No bones about it, this season has been rough to watch. The emotions are raw, unfiltered. Every walker confrontation is filmed up close and personal, drawing viewers in. Tension between Rick’s group and the Terminus survivors is so thick, an elephant could tap dance on it. Three episodes in and we’re already terrified to get too attached to any character. For good reasons, as we’ll see in a little bit.
Spoiler warning! This is not a joke. Below is a whole slew of episode spoilers.
The opening scene with Gareth and Bob is flat-out freaky. Gareth has snapped the last sanity string holding up his humanity. He’s no better and no worse than the undead—eating to survive, no matter the source. There’s no hope of normalcy left for the Terminus group. Gareth understands all too well that they can’t go back to who/what they were before. All they can do is move forward, make allies. Those who join will aid them in their hunting needs. The people who refuse become dinner. For Gareth, life has become all too simple and clean.
Unfortunately his last meal before his talk with Bob wasn’t as clean as he’d hoped.
Now it’s clear why Bob had been outside the church weeping—he was bitten in the food bank’s basement, just when his life was becoming settled again. Unfortunate for him then, but a boon when he realizes he’s been turned into dinner for Gareth and company. Despite being ambushed and injured, unable to defend himself, Bob still fought against the Terminus crew. His fight didn’t end when they dumped him on the church’s front yard. Bob’s physical fight ended when his leg was devoured. His mission from then on out was to keep his friends and loved ones going until his time came to join Hershel, Andrea, Dale, T-Dog, and numerous others who had become part of the steel backbone keeping Rick’s haggard group on their feet. “Nightmares shouldn’t change who you are.” Bob slipped, fell into alcoholism when things got rough, but dug himself out—with a little help. Since then he’d been fully onboard, helping Rick keep everything and everyone together. His centered, playful way of approaching life will be missed.
Gabriel takes the brunt of everyone’s anger after they realize, not only has Bob vanished, but so has Carol and Daryl. After all the pressure he’s put under, he snaps and tells his tale. On the night the undead reached the area, he locked the church’s door—same as he did every night. Only, when his congregation came knocking, Gabriel hid and left them to the walkers drawn by their cries for sanctuary and damnation of Gabriel’s soul. He truly feels he’s going to hell for taking care of number one instead of opening the church to dozens of people he couldn’t possibly home and provide food for. After his breakdown in front of Rick, Gabriel falls into himself until the aftermath of a gruesome confrontation. Even then, he’s given up on himself and can’t muster enough to care and argue with Maggie after his decree, “This is the Lord’s house,” and she replies, “No. It’s just four walls and a roof.”
The tension in Rick’s group hits a high note in this episode. Abraham is done waiting and scrounging for supplies. He wants to get on the road to D.C. and finish his mission to deliver Eugene safely to the epidemic center. He sees Bob’s bitten condition as a threat. The second Bob was out of earshot, Abraham orders his people to pack and move out. Rick attempts to talk reason, and fails. Glenn, who spent a good chunk of time fighting alongside Abraham before the main group reunited, finally steps in and trades his and Maggie’s assistance in the mission for twelve hours of Abraham’s time to settle things at the church. What does Eugene think about all this? He wants to stay with Rick. Is it the quality of leadership? Rick’s ruthlessness that’s seen them relatively safe thus far? Or is he hiding a deeper truth than the one he’s sold Abraham on? I’m still inclined to believe Eugene is lying to Abraham for the protection and there’s no miraculous walker-killing virus.
We can’t wrap this up without going over one heck of a showdown between Rick’s group and the Terminus survivors at the church. What looks like an ambush on the weaker members of the group ends up being wholesale slaughter for Gareth and company—like fish in a barrel, and Rick dropped in a stick of dynamite. Gareth doesn’t bother to hide his admiration of the ruthlessness. Rick doesn’t bother to hide it, either, as he hacks Gareth apart with a machete. The rest of the Terminus survivors are dispatched in similarly brutal ways. The silver lining? Michonne has her sword back. The downside? This take-no-prisoners attitude makes some of the group uneasy. If Rick had just shot Gareth and his people, it would have been easier to accept the quick, clean death. Hacking and bludgeoning someone to death takes time. It is a drawn out, painful, and messy demise. Messy not just in the blood and brains spread everywhere, but the emotions such brutality dredges up.
The episode ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. Daryl, who missed out on all the gory fun, creeps out of the woods. Without Carol by his side. And talks to someone who we can’t see with obvious distress on his face. There may have been ample yelling at the screen when we realized that was how they planned to leave things until next week. You can’t do this to us, guys! Where is Carol?
A little forewarning for the second episode of season five—don’t eat anything when you watch. Or rewatch. At no point in your life will it be okay to consume much beyond water while watching . . . and even that’s questionable depending on the strength of your stomach.
Spoiler Alert! The following review contains episode spoilers.
For the first time in too long—possibly since before Hershel’s murder—we witness a survivor group who are somewhat happy. It may be mostly relief. Giddiness from finding each other once again and surviving escape from Terminus with no casualties on their part. Rick smiles and takes time with his children, something he hasn’t been able to do since the prison attack. Even then, he was plagued by Lori’s ghost and could not fully bond with Judith. Everyone has banded together to take care of the baby.
Judith, along with Bob and Glenn, became the heart and soul of the group. Anyone needing a mental time-out takes a turn watching the baby. Tyreese in particular has done a lot of mental healing since his time taking care of Judith. His world simplified to one focus—protect her and provide for her, no matter what dangers lurk around the corner. Because of that focus, he’s ready to forget that Carol killed his girlfriend and move on. He can kill again, without feeling a strangling sense of moral wrongness. Bob and Glenn, in their roles as heart and conscious, focus on Rick and keeping him grounded despite his overwhelming need for revenge. Even though Rick is smiling and reunited with his family, there’s a darkness in his eyes that won’t go away. The pain he’s gone through has forever changed him. Even if Eugene’s scheme to infect the walkers with a super virus that’ll kill them off works, Rick will never be the same. He will need people like Glenn and Bob to thump him over the head and remind him he has two children relying on him to stay grounded and in control of his anger.
Unfortunately, Bob may not stick around long enough to help. We’ll get to that later.
This episode introduced Gabriel Stokes—a priest with a strange sense of humor (and awful comedic timing) and a secret which may or may not come back to bite the entire group in the backside. Gabriel doesn’t kill, not even the walkers who threaten his life. He’s been isolated in his church since the undead outbreak reached his neck of the woods. Luckily for Rick and company, the church is far enough out of the way to have little walker foot traffic. They hole up in Gabriel’s safe haven to take a breather and have a nice wind-down session reminiscent of the party down in the CDC’s basement back in season one. Let’s hope the church isn’t rigged to blow up.
The safety the church offers is an illusion. Rick, Carl, Daryl, and Michonne all sense something isn’t quite right. For days they’ve thought someone may be tracking their movements. Carl found evidence of an attempted break-in at the church, but couldn’t tell if the knife marks on the windows or the threat, You’ll burn for this, were fresh. We know that Morgan isn’t far behind the group, and he was a tad loony-pants the last time Rick saw him, but is he the threat?
Nope. It is far, far worse.
Poor Bob. He’s finally found a groove after the apocalypse—a solid relationship with Sasha, good standing within the survivor group, sobriety, a solid plan to help Abraham and Eugene reach the epidemic center in D.C., and a sense of relief so great he can’t help but weep. The latter proves his undoing. When Bob takes a time-out from the party, someone sneaks up and clubs him over the head. Next thing we know, it’s Bob-aque time. Hold the sauce. He’s still alive, but for how long? Gareth seems like a patient man, despite his disgusting diet choices. The group who survived the Terminus attack is small. How much can they consume before Rick realizes they’re a man down? Do cannibals diet? Guess we’ll find out next week. Cross your fingers and hope Bob makes it out only missing one limb.
Never Again. Never Trust. Review of The Walking Dead 501 By RC Murphy
It must be October. Everyone as far as the eye can see is trapped in Walker Fever—not to be confused with the fever the infected suffer before turning into the undead. We here at the ZSC Command Center are not immune and fell head-first into the fifth season of AMC’s The Walking Dead with snacks at our side . . . which we quickly ignored, given how bloody the first episode of the season turned out to be. With that in mind, let’s see what our favorite band of survivors are up to after being captured last season.
Spoiler Warning! Below are show spoilers. Turn back now if you haven’t watched this episode.
This episode had one flaw—the Terminus flashbacks. There were only two, at the beginning and end, but the information delivered was something clearly conveyed through dialog and set decoration in the middle of the episode. All the flashbacks provided was a little confusion as far as the timeline went. For half the episode, it appeared as though there was a time gap between when Rick and company were captured and the moment Carol and Tyreese were within hearing range of Terminus and all the gunfire. It wasn’t until Carol saw her once-friends bound and gagged that things started to make sense. Sometimes in story-telling, less is more. This was one of those cases.
Rick is still embracing the Ricktatorship, pushing everyone to arm themselves with whatever they can find in the train car. Miraculously, in the short time they were apparently imprisoned, they managed to build a good number of gnarly weapons using rusty nails, leather belts, hunks of wood, and who knows what else. All their work was for naught. Glenn, Rick, Ben, and Daryl were still taken by surprise and dragged into Terminus’ slaughterhouse. Which is the exact moment everyone set aside their popcorn and clutched the couch cushions so tight, their knuckles turned white.
Despite internet rumors, this was not the moment we said goodbye to any main cast members. Glenn is still alive and has taken on Hershel’s role, becoming Rick’s conscious when his desire for revenge threatens the entire group’s survival. It’s a position Glenn has filled before, but his youth and inexperience usually costs him solid ground to stand on in the face of Rick’s anger. This time Glenn seems better prepared to stand up for what he feels is right. He’s got far more at stake with Maggie at his side and committed to staying there no matter what. Not even his good friend will force him to risk her safety.
Carol is far, far removed from the character we met in season one. Now she can walk up and kill a walker without blinking, even while Tyreese stands behind her saying he’s not prepared to kill again. In the face of his perceived weakness and possible judgment, Carol doesn’t balk, doesn’t care. She will live, that’s that. She will make sure Tyreese and Judith live, no matter the cost to her. But she has no plans to stick with them. Being ousted from the group changed her more than the death of her husband and daughter. Solitude fits the new Carol. She’s truly free to do what she wants when she wants after years of being the steel backbone for her family. Will her resolve to remain a lone wolf stay firm after reconnecting with the rest of the group? Hard to tell, but the reunion hug she shared with Daryl was perhaps one of the happiest moments on the show in years.
This episode was all about escalation. One group wrongs another, the afflicted group seeks revenge. That’s how Terminus became a cannibal’s Fantasy Land—their once sanctuary was overrun, the women abused, countless murdered, but they took it back and became something ruthless and without morals. That’s how Carol and Rick ensured Terminus could not recover from their attack and escape. Even Tyreese did not escape without having to step up his game to not only kill walkers, but also a human who posed a serious threat to Judith. By the end of the episode, even viewers felt panicky, waiting to see how far the escalation would go. What would be the ultimate cost of this revenge pushing Rick forward? So far, no one in his group has paid. That luck can only go so far.
We were visited by a long-lost character at the end of the episode. What role do you think he’ll play in the grand scheme of things? Last time we saw this guy, he was twelve crayons short of a full set and sure to die at any time. That’s the wonderful thing about this show, the people we think will die, don’t. Those we wish would live, keel over without warning. It’s impossible to predict what’s around the corner. But that is half the fun of watching. It is also why The Walking Dead was picked up for a sixth season days before the fifth season premiere.
This is the tale of a rabbit named Percy. He wasn’t a wild rabbit, who spend their days scurrying frantically to and fro to find food where predators wouldn’t find them. No, Percy had the privilege to be born under the care of a kindly older human woman. He came into the world in his mother’s spacious cage on a farm far away from the noise of the city. It was a peaceful place to grow and get to know the world of a pampered pet, as the Old Woman called them. One spring afternoon, a family approached Percy’s mother’s cage. They ooed and awwed, pushing pieces of alfalfa through the bars. His mother taste-tested the offerings, of course, but Percy ate his fill. An hour later, Percy’s world grew dark and terrifying. Stiff brown paper trapped him in twilight. The world bounced and hummed around him. A high-pitched voice—the voice of His Girl—cooed over the hum for time too long to tell. Rabbits never grasped the art of telling time. To Percy, there were only three parts of the day: Time for fresh greens, Time for alfalfa, and Time for greens in the dark. Occasionally, there was Time for treats. The Old Woman said too much wasn’t healthy so she kept the sweet treats for herself. In the humming dark, there wasn’t time for anything except fear. Percy’s nose twitched—the only part of him he dared move. Around the Time for greens in the dark, the jostling and humming stopped. As did the cooing. Percy’s dark, papery world shifted suddenly. He scrambled to stay still. Mother had once said, if he ever lost his standing as a pampered pet, he had to stay still to keep the bigger animals from gobbling him up. Percy didn’t want to be gobbled, but he didn’t have any control over his movements.
His Girl brought light back to Percy’s world. The thick paper darkness parted, revealing her freckled face and funny smile—funny only because her teeth were so much different than his own and some seemed to be missing. Along with her smile came the tummy-flipping scent of fresh green things and a flood of light too white to be the sun. Gentle hands pulled him from the dark and set him on the grass. Percy froze. He’d been banished. Only rabbits not suitable to be pampered pets hopped around on grass willy-nilly. Where was his cage? Where was his mother? Why had the Old Woman given him away to His Girl, only to be tossed outside?
Sadly, this would not be the most frightening day of Percy’s life, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Once his panic settled, Percy realized this was his cage. A funny cage, it’d been built right on the ground. Fresh grass grew where in his mother’s cage there’d been coarse hay that poked his belly. Clover and yummy flowers grew in one corner. Far, far across the cage sat a tiny house without windows and only one door, the floor lined with soft material to cushion his belly while he slept. Of course, Percy didn’t investigate any of this until long after His Girl gave up hope and left him alone.
By the time he’d finished a nap in his new house and ate four of the purple flowers, and another five clover leaves, the funny noises had begun.
“This is an awfully noisy bunch,” Percy thought. “Thank goodness my cage is outside or I’d never get any rest!”
Try as he might, Percy couldn’t ignore the racket. Hopping to the edge of the cage—something he’d yet to muster the courage to do—he searched the Big House for His Girl. Her noises were the loudest, nothing at all like the gentle words she’d whispered in the jostling darkness that brought him to his new cage.
Shadows passed over the Big House’s windows, some moving faster than others. Crashes drowned out His Girl’s voice. Bang! Bang! The door directly across the Big Yard from Percy’s cage slammed open. Percy jumped and dashed into his clover patch. Hunkered behind the green covering, frozen like a tree trunk, he watched a new man—not one of the two who’d escorted His Girl to the Old Woman’s farm—trip down the steps. A heartbeat later, His Girl bolted through the door. Her shrieks rivaled Percy’s that one time a big dog had knocked into his mother’s cage, nearly toppling it over with them locked inside. Red stuff covered her yellow dress.
“What a messy eater,” Percy mused from his hiding spot. “She’s got strawberry juice all over. Her father won’t like it.” Shortly after he thought, “I wonder if she’s brought any sweet treats to share.”
Percy’s stomach seconded the idea.
The strange man caught sight of His Girl and gave chase. What fun, a game! Percy dared to poke his head above the cover to watch the two race around the Big Yard. His girl shrieked and raced ahead of the strange man, but the man gained ground with every huge step. Right beside Percy’s flower patch, the strange man caught up with His Girl. Unbelievably, more strawberry juice covered His Girl’s dress.
The strange man tackled His Girl to the ground. It looked like a tickle fight—something the Old Woman did with Percy to shoo him to another part of Percy’s mother’s cage while she tidied up. Percy wanted to play. Feeling brave, and hungry for a taste of the strawberry juice on His Girl’s fingers, he hopped through the flower patch to where her hand lay pressed against the cage. Percy tilted his head up and licked the juice.
Yuck!
What kind of strawberries tasted like metal? Percy’s stomach gave a rumble. Then a roar. Maybe it liked the juice, even if it tasted funny. Percy gave it another taste, sneaking a lick at His Girl’s still hand.
A little better flavor this time, though still not any strawberry he’d tasted before.
Comfort. That concept is the antithesis of what it means to survive in the zombie apocalypse. For the most part, we’re prepared to leave our cozy homes with their soft mattresses, refrigerators, filtered water, and indoor plumbing to chance it on the road in order to stay one step ahead of the undead menace. But without taking a couple moments to pamper yourself, life will start to suck and thoughts will wander. What if I went back home? Surely the zombies skipped my house and moved out of the city.
Yeah, and while they were there, they gave the living room a fresh coat of pain and reupholstered the couch your cats scratched up. Instead of putting yourself in danger’s path with daydreams of normalcy, we’ve compiled a list of things you can do for your road-weary body.
Take care of your transportation: Better get used to hoofing it around the country once gasoline and diesel supplies run out. Walking takes forever, but any forward progress is good when the enemy is shambling in your wake.
Invest in good insoles for your shoes/boots. Something graded for a ton of walking or high-impact work insoles.
Clean socks. If there’s one thing you over pack in your go bag, make it socks. A quick change will give your tootsies a burst of energy—caffeine for your feet.
Freedom. Feet trapped in shoes for too long stay damp and court fungus. Take some time to give them a wash and let them dry out every day. As a bonus treat, give yourself a massage with a dollop of minty lotion.
Soothing sore spots: Not only will fighting the undead take a toll on your muscles, but so will everyday chores—made much more difficult by the lack of modern conveniences. Spas will be seriously lacking, as will a bathtub to soak in, but heat a cold applied to appropriate muscles will help.
Rice heating pads are wonderful and ridiculously easy. Take a tube sock, fill it with dried long grain rice, and warm it. Dried beans would work, as well. Warming will be tricky without a microwave. Put a brick-sized rock near your campfire for about half an hour. Pull it away from the fire with tongs or a pot holder. Set the rice-filled sock on top and flip it over every minute or so until it feels like the rice is heated through. Apply the heating pad to any sore muscles
Ice packs come in handy, too. They’re also pretty easy to make. However, you’ll need access to an ice chest still filled with ice to refreeze these packs once you’re away from home:
Method #1: Alcohol/Water Ice Pack
You’ll need:
2 cups water
1 cup rubbing alcohol
2 zip-top bags (quart or gallon)
Dump the water and alcohol in the first bag. Seal it, pressing out as much air as possible. Secure the filled bag in the second—just in case there’s leakage when it defrosts. Freeze the mixture for about 12 hours before the first use. It’ll be squishy, but that helps it mold to your body better.
Method #2: 1-Ingredient Gel Packs
You’ll need:
Corn syrup or dish soap
2 zip-top bags
Pour the dish soap or corn syrup into the first bag. Secure the filled bag in the second. Freeze for about 12 hours. These may freeze harder than the above method, but still work well.
Pucker up: Being out in the elements won’t do pretty things to your lips. Wind, sun, and inevitable mild dehydration will chap your lips, possibly to the point where they’ll bleed. Keep Chapstick handy. Or make a quick and easy lip balm from the recipes below.
Method #1: Mint and Honey Lip Balm
You’ll need:
1 teaspoon petroleum jelly (or Un-Petroleum Jelly)
peppermint extract
one teaspoon honey
small container with a lid.
Heat the petroleum jelly for 30 seconds in the microwave. Mix in 3 drops of peppermint extract and the honey. Put the mixture into the container. Let the lip balm set overnight without the lid. Once the mixture is set, pop the lid on and you’re good to go.
Method #2: Drink Mix Lip Balm
You’ll need:
A small container
enough petroleum jelly (or Un-Petroleum Jelly) to almost fill the container
a packet of flavored drink mix (water bottle add-ins like Kool-Aid or Crystal Light, try to avoid any with aspartame).
Mix the drink mix and petroleum jelly until you reach a color/flavor that appeals to you. Spoon it into the container and close the lid. Done!
Biting pests: We’ve covered bug repellents before, but I’ve discovered a new, super-strong recipe to share. Don’t forget, in a pinch you can simply rub fresh peppermint, spearmint, catnip, pennyroyal, citronella, lemongrass, basil, or lavender on your clothes for moderate insect repelling powers.
New recipe:Four Thieves Vinegar
You’ll need:
32 ounce bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons each of dried Sage, Rosemary, Lavender, Thyme and Mint
a quart size glass jar with airtight lid.
Pour the vinegar and dried herbs into the jar. Seal tightly and set it on the kitchen counter near the coffee pot (or a place you see every day). Shake the jar vigorously every day. Continue for 2-3 weeks. After 2-3 weeks, strain out the herbs and store the vinegar in the fridge. To use on skin, dilute with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water in a spray bottle.
There you have it, a few ways to make life running from the undead moderately comfortable, or at least tolerable until the spas open up again
The series climax takes place against the backdrop of Roarton’s annual winter fete and traditional boundary march. Danger is descending on Kieren – Simon believes he’s the key to a Second Rising, while an unhinged Gary thinks he is planning a Blue Oblivion attack on Roarton.
Gary gets to Kieren first, determined to publicly out him as a ULA terrorist. He manhandles Kieren to the new graveyard where he knows the boundary march will be heading and then forces him to take Blue Oblivion. Kieren is made to face his darkest fear- becoming rabid again. When he endangers Steve, Jem finds herself pointing a gun at her brother’s head. It looks as though Simon’s job is going to be done for him.
Meanwhile, Maxine’s deepest secret is revealed when she has a public meltdown at the fete. The villagers finally see her for what she really is, but not before tragedy touches Roarton.
We’re introduced to a pair of new characters in the opening moments. It’s unclear who, exactly, they are based on a guarded conversation over diner coffee. It sounds like they’re on their way to Roarton to “collect” someone. Judging from the gear in their trunk, that someone won’t take the trip willingly. They make a visit to the clinic, where we’re lead to believe the duo may work for the drug company that tested on Simon and created Neurotripteline. We catch up with them at the end of the episode for a bit of grave-digging. Whose grave? Hold your horses, we’ll get there eventually.
The Walker family have done a 180* flip back toward how they originally treated Kieren. They don’t trust him or his new acceptance of his PDS status. Matter of fact, their trust is so shattered by their own fears, they’ve taken to locking him in his room. They plan to send him back to the rehab facility where he can’t be influenced by Simon or Amy. But not until after the village’s little celebration, of course. Can’t have anyone thinking something’s wrong in the Walker household. Must maintain appearances, and all that. Jem does her part, pushing aside her PTSD to deal with the celebration march and ignoring the obvious loathing her parents feel toward her brother. Her blind eye to the troubles around her from family and her idiot boyfriend Gary help lead to a vicious attack on Kieren.
Simon returns to the village with murder on his mind. He’s not the only one stalking Kieren, though. Gary’s connected the dots, tying the undead men together in a bond he can exploit in his scheme to stop Simon—despite Maxine’s insistence that he do nothing. She wants Simon to trigger the Second Rising. Wants so desperately to see her dead little brother again. Her words do nothing to quell Gary’s hate of all things PDS. Simon’s uncovered attack plans feed Gary’s fire. He attacks Kieren, dragging him from his home and dosing him with a hearty dose of Blue Oblivion—the drug that temporarily counteracts Neurotripteline and turns a PDS sufferer rabid. During their game of cat and rabid mouse, intentionally staged near the new cemetery to draw out Simon, Kieren runs into Jem, his father, the villagers on their march, and Simon’s ULA faithful who await the Second Rising. The stand-off is enough to make even my shriveled heart race. Steve Walker, of all people, is the one to confront Kieren. When faced with the possibility of hurting his father—who confesses he still loves his son—Kieren fights the effects of Blue Oblivion and returns to normal. In the mayhem, a villager shoots at Kieren. Simon takes the bullet and changes his mind. He can’t kill Kieren to bring on the Second Rising.
During the bru-ha-ha at the cemetery, Amy and Phillip take in the village celebration, like a normal couple. He even buys her a toffee apple. Wait, what? In addition to Amy’s regained sense of touch, she’s feeling temperature changes and eats solid food without the explosive GI consequences most PDS sufferers experience after a meal or a drink. After Phillip’s mother takes notice, they slink away for a private stroll through the old cemetery to visit Amy’s mother. Neither notice Maxine nearby, waiting for the Second Rising that never comes thanks to Simon’s change of heart. Only Maxine doesn’t know the truth of the First Risen and thinks Amy is the key to reviving her brother. In her desperation, Maxine stabs Amy in the heart. A heart which had just begun to beat again.
The Second Rising still does not happen.
A desperate Maxine appeals to the underling hatred the villagers in Roarton have expressed since the first PDS sufferers returned from the rehab facility. Kill all the PDS people in the village and they’ll have their loved ones back. Surprisingly, mass slaughter is beyond what the masses consider acceptable. They apprehend Maxine—after shocking her with a cattle prod intended to use on the PDS. For once they’ve done the right thing. Does it mean they’re okay with the undead? Not really. But in time, they might be.
Unfortunately, Maxine’s aim is true. Amy dies before Phillip and Kieren get her to the clinic. The doctor is astounded. By all appearances, Amy is human. She’s bleeding. Her eyes are their normal color—not the glazed white of the undead. Her skin is human normal, if a bit pale from blood loss. Would she have completely reverted had Maxine not killed her? Seems likely. Amy was the first, and so far only, PDS sufferer to revert to a normal life. And that makes her unique. Remember the shady folks we met at the beginning of the episode? Yup, they’re in town to collect Amy. Which now means digging up her grave after waiting hours for Phillip to give up hope of her return and leave. Late-night grave digging in the rain. Sounds fun. Sign me up.
The episode wraps up with Kieren and family working through their issues. Jem confesses to killing Henry and needing help for her PTSD. Simon gives up his plan to run away with Kieren, instead he decides to stay in Roarton. Does he want to be near the man he has grown to have feelings for, or is he staying put to make sure no one finds out the truth, that Kieren is the First Risen and his death may still bring on the Second Rising?
These are questions we’ll only have answers to if the show survives some hiccups with its mother channel. I, for one, hope we get to see the full five series the show’s writer says has already been plotted.
It’s no secret we get a little antsy this close to October. Not because someone left an open jar of honey next to the Command Center desk for the ants to enjoy, but because we’re so close to the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead, we can taste it. Not that I want to know what a walker tastes like. Or the food in Terminus. If you can even call it food considering what we all think it’s made of. Ew.
All babbling aside, TWD’s producers have been doing a pretty good job of giving us just enough information on the blog hosted by AMC to keep us from pacing a hole in concrete floors. Executive Producer David Alpert had a couple things to say during an interview from the trenches while filming recently:
Q: Last year, you mentioned Season 4’s theme related to the possibility of civilization. What would you say the theme for Season 5 is?
A: I think with Season 4, Scott Gimple really focused on whether you can get away from the things that you’ve done. Can you turn your back on your past? I think Season 5 is a response to that, in that you are what you’ve done, where you’ve been and where you’re from.
Q: We’ve heard the Season 5 Premiere was quite ambitious in terms of production. What are you most excited for fans to see once it airs?
A: We’re attempting things that have never really been done before on the show. We’re taking some bigger swings and I can’t wait for the fans to see that. Hopefully, they feel as good about it as we do.
Alpert also alluded to the comic book baddie Negan joining the cast soon. How soon? We have no clue. Rumors have been flying right and left since the Governor’s demise—who will be the new Big Bad? In the comic book realm, there’s over 50 issues between the Governor’s death and Negan’s appearance. As we’ve seen in the past, the producers aren’t afraid to tweak what’s already established. Alpert did add, “I cannot wait until we introduce Negan. He is just like the coolest f—ing character on the planet. You thought the Governor was bad news? . . . Man, wait until you meet Negan! He’s one of the greatest villains ever created. It’s so exciting.”
In other TWD news, on September 5th AMC announced that it ordered a pilot for a companion series to The Walking Dead. TWD producers Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, and David Alpert will act as executive producers, with the addition of Dave Erickson from Sons of Anarchy who will also be the showrunner. There’s no casting or location news this early in the game. Production won’t begin until late 2014.
Robert Kirkman had this to say about the new series, “There are many corners of The Walking Dead universe that remain unseen in the shadows. Being given the opportunity to shine a light into those corners and see what lurks out there is an absolute thrill. I know the fans are anxious to hear what Dave and I have been cooking up for this new version of The Walking Dead, and I’m happy to be one step closer to sharing it with them.”
Lastly, AMC recently released 10 production stills from season five over on their website to continue teasing us. Go ahead, take a peek. Might as well watch the trailer again while you’re over there, too.
A. Zombie Reviews . . . Cockneys vs Zombies (2013) By A. Zombie
Rating: NR (Adult language, violence, gore)
Starring: Rasmus Hardiker, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Ryan, Jack Doolan, and Georgia King
From cockneysvszombiesmovie.com
COCKNEY: A native of the East End of London, born within hearing of the ringing of the Bow Bells
ZOMBIE: A supernatural power or spell that according to voodoo belief can enter into and reanimate a corpse
SYNOPSIS: The Bow Bells Care Home is under threat and the McGuire’s – Andy, Terry, and Katy – need to find some way to keep their grandfather and his friends in the East End, where they belong. But, when you’re robbing a bank, zombie invasions makes things a lot harder. And let’s face it, they need all the help they can get when their bank-robbing experts turn out to be Mental Mickey and Davey Tuppance. As contractors to an East London building site unlock a 350-year old vault full of seriously hungry zombies, the East End has suddenly gone to hell and the Cockney way of life is under threat. Equipped with all the guns and ammo they can carry, it’s up to the gang to save the hostages, their grandfather, and East London from zombie Armageddon.
You have to love a movie which starts, not with a zombie attack, but with a fart joke and foul-mouthed construction workers. Cockneys vs Zombies takes a while to hit the undead action after the bumbling construction guys accidentally unleash the zombies lurking in a 17th century catacomb hidden under London’s East End. First, we’re introduced to Andy and Terry. The boys are obviously up to something nefarious, but the depth of their desperation isn’t completely clear until they finish delivering meals to the old folks home and set off to collect their intrepid band of misfit bank robbers. How the guys thought they could pull off the heist implies a strand of the DNA in the McGuire lineage is pure crazy with a pinch of delusion. For heaven’s sake, their disguises included fake mustaches giving me flashbacks to Magnum, P.I.
The true highlight of the film isn’t the zombies or the action (a whole five seconds of it) during the extremely successful bank heist. C vs Z’s golden goose lays in the cast of characters residing in the old folks home. They’re a laugh riot. Don’t balk in the face of shambling evil. And, amazingly, even with their replacement hips, bad hearts, and various ailments, they’re still capable of out running a zombie. Or blowing a hole in one’s head.
This isn’t a shoot-em-up zombie flick. It’s a comedy surrounding a family trying to make the best of a bad situation. There just happens to be zombies wandering around to make the situation that much more difficult. The film is also pretty truthful when it comes to showing how normal people would react and fight the undead. For instance, Emma—one of the hostages from the bank heist—attacks her first zombie with limp-wristed swings of a shovel, a load of determination, and some choice phrases to voice her frustration when the zombie doesn’t instantly keel over. Then there’s a few characters who transform into sharp-shooters, laying waste to every shambling corpse coming their way, covering both sides of the fighting coin.
Makeup FX for the general zombies are basic, but well done. No cheesy Halloween night makeup jobs where someone forgot to cover their ears. The main FX gags are amazing in their detail. At one point, Mickey ends up with a portion of a zombie hanging from his arm for several scenes. Not once did the makeup and prosthetics look rubbery or fake—as often happens in zombie films. The same goes for the few disemboweling scenes, intestines looking like actual intestines instead of rubber hoses slathered in colored Karo syrup.
Cockneys vs Zombies is a slow-moving, but hilarious addition to the genre. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea—some prefer much more tension with their undead viewing—but I believe many of you will enjoy watching this with friends. I’m giving it four punctured stomachs out of five.
Grandparents the world ’round loved to spout that phrase for generations who grew up heavily reliant on television for their entertainment. Gone are the days where kids go outside as option numero uno to battle the dreaded boredom monster. Of course, most adults shun the great outdoors, as well. Why not? There’s the dreaded sun beating down, giving us an unhealthy dose of UV rays. Not to mention bugs the size of a Chihuahua. But how are we supposed to learn important survival skills without first-hand experience in the wild? Easy. Television, of course.
Post-apocalyptic shows are all the rage currently. Which says a lot about how much faith writers have in the survival of the human race. Not all the shows below use zombies as the catalyst for an apocalyptic scenario, but there’s still plenty to learn from each.
The Walking Dead:
Obviously, we’d start with our friends over at TWD for this list.
The show does a bang-up job of demonstrating a nomadic lifestyle for the main cast. How it is nearly impossible to settle in one place with such an unpredictable enemy—both in the walkers and humans who’ve lost grip of their moral leashes. Rick and company have perfected the idea of traveling light, keeping an eye out for possible resupply stops, and only carrying what one can without sacrificing speed. The show also addresses what happens when there is no law, no authority to put their foot down and make people behave civilly. Not everyone turns into a greedy, self-centered jerk. But enough have to speak volumes about where humanities priorities lie. If you don’t have the sheer strength to take what you want, you can go without.
In the Flesh:
The BBC’s newest breakout series takes place after the war with the undead is over and a cure of sorts has been found to return conscious thought to those who’ve risen from their graves.
While there’s not a lot of raw survival skills at work, it is a good show to look at and understand that once the war is over, there’s still many, many small battles left to fight. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a huge part of what the main characters go through. Some were forced to kill loved ones. Others volunteered to fight the undead, not realizing how hard it’d be to not only pull the trigger that first time, but stop killing when the dust settled. Small minds and strict morals rule in the village of Roarton, almost to the point of insanity. It’s a backlash, a way to get a stranglehold on the chaos they lived in for so long. Think of the show as a “How not to act” once the coast is clear and you can settle into some semblance of a normal life again.
Falling Skies:
TNT stepped up to the post-apocalyptic plate with their take on what happens after creatures from another planet decide to make home here on Earth.
The first season picks up the story about six months after the invasion. Mankind as a whole are on the run, hunted by vicious beings called Skitters and their ruthless Overlords. Early on, there is a handful of military on hand to lead and protect civilians. As the show progresses and the Skitters force the survivors to split up and hit the road, those numbers dwindle to nearly nothing. That means Everyday Joes are required to step up and learn what it takes to live on to see tomorrow. The show is packed with survival goodies ranging from locating safe resupply stops to improvised explosives and how to secure a safe haven from attack.
Defiance and Dominion:
Not one to be left out of the loop, Syfy unleashed a pair of post-apocalypse shows in the last couple years. Both shows focus on mankind rebuilding civilization after an advanced being wipes out a huge portion of the population. Defiance takes place in a world that’s nearly been made inhabitable for humans thanks to the “Arkfall,” which rained alien technology down on Earth and accidentally terra-formed portions the planet. The terra-forming killed many native species of animals and plants, or turned them into something humans cannot eat. Huge stretches of the United States are unpopulated and too dangerous to live in for long periods of time. What cities were salvaged, like St. Louis, hardly resemble huge, sprawling modern cities. Instead they’re little more than a haphazardly thrown together mining town, with housing and buildings made from scrap wood and cargo containers. They’re rebuilding from the ground up, everything from buildings to the laws governing new-comers and humans alike.
Dominion likewise took a well-known city to use as its home base. The Las Vegas seen on the show barely resembles what we know of it today. Vega, the name given to the city by those hiding behind its tall walls, is designed to be a fortress to keep out humans who’ve been possessed by genocidal angels lead by the darkly charming Gabriel. While the buildings are still intact in Vega, there’s a huge food and water shortage. They’re camped in the middle of a desert. Unable to farm the land outside the city’s walls. Yet somehow they make do and almost lead normal lives. Isn’t that the goal of every person after the apocalypse, to find normalcy again?
Under the Dome:
On this CSB drama, the apocalypse is contained to the city of Chester’s Mill when a giant invisible dome is plunked over the town like Tupperware over a spider.
The problems plaguing the townsfolk don’t come from an outside source. It’s all internal strife, greed, and struggle to figure out not only what’s going on with the dome, but how they’re going to survive an unknown amount of time with what food and water are within the dome. Several plague-like scenarios threaten the food supply—ravenous caterpillars, acidic red rain, dust storms, and a burst pipe that drains the water tower. While battling the city’s need for supplies, people are fighting on another front—to retain some semblance of law and order. Difficult to do when the people at the top of the food chain are corrupt and general panic brings out the bad in everyone or gives others the impression they can force their questionable morals on the public. This is a good place to learn how to pool resources for the long haul.
Firefly:
At least the other shows don’t have it as bad as the guys on Firefly.
The Earth was crowded, too crowded, so some folks took it upon themselves to venture into space, finding planets that could be terra-formed to Earth-like conditions. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. Most of the time, the planet’s occupants are too poor to bring in what they need to farm the land. Enter our intrepid heroes. Okay, smugglers. Thieves. Whatever. Malcom Reynolds and his crew are the epitome of the post-apocalyptic attitude. When the mud hits the fan, you keep moving. And occasionally, moving forward and surviving call for a different mentality.
Or as Jayne would say, “Shiny! Let’s be bad guys.”
We’re nearly finished with the second series of “In the Flesh.” There’s only one more episode after this and the fate of the show for a third series has yet to be determined. We’re not saying goodbye to the citizens in Roarton just yet, so let’s see what havoc they’ve wreaked this time around.
From BBC: Kieren finds the strength to shed his contact lenses and cover-up mousse in public for the first time. However, he’s wrongly accused of freeing the rabids at the GP surgery and hauled in front of the increasingly tyrannical parish council. The council place Kieren under house arrest, threatening to send him back to the Norfolk treatment centre if he doesn’t confess. Disappointed by his parents’ reaction, Kieren seeks out Simon and is floored to discover he has disappeared.
Meanwhile, we follow Simon to the city. We flashback to his horrific experiences in and outside the treatment centre, learning how he was radicalized and became the Undead Prophet’s final and most beloved disciple. When the Undead Prophet tells Simon he must sacrifice Kieren to instigate the Second Rising, his faith is rocked for the first time. However, he returns to Roarton grimly resolved to carry out his mission.
At last we’re given a glimpse at what makes Simon tick. The main focus of the episode, aside from what’s going on with Kieren, was the mysterious Simon’s backstory. He’s tucked away in a hotel room—which seems out of place in Roarton, given the scope we’ve seen of the village—to meet with another ULA member. His fellow disciple delivers a DVD and a leather-wrapped package full of crude weapons. The message? Kill the First Risen. The weight of his task triggers a psychotic episode, slamming Simon back to his first memories after the Rising. A cheesy way to get a character’s backstory, true. But it does deliver vital information. For instance, Simon was the first rabid PDS sufferer to have a positive reaction to the experimental drugs that’d eventually turn into Neurotripteline. He volunteered, with some coercion from scientists, to remain a guinea pig for their continued drug testing.
Simon was tortured in the name of science, even after he regained enough of his mental factions to realize he wasn’t happy with what they did to him.
Eventually he convinced them to let him go. But what damage did they do during testing? He seemed to suffer several hallucinations, where the first idea of the Undead Prophet occurred to him. Was it an outside source messing with his already clouded mind or an internal manifestation of Simon’s desire to liberate his kind? Being released from the drug tests and the rehab facility didn’t mean the end of Simon’s mental anguish. We find out, through a tense encounter with his father, that Simon murdered his mother during the Rising. The guilt eats at him, even after his father seemingly forgives him. That lasted for about six hours.
In the middle of the night Simon’s father booted him from their flat with nothing but a bag of clothes and whatever money is in his pockets. Adrift, Simon reached out to the only person who’d tried to help him—the mysterious voice he’d heard during his maybe-hallucinations and snuck a phone number into his belongings before his release. The ULA and their masked Undead Prophet gave Simon a family, a home, and a purpose in life. At last we understand why he’s so committed to them, despite his growing feelings for Kieren. But is his loyalty greater than his love?
While Simon struggles with his past, Kieren is very much involved in the present dangers for PDS sufferers. At home, he finally decides to embrace his true nature and goes without the makeup and contacts he’s hidden behind since returning to Roarton. This does nothing to soothe his parent’s rattled nerves after Kieren confessed that he remembers killing people before his treatment. They can’t bury their heads in the sand anymore, lie to themselves and say their son is different from the Rabids. On the heels of their argument, Kieren is dragged from his house—blamed for the clinic break-in and resulting Rabid attack, despite a complete lack of evidence. Point-blank, the village council tells him to confess to the crime or he’ll be taken back to the rehab facility with no promises he’ll ever see freedom again.
He’s given time to think about it and put on house arrest. The family tells him to sign the confession. What could it hurt? Why buck against the system? Surely the council knows what’s best for Roarton. As this second argument escalates, Steve expresses his annoyance with Kieren. Anytime his son fancies a new boy, the trouble starts. It happened with Rick Macy, and the problems are doubled with Simon’s influence. Maybe sending him back to the rehab facility would “fix” what’s wrong with their son. All Kieren can say is, “This is who I am.” Which applies equally to his sexuality and acceptance of his condition as a PDS sufferer.
Amy’s strange reaction to the Neurotripteline continues to plague her. She’s convinced this is the end and embraces the notion with one last day of fun with Phillip at her side. They take in a game of crazy golf, which is over too soon for her tastes. In a quick run-in with Kieren, Amy tells him she knows about his maybe-relationship with Simon and gives her blessing. She’s washing clean the slate. But why? We find out toward the end of the episode when she invites Phillip to an impromptu camping trip in the rain and asks him to kill her. Despite her bravado about the time before rehab, Amy is terrified to turn rabid again. She’s lived enough in the months since gaining her freedom to know turning rabid would cost everyone she’s grown to love. What if she hurt Phillip or her BDFF, Kieren? Her life has been about finding happiness. But lately, she can’t feel anything. It’s making her miserable. Something happens, though, just as Phillip is about to go through with her wish to end it all. Amy feels the rain on her face. What does this mean? Has she evolved to another level of PDS that doesn’t require drug treatments? Are the tweaked drug doses finally regulating her system? There’s so much yet to learn about their condition.
The next episode will be our last with Kieren and the folks in Roarton—for a while or for good is yet to be seen. I, for one, have thoroughly enjoyed this look at life through the undead’s eyes. It’s about time our kind was fairly represented on television.
A little forewarning for the second episode of season five—don’t eat anything when you watch. Or rewatch. At no point in your life will it be okay to consume much beyond water while watching . . . and even that’s questionable depending on the strength of your stomach.
Judith, along with Bob and Glenn, became the heart and soul of the group. Anyone needing a mental time-out takes a turn watching the baby. Tyreese in particular has done a lot of mental healing since his time taking care of Judith. His world simplified to one focus—protect her and provide for her, no matter what dangers lurk around the corner. Because of that focus, he’s ready to forget that Carol killed his girlfriend and move on. He can kill again, without feeling a strangling sense of moral wrongness. Bob and Glenn, in their roles as heart and conscious, focus on Rick and keeping him grounded despite his overwhelming need for revenge. Even though Rick is smiling and reunited with his family, there’s a darkness in his eyes that won’t go away. The pain he’s gone through has forever changed him. Even if Eugene’s scheme to infect the walkers with a super virus that’ll kill them off works, Rick will never be the same. He will need people like Glenn and Bob to thump him over the head and remind him he has two children relying on him to stay grounded and in control of his anger.
Rick is still embracing the Ricktatorship, pushing everyone to arm themselves with whatever they can find in the train car. Miraculously, in the short time they were apparently imprisoned, they managed to build a good number of gnarly weapons using rusty nails, leather belts, hunks of wood, and who knows what else. All their work was for naught. Glenn, Rick, Ben, and Daryl were still taken by surprise and dragged into Terminus’ slaughterhouse. Which is the exact moment everyone set aside their popcorn and clutched the couch cushions so tight, their knuckles turned white.
Carol is far, far removed from the character we met in season one. Now she can walk up and kill a walker without blinking, even while Tyreese stands behind her saying he’s not prepared to kill again. In the face of his perceived weakness and possible judgment, Carol doesn’t balk, doesn’t care. She will live, that’s that. She will make sure Tyreese and Judith live, no matter the cost to her. But she has no plans to stick with them. Being ousted from the group changed her more than the death of her husband and daughter. Solitude fits the new Carol. She’s truly free to do what she wants when she wants after years of being the steel backbone for her family. Will her resolve to remain a lone wolf stay firm after reconnecting with the rest of the group? Hard to tell, but the reunion hug she shared with Daryl was perhaps one of the happiest moments on the show in years.
The true highlight of the film isn’t the zombies or the action (a whole five seconds of it) during the extremely successful bank heist. C vs Z’s golden goose lays in the cast of characters residing in the old folks home. They’re a laugh riot. Don’t balk in the face of shambling evil. And, amazingly, even with their replacement hips, bad hearts, and various ailments, they’re still capable of out running a zombie. Or blowing a hole in one’s head.
Makeup FX for the general zombies are basic, but well done. No cheesy Halloween night makeup jobs where someone forgot to cover their ears. The main FX gags are amazing in their detail. At one point, Mickey ends up with a portion of a zombie hanging from his arm for several scenes. Not once did the makeup and prosthetics look rubbery or fake—as often happens in zombie films. The same goes for the few disemboweling scenes, intestines looking like actual intestines instead of rubber hoses slathered in colored Karo syrup.
