Tag: zombies

Calling All Zombie Warriors!

Hello again my friends! After the success of the Revengers, the superhero league I formed and invited people to join, I began thinking about other groups I could start. And the next likely option seemed obvious: a league of zombie hunting warriors! I choose this in part because of some posts I did awhile back about different classes of zombie fighting weapons, but also in honor of Whiskey Delta’s sales record, which is nearing 850!

So in the coming days, I will posting lists of possible equipment and weapons specifically selected for the zombie apocalypse. I invite all of you, the readers, to select items from among said lists and use them to create your own unique character. I will post rules as we go, but I figure a system where you have a limited number of items based on size, weight, etc, would be the choice approach.

And of course, you can make up names for yourself and even back stories. Where were you when the zombie apocalypse happened? How did you come to find your current group of fellow fighters? And what’s your hope in fighting this zombie war? Are you fighting to protect the ones you have left, avenge the ones you lost, preserve the basic decency of mankind, start a new home, or just ensure that the strongest survive? As you may have guessed, much of this comes from the Walking Dead comic/TV series, which I highly recommend reading/watching for anyone interested in taking up the zombie fight!

So the way I see it, any choice of gear for the zombie warrior will need to break down into the following categories:

Apparel:
When fighting the undead hordes, your choice of outfit counts for a lot. If you plan on standing your ground, you’ll need something that can keep your flesh covered from biting teeth and scratching nails. If you plan on outrunning them, you’ll need to dress light. So choose wisely, knowing that your choice of clothing/body armor is the first step in choosing what kind of fighter you want to be.

Primary Weapon:
The mainstay and trusty workhorse of the zombie killer! This can be a shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, bow and arrow, and any other form of ranged weapon. The key word here is primary, meaning its got to have the most bang for its buck and designed to kill at a respectable distance. So what matters here overall is the special balance of ammo capacity, range, stopping power and portability.

Secondary Weapon:
This is your fallback in case you run out of ammo, lose your primary, or just find yourself in a corner and don’t have time to reload. This is generally a handgun, but that provides a wide range of possibilities, including revolvers, automatics, or personal defense weapons. Of particular concern here is the ease with which you can get the weapon handy, how much killing power it will give you at close range, and just many bullets you can get on target before you run out and have to use your weapon of last resort.

Melee Weapon:
The weapon of last resort, or just the weapon you use when you want to be discreet, quick, and not draw attention to yourself. What matters here is zombie smashing power, the ability to either chop off heads or bash brains with relative ease! So your options are likely to include a baseball bat, axe, combat knife, machete, chainsaw or even a sword. Again, portability is a concern too, something that can fit on your person without getting in the way or slowing you down.

Detailed lists of options for each category will be coming in the next few days. Pick one of each, and then you are good to go! And as an added bonus, those characters that are created here will have the chance of being featured in the upcoming third installment of my zombie series, Alpha Mike!

Even More News!

Good_News_EveryoneWhiskey Delta, my zombie apocalypse-themed indie novel, has just sold over 750 copies! What’s more, another good review has come in, once again pushing the overall rating up a bit. And of course, they hit on the usual points:

Good Book (4.0 out of 5 stars)
Great story with interesting people. Spell was poorly done and many editing issues were present. Would like a sequel

Rest assured, Pappa Zulu, the sequel to Whiskey Delta, will be coming in just a few short months. Obviously, I need to finish my work on WD’s second edition, and then give the next installment a full and thorough edit. And if there’s time left over, I hope to have Alpha Mike finished before 2014 begins. Fast times!

Oh, and I do hope the good news continues. As it adds up, you can expect to see less of these constant updates!

More News!

zombie_graveyardGood morning all! Once more, I have some good news from the world of publishing and zombie writing! First up, my newest book to hit the shelves, Whiskey Delta, has just passed 650 sales. Woohoo and woohoo! And yet, I am mourning the fact that the people I dedicated it to are unable to read it yet. C’mon people, you got to get on that! Uh, but you might want to wait until I finish with all the edits.

Speaking of which, the creation of Whiskey Delta’s 2nd edition is coming along nicely. My trusty editor and I have polished the first quarter of the book, which seems to account for the majority of the typos and errors.  But of course, we won’t stop until it’s done. And then I plan to get on the second installment and make sure it is in prime shape before it’s release. I am hoping it is received well, since the sequel came up in more than one review.

And in other news, I just bought a copy of World War Z. It only seems fair that I read the book of the man who got me off my ass and made me publish this work (with Rami’s help of course). It was actually during a conversation with a teaching colleague of mine that I finally decided to buy a copy. I was telling her about my story, and she brought up Max Brooks. As I waited for her to finish, I began chuckling to myself. She paused asked me what was so funny, to which I replied “you’re going to laugh”.

I then proceeded to tell her how a friend of mine (hi again Rami!) mentioned me to Max Brooks and how he went on to mention my name and the name of my story in his speech. She laughed, and then told me exactly how awesome his book is. I’m only a few sections into it, but I can tell you she was right. The book is a work of genius, much as the reviews would have us all believe. If y0u”re looking for a good read and a twist on the zombie apocalypse, I say invest in a copy!

More Reviews Are In!

Whiskey_Delta

Hi folks. As the title suggests, more reviews have come in for Whiskey Delta and the sale figures are going up! Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends. Of those buyers who chose to offer opinions about my book, the same combination of “good story, but needs some serious editing” was apparent in their comments.

Here’s what the latest reviewers had to say (note the first review has been shortened due to it being very wordy!):

An exciting and well told story (4.0 out of 5 stars):
This is a great book – exciting storyline driven by gripping and well laid out plot lines that keep the reader ‘on the edge of their seats’ right to the end. Even better is the superb characterization of the two main characters and also the driver Whitman, however, considering the small number of characters in the book, I thought the author could have spent a bit of extra ‘fleshing’ out of some of the others a bit more.

The reason the book was a four star not a five star, was that it had simply the worst editing I have come across on Kindle and I am not someone who cares that much about the odd misspelling or use of ‘their’ when you mean ‘there’ and so on as I am usually so lost in the story I barely notice… I must say though, that I am very happy that I did overcome my ‘scruples’ and bought the book in the end as the story was completely riveting from start to finish and the writing itself – aside from typos and little slip ups are all forgotten when caught up in the thrilling ride the author takes you on. Highly recommend it.

Not bad huh? The full length comment contained traces of displeasure about the lack of editing, but the overall feeling is that I wrote something pretty good. Well get a load of what this guy had to say:

Not a grammar Nazi but…, (2.0 out of 5 stars)
By Heuchler:
Thought it was a decent story, but the editing or the lack thereof killed it for me. Ever dozen pages seems to have a spelling or grammar mistake. Even basic things that could be caught with spell-check are there, which leaves me wondering how they were not caught.

Again, not to be petty, but the “not grammar Nazi” made some typos of his own there. And I know I’m going to hell for saying this, but with a name like Heuchler, that last thing you want to make is a Nazi reference!

Still, after reading these, it tore it for me. Whiskey Delta needs to be cleaned up and re-released! The public is speaking with one voice on this, and those who are giving it low marks are starting to bring down the overall rating. As it stands, WD is ranked 3.0 stars out of 5 and that’s just not acceptable. For any indie looking to establish a reputation and garner sales, a 3.5 or higher seems like the desirable place to be in.

What’s more, three copies have been returned after purchase. I can only assume they started reading and were deterred by the errors. And though this represents a mere 1% margin, it doesn’t seem too acceptable to me at this juncture. Barring accidental purchases, every copy sold should stay sold, in my opinion.

Lucky for me, I won’t have to take it down to fix it up, but it will mean the updated version will be clearer and (hopefully) polished whereas the ones that are currently selling will not. I can live with that, and hope the market won’t really notice much. Right now, the sales and positive reviews have me highly jazzed about prepping and releasing the second installment and working on the third. But for that to work, I need the first installment to be as good as it can be and get better reviews.

Big News (Updated)!

zombie_gore1Hey all, just thought I’d share a rather interesting and positive bit of news that came to my attention recently. Not more than two weeks ago, I put Whiskey Delta up for public consumption in both paperback and Kindle format. This would be the zombie apocalypse novel that Rami was able to get Max Brooks to mention while he was speaking at Ohio State University doing a talk.

Well, whether it was because Mr. Brooks gave it a mention, or just the inherent appeal zombie fiction seems to have, or a combination thereof, sales have been taking off! In fact, in the last two days, it has sold just over 200 copies! For most writers, that’s a drop in the bucket, but for an aspiring dude like me, it’s a veritable salesquake!

Thanks to all who have taken a chance on this piece of indie fiction. Rest assured, its encouraging and makes me think that Pappa Zulu, the sequel to this first installment, just might be worth publishing too! Who knows, it might force me to buckle down and get to work on the third installment as well, aka. Alpha Mike.

Update: Some reviews have come in, and the new is… generally good!

1: Whiskey Delta (Five Stars):
This was an excellant book from start to finish. I will be looking for other offerings from this author. He knows how to tell a good story, properly his characters and keep a reader riveted.

2: Almost There (Two Stars):
This book started out great but the spelling and gramatical errors really handicapped the book. Charachters change names several times through the book and the military lingo is never completely explained,and at times is very incorrect. There are no gunnery sergeants in the Army or the Air Force. This book has great promise but suffers from terrible editing. The story is great it just needs a little work.

So what I’m hearing is great work, need editing. Huh, tell me about it! My weakness always has been the process which needs to begin after the creative process ends. Well, some would say editing is part of that process, and an intrinsic one at that. But to me, editing and promotions have always been like the clean up and bookkeeping tasks that the artist retreats from in horror. So I either need to change my attitude, or get an editor! But dang, they cost money…

Still, that’s an average of three and half stars after two reviews. I gotta think that’s not bad. And not to be petty or vengeful but did you notice the unfavorable reviews was itself full of spelling errors. Just saying…

Quicken

zombie-girlShe sits and watches, the little girl lying there on the floor, curled up in a ball with her hands drawn to her mouth. Her skin is still warm, her flesh pale but pink, and her eyes are now fully shut. The puddle of gore that envelopes her is the life draining out of her, the warmth of life spreading about her and slowly growing cold.

Pulling her own knees to her stomach, Sandra watches and cries. The gun lays at her feet, every chamber empty and smelling of freshly burnt cordite. Small patches of fetid biomass cling to the walls where the bullets landed, once they tore through their intended targets. Their crumbled bodies lay below, their milky white eyes open and staring, but otherwise dead to the world.

No longer an issue, she looks solely at the little one and rocks back and forth, moaning softly.

The girl was so young, so fresh and innocent. That didn’t stop the monsters from tearing her to pieces. They did her in, and Sandra could only stand by and watch. It was only after they were through with her, once they had done irreparable harm, that Sandra had found the will to empty her gun and kill them.

And the worst part of it is, they were her parents. The ones who gave her life, who reared her and protected from the monsters. They turned, and became the very thing she needed to fear the most. Had they been someone else, she might have run. Instead, she stood and cried as the lifeless faces of the people that used to Mom and Dad lumbered towards her and overtook her.

No… that’s not the worst part, thinks Sandra. The worst part is, in a few moments, she will awaken, and be just like them. And she will have no bullets to fend her off.

She knows she could run. She could leave this place and seek shelter elsewhere. Part of her wants to, to try another house, look for more survivors, and seek out anyone who might help her.

But another part of her wants to stay. She’s seen what it’s like out there. The people who still live, they feed too. They feed on the innocent and the weak, those who cannot defend what they have left. They take and kill without a second thought, believing that they are justified in doing so. She knows that she, unarmed and a woman, would have everything to fear…

That’s one thing the monsters do not possess. They do not care whom they kill, and take nothing from the dead save their lives. They prey on the guilty and innocent alike, murdering indiscriminately as they spread their filth. They are the great equalizer, a plague that is indifferent to sin, vice and virtue.

And when it comes right down to it, isn’t it better to simply die? Isn’t that all that remains? What purpose in running and hiding, fighting the inevitable for another day, only to face another full of running and hiding? What kind of life is that?

On the floor, the little one stirs. A faint cry escapes her lips, low and rumbling. Sandra looks to the door one last time. She looks around for anything she could use to defend herself. She spots the poker to her right which was knocked clear of the firepit during the commotion. Its sharp point looks inviting, notably effective against one of their kind…

And yet, she cannot move to retrieve it. She cannot find reason to fight, to defend herself or flee. As the girl’s body reanimates and her eyes open again, admitting opal-white pupils to the world, Sandra sits and waits. It’s not long before she looks up and sees that she has company. A lean lady, a fine meal sitting before her…

“You’re name was Suzy, wasn’t it?” she asks. “Your mother and father let me in a few days ago. They were very kind. They didn’t deserve what happened to them.”

Suzy pulls herself forward, the slippery pool of her blood helping her slide along. Her broken legs will not allow her to stand up, but she doesn’t need to. Her would-be meal is sitting right before her. She’s going nowhere.

“You were a kind little girl. I remember you were very scared. You didn’t deserve this either little girl. I’m sorry…”

Suzy is mere feet away now. She pauses and looks up at her, her eyes wide and wanting. Her mouth falls open to reveal her blood marked teeth and emit a small roar.

“I’m sorry I didn’t act in time. I’m sorry I let them do that to you.”

Sandra closes her eyes as hot tears fill them and blind her to the world. She feels Suzy’s fingers touch the skin of her foot and clamp on, using it to pull herself closer.

“I’m sorry for this-“

Sandra’s arms are a blur. Reaching out in one swift motion, she grabs the poker and brings it down on Suzy’s head with a loud crunch. The sharp end perforated her skull and delivers instant death. Quickly, her body subsides and her clawing fingers become limp against the floor. Her growls become a quiet rattle and all movement ceases shortly thereafter.

Maybe its not worth it, she thinks. But it’s not negotiable. Standing up, she grabs hold of the poker and holds it close to her chest. No matter what’s become of things out there, she knows she has to face it. At some point, it stopped being about a choice and became a necessity. And when that runs out…

Then I become one of them. She opens the door and runs into the maelstrom, never to return.

Whiskey Delta Published!

Whiskey_DeltaOh yeah, I went ahead and did it! Lord knows I wanted more time to get some spit and polish in her, but some things wait for no one. And in a lot of ways, I’m happy it came to this because there are times I need a boot in the ass! So my thanks to Rami for giving me that push, due in no small part to the fact that he did the mega-solid of mentioning my work to Mr. Max Brooks!

Yes, the author of World War Z himself recently visited Rami’s stomping grounds of Ohio State University to talk about writing, horror, and his fascination with the undead. And in the course of his talk, Mr. Brooks did me the honor of mentioning my name and the title of my book, as part of his shout out to authors who also tackle the zombie apocalypse. Who am I withhold publishing this book now that the name has crossed the lips of someone who’s actually famous?

So check it out, available on Amazon and Kindle in both paperback and ebook formats!

Amazon.com

The Walking Dead Season 4: A Look Ahead

The-Walking-Dead-Season-4-RenewalIt’s no secret that fans were a little surprised with the season finale of The Walking Dead. What with from the rather abortive assault on the prison, the way the Governor just up and disappeared, and the way the people of Woodbury were then incorporated into the prison community, there appeared to be a lot of unanswered questions, unfinished business and untied loose ends.

Perhaps in response to this, Robert Kirkman, the cast and producers of AMC’s The Walking Dead have released a preview video of what lies in store for season four. Through the course of clips, snippets, and interviews, it is revealed that the new season will have plenty of surprises and promises that the various threads that were left open in season three would ultimately be tied. Given my disappointment with how season three ended, I certainly hope they are telling the truth!

[Spoilers Ahead! Cease reading if you haven’t seen the finale or don’t want to know what’s coming!]

First and foremost on people’s minds is the issue of the Governor. After snapping and shooting his own people, he kind of just took off into the sunset, didn’t he? And then there’s the matter of Carl Grimes, the budding psychopath who’s latest exploits include shooting a man in cold blood. Where is he heading? Toward redemption, or straight to the loony bin? Co-executive producer Denise Huth had this to say on those subjects:

The Governor is still out there. The war is not over. Rick and our group here won the first round and scared him off… Carl’s changing. It’s a huge wake-up call for Rick. And it’s a big fear for him moving into the next season. Is Carl going to be Rick, or is Carl going to be the Governor? And right now Carl could go either way.

In addition, Hurd was sure to indicate that there would be plenty of problems on the home front as well, not the least of which would arise from the way Woodbury and the prison had integrated at the end of season three:

What’s going to happen as these two groups who literally were at war with each other moments before, how are they going to integrate?

In an interview with IGN, Kirkman also had much to say, claiming that the prison will remain a major part of season four, but that there would also be some major changes. For starters, Rick will be facing some of the same issues the Governor dealt with since he now has to lead a larger group that needs more food and supplies than their tight-knit team. And of course, he let viewers know that the Governor would remain a threat.

A bigger group brings with it bigger problems. They are certainly going to need a lot more resources, and they already have a lot of rebuilding to do, just from the things that happened in this battle between Woodbury and the prison. I don’t think there’s going to be a shortage of conflict and danger coming into the fourth season, despite the fact that they are still in the prison…

I’ll say that there are a lot of familiar elements that are remaining. Michonne is still around, Rick and his group are still in the prison, the Governor’s still out there… so there are a lot of things that are carrying over from Season 3 to Season 4, but I can’t stress how different things are going to be.

There are going to be some radical changes to those elements that are going to bring in a lot of new storytelling. While [Season 4] does seem somewhat familiar, it’s going to be vastly different from Season 3.

In addition, Kirkman indicated that in the next season, the world will be expanded well beyond that of the familiar settings established in season three:

We will be getting into more world building, more civilization being brought back. A little bit more of a bigger sense of community.

Well, for those of disappointed in the ending of season three, but generally impressed with the direction the show has been taking since season two, I think it’s fair to say the intrigue level has gone up. Rest assured, there’s plenty of material to be adapted from the original comic, and even without the source material, the zombie apocalypse is some pretty fertile territory! Just seven months to go before the October 2013 premiere, people!

Sources: insidetv.ew.com, blastr.com

Movie Trailer Monday: World War Z

worldwar_zDisclaimer: Yes, I know it’s technically not Monday, not by a longshot. But this post was meant to greet the week, but instead languished incomplete in my drafts folder, and the video took awhile to become publicly available. Point is, wasn’t willing to wait til next Monday. Enjoy!

Here it is, hot off the studio cutting room floor! Actually, I’m pretty sure these trailers get made well in advance and are released periodically with little more than a word from the studio. But whatever, you get the point. This trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Max Brook’s zombie-apocalypse novel, World War Z, is brand new and making the rounds. And just in time for the third installment of MTM (or not!)

Word is the movie will be coming out on June 21st, 2013 in 2D and 3D. But of course, that’s to be taken with a grain of salt since the release has been pushed back twice already. And word around the movie forums is that one of the original screenwriter didn’t even have time to complete work on the third act and someone else had to be brought in to finish it.

Still, the previews are nothing if not enticing and full of some malevolent, teeth-rattling action sequences. So who really cares if its totally different from the book? All that really matters is that they do the zombie apocalypse right!

The Walking Dead – Season 3 Finale!

wd3_meme1We’ve come to it at last. Last night, after months of escalating tension and drama, the season finale of The Walking Dead finally happened. Needless to say, after taking the long road to reach this climax, and familiar with how things happened in the original, I was somewhat eager to see how it would all go down. I suppose you could even say my expectations were high…

And, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. After all the expectations, slow build-up and plot development, the ending was fast, loose, and a bit abortive. Sure, there were lots of sad moments, tense moments, and some action, but none of it was particularly explosive, final, or end of the road-esque. And of course, the differences with the source material at this point were like night and day.

In the comic book, the assault on the prison was devastating, and cost the lives of Lori Grimes and their daughter. But more than that, the would-be conclusion to this season, which all indications would seem to suggest would be the death of the Governor, didn’t even happen. So add an openness to the abortive nature of this ending, and you’ve got the season three finale…

Welcome to the Tombs:
wd3_tombsThe finale ends with a slow, creepy expanding frame which is focused on the Governor’s eye. We quickly realize that he has Milton in one of his prison chambers and is torturing him for torching the Walkers they had captured. After beating him for awhile, Milton asks him if he thinks his daughter would approve of what he’s become. He says no, but also feels his daughter would be alive if he were the man he is today before.

He then takes Milton into the room Andrea has been kept in and orders him to gather up all the implements of torture. While collecting them, Milton drops a pair of plyers on the floor and leaves them there. The Governor hands him a knife and orders him to kill Andrea, which Milton tries to stab the Governor with, and then is stabbed himself. The Governor tells him he will soon turn, and then he will kill Andrea, for that’s how the world is now. Or as he puts it: “In this life now, you kill and you die… Or you die and you kill.”

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????At the prison, Rick and the others are busy packing their cars up in what appears to be preparation to leave. Carl is angry with his father for some reason, and Michonne thanks him for not handing her over. Daryl also speaks with Carol about how his brother sacrificed himself, thus giving them the time they needed to prepare. Lori looks up at a catwalk and sees Lori looking down on him again…

In Woodbury, the Governor is busy mobilizing his people. Blaming Rick’s group for the death of the eight men he lost to Merle, he has assembled an army of townpeople and commandeered their army vehicles for the assault. Tyreese and Sasha tell him they do not wish to participate and will stay behind to guard the town, and the Governor lets them.

wd3_tombs5The Governor and his army then come to the prison and begin gunning their way in, blowing up the watch towers and shooting all the Walkers in the field. Without any opposition, they make their way inside and the place appears to be deserted. However, they hear noise coming from below and begin searching, and are met with an ambush!

A series of flashbangs go off inside the tunnels and some Walkers are sent in after them, causing confusion and forcing everyone to begin running out. Maggie and Glenn begin firing at the runners from protected positions, and the retreat turns into a route. In the forest, Carl stands watch with Hershel and Beth and is met by one of the townspeople who is running for his life. After telling him to drop his gun, Carl shoots him without apparent cause.

WD3_tombs3When the dust settles and the camp is reunited, Rick and the others discuss what their next move is. They agree that they can’t simply sit idle and wait for the Governor and his people to come back. They agree to take the fight to Woodbury and form an attack party of Daryl, Rick and Michonne. Before they leave, Rick confronts his son about the boy he shot, to which he replies he “did what he had to do”. In his mind, far too many people have died due to hesitation, and he wasn’t willing to let it happen here.

Back on the road, the Governor stops the retreating convoy and demands they turn around and relaunch their attack. However, his makeshift army says it isn’t worth it and wants to go back to town. The Governor has a severe break and begins shooting people left, right and center. Only Martinez, Bowman, and a single woman are left alive, and she is left in a field to die while the rest head back to Woodbury.

wd3_tombs4Back at the prison, Milton tells Andrea about the plyers behind her seat and lets her know she has to hurry. They continue to talk for several minutes while she manages to get them off the floor and into her hand. However, no sooner does she have a grip on them that Milton begins to change. She manages to get her manacles off just as his resurrected body comes towards her, and they fight…

On the road, Rick, Daryl and Michonne find the remains of the Governor’s army, which now consists of those who have turned feeding on the bodies of the dead. After killing those turned, they find Karen – the one person who survived the massacre – and take her with them. They then proceed to town, where they run into Tyreese and Sasha manning the wall. After a quick shootout, Karen calls out to him and tells them what happened.

wd3_tombs6Rick then explains that they have come to save Andrea, who never made it to the prison. They then proceed to Andrea’s cell where they find Milton dead, and her bitten and dying. They share a tearful farewell, during which time Rick assures her that the rest of them are alive, and Andrea tells them she will take her own life while she still can. She asks Rick for his gun, which he gives her, and Michonne stays behind to be with her when it happens.

Rick and the others proceed back to the prison with a large bus in tow. The door opens, and townspeople from Woodbury begin to file out. Rick goes to Carl and tells him, “They’re going to join us”, to which his son seems a bit perturbed. Carol, Hershel and the others begin to file out and help them in. The episode ends with a close up of Lori’s and T-Dog’s graves on the front lawn.

Summary:
As I said already, this episode kind of flopped. While I knew that they could not stick to the source material at this point, Lori already being dead and all, I did think they would attempt to establish some degree of finality. While it’s obvious that Woodbury is finished at this point and Andrea did die, the Governor is still alive and the final fight only lasted a few minutes.

And given the superiority the Governor had in numbers and firepower, it seemed to end awfully quick. A few flashbangs and some rifle fire, and they all went running! Not at all the honed and ruthless army that the Governor brought with him to the prison in the comics. Hell, they had a tank there and kicked the crap out of the place! Here, they just tucked tail and ran!

And of course, there was the way the Governor just snapped and shot all of his own people because of it. Here, it kind of felt like one contrivance justifying another. The humiliating loss gave the Governor his motivation for going nuts, thus demonstrating how he was the bad guy, not Rick and his people. Okay, but again, after all the build-up? As Maggie is quoted as saying below: “No! No!”

WD_noSure, there were some interesting points, like Carl’s dangerous transformation into something akin to the Governor. His justifications, which he shared with Milton and Andrea before leaving them to die together, sounded an awful lot like what Carl says in his defense to Rick. “I did what I had to do”, “this is the way it is now”, and so forth.

The ending, where Rick extends a helping hand to their former enemies, also seemed like the perfectly fitting end to all that. And so did the way the episode opened and closed on the graves of Lori and everyone else they’ve lost since taking the prison. Its like they are saying, “this is what we’re fighting for”, and the way they return to it in the end shows that the final act of kindness honored their memory as well.wd3_meme

Still, the climax… not what I was looking for! If you’re going to stray, at least have an ending where they fight it out and there’s tons of blood! And I’m hardly alone in this respect. Already, there are a ton of memes out there satirizing the ending and what fans didn’t like about it.

Twd3_meme2he one’s you see here are only a few, which not only mock the ending but the numerous plot holes contained within. For example, the Governor has really good aim for someone with no depth perception, as evidenced by the way he shoots up an entire group of men and women.

And then there’s the fact that the Governor not only survived, but just seemed to take off into the night without another word. It’s like, are we done with him? Is he dead? Will he be lurking in the shadows, waiting to reappear and settle the score? No indications is given either way, but it does seem like a deliberate attempt to hedge their bets and keep his return open as a possibility.

But frankly, this seems a bit like the ending to Terminator: Salvation, where the plot wrapped up succinctly (albeit stupidly), but they felt the need to leave things open for the sake of additional milking down the road. That kind of ending not only feels anticlimactic, but can really be annoying when you know for a fact that it strays drastically from the source material.

Good news? Apparently, there’s only 183 more days until season four premiers. And season three was pretty rocking compared to the last one. I only hope that this time around, they stick to the script a little closely, try to converge with it a bit more instead of making these wild divergences. I’m all for variations, but if you’re going to make chances, you have to know the geeks will take notice and have some complaints to share!

See you in half a year, Walking Dead! I and a whole slew of fans will be waiting for you…