Walking Dead EP 34 "This Sorrowful Life"

SPOILER ALERT. Okay?

I know I'm a week late, we get The Walking Dead on Fox one Saturday after you folks do in the States.

I don't follow the show like I used to, but I'm glad I paid attention to this one.  We see that Carol's alright and I think she'll actually outlive more of the cast in Season 4, that's okay. Hershel is cool with Glenn marrying his daughter. The guys say a prayer or two to guide them as things seem to keep on getting worse and then Rick sees the light in the form of a vision of old pregnant Lori who is maybe frowning on his series of bad hard-ass decisions.

Dammit, I'm glad that angsty dark Rick seems to be going back to good old Rick. "I'm not your governor...", that summed up the season for him with finality.

What got me was this whole thing with Daryl and Merle has been building up for quite a bit, and it went resolved in an unexpected way. Family ties are a powerful element in this show.

Well, maybe we expected it a little. Merle finds he'll always be an outsider, we all know that. However the truth hits the guy hard when he finally realizes that he can't and won't change to fit in, and his brother really is his own man and no longer puts up with his mean old ways. (and cares about him despite him being a jerk. brotherhood, yo.)

As Merle is on his way to the Governor to surrender Michonne, the dude shows us the importance of knowing how to break into and hotwire a car. However he messes up and sets off the 1990's car alarm, alerting every single zed in the neighborhood to their position. A desperate fight ensues, both having close calls and they even end up saving each other's lives.

This is the big monkeywrench in Merle's plans, you know how folks become buddies after "enduring hardship" together?

So after all this excitement, Michonne finally gets through to him in her usual zen-master pep talk as they were driving in their newly commandeered car. This helps Merle to see the light and choose Daryl's side. Maybe to redeem all the "bad stuff" he's had to do since all this came down.

More excitement follows as he prepares to take care of business. He draws a large group of walkers towards the Governor and succeeds in getting their attention. Merle proceeds to shoot down some of the henchmen in the ensuing chaos. He was doing pretty well too, taking out a lot of them and nearly killing the main man himself until they finally jump him just because a stray walker got in the way. As they beat the crap outta Merle, the Governor viciously joins the fray because this business was personal.

As it turns out, the sort-of duel they have reflected how mean those two guys really are. Both guys got in a lot of nasty shots that made me wince in delight. I figured it would have taken 3 guys or more to take him down.

Later on, we all know how it turned out because Daryl discovers his brother's fate and whips up the best bit of acting in the whole season. The dude has feelings man. Real men felt it, like I did.

So here's looking forward to the season finale!



Stay vigilant!

Melee Weapons: Gerber APOCALYPSE KIT

Gerber is selling a limited quantity of its APOCALYPSE KIT. Its that nifty bunch of weapons that the kid found on season 2 of The Walking Dead. If you ask me, I'd grab the hatchet first, and then the Parang (machete) second. 

Personally, I'm not a big fan of this zombie-apocalypse marketing craze.

Its hard to separate the good stuff from the snake-oil gimmickry.

The good news is that I've had a lot of good times with Gerber products. Especially in my Boy Scout years. So if they wanna join the undead craze, fine with me.

The kit comes with the following goodies in a durable carry-bag thingy:

• Gator Machete
• Camp Axe II
• Gator Machete Pro
• Parang
• LMF II Infantry
• DMF Folder
• Epic (a small serrated knife)

              Price: $349

Thing is, with just $100 bucks I could buy whole family a bunch of axes from Ace Hardware or True Value, and still have a lot of dough for other survival essentials. Like food, ammo, grappling hook, toothpaste, etc.

• Will I buy the APOCALYPSE KIT? I'm on the fence because the price is a big factor.

• Will I use the APOCALYPSE KIT if I found it somewhere? YES! They make quality stuff.

I'm sure Gerber's goods won't let you down. If you can spare the dough, go for it. Don't mind me, I'm balancing my modest budget on a wider range of survival gear for my whole family. 'Coz I'm cool like that.

REMEMBER: The best zombie killing weapons can do the job with a single blow. Extra hits suck. Time is life. 

Stay vigilant!

Thanks to my brother for the heads up on this gear!

The Walking Dead Season 2... Nice.

I know ya'll have seen it already on YouTube.  Maybe some of you have gone to the Comic Con to catch the trailer over there.  Well, here it is again because I totally love it.

Learned interesting things about the zeds from this series:

• They can't smell you.  You can hide and they probably won't catch ya. 

• After getting bit, it takes about less than 24 hours for the infected to turn into one of them.

• They have residual memories, not really helpful in most cases.

• They move in hordes, don't run, but can lurch faster if they detect fresh meat.

• They seem to decompose a little bit.  Flesh comes off in some places.

• You'll never have enough bullets to solve this problem.  Teamwork is the only sure thing.

• If you bathe yourself in zombie guts, you can be invisible to them. Unless it rains!

The last one bugs me. If you have any kind of wound on your body, you're screwed. Jump suits were a good idea, but the thought of potentially getting infected blood in your eyes makes me squirm. I definitely won't try this on my family.

Dig?


Can't wait for October.



Stay vigilant!

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is a TV series based on the comic of the same name by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore.  Its gonna premiere at October 31, 2010. That's Halloween baby!

I'm gonna let Mrs. Zombie Hunter know that the director of The Shawshank Redemption is doing this.  That oughtta get her to give it some thought.  

I mean, wasn't Shawshank one of the best movies ever created?  That oughtta help her get through the blood, gore, and other things creep her out.  Completely understandable.  

And it could prove to be educational in case TSHTF.

Here's the link to the official trailer...