised into the woods during an apocalypse, stealing guns and the warning signs of raising a sadistic psychopath (zombie torture is a big warning sign).

I have been watching “The Talking Dead” after the show.  This past Sunday Andrea (Laurie Holden) was a guest and discussed the upcoming season (without spoilers!).  Check out the The Talking Dead.  This show is interesting because it puts some spins on things that aren’t realized.  Like nuances in the characters reactions when we are paying attention to bigger things.

I have a habit of tunnel vision when I want a particular thing to go a particular way.  What I wanted to happen was for Andrea and Daryl to go off together for the next season.  Apparently, Andrea is about to meet a different fate.  What I am also hoping for is Rick to relinquish leadership of the group to someone else.  He acts like Robert the Bruce and the Nobles in Braveheart with all his yakking and getting nothing done.

Thanks for tuning in for The Walking Dead Chow Down!  Any guesses on the upcoming season?  What would you like to see happen?

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The Walking Dead Chow Down – Shane Is Gone… Now What?

Mar 15, 2012

RIP Shane - You were our favorite loose cannon

Welcome to another edition of The Walking Dead Chow Down.  If you watched Sunday night you saw Shane killed by Carl and Rick.  And why not?  Shane was a… zombie?!  Who saw that coming?

The Walking Dead Community (that be us!) are in slight shock.  I find it interesting that two main characters were killed off the show so close together.  While Shane was the loose cannon of the group with his conspiracy theories and begging Lori to run away with him, he was also the one who kept a sense of reality in the group.

Toward the end of his reign of psychopathy, he just got weird.  Right?  I mean, especially the last episode when he was smacking himself… what was that all about?

Here is the one thing that is annoying the hell out of me… how everybody was so damn giving with Daryl’s gun!  Carl stole the gun (last episode) and failed to shoot the zombie with it (the same zombie that had Dale for a mid day snack).

Remember Shane gave Rick Daryl’s gun as he told him about what Carl said about the walker. And Rick tells Shane to keep the gun!  What? It isn’t your gun to give away man!  How many of you were screaming at the television like me?  Turns out, it behooved the group for Carl to have the gun in the end.

All in all, some of the thought process in the show brings me to my knees and leaves me beating my head on the floor.  Anyone else feel that way? It is good writing.  We need to be frustrated and emotionally invested in the show or we would turn it off.

Anyway – I felt like this episode was an “Amends Episode” of sorts.  There was all sorts of apologizing going on before the carnage of zombies and death.  It is so ironic how a small group of people are trying so desperately to live amidst so much death.

I am also trying to figure out why certain characters are getting killed off and not Lori. UGH!  Her trouble making antics are annoying… although, it will be interesting now since Shane is gone.  She will no longer be able to go back and forth between Shane and Rick.

Sunday is the last episode!  What is in the shadows? The future?  Will anyone die in the last episode?

Also, there is a good chance I will be moving my Walking Dead segment to Mondays.  Mondays get the most hits on The Walking Dead posts, but there are few comments.  Looks like I’ll be staying up late on Sunday nights next season!

The Walking Dead Chow Down – This Group Is Broken

Mar 8, 2012

Image courtesy of amctv.com

“This Group’s Broken” – Daryl

Last week the survivors got in a scuffle with some outsiders and now hold a young man (Randall) captive in the barn.  They chain him like a nineteenth century slave ready for the slaughter.  What do you do with a stranger?  He could be dangerous.  Stranger Danger.  Who is trustworthy? No one.  The kid pleas for his freedom.  However, the Rule of Law applies since no law formally exists.  How’s that for a Catch 22?

Daryl has quickly become the brawn, the common sense and the enforcer of the group.  He is the pillar, whether or not anyone else in the group knows.  He has no problem beating someone’s ass, if and when they deserve it.   He thinks in practical steps, and while he has the least amount of heart, he has it when it counts. One thing I have noticed in this group of survivors is no one wants to do what is necessary.

Dale winds up with intestines hanging out after he storms out of the house courtesy of a neighborhood zombie.  Everyone runs out of the house and then (this part floored me) they stand around Dale (guts hanging out – still breathing) arguing over who should put him out of his misery.  Really?

Who shoots Dale?  Daryl.  There just comes a time when the self is not an option.  “Sorry brother,” he says and fires a bullet into Dale’s skull.

Have you ever been in the position of putting your beliefs aside for another’s well-being?

Carl winds up in the barn with the prisoner and that is when we see the metamorphosis in Carl.  There are many metamorphoses in this show.  However, Carl’s is paramount.  Carl is a child.  Everything he knew twisted into a living hell.  He cared for little Sophia, the only other child in the group, but the living dead consumed her innocence.

Carl is turning into a psychopath. He watched Daryl beat the prisoner’s ass in the barn, he showed no emotion when talking about Sophia (his only friend in this whole ordeal) to an adult.  His mother seems slightly aware, but in great denial.

Carl discovers a zombie stuck in the swamps and chucks rocks at it while it stares (no blinks) back.  Can you say Psychopathic Child Alert?  I am not surprised.  I believe this is an overwhelmingly realistic account of an apocalyptic youth.

The zombie that attacked Dale, ironically, is the zombie that Carl taunted.  How will this new knowledge affect Carl?

Who will become the moral fiber of the group? 

There is so much arguing and mistrust in the group it is hard to say who will become the backbone and restore some order to the group.  Lori has Rick wrapped so tight and I cannot figure out why.  I get that Carl is their son, but he listens to everything she says!  Lori is a trouble maker.

By the way:  I watched The Talking Dead after posting this segment… Apparently, we are all on the same page!  It is the hot spot before, during and immediately following the show!  If you haven’t checked it out, give it a look-see just once!

Thanks for checking out another segment of The Walking Dead Chow Down.  Feel free to answer the questions and post your opinions. 😀

The Walking Dead Chow Down – Crossroads

Mar 1, 2012

Zombies... Everywhere

Welcome to another segment of the Weekly Chow Down.  The plot twists are getting interesting as the dynamics between characters change.  Last week we discussed survival.

This week there was a crossroads for a lot of characters.  There was even a scene with an actual crossroads in it, which got me thinking there is always a little more under each episode than what I am watching.

This week Maggie’s little sister attempted suicide.  It was definitely not a legitimate attempt.  Andrea (my favorite character in the apocalypse) knew inside of herself that the girl wanted to live.  Well, she didn’t know… she had a hunch and her hunch paid off.  I got two things from this storyline:

1) Andrea has no time for bull.

2) Andrea at some point in her life was in a dark place and felt like this little girl.

Of course, the drama queen of the show, Lori, doesn’t see it this way.  She seems to have  a notion in her head that one day the world is going to wake up and this whole thing will be a giant misunderstanding.  Her unborn baby will live a life of love and butterflies and all the inhumanity will be swept away.

Lori annoys the hell out of me.

So after all the hoopla settled, Maggie told Andrea to get out of the house.  Andrea tried to reason, but Maggie didn’t want to hear any of it. Lori stood there with that spineless look on her face.  It is difficult to reason with someone who has lost hope.

Let’s flash over to the other side of town where Rick and Shane are having a moral battle about how to get rid of people they don’t particularly know.  Rick at this point is a mad man.  He is all about saving himself and whoever is strong enough to be saved along with him.  The punk kid who came into it after the scene at the bar is still around and is a small pawn in the episode with Rick and Shane.  The two of them get into a fist fight and take out all the rage and betrayal they remember on each other.

Shane is not playing with a full deck, true. But when Shane is trapped in the school bus with school bus with Walkers pounding on the door and glass, he sees Rick running away with the kid.  Rick then happens upon a dead sheriff and deputy lying side by side.  It gets to him and he goes back (it has to – Rick is one of the more humane of the group).

I honestly think Shane will be forbidden from the house.  Andrea is kicked out. These two are going to team up together and make a go of it.  I think they’ll snatch whatever weapons they can find and be gone.  Neither of them have any family or loved ones to hold them to the house.

What do you see in the future for Shane and Andrea?  If you need to get caught up on any episodes check out amctv.com.

Thanks for stopping by and remember  – it’s always a good idea to have a limitless supply of water and Twinkies!

The Walking Dead Chow Down – Survival

Feb 23, 2012

Welcome to Thursday’s Walking Dead segment.  I hope everyone is enjoying the show so far. As a writer, I have to say, I am digging the writing on The Walking Dead. It is raw conversation and it helps suck me into the character dynamic.

Last week we talked about morality.  Go check it out if you like.  We will be here when you get back.

This week was all about survival. Two drifters happened into the bar that the guys were holed up in.  They were from Philadelphia aka Philly.  They were jerks (not all of us peeps from Philly are jerks!) It came down to survival.  There comes a time in an apocalypse that being selfish is necessary.  Glenn thinks of himself when a showdown goes down in the saloon as he cowers in another room.  Guess what?  He lives!

During the shootout zombies come into the hoopla (intense!) and one of the drifters winds up on an iron fence with a spike through his leg.

Picture it: some dude tries to steal your guns along with his buddy.  Zombie drama hits and one of the thieves gets injured. Do you:

a) cut his leg off and get him off the fence.

b) leave him to be eaten by flesh-eating zombies.

c) shoot him in the head out of humanity.

d) get him off the fence (while almost being attacked), blindfold him and bring him back to the colony so you can fix him up, give him water and some food and send him out on his merry way.

Well, I would have done (C).  Yeah, heartless, but during a zombie invasion, I think heart is the last thing I need.  Apparently, a lot of these Apocalypse survivors are still in touch with their feeeelings.  Which is why the group chose (D).  This annoyed me (as I am sure it annoyed most viewers).

Which would you choose?  Or would you find another alternative?

It looks like the group may split and go into a civil war of sorts.  I could be wrong.  Shane is trying to get Andrea to see things from his point of view. If that happens, there will be an interesting dynamic!

By the way:  click here to read a great interview with Scott Wilson who plays Hershel Greene.

The Walking Dead Chow Down – Morality

Feb 16, 2012

The Walking Dead

Welcome to the second installment of The Walking Dead Chow Down.  For the first installment click right here!

I spent Saturday with my redneck fireplace, oatmeal raisin cookies (with cinnamon chips) and the first season of AMC’s The Walking Dead. It’s amazing how we follow shows or read a book series, and while we remember what got us to the point we’re at, we forget a lot of the back story.

The first episode is a lesson in humanity. Sheriff Deputy Carl wakes  up in a hospital with a gunshot wound and has no idea what is going on. He quickly learns that there’s  no one around but hasn’t got an idea of why. He stumbles around town in his hospital gown until he gets knocked out by a kid.

So here’s the thing – there are living dead people.  And we don’t know.. we don’t know if they are conscious of their pain or there feelings.  In Season One/Episode One (S1/E1), there are a couple of walkers who have feeling in their eyes.  In one shot, Carl finds a house with a father and son.  Carl gets freshened up and gets the skinny on what is going down. A car alarm goes off outside the house and there, at the door, is the boy’s mother.  The father sends the boy away; he knows what he has to do.  He doesn’t like it.  But he knows.

If you haven’t gotten caught up on Season One go here.

So S1E1 got myself and my boyfriend in a conversation.  Could I kill someone who was suffering?  Not just anyone though.  Could I kill him (my BF) if he possessed sores and entrails hanging out as he tried to eat my flesh?

Um, yes.  I mean, there are rare times when selfish is okay.  When someone I love is moaning along with bits of flesh hanging off their face, the whole “I’ll feel awful” does not apply.

Season 2/Episode 1 (Actually Season One Part 2)

Well, the best part about the season premier was the show closed with a great song by Clutch called “The Regulator.”  As a huge heavy metal fan, that just cinched it for me.  Two new characters came to town Sunday night: Dave and Tony.  These two clowns hail from Philly in the show. They absolutely gave off a “do not trust us” vibe which made me kind of sad being a Philly native.  But it’s all cool.

Rick tried to tell them to go away nicely, but they weren’t having it.  I mean, could you feel bad for them?  I did for a moment, until the one guy started talking. After he opened his mouth with his slick talk, I could feel the “Philly talk” (bull poo) vibe and wanted him gone.

So there were two lines in the show Sunday night I want to discuss.  

1. THERE IS NO HOPE.  Is this ever true?  And if there really ever is NO hope – what do you do? Do you keep living?  And in doing that, does that imply that there is still hope? I mean, the guy was sitting at the bar feeling sad (understandable with no working plumbing and zombies around every corner) but just in sitting there talking about it, there is hope, right? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

2. DEATH IS DEATH. Hmm.. this is deep, eh?  It reminded me of DeNiro’s line in The Deer Hunter when he holds the bullet up and says, “this is this.”  That’s all it is.  It’s not fancy.  There is no deeper meaning.  It is what it is and it ain’t nothing else.  There is no magic.  It is just death.  So if death IS death – what exactly is it?

Thanks for joining me for The Walking Dead Chow Down… see you next week for more Zombie Stuff to pick apart (eewwwww).  P.S.  If you like fun, creepy off the wall stuff – check out my friend Catie Rhodes’ blog *Full-Tilt Backwoods Boogie*. I guarantee you’ll love it!

The Walking Dead Chow Down

Feb 9, 2012

Thursday Segment – The Walking Dead Chow Down

I love Zombies.  I am not sure why, or when this sickening lust for the undead began, but it is palpable.  I love zombies so much that my second WIP is about Zombies. I am so excited about this project I can barely contain myself.  Since I pine for zombies and zombie culture in a most non-sexual way, it makes sense that I would be obsessed with The Walking Dead. When I heard this show was coming around I thought, “meh, zombie television.  Who needs it?” But the best part of the show is not the zombies chasing the humans, or the growling.

Don’t Do It!

As a writer, it is of course, the human element.  It is the character dynamic.  The protagonist, the non-zombie antagonist and everything in between.  I mean, yeah, the zombies are creepy – the way they appear out of no where – but the creepiest part for me is the dynamic between Rick, Duane, Dale and of course, Andrea.

I love Andrea.  She is totally the person I want to be when the shit hits the fan for the real zombie apocalypse (yeah, it’s coming).  Don’t believe me? Read World War Z and get a bit of info. Or, you could wait for the movie (to be released 12.21.12).

Back to Andrea.  She is not mushy or wishy-washy.  And she can strip a rifle faster that you can say “take cover.” She doesn’t get too emotional like Lori (who annoys me with her selfishness).  So far she hasn’t gotten attached to any men.

Shane is a drama queen (even though he is a dude).  I don’t like him and I think he will stir quite a ruckus this season.  When he shaved his head last season I was impressed with the showing of the character change. He killed someone and then shaved his head with a razor.  I felt astonishment during that scene.  I knew where the writers were going.  Shane was not a nice guy anymore.  The audience needed to know that without someone having a conversation with him about how “un-nice” he had become.

The zombies are really catalysts.  They invoke a primeval instinct in the humans; within the group and other humans they come in contact with. Fight or flight.  In this case, it is fight within the flight. The humans flee from zombies all the while fleeing from the parts of themselves they try to hide from the others.

I hope there are other “walking dead heads” out there who share my enthusiasm for the upcoming season!

Stay tuned each Thursday for The Walking Dead Chow Down.  I’ll be posting tidbits on the previous Sunday’s episode and peeling back the layers of the Who! What! Where! When! and Why!  Join in the discussion and fun. 😀