ZOMBIES: Recap - Walking Dead "Beside the Dying Fire" Clusterf**k Finale

by Bowie Ibarra

It's been a buildup to this moment since November of last year, but it has finally arrived.  'The Walking Dead' season finale was a strong finish to what was sometimes a hot/cold season.

We are welcomed back to Atlanta 'where the playas play', incidentally.  We see zombies roaming and the zed party has NOT stopped since 8 in 'tha mawnin'.  In fact, the zeds are eating an animal when one of them sees and hears a helicopter flying over the city.

Well, it's a noise, and they decide to follow it and wander out of the city.  In fact, this might be part of that same zombie mob that the group encountered during the very first episode of the second season as you might remember.

At any rate, with no real direction, they wander to a fenceline that they breach by pure dumb luck and mob strength and wander into the woods.  That's when they hear the gunshot that ended the previous episode, and the zombie mob moves on the Herschel Farmestead as Rick and his son walk away from Shane.

Daryl and Glenn come back to the house and tell them the Randall revelation (Randall turning without being bit).

In the field, Rick and Carl have a conversation about what happened between his dad and Shane.  Before Rick can answer the question, they spot the mob.

As the survivors and family step out on the porch to see if they can find Rick, Carl, or Shane, they see the mob as well.

Rick and Carl are cut off and make a move for the barn.  They lock themselves in, but like the gate, the zeds start piling up on the barn.

Though Glenn thinks it might be good to hole up in the fortified house, Daryl thinks the size of the zombie 'herd could tear the house down'.

Lori flips out because Carl, as per usual, is not in the house as he should be as the survivors lock and load.  The sloppy plan and minimal strategy they devise is to blast as many zeds as they can while in their cars to lead them off the farm.  Herschel wants to hold his farm until death, and Daryl says, "it's as good a night as any" to die.

None of this is amounting to anything remotely close to a good plan.

In the barn, the zeds break in, and father and son have a plan to torch some zeds while sacrificing the barn.

The barn looks like a fiery monster.

Daryl rolls up on his chopper blasting zeds, while Andrea rides in proverbial shotgun in the old Ford with T-Dogg at the wheel.  Maggie is driving the Hyundai Zombie Death Dealer with Glenn in the shotgun position.

Jimmy holds it down in the Winnie, and Daryl tells him to go check the barn for Rick and Carl.  The Winnie pulls up just in time to save Rick and Carl, but Jimmy is surrounded and the Winnie overrun.

Greg Nicotero special effects!  Eat your heart out, CGI

It's around this time that Andrea realizes there are too many of them.  T-Dogg is ready to change what minimal plan they have and bail.

Herschel is holding the line at the homestead, but the zeds keep pushing the line closer and closer to the house.  Lori and Carol see the writing on the wall and bail, along with Herschel's girls.  Lori tries to call him, but Herschel is either in the zone or ignoring Lori and blasting walkers with his shotgun.  The event has quickly turned into a giant clusterf**k.

But it's doom for the girls as some zombies catch Patricia and eat her.  Carol gets split off from the group and just misses a ride in the Ford, which was overrun by zeds, and they bail on Andrea.

Glenn and Maggie see the Ford take off.  Knowing the farmstead is now FUBAR, they bail as well.

Herschel is still stubbornly defending the house, but falls back as the zeds push the line toward him.  Rick pulls Herschel away after a big save and they jump into a suburban and bail.  Again, Andrea is left alone.

Daryl watches the barn burn before hearing Carol's cry for help.  He rolls up for the rescue and rides off on his loud-ass chopper at night.  One shove from a zed and he could be finished.  But they make it.

In the meantime, the barn burns down.  And some of the most beautiful images of zombie horror are showed on the screen.

The barn, in a way, seemed to be a symbol of hope.  It was the barn where Herschel kept his living dead family before Shane exterminated them.  It was where Sophie was hiding and was put out of her misery.  It was where Carl was told to be ready to use the gun that saved his dad from Shane.  And it was the place where Randall was spared his life, for the moment.

And now, that symbol of hope burned to the ground.

Maggie is falling apart wondering if her family made it out, so Glenn takes the wheel.  He also professes his love to Maggie.

Rick ends up at the same part of the road where the season started.  Carl freaks out because his mom's gone, and Herschel says Rick needs to get Carl to safety while he waits it out for the others.

T-Dogg wants to bail and go to the coast, but Lori says they have to go back to the road where the season started.  She almost jumps out because T-Dogg is insistent, but he folds and drives back.

And then, the miraculous occurs.  Before Rick and Carl can leave, Daryl rolls up, followed by Glenn and Maggie, followed by T-Dogg and Carl's mommy.

As they start counting heads, the question of Shane comes up, but so does Patricia and Jimmy.

They decide to hit up some backroads.

On a side note, as we moved to the end of the show, there was a Mad Men commercial.  It featured characters from the show in moments in which they could be associated with zombies.  It was complete with the opening theme song from 'The Walking Dead'.  Sorry, I'm not buying it.  You and your false advertising campaign can get eaten alive.   Nice try, though.

Back to the show, Andrea's on the run through the woods.  Her gas tank is running low.

Rick's suburban is almost out of gas, and they need to stop.  Herschel tries to rally everyone behind Rick, even though they're stranded.  Rick stresses out trying to coordinate, and Daryl brings up the Randall situation.  That forces Rick to confess about not only the Shane duel, but the infamous CDC whisper.  He says everyone carries the virus, which makes his friends get upset about it.

I'm not sure why Glenn and the others got sand in their coochie that Rick didn't tell them about it.  It really doesn't matter at this point because it doesn't change anything.

Lori tries to console Rick, and Rick confesses, telling the whole story, including Carl's role of gunning the reanimated Shane down.  After hearing Rick's heartfelt and difficult confession to his wife, she does what she has always done:  freaks out and turns her back on her man.  Way to back your man's play, Lori.

Andrea is running out of gas.  As she begins to cash in, she is saved by a mysterious cloaked figure who is holding two zeds with dismembered arms and missing jaws leashed on a chain.  And the cloaked figure's weapon of choice?  You guessed it, a Hanzo style-sword.

Daryl and Carol, as well as Glenn and Maggie, are still upset at Rick for keeping the CDC secret to himself and want to bail.  Herschel tries to reel everyone in, and Rick tries to assure them.  But he's lost his patience and goes on a rant about how he killed Shane.  He defends his move by saying he was Shane's friend, but he was a detriment to the team and Shane pushed Rick that far.  He challenges the others to run if they want.  But now no one wants to leave.  So if they stay, they have to follow his lead.  It's not a democracy.

And there's ol' Lori, mad-dogging her man.

As Rick walks off, the camera pans above the forest to a prison just about a mile away.  The audio hints at helicopter rotors, but we'll see if that has anything to do with the helicopter from the opening of the show the zeds followed.

It's pretty much confirmed that the following season will feature a continuation of themes from the comic book, including 'The Governor'.  I've heard good, and I've heard complaints about the season.  I'm glad the people putting this show together aren't rushing things.  Though some episodes were hot and cold, I thought the pacing was fine.  You got to build to a strong finish, and I think they did.

And I swear the person doing the camerawork for this show needs to be nominated for an Emmy.  The shots as displayed above are outstanding.

At any rate, here's to another few months of waiting to see the next season.  For all of us here at ZombieBloodFights.com, we thank you for following the 'Walking Dead' recaps here.  We hope you'll join us again for next season.

In the meantime:
-- Follow the blog,
-- Follow ZombieBloodFights.com on Twitter at @wingback20
-- Join the ZombieBloodFights.com Facebook group for exclusive giveaways, videos, and pics.
-- And subscribe to the ZombieBloodFights.com YouTube channel as well.

==========

Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster.  His last book in the series, "The Fall of Austin", features a battle for survival in the capitol of Texas.

FIGHTS: RETROSPECTIVE: Mil Mascaras fights crime in "Los Canallas" (1968)

by Bowie Ibarra

As we move forward to honor the induction of Mil Mascaras into the WWE Hall of Fame 2012, ZombieBloodFights.com would like to share one of his feature crime-fighting films, "Los Canallas" (The Rogues).

And the first image we see are his masks and the fact that he is the star of the movie.  As if we didn't know.  Not to be confused by his cinematic lucha contemporaries, El Santo and Blue Demon.

It opens with the Rogues riding through the street of Mexico on motorcycles.  Considering the movie was made in 1968, there was nothing that said 'bad guy' as a group of people riding motorcycles.

At any rate, the leader, named Cadena (Chain), goes to the lair of her gang, Los Angeles Infernales (The Infernal Angels).  The lair is very much Aztec in design.

It's an elaborate lair, once again consistent with Aztec architecture.  And as the teammates walk to their secret lair, a bongo soundtrack backs their stroll up.

As they move into the inner-sanctum of their hideout, the Angels are partying and having a good time.  In fact, Cadena tells her friends they are going to have fun.  So they go out and break it down, 1960s style.

And, of course, Cadena gets in on the action and lets the music move her body.  She even removes (gasp!) her neckerchief!  Scandalous!

But a party pooper arrives, saying that Cadena's arch nemesis, Mil Mascaras, is arriving at the local airport for a wrestling match later that night.  That makes her mad.

Mil Mascaras arrives on the scene.  And he's flying his own plane.

I'll say that again.  Mil Mascaras is flying his own plane.  He's the Bruce Dickinson of lucha libre.  Mil Mascaras don't need no stinkin' pilot!

And the markings on his plane are "M".  And since wrestling is, apparently, also a business, Mil arrives to work with a briefcase for all his files and paperwork, I imagine.  The suitcase also has an 'M' on it.

When you're a globe-trotting lucha libre star, you can just leave the airport and your car will be ready to take you to the arena.  All you have to do is get in it and drive it.  Kind of like in "Grand Theft Auto".  Mil just showed up and kind of went, "I'll drive this car."

Two of Cadena's henchmen and henchwomen follow Mil from the airport and try to assassinate Mil by throwing a smoke bomb in the convertible.  It works, but only makes Mil wreck the car.

Fans going to the wrestling matches see Mil and offer to help him.  He takes them up on the offer and rides with them to the arena.

Cadena hears that the two minions failed her, so she ties them up and whips them.

She's not playing around, either.

She whips the crap out of the henchman and the henchwoman.  Whippings seem to be a theme in some of these old school lucha movies.

And hair pulling.  Man, that Cadena's mean.

And we get the requisite lucha match that is a standard for lucha flicks.  The crowd even breaks into the traditional Mexican 'Rah-Rah-Rah' chant for Mil.  

So it's Mil vs. Dorrell Dixon and this is lucha rules, baby.  Two out of three falls for the win. 

Cadena and two of her henchwomen watch the match at ringside.  They have a diabolical plan to poison Mil Mascaras with a bracelet laced with poison.  It's on the wrist of the 'guerita' on the right.

And so we get highlights from the match, between shots of Mil's new friends and the anxious looks of the Angeles.  Mil wins the first fall via submission (Bear Hug).

Ref stops the fight for the opponent via submission, giving the second fall to Dixon.

But Mil wins with his signature 'plancha' for the third fall and the win.

As Mil goes to his dressing room, he chats it up with his new friends.  But the 'guerita' runs up to him and gives him a hug, scratching his belly with the tainted bracelet and runs off.  His friend tries to tell him he think the lady scratched him, but he blows it off saying its from the match.  He goes to his locker room and the most uncomfortable looking table ever.  Is looks more like a concrete table at a west side park in Uvalde.  Who built this locker room?

But he starts to feel the effects of the poison.  As it takes hold, he gets jumped by the Angeles Infernales in their party mask disguises!

As you might imagine, Cadena takes the opportunity to whip Mil with her 'cadena'.

They rip off his mask to see who it is.  But Mil has a failsafe mask underneath... that's kind of creepy looking.  Pantyhose, anyone?

As Cadena realizes that her attempt to kill Mil Mascaras fails, she cusses:  "Malditas!" she cries!

Back at the base, she curses Mil Mascaras, says she has his mask, but swears she will have his head.

Mil puts on another mask, considering he's "The Man of 1,000 Masks", and tries to identify the woman and the fun bunch that tried to do him in.  He says she has a voice that was 'grave' and 'cold'.  And he mentions he was assaulted with a 'cadena'.

As you might imagine, his new friends figure out she is Cadena, the leader of Los Angeles Infernales.  They plan to go to the club where they hang out and infiltrate it, using one of Mil Mascaras new friends, Estrella, as a spy.

Meanwhile, in a prison outside of town, a guy named Raco is waiting for a call from Cadena via an old toy piano.  Another prisoner, Gancho, is making fun of Raco for waiting for Cadena and listening to the toy.  And they are wearing the old school prisoner stripes outfit pajamas.  Also, Gancho means hook in Spanish.  If you're wondering who Gancho is, he's the dude with the hook hand.

Estrella finds one of the members of Los Angeles Infernales and asks if she can join.  Flirting with the man, he says he'll talk to Cadena.

She visits with one of the members of Angeles Infernales to try to infiltrate the group. He says he'll talk to Cadena, who is on the way to rob a businessman as he goes to the bank.

The man says she can join, but she has to be initiated first.  Also, while they talk, a group of people are playing with a large ball.  

Meanwhile, Mil has another match with Cavernario Galindo (Caveman Galindo).  This guy is wild and crazy, even biting Mil's shoe in a pin attempt.

During the match, Cadena makes contact with Raco and gives him the secret to escape the jail.  In the toy piano, there's explosives that he uses to bust the window bars and escape with Gancho, who is now his friend.

With the release of Raco, Cadena goes to Raco's mother's house and tries to extort money from her.  But it doesn't work.

Then, Estrella is initiated into the gang in a bizzare ritual lead by a wild-wig wearing Cadena.

They pour blood over an effigy of Mil.

She then pulls out a knife to initiate Estrella.

The ritual is complete with Modern dance and bongos.  Lots of bongos.  And a xylophone heavy soundtrack.

A lot of the shots were done with handheld cams.  It was as if the director said, "Just do the dance number, we'll get the shot with a stationary cam and handhelds."

She calls for Mil Mascaras death.  They cut a K in her back for Estrella.  Kadena makes Estrella swear she is devoted to the Angles and the death of Mil Mascaras.

Ricardo calls and says Estrella got initiated into the group.  Mil waits for Cadena around town.

Then, Cadena rolls up with her gang.  One of the funniest lines from the movie is then delivered.

Que quieres tomar?  (What do you want to drink?)
Un highball.  (A highball)

Then, they lure Mil to chase Kadena to their clubhouse.  As Mil walks around, Cadena calls him out.

This is also the outfit that El Caballero of The Rain City Superhero Movement needs to have as his ultimate goal for crimefighting.

He brings him to the bar for a toast, water.  He sees her poison his drink in the mirror.

A toast, then she tries to seduce him.  He tells her he "has a bad impression" of her, and he tells her he saw her poison his drink.

Then, its a Chase!

But it's a trap!  She leads Mil into a nearby warehouse where the cowled Raco, Gato, and Gancho are waiting.  They hide.

As Mil is in hot pursuit into the warehouse, he makes it very clear that it's very important to jump over things as well.

Raco Try to shoot him with an machine gun.

Cadena cusses again, shouting "Maldito!"  When she look to see if he is dead, she doesn't 'find him.  Gato and Gancho they try to hunt him down.

Mil jumps Gato and beats him up.  As he runs to hide after the frakas, he runs to a yellow can.  Raco shoots the can, thinking Mil is in it.  But it turns out Mil hid the body of Gato in it, and Raco killed him.

Mil escapes!  Raco blames Cadena.  But they will have their vengeance in the ring.

Estrella, looking every bit like the dolls you find at the pulga, tells Mil Raco is going to fight Mil in the ring.  And so, they fight.

Raco wins first fall

The Angeles watch from ringside, including Estrella.  One of the gang members sets up a poison kiss with toxic lipstick.

When Mil wins the second fall, the lady makes her move.

I have to admit, Mil doesn't really avoid it.  Estrella tries to stop the attack, but is stopped by Cadena.

Mil is about to win with an Indian Deathlock, but suddenly stops and get weak from the poison kiss.  He is sent to the hospital and the match featuring Mil, 'El Idolo de los Multitudes', is postponed for next week.  And it is going to be a Mask vs. Cowl match!

Doctor says the venom was best delivered through the mouth.  That's why the lady didn't die, because it never got in her mouth.  Okay there, doctor.  Okay.

Mil tries to get a measure of revenge by trying to enter the clubhouse, but get jumped and is run off.

Then, there's a contract signing for the Mask vs. Cowl match.

Cadena gets the team ready to get Mil, but pulls Estrella aside.  She knows Estrella is a mole, and sends her to the torture chamber.  A very smokey and mysterious torture chamber.

Cadena and Gancho take Estrella to a pit filled with acid.  That's right.  An acid bath that no supervillain should not have available at their disposal in their lair.  It's an acid bath that could leave nothing but bones

On to the Mask vs. Cowl match.  Mil wins first fall via submission, but as he waits for the second fall, Ricarod tells him he doesn't see Cadena or Esterella.

Estrella is hung over the acid bath until she admits her alliegience to Mil.

Mil wins the second fall, but Raco runs off before removing his cowl.  The arena goes crazy chasing after him, and Mil's friends get in a fistfight with Los Angeles.  That is until Ricardo gets a pipe and holds them at bay for the cops.

Raco makes it to the Acid Bath and says the cops are coming.  Then, Gancho and Raco fight it out.  Gancho wins.

But a torch begins to burn the rope holding Estrella up over the acid bath as Mil arrives.

But before Mil can save Estrella, he has to fight it out with Gancho!

Mil wins by pushing Gancho into a wooden board with fireworks and lights behind it.

Wait.  It's an electrical board that is apparently highly dangerous and fragile.  Because when Gancho is pushed into the wooden board Electrical board, Gancho dies in a flurry of flashes and fireworks.

Estrella is saved!

Raco's mom arrives with authorities and is sad.  Raco was given love, protection, and an education with his family, so says the mom.  And he turned out to be a turd.  A dead turd.

And it ends like a high school one act play, with all the loose ends tied up.  Cadena is captured.

And its back on the beat for Mil, who gets on his personal plane to fight another crime somewhere in the world.

The video I got was in Spanish, but its still enjoyable to watch if you don't understand the language.  These movies were meant to be fun, and this one definitely is.

I found mine new in a Spanish DVD bargain bin for about $3.  Seek it out if you can.  It's worth a look as a classic piece of lucha libre cinema.

===================

Bowie Ibarra is the author of the "Down the Road" zombie horror series.  His upcoming book, "Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire" is a combat sports themed book featuring a luchador who crosses over into MMA.

You can network with Bowie and check out his great Tex-Mexploitation works at ZombieBloodFights.com.