ZOMBIES: Recap/Notes #TheWalkingDead finale 'Too Far Gone'

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH HUMANITY REARS ITS UGLY FACE AGAIN IN MID-SEASON FINALE
by
Bowie V. Ibarra

Things have once again come to a head in the mid-season finale of 'The Walking Dead'.  And with all the teasers we got up to the finale, I had one question from my dependable Wild Speculators: 

Who dies? this round?

JACKIE DRUGA,
author of 'The Flu' series from Permuted Press

I hate to say it ... Herschel.  But I'm hoping for Beth.

 R THOMAS RILEY
author of If God Doesn't Show from Permuted Press

Rick.

ARMY ED, Special Weapons and Tactics advisor to ZBF.com

No one.

Well, here are some notes from the show, including the body count.

LORI PARENTING SKILLS

So, what is it about the zombie apocalypse that has made parents think they can use the old 'stay where I can see you' school of thought.  It's like Lori with Carl not staying in the house.  This isn't play in the mud time anymore like in the olden days.  This is the zpoc, where zeds are randomly walking through the wood in packs.

This muddy zed might finally explain those zeds in the road the other episode.  The Governor stopped his car because of mud in the road.  It must have been a flood plain and the zeds got caught up in it.

Well, anyway, we got to watch a young child get bit by a zombie.  Not fun.

A SHOUTOUT TO LUCIO FULCI?

Am I the only one that noticed that mudslide zombie was reminiscent of Spanish Conquistador zombie from Lucio Fulci's classic, 'Zombie'?

Check it out here.

THE GOVERNOR AS JIM JONES

You got to admit, the Governor might be a sonovabitch, but he's got an assload of charisma.  this guy was like a Zpoc Jim Jones of Jonestown fame, leading his sheep into the flames for his own self-interests.

I mean, look at him.  Coming in to the new group, even after the mysterious deaths of previous leadership, he still earns the hearts and minds of the survivors and convinces them that making a move on the folks at the prison is the right thing to do.

I have to admit, I don't know how I would react to some dude showing up, mysterious deaths of leadership, and mobilization of a group of unskilled folks against a fortified position in the middle of the zpoc.  I don't know, maybe stay quiet, pack my shit, and run the other way with my friends.

BODY COUNT AND TEASERS

We had a huge zombie death teaser with the cutaway from Daryl as a zed was about to sneak up behind him, but that didn't go down. 

We had a huge teaser for Rick as the Governor took the full mount and was raining blows to his face when Michonne came in for the save, running him through.

I believe there's another big teaser for 'Lil Ass Kicker's alleged death.  Yeah, daddy Rick and big brother Carl saw the bloody baby carrier.  We also saw what a hard time the kids were having lugging that thing around.  Hell, you can see that most every day outside of the zombie apocalypse.  Those things are a pain in the ass.

So in the midst of the debacle, it stands to reason that since we didn't see the baby get eaten, that one of the kids or an adult picked the baby up out of the contraption and ran off with her.

Of course, I said the same thing about Lori, and that they would come face to face with her zombie and that didn't play out.

So, in the end, the Governor ate it, and he executed Herschel.  Dipshit Mitch the Bitch took a bolt to the heart from Daryl.  And the Governor's new family pretty much ate it as well.

HERSCHEL'S MEXICAN CARTEL STYLE EXECUTION

This sucked a lot. 

Herschel's an amazing character, and one of the most noble of the series.  He got a piece of his neck sliced by the Governor, sparking the skirmish to take the prison.  As the battle started, Herschel tried to slide away, only to be recaptured by the Governor and have the rest of his head hacked off.

Having watched Mexican Cartel decapitation videos online in an effort to research my 'cartel vs. zombies' work in progress, I've learned, much to my horror, that decapitations are not as glamorous or easy as we've been led to believe.  It would most definitely taken multiple hacks with Michonne's Hanzo sword to finally lop the head off.

You know, like Mary Queen of Scots.  The executioner's job was not easy.  And though I've seen some executions from the middle east that did not take as long as Mexican cartel dudes using knives to slit the throat and start digging in, the fact is there's lots of effort put into cutting folks heads off.  That's what made that final gruesome moment with the Governor finishing Hershel the most disturbing moment of the episode to me.

Also, whatever you do, don't Google 'Mexican Cartel Decapitations'. 

No, seriously, don't do it.

ALSO, WHY HERSCHEL?

So, The Governor has a choice to hack off the heads of Herschel or Michonne.  One is an old man who doesn't really have any serious beef with The Governor, apart from him being a total asshole.  The other is a woman who killed his daughter, messed him up in the head, and is his biggest reason for making the lives of The Walking Dead Fun Bunch miserable.  What the hell?  Just a strange choice.

CAROL'S LEGACY

Well, that one pre-teen finally took the exiled Carol's words to heart.  Well done on the pistol headshot, little girl.  I don't care what the internets says about you, you're fine by me making executive decisions in the heat of battle.

THE HEART OF HUMAN CONFLICT

And, in the end, we see the true problem with human existence bringing itself to the fore again.  The late Rodney King said it best when he said, 'Can't we all just get along?"

The Governor shows up with a tank and his 2nd militia to take the prison, demanding Rick and his friends leave.  Well, duh, Rick's not going to walk away from everything he and his friends have made at the prison and points out how stupid it is for the Governor to overrun the prison.  Then nobody gets it.  Rick even offers to squash the past and live together in a truce for the greater good.

But the governor's not having it, and everybody loses.

It makes one wonder if Carl would have taken that shot with his rifle and scored, what would have happened?  Would the militia have tried to move on the prison without their leader?  Hershel might have lived.  Who knows?

SEPERATE STORIES OF SURVIVAL

In the end, the Governor's 2nd Militia was decimated, the prison overrun by zeds, and the Walking Dead Fun Bunch were splintered.  You've got Glenn and the folks on the bus as one group.  You figure Tyrese, the kids, Maggie, and Daryl.  And Carl and his Dad.  Is that right?  Did I miss something?

The Daryl/Tyrese dynamic will be interesting, with Tyrese having beef with Carol.  We'll see how that plays out.  I'm already seeing an episode where this team meets Carol in the future.

Army Ed was a big proponent of seeing how different groups survive.  Looks like this will be the story for the second part of the season:  How these three groups survive and if they reunite.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

This is pretty easy to identify.  Three big things stick out:

Will Carol return?

What the hell was with that dissection of the rat?

Who were the folks that massacred that small group in the woods?

Well, that's that for now.  Until February, pick up one of my books or one from Permuted Press today.  It's good shit.  You should read them.

Down the Road, Down the Road: On the Last Day, and Down the Road: The Fall of Austin.  Pick them up in paperback or Kindle today.

 

 

 

BOWIE V. IBARRA earned his BFA in Acting and MA in Theatre History from Texas State University.  Network with Bowie at his official website, ZombieBloodFights.com today.

ZOMBIES: #TheWalkingDead recap 'Welcome to the Tombs'

by Bowie Ibarra

What an asshole

Well, we were all calling for it.  And we got it.  One of the main characters from the show didn't make it out alive.  Neither did a bunch of random people.

Anyway, lets get to the big finish of 'The Walking Dead - Welcome to the Tombs' Season 3 finale.

ANDREA'S TORTURE CHAMBER UPDATE

Governor is ready to kill Andrea, but he's not going to do it himself.  No.  He won't sully his hands in Andrea's blood.  He'll let Milton do it.  But Milton refuses, so the Governor stabs him in the belly to let him bleed to death.  Then, when he turns, he'll kill Andrea.

What the Governor doesn't know, however, is that Milton left a pair of pliers for Andrea to use to twist off the chains on the cuff.  He encourages her to do it as fast as possible.

Naturally, Andrea drags her feet on the whole situation.

THE BATTLE OF THE PRISON

Tyrese and Sascha refuse to go on the mission to Woodbury and are greeted with bitter scowling and a weapon from the Governor.

The Governor has put a gun in the hand of all thirty of Woodbury's citizenry, and they go on the assault, trashing the front gate, the tower, and busting in unopposed.

As the ragtag band of citizens move on the prison, they notice the door is wide open.  In fact, the entire prison is unlocked.

Like the maniac he is, he still refuses to go back out and moves deeper into the catacombs.  In a dark hallway, Rick and Daryl launch a smoke-bomb/flash-bang attack, freaking the citizens of Woodbury the fuck out.  They bugger off and right out of the prison in fear, much to the Governor's dismay.

As they all run off with their tails between their legs, they are shot at as they exit the building and get in their vehicles and run off.  So much for the Governor's plans of vengeance.

As the Governor tries to get the people to regroup, the entire citizenry refuses to go back on the attack.  So the governor mows them down.  All of them.  He even pops them in the head as they lay on the ground.  One citizen hid under a body, an classic genocidal survival tactic, and gets off because the Governor ran out of bullets.

The Governor drives off into the wasteland with his two trusted death squad members.

PRISON FALLOUT

So, this kid scrambled in fear into the woods where Carl, Hershcel, and Michone were hiding.  Carl pulls a gun on the kid and tells him to drop his weapon.  The kid hesitates to put his gun down, and Carl makes the executive decision to put down the non-compliant kid.

When Carl gets back, Herschel tells Rick the news.  When Rick tries to get the details about what went down, Carl puts his dad in check by saying he did what he had to do.  Carl had seen too much death in the past as a result of not acting in the moment to neutralize a dangerous element, and he tells his dad just that before running him off like some kind of underling.

And in a symbolic moment, his dad's badge falls off his shirt, thus becoming something completely different than the image of his father.

ANDREA

Rick, Daryl, and Michone go on a guerilla mission against Woodbury, but soon find the massacre of the people of Woodbury.  They also find the woman who was saved.

They make her help them get into Woodbury to find Andrea.  The woman signals to Tyrese to let them in and they do.

When they discover the place Andrea was in, they discover she had been bit before she had a chance to put Milton down.  Her decision not to act only days before not to kill the Governor when she had the chance has now been cashed out with her life.

Suddenly, Carl's philosophy makes the most sense in the zombie apocalypse.

They take her body to bury back at the prison.  They also take the women and children who did not go on the attack of Woodbury.

More mouths to feed as we go into the next season.

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ZombieBloodFights.com would like to take a moment and thank the following people for their participation in this season's 'Walking Dead' Blog entries.

Thanks to:
Army Ed
Thomas, the VW Tech Guy
Jackie Druga
R Thomas Riley
Gareth Wood
DL Snell
Micheal Gardner

You guys are the best.  Thank you.

Please, if you enjoyed this blog, look them up on Amazon.com.

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Need more 'Walking Dead' Season 3 recap and review?  Check out my buddy Jason Thorson recap over at Ravenous Monster here.

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BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster.  His latest book, 'The Cruel Fate of Dr. Brewster' McGill' is a weird western tale of snake oil, Aztec Magic, and the dead rising from the grave to attack the living.  It is available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon.com.

If you are a blogger and enjoyed the blog, please follow me.

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You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories and check out his book trailers at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

ZOMBIES: Season 3 Finale 'Wild Speculation' for 'Welcome to the Tombs - Walking Dead

by Bowie Ibarra

JACKIE DRUGA, Permuted Press author of FLU

Oh! Oh! This is the week where my wild speculation is spot on! Simply by viewing the two sneak peek trailers, this is my ‘Wow she nailed it’ predication for the season finale.

Milton discovers Andrea has been taken hostage by the Gov. As he tries to free and help Andrea, Gov comes in. After nailing Milton with that mighty punch, which by the way IMO wasn’t enough to take out bad ass Merle. Gove says to Andrea, “I’ll set you free, but you have to come with us. You have to be the one to get Michonne for me,” he tells her and a few other dubious lies. She says no and he laughs, we see him close the door. He rallies his forces. Tyrese stays behind with Sasha. Tyrese finds out via Milton, what the Gov has done to Andrea and turns the tides inside.

Meanwhile back at the prison, Rick and the crew have packed up, heeding Merle’s deathbed advice of Michonne to warn them. He sends Carol, Beth, Baby Judith (No she isn’t going to die) Carl and Hershel away and to be hidden. Gang Woodbury arrive to ambush the prison. Booby traps are set for them. Remember Michonne said, “We don’t have to win we just have to make it hard for them to get us.”

Daryl has found transport and heads back to the prison. He arrives as Rick, Micky, Maggie and Glenn are watching from a distance the Gov and his people fall.

The four of them, in turn head to Woodbury.

In short, they make their away in. The Gov, pissed off about the unsuccessful ambush, realizes that Team Prison is at his home front and goes there. This is where the battle takes place. This is where Maggie or Glen will die. They have been playing on them being happy and married so that is foreshadowing they won’t be. Michonne finds Milton who tells her Andrea is in the torture chamber. She goes there, Andrea’s head is down, when she lifts it, she’s a walker, Michonne takes her out. Rick fails in killing the Gov and he gets away. Team prison moves into Woodbury. The clean up begins.

GARETH WOOD, Permuted Press author of RISE

I predict for the season finale, either Milton or Andrea kills the Governor. Hershel will be killed in the showdown. Carol and the baby will be killed. The Governor kills Rick and adopts Carl to raise as his own. Andrea and the Governor elope.

ARMY ED, Special Weapons and Tactics Advisor to ZombieBloodFights.com

The people in the prison need to take off.  Let the Governor take the prison, cut their losses, and run.  There's no sense defending the place.  They can find another place to defend.  Let the Governor expend resources in this futile move for revenge.

There's just too much at stake for the prison to fight this maniac.

MICHAEL S. GARDNER, author of the short story collection, Death in the Times of Madness, and the zombie novella (that’s only a buck), Betrayal. He also blogs at: www.atasteofterror.blogspot.com. Look for his new zombie novel, Downfall, which is coming soon.

Well, last week was a tear-jerker. I truly was saddened with the loss of Merle. He, in my opinion, had a lot left to offer the show. But that’s what happens when you’re thrust into a world filled with walkers and one-eyed gov’nas, I suppose.

For the big season finale, I’m thinking that we’ll see Andrea get rescued (unfortunately) by either Michonne or Rick. I’m really betting on the former, however, as I imagine the gov’na or Tyreese will put one in the back of her head. Andrea won’t die, I’m thinking; we need a kickass female lead, and it’s apparent that Michonne isn’t what the director and writers are looking for.

Speaking of females, my girl, Maggie, will bite the big one. Her ghost came and told me this last night. Or maybe that was a dream. Glenn too. They’re both goners. Herschel will do his best to save them. However, a flight of stairs – his arch nemesis – will prevent him from doing so. The old man, this time, will run out of shotgun ammunition, as well as balance, and be consumed by a mob of hungering walkers.

Rick, well, he’ll be doing stuff and things; that much is obvious. My money is on Daryl fucking up the gov’na and his cronies. I imagine it happening like this: Daryl on top, choking the dirty politician and holding his head down so the walkers can peel slabs of flesh from the buffet of his face and lap up the blood like parched, feral canines.

Lori will make an appearance, but who cares? Even if it is significant.

We’ve been warned this season’s ending would leave us speechless, so all bets are off. I would prefer that we lose at least half of the cast. Nothing personal; it’s just time for a big change.

Oh, and if Daryl dies, we riot.

 

THOMAS, VW Tech Guy

Rick and the folks in the prison have booby-trapped the prison, ready to let The Governor and his Death Squad infiltrate the labyrinthine facility.  This will allow the Walking Dead folks to attack the Governor from all angles.

I also predict the Governor will get his other eye poked out and fall victim to a zombie.


ZOMBIEBLOODFIGHTS.COM

If I don't see Zombie Lori in this episode, I'll be upset.

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BOWIE IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.  It is available in Kindle and Paperback.

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

Follow Bowie's Facebook page.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories and check out his book trailers at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.

FIGHTS: Notes on UFC on FX TUF 16 Finale/Khan vs. Molina

by Bowie Ibarra

It was a wonderful night for knockouts for combat sports fans as UFC on FX/Fuel/Fox related station's Ultimate Fighter Finale brought some action, along with the Khan vs. Molina card, trumping a hoped return to glory for Khan.

UFC ON FX TUF 16 FINALE

This was a great show that started with DUSTIN POIRER throw down with JONATHAN BROOKINGS in a match that had Poirer taking the win via choke.

Newcomer RUSTAM 'TIGER' KHABILOV vs VINC PICHEL found the Russian Sambo superstar throwing Pichel around the ring like the son of Zangief.  Three German Suplex's was all it took to take Pichel out of his game before the end of the first round.  It was awesome.

PAT BERRY smacked SHANE DEL ROSARIO in the face with an overhand right followed by a flurry of punches against the gate to take the knockout victory in the second round.

The mullet-laden MIKE PYLE kneed JAMES HEAD in the head in the clinch before finishing him with punches to his face for the finish in the first round.

The TUF 16 finalists American COLTON SMITH  and Canadian MIKE RICCI threw down for the title of TUF 16 Winner, with Smith dominating the whole match and taking the title by decision.  He got a big piece of glass and a Harley Davidson from Dana for his efforts.

Late replacement for the injured SHANE CARWIN, the batshit crazy MATT MITRIONE took on 'BIG COUNTRY' ROY NELSON in the superstar main event.  Nelson mixed it up on the feet with Mitrione, sending an uppercut from the outside that connected with Mitrione, dazing him for Nelson to take the victory.

KHAN VS. MOLINA

ALFREDO ANGULO went toe-to-toe with JORGE SILVA, with Angulo winning on the cards after the final round.

DEONTAY WILDER gave a tremendous heavyweight knockout to KELVIN PRICE in the third.  He might not be the next great American heavyweight, but he's well on his way.

AMIR KHAN took apart CARLOS MOLINA in his return with a new cornerman, Virgil Hunter, and new attitude.  It only took him ten rounds for the Molina camp to stop the fight, as Molina could not get an effective offense going against Khan before they called it off.  Khan broke his hand in the encounter.  We'll see if that affects his future training and continued return.

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BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His combat sports themed book, PIT FIGHTERS: BAPTISM BY FIRE, features a boxer from Scotland who transitions to mixed martial arts competition.  It is available in paperback and on Kindle for .99 cents.

Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

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ZOMBIES: Wild Speculation for the Walking Dead Finale - Will we see Zombie Lori?

by Bowie Ibarra

We come back to this picture from the 'Killer Within' episode.  You remember the moment, right?  Where Rick found a bullet that did not seem to have any blood on it.  Then a blood trail away from the apparent scene of the grisly birth and subsequent 'death' of Lori.

Well, ZombieBloodFights.com speculated wildly that perhaps we would find Carol had found a dying Lori and stitched her up.  Well, since then, Carol has been found, with still no sign of Lori.  We're led to believe that the fat zombie ate her up completely:  bones, skull, and all.

So here's this weeks ZombieBloodFights.com Wild Speculation:  Will the season finale feature a Zombie Lori?  A revelation that though Carl insisted he shot his mother in the face after turning, a murder we did not see happen with our own eyes, that he did not, in fact, kill his mother.

Let's see what happens in the mid-season finale (Damn you, Walking Dead)!

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Enjoy the blog?  Share it with your friends using the 'Facebook', 'Blogger' and 'Twitter' buttons below.

Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.

Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20

Follow Bowie's Facebook page.

Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuester.  His latest zombie story, The Fall of Austin, tells the story of military, police, convicts, and citizens of the Texas capitol as they deal with the zpoc.

You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.