Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 612: Not Tomorrow Yet

SPOILER ALERT!!!



Episode 612: Not Tomorrow Yet



Rick (to himself more than to the assault team):  This is how we eat.

Synopsis:  Rick talks Alexandria into raiding Negan's compound, and despite reservations voiced by Morgan, the group moves forward.  Abraham breaks up with Rosita, and then moves out of their house. They come up with a workable plan, and use Andy as a decoy with the guards to get inside.  The war party eliminates most of Negan's men, but they don't know which one might be the leader.  Maggie and Carol are captured by escapees from the facility, who contact Rick and demand they release a captive.

Carol is baking cookies again, after scavenging acorns and supplies from the pantry.   She delivers cookies to Tobin, and the two flirt.  While she is making rounds, Rick and the group return from the Hilltop and tells Carol to gather everyone at the church so they can discuss the deal they made with the Hilltop.

He explains the deal they made, and that the Saviors need to be dealt with, anyway, because eventually they would have found Alexandria and made the same demands.   Low on food, and fighting to defend their perimeter, they would not have the initiative.  Morgan argues that if they are so sure they can win, they should contact the saviors, have a show of force and demonstrate that they can do it and avoid bloodshed.

Look at the flowers, Tobin.

Carol is having a crisis of conscience.  She is keeping a log of all she has killed - 18 people in total. She is smoking now, after chastising a now-dead Alexandrian about the habit.   She joins Tobin on his front porch, where he admits that she scares him.  Many feel that she is a mother figure, but he feels something else.  They kiss.

Maggie tells Glenn she is going on the mission, but that she will stay with the cars and safeguard the rally point.  How many watching just knew that wasn't going to happen?  Meanwhile, Abraham breaks up with Rosita and tells her that when he met her, he thought she was the last woman on Earth.

"You're not," he simply says, and walks out.

Denise and Tara discuss the situation, and Tara tells her she loves her.  Denise says she will tell Tara that when she returns.   Tara is clearly struggling with the parallels between what they are doing now and what happened with the Governor.   After the assualt, Tara and Health are leaving on a two-week extended supply run as previously scheduled.

The assault team leaves the next day.   Andy has provided detailed intelligence on what he knows of The Saviors' compound, and they decide to use Negan's previous collusion to bring back Gregory's head to free the hostage he took in the last episode.  The group spreads out and finds a walker that looks somewhat like Gregory, severs the head, and kills the brain.

While looking for the walker head, the group separates and they begin contemplating their mission.  Heath and Glenn have never killed another human, and both are struggling with the coming slaughter.  Rick tells Father Gabriel that there's no turning back from the mission now, and asks him why he still wears his priest's clothing.  Gabriel replies that he is still who he was, and besides, it will be harder for their enemies to see him in the dark.

Grabriel is making a startling transformation.  He is now a warrior priest, someone who is still a man of God but realizes he cannot stand by idly while his flock is at risk. It is an interesting juxtaposition and a real study in a character arc.  It might feel a bit rushed, but I think it's a great evolution in the character, and Seth Gilliam portrays him with an amazing calm and resoluteness.

Rosita and Carol argue about Morgan.  They all agreed to keep Morgan's secret with the captured Wolf from the rest of the group, but Rosita is incensed that he spoke out against the attack in the meeting.   Carol defends him, saying he doesn't want to kill, and they should respect him for acting on the courage of his convictions.  Later, though, Carol confronts Rick about Maggie being on the team, saying she doesn't need to be there.  She tells him she will stay with Maggie to guard the rally point.

Andy loses his head.

Rick decides they should attack a couple of hours before dawn.  Jesus picks the best walker head that looks like Gregory out of three, but remarks the nose is different.  Rick punches the head in the nose and tells Andy he can tell the Saviors he broke his nose in the struggle.

That night, Andy drives up to the Saviors compound with the head.  Negan's guards, who are clearly
low-level thugs who don't think for themselves much, don't question why Andy is traveling at night, and don't really search him.   One of the guards goes to get Craig, and while he is inside Rick kills the one guard with a knife, silently.  When the other guard emerges with Craig, Michonne slays the other guard.  He doesn't even have time to notice the first guard is missing.

This is something that Rick and Michonne are the very best at, and why their pairing is so formidable.  They still have their humanity for each other, but are capable of dialing the violence dial up to 11 without showing remorse or pity.

The assault team infiltrates the building and fans out, taking down a room at a time and killing the occupants asleep inside with knives, silently.   Glenn makes his first human kill, and when Health hesitates, he kills Heath's man as well.  Glenn took the burden so Health wouldn't have to and become dehumanized.

Tara, Jesus, Andy, and Craig wait outside in the car with Gabriel. Tara tells Gabriel about her time with the Governor, and only told Denise she loved her to avoid discussing misgivings about the mission.  Gabriel asks if she really does love her, and Tara says yes.  Jesus then tells her she knows what she's fighting for now.

Rosita is working on some anger issues.

Abraham and Sasha are working room-to-room when a Savior discovers them.  They kill him, but not before he pulls the fire alarm.    Maggie and Carol hear the alarm outside and rush to the compound, which is a very bad move.  No one is expecting them to reinforce the assault. They are supposed to guard the rally point where the cars are parked for their escape.   What if the team was forced to withdraw and break contact, and needed covering fire?   Team Rick has a ton of warrior ethic, and they can mow down walkers, but they are still not as well trained as Abraham and Rosita with their military experience.  By moving inside to reinforce the attack they also run the risk of being shot by their own people in a blue-on-blue incident.

Jesus and Gabriel decamp from the car while Tara takes Andy and Craig back to the Hilltop to fulfill the deal.  The pair go inside to help while Team Rick engages in a close quarter battle fight with the surviving Saviors, who are now awake and armed.   Aaron stabs a Savior in self-defense, while Tara and Gabriel take down Saviors who are fleeing the compound.   Heath and Glenn find the Savior armory while trying to elude some of the defenders, and shut the door behind them.  Quickly, Glen and Heath grab weapons of the racks (two FAL rifles!)  and fire through the door, killing most of the Saviors outside.  Jesus kills a survivor.

Rick is not as successful as he hoped.

The fight is over, and when the team emerges into the open,  they find a small parking lot. Heath and Tara, who has returned to the scene, depart on the scavenging mission.   Meanwhile, in Alexandria, Morgan welds a gate for a new prison cell.   Michonne wonders whether they actually killed Negan.

A savior tries to escape on Daryl's motorcycle, and is shot.   Rick and Daryl are interrogating him when a female voice comes up on the Saviors' radio, telling them they have captured Maggie and Carol (see my comments above).

Overall, Not Tomorrow Yet is a tour de force in action storytelling, and is well-executed in terms of the attack.   There are a couple of muzzle sweeps across the backs of teammates along the way, but the technical people who advised the production on CQB tactics delivered.  Greg Nicotero doesn't waste a frame in his directing, and the narrative is taut.  I do question how stupid the second guard had to be not to notice his compatriot was missing, but I am willing to overlook that possible hole simply because the Saviors are too darn cocky.  They seem to assume everything is going to go their way.

Preparedness Discussion

The preparedness discussion is pretty simple for this episode.  Assuming you are faced with the same
situation, are you willing to pull the trigger on another human being?   Some may argue that, like Morgan suggested, Team Rick should have talked to Negan's people first. That wasn't going to work.  First, Daryl killed a bunch of the saviors with an RPG.  Then, Rick saw Negan's sadism on display at the Hilltop.  Finally, if there was any doubt, the guards' actions with Andy showed they were thugs who wholly joined Negan's cruel crusade of terror.

Still, killing zombies is one thing, killing humans is another.  Rick, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, and Sasha have done the majority of the heavy lifting in that respect for much of the series. Glenn and Heath's dilemma and moral struggle provide a welcome insight into the dark places one might have to go.

Next, if you do have to pull the trigger, are you trained to do so?   Too many of us preppers spend inordinate amounts of treasure buying firearms and ammunition, but how many of those guns are safe queens that never even make it to the range?  Find a range that offers tactical training and get some quality time in with certified instructors.

Finally, if you are forced to take action like Rick and his team are forced to do in order to survive, make sure to recon your target well in advance.  I would have felt much better with an extended two- or three-day recon of the area to figure out how many people are in the compound, determine possible escape routes personnel might use, and lay ambushes outside the building to keep anyone from getting away.  The personnel securing the rally point need to stay in place and do their jobs, trusting that the assault team can handle unexpected contingencies.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 612:

• If a person attacks you with potential lethal force, they have defined your relationship.  If you attack them first, you have defined the relationship.  Make sure you are ready to pull the trigger before you are faced with the situation.  Otherwise, you are a liability.
• Get some tactical training.  Owning 42 AR-15s for a family of three is a waste.  Invest in tactical training and replacement parts kits for a few high quality guns.  Also invest in ammunition, because without it a gun is just a club, and not a very good one.
• Your training should take into account planning and executing operations.   Follow the plan and make sure that you play your part appropriately in mock drills.  Now is the time to learn while you can laugh about it and go to the local McDonald's afterward.

 Next week:   Rick has to handle a hostage situation, and Alicia Witt comes on board as a female Savior with an attitude.

Fear the Walking Dead Gets Season 2 Premiere Date

Mr. Do the Right Thing and Mr. Do What It Takes.

Season 2 of Fear the Walking Dead will debut on AMC on April 10, 2016.  The season will be split into two sections, with seven episodes airing in the spring and the back eight airing sometime later in the year. 

As suspected, the survivors are going to get onto Strand's boat try to survive at sea.   I will be reviewing the episodes again this year, and hopefully the fresh setting will reveal a different take on surviving the Apocalypse.

Stay tuned!

Preparedness Review of Fear The Walking Dead Episode 106: The Good Man

Spoiler Alert!!

Soldier (to his Daniel):  I don't want to shoot you old man!
Salazar:  You should save your ammunition! 

Synopsis:  The military begins executing its withdrawal, and the group plans to rescue their family members from the military compound. Travis stops Salazar from killing their captive soldier, and releases him later when no one is watching.  Dr. Exnar arranges for a final evacuation of the medical personnel, and Liza extracts a promise from her to pick up Travis and Chris.  The group leaves without telling their neighbors of the looming danger, and Salazar releases the walkers in the arena as a distraction to get into the military compound.   Nick and Strand escape, and are wandering the corridors avoiding walkers.  The military is overrun, and the air evacuation is canceled.   Liza catches up to her family, and they all escape.  Nick and Alicia are forced to surrender their SUV to three military members deserting their posts, but the group makes it out unscathed, except for Liza, who conceals a bite under her shirt.  They withdraw to Strand's house,  where he has made preparations for an emergency.  Travis shoots Liza, stopping her from coming back, then collapses into the surf.   

The Good Man  opens with an aerial shot of Los Angeles, now abandoned to the walkers and completely dark except for fires raging out of control, taking down whole blocks at a time.   An eerie silence has descended.   Meanwhile, the Clarks and Manawas are busy getting ready to depart, packing emergency supplies and preparing their vehicles to drive out of the subdivision.  The military has already pulled  out, leaving the gate unguarded. As they leave, Madison remarks that there is no time to warn the neighbors, and frankly, none of them lifted a finger for them when the military took Nick and Griselda.  Then again, they didn't lift a finger to help one of their neighbors when she was being eaten on her front lawn. Madison's has a disturbing amount of self-rationalization for her actions.  Daniel wants to kill Cpl. Adams, the soldier the tortured and interrogated, but Travis stops him, saying he will watch him. While no one is looking, Travis lets him go. The group opens the gate and leaves the community.  They do not shut the gate back.  Wow.  Talk about bad blood between neighbors.

Dr. Exnar ... or Mengele.

Meanwhile, Dr. Exener is preparing to transplant the medical staff and patients to Edwards Air Force Base by arranging a helicopter airlift.   Liza bargains with her to get her son, Chris, on the chopper, along with Travis.  Maddie, Nick, Alicia, and the Salazars will be left behind.  Daniel Salazar approaches the perimeter at that point, leading the herd of walkers from the arena to the soldiers as a distraction to allow the group to slip inside and find their loved ones.   The military opens fire, with soldiers panic-firing on full auto in a bid to hold back the flood and get the choppers into the compound.  The choppers hover nearby, then return to base.  Exnar explains to Liza she needs to get out, and begins euthanizing her patients while the medical staff abandons the base in vehicles.  Liza instead goes looking for Nick, who has escaped with Strand and is now wandering about the compound, leaving the other detainees locked inside their cages.  They find the soldier who Strand bribed earlier, being eaten alive by a walker.  Strand gets back his earrings, while explaining that the soldier was his ride out of the facility.

Ofelia and Liza take out a walker.

Travis, Kim, Daniel, and Ofelia infiltrate the compound, while Chris and Alicia guard the vehicles.  A trio of National Guard soldiers accost the pair while they are having a discussion in which Alicia tells an idealistic Chris that they can't save everyone.    It's an interesting exchange, since his mom, Liza, has already made that decision regarding Alicia.  The soldiers take the SUV while trying to coerce Alicia to come along.  Chris hits the lead soldier and is knock out for his efforts

For once, Strand is less than unflappable.

While exploring the compound, they find out from other detainees that Nick escaped with another man, and Travis insists they open the cells and give the people a fighting chance.    Nick and Strand are cornered in a locked in area of the hospital and about to be overrun by walkers right in front of the rescue party when Liza finds them and uses her ID badge to open the door.  They go to the medical ward, where Exnar is sitting with the bolt gun.  Liza tries to get her to come along while the others gather medical supplies off the shelves.  They leave her there, and she prepares the gun one last time -- to use on herself.

Really?  You shoot Ofelia?

The group retreats through the kitchen and fight off another group of walkers, as the soldiers have now lost control of the base and the fences are down.    Liza breaks the news to the Salazars that Griselda died, and they walk by the ash pile where the bodies of the fallen have been cremated. They reach the cars and find Alicia and Chris essentially unharmed, but with the SUV gone.   Adams reappears, armed with a pistol, and confronts Salazar for torturing him.  He shoots and wounds Ofelia when she tries to interfere, but Travis tackles him and beats him senseless before he can do more damage.  This is the first time Travis has gone "full Rick" and his hands are bloodied and shaking as he contemplates what his act of mercy could have become.

Madison knows something is wrong.

The survivors exfiltrate and use the L.A. river basin to escape the cities, as the highways are clogged with abandoned vehicles and the streets are clogged with walkers.  They arrive at Strand's beach side house, which has a generator and emergency supplies -- and a luxury yacht anchored off the coast.  Liza tends to Ofelia's wound, which is minor but requires regular attention, and she instructs Daniel on how to care for it. Ironically, it is in the same location that her father injured on Adams.   Nick and Madison has a conversation in which Nick relates that he has been lost and out of control for years, and it seems as though the world is catching up with him.  All the supports, all the things people rely on for society to function, are gone.  It's a brave new world, one fraught with peril but also opportunity.

Liza hugs Chris tightly, and moves to the beach, where Madison confronts her.  Liza was bitten on her torso in the kitchen battle, and asks Madison to kill her before she turns.  She also tells Madison that everyone who is bitten dies from infection, that it's not treatable, and that everyone who dies will come back as a walker.  Madison can't do it, and Travis is forced to shoot his ex-wife in the head.  He collapses into the surf as Chris and the others discover what has happened.

 Preparedness Discussion

There is a lot to run through here, so let's jump right in.  First, it is amazing to me that trust among the neighbors in the secure zone has eroded to the point that Team CMS (Clark-Manawa-Salazar) are unwilling to let people know what is about to happen or even shut the gate behind them.  With the walkers out of the arena a couple of miles away, this is going to ensure the downfall of the encampment.   Whenever a crisis occurs, and people are thrust into a survival situation, the veneer of civilization frays the the true character of the person is revealed.   It is astounding that these two teachers, supposedly enlightened, educated people, would make this choice.   Perhaps Travis is a bit further down the road mentally into survival mode than first thought.   He does however, release Adams, which later comes back to bite him.

Likewise, Salazar's true character is revealed in how he plans to rescue his wife.  To him, the military is the clear enemy, and worthy of unrestricted warfare.   He releases the walkers from the arena and leads them to the doorstep without a hint of remorse for what will happen.  It is an action reminiscent of Shane's kneecapping of Otis in Season 2 of The Walking Dead.  It's hard to believe the rest of them went along with it.  Maybe they thought the military could handle the horde with its firepower, but regardless, his action indirectly led to the death of soldiers, civilians, and most importantly, Chris' mother, Liza, all to save a woman who was already dead and cremated.   It took Rick Grimes to Season 4 to become that ruthless.  Salazar is already there.  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in Season 2 between Travis, Chris, and Daniel.  As it stands, Daniel's actions are pretty horrific, even by the standards of this fictional universe.

As a dramatic aside, while I understand military operations have their challenges, and that sometimes the military is more of a blunt instrument as opposed to a scalpel, these are American soldiers on American soil. In fact, they are National Guard members that by definition are sourced from local National Guard units, most likely, and I have real issues with how their interactions with civilians has been handled in this show.  It's appears that the producers were trying to make a statement regarding the Afghanistan-Iraq Wars but using U.S. troops to brutalize American citizens.

While Salazar views the military through the lens of a brutal civil war in Latin America and thus would be distrustful, the military does not have a history of repressing the citizenry in this country.  Further, many national Guard units are manned by veterans of multiple deployments, and are not manned by young soldiers.

I know several members of my state's National Guard, and none of them would treat U.S. citizens with the callousness displayed here.   They are used to working with civilians during emergencies like floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters, often providing needed assistance all over the state.  They are considered valued assets in our communities, and National Guard armories are centers of the community where sports events, school functions, and community dinners are held.  The way this thread has unfolded in the story is disjointed at best and nothing more than a thinly veiled political anti-war statement at worst.

Speaking of Liza, she is the one character who shines in this episode.  She knows she has a death sentence, but uses her last minutes to see to Ofelia and spend precious time to connect with her son.   I have to say the Travis-Liza-Madison triangle is handled a lot better by the characters than the Rick-Lori-Shane triangle on the original show. They act like adults, but of course Liza isn't sneaking behind Madison's back to sleep with Travis and Travis isn't muddying the waters by leading them both on.   When Travis is forced to shoot Liza, Madison is there to comfort him.  Cliff Curtis does a very good job here.

I appreciate that Team CMS (and yes, I am trademarking that term) was able to bug out quickly.  I searched for evidence that they had husbanded the long-term storage food represented by the military MREs for the trip and used their household food on a day-to-day basis but could not find any.   I hope that is the case.   As you prepare and store food, your plan should include conventional pantry food (canned goods, comfort foods, snacks) and bulk staples (rice and beans) along with long term storage food (Mountain House, MREs) to ensure you have some portable, lightweight food in case you have to leave your home for a time.  A 72-hour supply could suffice, but have some portable nutrition available. It is up to you to decide based on your personal situation.

Finally, there is the issue of Mr. Strand, a man of means who likes to be prepared for all eventualities.   His house is rigged with a standby generator and supplies, as well as a convenient yacht Team CMS can use to escape the carnage onshore.  While this might seem appealing, how many people can the yacht support, and frankly, how much food does he have?  There are now eight mouths to feed.   It was nice for the group to have a fallback position, but I have to believe it isn't secure for long.  If they are getting out to sea, they need to make it happen quickly and locate better firearms.  I wish they had grabbed better weapons from the military.   

Remember, if you are the only prepper in your family, odds are your family is going to come to you in an emergency.  You need to either be clear about what you expect the family members should bring (food, clothing, medicine) or be ready to provide for them.

Preparedness Lessons from Episode 106:

• A crisis reveals your true nature as well as the nature of those around you.   Get to know your neighbors or your preparedness group well.  Know the weak links, and know who to watch.  If your group has reservations about a member, get rid of them, or at the very least, be ready to cut ties if they step out of line.  Communicate group expectations clearly.
• Make sure to layer your food storage.   Have regular pantry food, bulk goods like rice and beans, and lightweight emergency food.  Ensure you have spices, oils, and things like dried milk to uses, and experiment with recipes using these ingredients beforehand.  You can't go from nuking TV dinners to crockpot meatloaf without some experimentation.
• Think long-term regarding your preparedness, and how many people will be under your roof when the merde hits the fan.  Be honest.  Is everyone in your family going to come running to you in an emergency? 

Next week:  The Walking Dead debuts, and we're gonna see some epic carnage.  See you for Season 2 of Fear the Walking Dead next year.

A Note on Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462

Zombies on a plane?

AMC has recently announced a new series of mini-episodes set in the Fear the Walking Dead time frame set on an airliner, where a passenger is diagnosed with the infection while in flight.   The first one-minute episode will debut this week on the season finale, and will run during episodes of The Walking Dead until done.  A character featured on Flight 462 will join the Fear The Walking Dead cast next season as a regular. 

I will be reviewing these mini-episodes in due time, but will wait until the end until posting my thoughts.  I see little reason to write a bunch of separate reviews for 16 one-minute slices of screen time.

Here's looking to another survival situation to pick apart for lessons and clues.

Preparedness Review of Fear the Walking Dead Episode 105: Cobalt

Spoiler Alert!!

Strand (to Nick):  You're not just an addict, you're a heroin addict. That's the gold standard.  Don't sell yourself short.

Synopsis:  The military has a plan, and it really sucks.   Ofelia attempts to force the soldiers to return her mom, prompting her soldier boyfriend to intervene, and take her home before she is subdued by force.  Her dad takes him prisoner and tortures him for information.  Madison protests, but does not stop it.   In the meantime, Travis goes to Lt. Moyers to try to convince him to let those taken come back, lest civil unrest in the safe zone occur.  Liza is inculcated into the medical hospital groove, where anyone with a bite is sent one way and anyone without a bite is sent another, and holding cells contain anyone who has been detained but not obviously sick.  Griselda has had her foot amputated, but is in septic shock and is spiraling toward death.   Moyers takes Travis on a patrol to the medical facility but it is cut short when the soldiers go to rescue another unit in trouble.  A pitched battle results, and Moyers doesn't come back.  The other soldiers see it as their chance to cut and run, and drop Travis off back at the house before heading home to find their loved ones.  A newcomer saves Nick from death, for a price, and Liza finds out the horrible truth about the dead when she is forced to stop Griselda from becoming a walker.   Ofelia finally understands what her dad did in the El Salvadoran civil war, and is horrified.   Whatever Daniel's methods, he gets results.  "Cobalt" is a code name for the military's withdrawal from the Los Angeles area, set to occur at 9 a.m. the next morning, complete with the massacre of the remaining civilians in the medical center -- humane termination.

Cobalt begins in one of the military's detention facilities, where Strand, a smooth operator and confidence man, works Travis' unstable neighbor Doug into a breakdown.    Once he has been removed by the guards, he starts working on the other person in the cage -- Nick, who is suffering from withdrawal again.

Ofelia confronts the soldiers guarding the safe zone, demanding the return of her mother.  The soldiers are about to subdue her by force when Cpl. Adams, with whom she'd been involved in a previous episode, intervenes and escorts her home.  This causes some dissension in the ranks, as the soldiers, who have families of their own, begin to question their orders and lose confidence in Moyers.   Adams is captured and held by Daniel Salazar when he gets home in the Tran's basement, and begins to threaten him with torture.   Madison finds out about the plot, and pleads for them not to do it, but does not intervene.

Travis, meanwhile, is fighting with his son Chris over what to do, and decides to talk to Moyers and attempt to get the people back.  Moyers resists, explaining that the doctor has final say, but relents with Travis infers that people in the zone are going to stop cooperating and start resisting if there is not some accounting for the eleven missing people.

Travis tries his hand a shooting  .... not.

Moyers orders Sergeant Castro and his team to get ready to escort Travis to the medical facility, but the sergeant asks to be relieved from the duty, as his men have been on their feet two days straight.  The officer doesn't care, and orders him to mount up anyway.  They stop en route to eliminate a walker in a doughnut shop with a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, and the officer tries to get Travis to pull the trigger.  Travis can't follow through, so Moyers kills the walker instead (Side Note:  I am not an expert by any means, but after some research I think the effects department fell down on this one.  That corpse shouldn't have a head left if it's hit by a .50 caliber round, and it's not like we haven't seen way more graphic stuff in The Walking Dead).  They are interrupted again when another unit radios a distress call after finding a nest of walkers in a local library.   Eight soldiers, including Moyers, enter the building; three come out, and Moyers is not among them.  The whole time, Travis hears the screams and panicked cries of the soldiers over the radio as they fight a losing battle.  The surviving soldiers decide to desert their posts to check on their families and drop off Travis back at home.

Nick, who is feverish and weak at the detention center, is about to be hauled off when Strand manages to bribe a guard to leave him there.   The new player has a role for Nick, and sees him as having a unique set of survival skills that will help them both on the outside.  Strand has a key to the cell and is planning an escape.

That's gotta hurt.

Daniel continues to torture Adams for information, especially regarding the meaning of the word "Cobalt" he keeps hearing over Adams' radio.  Adams tells him of one incident in which there was a walker outbreak in a nearby arena, and because the soldiers couldn't tell who was a walker and who wasn't, the soldiers bolted the doors shut and left all 2,000 civilians inside to die.  Ofelia finds her father using his razors to peel skin off of the soldier's arm, and is horrified.  Daniel confesses to Madison that she always told Ofelia what happened during the war, but never told her his part as a government interrogator. 

At the hospital, Liza finds Griselda, who has been isolated in a fenced in pen with other terminal cases; she is feverish, delirious, and ranting to someone regarding the state of her soul and the world. She passes, and that's when the doctor informs Liza that all the dead come back to life now, and the brain must be destroyed to stop it.  They use a captive bolt gun, normally used to euthanize cattle, to stop the process by shooting a bolt into her head.

Travis returns to find Daniel finishing up his work, and confronts him.  That's when Daniels orders Adams to tell them all the truth.  "Cobalt" is the code word that authorizes the withdrawal of all military forces from the Los Angeles basin.   The remaining civilians will be left behind, and those who are in the medical facility will be "humanely terminated."  Cobalt will be implemented the next morning at 9 a.m. 

Liza gets a crash course in being a doctor.

Meanwhile, Chris, who has teamed up with douche bagette Alicia, spends the entire episode not rescuing his mom after complaining to his dad that Travis didn't do enough.   They instead go to an abandoned upper scale house, put on rich people clothes, and trash the place ... you know, because they had a rough childhood.   On the way home, they see the military trucks loaded with supplies pulling out of the encampment.

Daniel goes to check out the corporal's story about the arena, and finds the doors chained and walkers inside just as described.  He now has no reason to doubt the young soldier's story.  The military is pulling out, and his wife and Nick are on a time clock.  He doesn't know his wife is dead, so his urgency is palpable.

Preparedness Discussion

This episode is a satisfying payoff from last week's all setup episode Not Fade Away.   The wheels are in motion that will ensure the eventual destruction of the safe zone and the deaths of everyone inside.   Once the military withdraws, the walkers will probably return in short order, and as we know from The Walking Dead, fences alone cannot keep them out.   The military, instead of pushing back into L.A., is abandoning it to the walkers.   While the evacuation of the surrounding neighborhoods has lowered the risk, eventually people are going to start dying again, and once that happens, the cycle will repeat itself.   The federal response to the crisis has reached its nadir, and the desertions of the soldiers begin, because eventually people will want to care for their own families as well.

The situation has turned from a bug-in at a secure location to a bug out because the military is withdrawing its protection.  Moyers said at one point there were 12 safe zones set up in the area.   My suspicion is that the military was ordered to set these up, just in case the situation went out of control, so that they could serve as live bait to cover the evacuation.  The group now needs to be ready to implement their initial plan to get out of the area.  Let's hope all their stuff is still packed.

I wrote last week that skills trump gear.  Make sure you develop skills that would be in demand in a long-term survival situation.   Liza is in demand because she is a nursing student and a quick study.  Nick is in demand because he knows how to scrounge and find what he needs to survive.  Remember, he knew where to find the shotgun a couple of episodes back. Conversely, Alicia, who previously was the golden child, really doesn't know how to adapt to this new world, as a finely tuned postmodern sense of irony and sarcasm aren't in demand in the Apocalypse.  Likewise, it's hard for Chris to fulfill his dream of being a douche bag social revolutionary when society no longer exists.   They could have searched the abandoned house for food, resources, and weapons, but instead booze it up and break stuff, because there's NO RULZ!

Travis is struggling to hold onto his humanity, but Moyers has a point when he criticizes his inability to pull the trigger -- he eats their food and relies on the soldiers to protect them, but can't do the dirty work himself.  Perhaps that is why he bought into the military's line for so long.  If they are there to provide protection, he doesn't have to do it himself.  I am wondering if he is going to survive the finale.

Madison, meanwhile, has no problem compromising morality to achieve a goal.   She is clearly the stronger of the two.   She and Daniel are becoming a formidable survival core around which others can orbit.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 105:

• When you place your fate in the hands of the government, expect to be let down.  Every part of the federal bureaucracy is bloated by its very nature.  The people working in it are trying to do their jobs, but at some point they have families and lives as well.
• Develop and extra skill set you can use to trade for services or goods in the event of a long term scenario.
•  If you are in a survival situation, make sure everyone is doing something useful that aids continued survival.

Next week:  Liza tries to negotiate an escape for Chris and her ex-husband as the walkers begin encroaching on the safe areas.   Looks like the merde is finally about to hit the ventilateur.

Preparedness Review of Fear the Walking Dead Episode 104: Not Fade Away

Spoiler Alert!!!

Travis:  You could have notified his wife, sir.
Lt. Moyers:  I'm not a social worker.  That's your job Mister Mayor.

Synopsis:  The military protective occupation of the East Los Angeles area has been going on for nine days, and people are starting to lose patience with a lack of news, a lack of medical care, and a lack of necessities.  The surrounding area has been evacuated.   Chris is on the roof documenting the events and sees a light flashing in a house across the valley.    He tells his dad, who dismisses it.   Lt. Moyers, commander of the military detachment, tells the neighbors things are being brought under control, and the military brings in rations for the people but little else.   Nick seems to be overcoming his addiction, but in reality is stealing an old man's morphine.  Alicia discovers her neighbor's suicide note, which forces her to grieve for her boyfriend, while Travis runs around the neighborhood and tries to act a liaison for the citizens.  One man who has caused problems for the military is "detained" when he attempts to drive his car out of the perimeter., and Madison sneaks though the fence to discover that the military has killed ordinary civilians in addition to the infected.  A doctor arrives to treat and triage those with medical conditions, including Nick, who Liza mentions is a recovering addict.  The military arrives and takes Griselda and Nick, and as Travis goes to the roof to gather his thoughts, he sees the muzzle flashes of automatic weapons in the house where Chris saw the signal light.

Not Fade Away is a lot less about the impending horror of being eaten by zombies and much more about the lack of control the survivors feel as the military takes over the day-to-day lives of the community.  Chris provides some expository dialogue at the beginning as he films the soldiers and the fence they have erected around the area for their protection, and documents the Army trucking in cases of Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs, to feed the civilians.   He notices a light flashing in a window in a house across the valley, and records it with his camera.

Travis, meanwhile is on a morning run around the neighborhood, as if nothing is wrong -- either that or he remembers Zombieland's first rule: cardio. He seems to have been appointed the unofficial liaison between the military and the civilians.   Madison is trying to hold the house together, but Liza is off treating sick people, and the Salazars are keeping to themselves in Alicia's room.   It's tight quarters, and she is feeling the strain.   She and Travis hide in the garage to spend time alone.  Alicia, who seeks solace in her now dead neighbor's house, finds her suicide note.   She grieves for her dead boyfriend, and uses a makeshift tattoo setup to permanently inscribe the heart he drew on her arm as a memorial.

Lt. Moyers, the commanding officer of the infantry unit, insists things are getting better, and the infected are being contained, including reading a prepared statement from his commanding officer.  The problem is that the facts on the ground disprove his confidence:  power is only on for part of the day, there has been no medical care delivered yet, and everyone has to boil the water before drinking it.  Phones are down, there is no communication from outside, and no word as to where the other civilians have been evacuated.   (On a side note:  why did the Army evacuate everyone else but this community?  That is a LOT of people.)  Lt. Moyers explains the complainers are the lucky ones, and they should "relax, count your blessings, be nice… so I don’t have to shoot you.”

Moyers enlists Travis to help with a neighbor,  who is cracking under the strain of trying to maintain a facade of normality for his kids.   Travis talks him down and gets him to submit to a military health check, averting a crisis.  Soldiers were poised outside the home to subdue him if he did not comply.

Ofelia is working on her own brand of military-civilian fraternization, beginning a relationship with a soldier in the detachment to try to obtain medical supplies for her mother, whose injured leg is now infected. She is not successful.

Madison, meanwhile, wants to know what is happening outside the wire, and sneaks through the perimeter fence to explore the surrounding neighborhoods.  She finds dead infected in the streets, accompanied by non-infected persons who were gunned down as well.   She is forced to hide from a roving patrol, and is confronted by the fact that all is not as it seems with their military "protectors."

Liza has been busy caring for people in the neighborhood, including a man named Hector who is on a morphine drip.  What she doesn't know is that Nick is sneaking into his room and stealing the morphine by starting an IV between his toes.  Dr. Exenar, a doctor "from the government" arrives to conduct the health screenings, and takes Hector away, along with his wife.  She explains to Liza she knows she is not a doctor or a nurse but that she has done well for the community.   Exenar tells the Salazars that Griselda's leg needs surgery, and that Daniel can go with her to the medical facility.

That night, the jittery neighbor Travis calmed earlier goes missing, and the next morning Travis finds his car down near the perimeter fence. He confronts Moyers, who says his men were forced to detain him and that notifying the family is not his job. Travis mentions the lights Chris sighted in the demilitarized zone, but the officer seems to take little interest in the matter.

Madison confides in Daniel Salazar what she saw outside the wire, and Daniel relates that the

A view to a kill.

situation echoes some of the savagery that marked the El Salvadoran civil war in the 1980s.  He tells her to keep her son close, and asks that she takes care of Ofelia if he does not come back from the hospital.  Madison goes to find Nick, and discovers him going through Hector's house for more drugs.  She beats the crap out of him in frustration.  Later, he and Alicia share a moment of comfort, but it is cut short when military escorts arrive to pick up Griselda.  Daniel is not allowed to go with her, and in a twist, Nick is cuffed and taken away.  Liza agrees to go with Exenar and help at the medical facility, and the whole clan is left shaken by events.  Madison blames Liza for Nick's detainment,  and the episode ends when Travis, sitting on the roof with tears in his eyes, sees the muzzle flashes of automatic weapons in the house where Chris saw the light signaling earlier.  He finally realizes that the military cordon is not what it seems, and that things are never going to be normal again.

Preparedness Discussion

Episode 104 underscores the need for communications capabilities independent of the internet and conventional broadcast outlets. The community is totally cut off and dependent upon the military for news of the outside world.   Imagine the difference if just one home possessed a ham radio set with a skilled operator.  This has opened my eyes to an overlooked part of my preparations and highlighted my vulnerability in this area.

Then again, the radio may have gotten confiscated on the first day.  The saddest part of this episode is the total ineptitude of the military in civilian affairs despite years of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, or maybe because of that experience.  Lt. Moyers, the commanding officer of the troops, is prosecuting this operation as if he is overseas in a non-permissive environment instead of on his own soil.  There doesn't need to be a show of force because the civilian population is already on your side.  No one is planting IEDs in the road or planning ambushes -- yet.  If he keeps antagonizing the locals that might change.  I hope this is not the way our military might respond in a peacetime humanitarian mission here in the United States.  This is less of a protective mission and more of an occupation.  How long will his troops stay on mission and continue following his orders?   It just goes to show that your supposed saviors might not be all they are cracked up to be.

Liza is the catalyst for much of the action in this episode, as she proves her worth by providing medical care to the sick and injured.   She is able to use her admittedly incomplete medical knowledge and the meager resources at her disposal to jury rig, improvise and adapt them in a non-conventional way to keep people from dying.  It is not her gear, but her skills, that benefit her and it's proof that skills trump equipment in many instances.  It would pay preppers to remember that.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 104:

• Obtain the equipment and skills in your own home or in your network of prepper friends to communicate through ham radio or other less conventional methods. 
• A protection camp can be a detention camp depending on who is in charge -- and you don't get to vote.
• Skills trump gear.  Invest in getting training in first aid or marksmanship instead of buying another gun or a redundant piece of equipment. 

Next week:  The situation deteriorates at the hospital, and the troops begin to question their orders.   No good can come of this.

Preparedness Review of Fear the Walking Dead Episode 103: The Dog

Spoiler Alert!!!

Travis:  You know how I feel about guns.
Daniel:  A gun don't care what you think about it.

Synopsis:  Travis, Chris, Liza and the Salazar clan are forced to flee the barber shop when the  mob attacking the police breaks into the store next door and sets it on fire.   Walkers are mixed in among the riot, infecting even more people. Mrs. Salazar injures her leg in the escape, forcing the group to seek medical attention once they make it back to Travis' beat-up pickup. Team Madison chills out at the house playing monopoly but decide to grab a gun at a neighbor's house when their walker neighbor approaches.   They leave the door open and the walker traps and eats a dog until Travis arrives and is attacked; Daniel Salazar blows off its head.   They bury the neighbor and dog, and decide to wait until morning to leave.  Daniel Salazar decided he and his family are going to separate from the group, but before anyone can leave the National Guard arrives and seals the neighborhood.
 

The old HMO ain't what it used to be.

The Dog begins at the barber shop, which is being rocked by the sounds of the riot.  Chris is startled by a walker standing outside the window peering inside, but their discussion about what is really going on is short-lived; the rioters break into the shop next door and set it on fire, forcing them run for their lives.  While running they witness a police officer attack another officer and rip out his throat.  The group races through the streets to Travis' truck, which is one street over from the main riot and has not yet been damaged, but Griselda Salazar is injured when a scaffold falls on her leg.   They attempt to transport her to a hospital for treatment, but the former sanctuaries for the sick are now war zones where cops armed with automatic weapons battle reanimated corpses.   Reluctantly they they head home.

Bird shot, meet face.

Meanwhile, at the house, Madison, Nick, and Alicia are playing monopoly to pass the time.   They are concerned that Travis hasn't come back, and Nick posits the theory that maybe he's not coming back.   A German Shepherd comes to the door begging to be let in, and the group obliges.   When ominous noises are heard from the street, Nick points out the need for self defense and the trio race next door to find a shotgun and ammunition.  They forget to close the door, though, and the walker staggers into the house and kills the dog.  Travis returns home at the same time, and finds the walker, his former neighbor, eating the dog.  Everyone runs into the home as Travis battles the zombie, but Alicia realizes they have forgotten the shotgun shells and heads back to the other house, where she encounters Susan, a neighbor who has turned.

Back at Madison's, Daniel quickly grabs the shotgun and puts down the walker.   They then race over to the fence to rescue Alicia from Susan's clutches.  They leave Dead Susan in her yard and retreat to the house.  Travis, clearly freaked out by the whole evening, convinces Madison to wait until morning to leave.  He then buries his neighbor and the dog, despite Daniel's advice to burn the bodies to prevent the spread of disease.   Madison extracts from Liza a promise to kill her if she ever is turned by a walker, and the Salazars retreat to a bedroom, where Daniel insists that they are not going with the rest of the group in the morning.   His daughter wants to go with them and says they are with good people.   Daniel's response is chilling: "Good people are the first to die."  He is adapting to the situation better than most others.

Dawn breaks, and the cars are loaded.  Daniel tries to teach Chris how to use the shotgun, but Travis gets upset because he is anti-gun.   Nick sneaks out to try to break into a house next door to find more drugs, but stops when a little girl in a window next door waves to him.  Madison goes out to the fence to pop Susan in the noggin with a ball peen hammer, but Travis dissuades her, saying the sickness may be able to be cured.  Daniel, seeing this, mutters that they are too weak.

Everyone but the Salazars get into the car to leave.  Nick asks for more painkillers, and Madison tells him they do not have many more because she gave some to Griselda for her leg.   Nick gets angry and says he needs that medicine.  The pull out of the driveway, but see Dead Susan's husband arrive back at the house.  Madison turns that way to warn him about Susan's condition, and he is about to be attacked when heavily armed National Guardsmen arrive and put her down.  The unit sweeps through the area and clears the infected.  Travis and Kim thinks normality is returning.  Daniel Salazar thinks that this is the beginning of something bad.

Preparedness Discussion

There is a lot to consider in this episode.   The consequences of the family's lack of a crisis plan and bug out preparations are playing out in real time now because they are forced to bug in at two locations for the night, neither of which are very defensible.  This is especially true of the barber shop, where rioters outside are mixed in with newly turned walkers who are attacking and killing people in the general confusion.  The need for both of these items was covered in the last episode's review, but I will add the link to the following story, The Bug Out, which is a fictional tale of a family that lets its preparedness lapse and pays a price.  By the time the family is ready to leave, the military has arrived and no one can leave.   No one tells them not to go on camera, but the fact that troops are sweeping house to house and taking a census of where everyone  lives is telling.  This is population control on a neighborhood level.

Civil unrest, at least in America, usually isn't long-lived.   The riot only goes on so long before the police, armed forces, or motivated citizens acting as a militia step in  to put a stop to people burning stuff down.   If you are in a riot zone, there is a good chance you might get swept up in the dragnet if you don't get out in time.

Next, we need to deal with Travis' aversion to firearms.  He doesn't want to believe that it is necessary to use them for self-defense.  His final line in the episode about things getting better now that the National Guard has arrived indicates that he is willing to outsource his own security.  Madison is not so sure.  She has already killed her walker boss.

Daniel, on the other hand, is quite willing to take matters into his own hands, and uses the shotgun to good effect.  He then attempts to teach Chris how to use the weapon to keep the rest of the family safe.

Whether you are in favor of guns are not, there are almost as many guns as people in the U.S. and knowing at the very least how to safely handle a firearm is something you can consider.   A gun is a tool; it can be used to take a life or save a life.  Ensure that you know how to handle them safely, because the life you save may be your own.

Got any drugs?

There is a conflict building between Daniel Salazar and Travis Manawa.   Daniel, an El Salvadoran immigrant who is of an age which suggests he may have seen the worst of the civil war in that country, has survived social upheavals before, and he knows what it takes to survive.  Travis is mired in his normality bias despite staring the walking dead in the face.   This is akin to the Rick-Shane battles of the first and second seasons of The Walking Dead.  It will be interesting to to see how this dynamic play out between two men without a shared common history.  One is an idealistic teacher, the other is a scrappy survivor.

Finally, there is Nick.   Like most addicts, his concern, once the immediate danger has receded, is for his next fix.   Addiction is a powerful motivator, and he is going to become an issue as the series progresses.   He has no intention of getting clean - he has transferred his addiction from heroin to prescription pills.  If you have an addict in your family or are addicted to something yourself, you need to think long and hard about how this is going to impact you in a disaster situation.   Wean yourself from alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs now.  There are resources available in your community to assist you, and you will not only become healthier, you will have more money to prep!

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 103:

• Know when to bug out.  If you decide to bug in, make sure your location is defensible.
• Be adaptable.  Know that you may have to change long held attitudes to ensure survival, but be sure you have a set of core principles to serve as an emotional and spiritual anchor.
• Get trained in firearm safety.
• Do some self-reflection to determine if you are dependent on a substance or other item in your life, and work to wean yourself from it.   FYI - Starbucks and Dairy Queen will not be open when it hits the fan.

Next Week: We're from the government and we're here to help.  Or kill you. You ARE THE LUCKY ONES!

Some More Thoughts on Fear the Walking Dead Episode 102

Spoiler Alert !!!

Fear the Walking Dead is on hiatus in the United States for the Labor Day weekend, so I thought I would go back through into the last episode and touch base on a couple of more preparedness thoughts.

Bug out bags would be very useful in this situation.  When Madison calls Alicia from the truck at the beginning and tells her to pack some groceries, the daughter says she can't because she is not home (more on this in my original review).   It would have been a lot easier to get out of the city if they had some food and supplies already packed to toss in the truck.   Food and water are basics; non-perishable items, bottled water, and a way to purify water are a start.   Other items could include:

• Toiletry and sanitation items like hand wipes, hand sanitizer, soap, female hygiene products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.
• Sleeping bags and cots or a tent in case they need to camp out off the side of the road.
• Flashlights and a good first aid kit, along with extra batteries.
• Cooking equipment such as portable stoves, etc.

The food you pack should require little or no preparation, but if you plan on toting a Coleman stove with you, some heavier foodstuffs -- canned goods, along with lightweight pots and pans -- could be carried.  Just remember the idea is to be able to shove everything in the car with minimum time and effort and get out of the area.

If you wait too long, you'll get stuck in place.

These supplies don't need to be packed in bags; a couple of storage tubs, easily loaded, could work.  The important thing is to developed a good checklist of what you want to prepare and make sure everything is packed.

This is not a small detail.   If you are a fan of The Walking Dead you can remember the scene where Rick Grimes rides his horse into Atlanta to find his family.  He rides down the wrong side of the road because the outbound lanes are jammed with traffic that was trying to get out of town when the zombies overtook the city.  Los Angeles is a major metropolitan area with serious traffic congestion on the best of days.  The longer this family waits to get out of the area the longer it is going to take due to the rapid increase in outflow traffic.  That traffic will probably contain people low on resources, who didn't plan, and who will look at their supplies with envy.  Using nondescript storage totes can provide a degree of camouflage against looters and thieves, but the quicker you can get out ahead of the crowd, the safer you will be.

Extra gas cans filled with stabilized fuel and stored in the garage could've helped as well.  The service stations in town are going to go dry quickly in a true public panic, especially if the resupply chain breaks down and tanker trucks cannot get through.  If they had stored a couple of five-gallon cans per vehicle, they could put them in the bed of the truck, get out of town on the fuel in their car tanks, and refill outside of the immediate danger area.  They would then be able to find a gas station outside the hot zone and refill the cars and spare cans.

Bug out bag resources:

The Preparedness Podcast
Sample Hurricane Evacuation Kit
Ready.gov Sample Kit

Gasoline storage resources:

Off the Grid News
Prepper Journal 

Preparedness Review of Fear the Walking Dead Episode 102: So Close, Yet So Far

Spoiler Alert!!!

Madison (to Artie the zombie): Artie, can you hear me?
Tobias (my brother from another mother, in his head): Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?

Synopsis:  People in Los Angeles are gradually getting the idea that something is not right, as officer-involved shootings escalate and people begin staying indoors. The schools are closed, and the streets are starting to empty.  Alicia, being a teenager, does not do anything her mom says, but goes to her boyfriend's house to check on him, only to find him bitten and infected, but not dead yet.  Madison and Travis meet her there and manage to convince her to come home, while Nick begins experiencing serious withdrawal from heroin.  Travis goes to find his son and ex-wife, but gets caught up in a riot and are forced to hide out in a barber shop with the owner's family.  Electricity and cell service become spotty, and the police move in with riot gear to keep the peace. Madison finds some medicine - the powerful opioid drug Oxycontin - to help her son at the high schools law enforcement office, and runs into Tobias, who is there to steal food from the cafeteria.   The two run into Artie, the principal, who has turned.   Madison kills Artie before he can harm Tobias, and makes it back home where Alicia has been helping Nick.  A final scene shows their neighborhood starting to come under siege as a turned neighbor attacks another neighbor.

The second episode of Fear the Walking Dead picks up where the first ended, with Travis, Madison and Nick in the truck trying to process what has just happened.  Madison and Travis decide to get way from the city with their extended families; Nick is flipping radio stations and remarks that no one is talking about what is happening, although there is a short news story regarding an escalation in officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles.

Alicia, meanwhile, heads over to her boyfriend Matt's house and finds the door open and him inside with a high fever and a bite on his shoulder.  She begins taking care of him, but Travis and Madison track her down and convince her to leave, with Matt's help. He knows what might happen, apparently, and doesn't want to hurt Alicia if he dies and turns.  His parents are supposed to be home from Las Vegas later that evening.

Chris has replaced Carl Grimes as the biggest douche.

They arrive at home, and the neighbors invite them to their daughter's ninth birthday party because everyone else has canceled due to the flu going around.   They notice another neighbor packing his car with food and supplies but he coughs and looks feverish when he waves.  Nick is entering full withdrawal from the heroin, and begins chills and vomiting as his body adjusts. I have to say this part is being played wonderfully by Frank Dillane, who at this point is the breakout actor of the show.  Madison tries to call their doctor, but cannot get through.  Likewise, Travis can't get through to his son Chris, but that's because he refuses to answer the phone.   He decides go try to find his son and ex-wife, Liza.  Travis tells his new family if they don't here from him soon to leave without him and he will catch up when he can.

Downtown traffic has come to a standstill.   Chris gets involved in a protest against the police, who seemingly have just killed a homeless man for no reason. The crowd begins threatening the police.    Travis gets in touch with Liza, who thinks his need to pick up his son has more to do with their custody agreement.  She doesn't know what's really happening and won't listen to reason.   Travis cuts through a gas station parking lot to get around a red light and takes notice of a police officer loading the back of his trunk with water.

Tobias is the man! I hope he lives past this episode.

Madison decides to search the school's police office evidence locker for a drug that could help Nick.  Alicia tries to leave to help her boyfriend again, but has to stop when Nick suffers a grand mal seizure and begins choking on his own vomit.  Madison runs into Tobias, whose nickname should be Basil Exposition, and as they explore the school he begins explaining how civilization is starting to unravel.  She finds a bunch of seized drugs and puts them in her bag, while Tobias, with her help, loads a cart of cafeteria food.    They run into Principal Artie on the way out, who has turned into a walker and attacks Tobias. Madison smashes his head with a fire extinguisher.   She drops off Tobias at his house, but for some reason they leave the food at the school.  Madison gets home and breaks down crying after giving Nick an oxycontin to help lessen his withdrawal.

In the meantime, Liza and Travis have found Chris downtown at the police protest.   Just as they arrive, an ambulance with a hazmat crew begins loading the body of the homeless man.  Liza, studying to be a nurse, realizes something bad is happening when she sees this and tells Chris to listen to his father.  As they try to leave, riot police move in to quell the protest, and a female officer is forced to shoot another walker in the head. Chaos ensues as people begin to destroy cars and set fires. They seek refuge in a barber shop, and we are introduced to some new characters:  Daniel Salazar, his wife Griselda and their daughter Ofelia.  Daniel does not want to let them in, but his wife insists.  

As the episode closes, power begins to flicker, cell phone services begin to become disrupted, and the violence downtown escalates.   Alica looks outside with a flashlight and sees someone attacking the female neighbor who invited them to the birthday party earlier.  Madison refuses to let her leave.   In the final shot, we see Alicia's boyfriend's house again.  There is a car in the driveway and luggage strewn around the back of the car near the open trunk.

Preparedness Discussion

This episode underscores the need for communications and back-up plans in case your family is split up or works in different areas of the region in which you live.   Keep in mind that zombies for the preparedness community are stand-ins for any number of major disruptions or disasters - natural disasters, terrorist events, pandemics, economic upheavals, civil unrest, etc. Travis, Madison, and their families are dealing with a spreading pandemic, disruptions of essential services, and civil unrest in the same episode.   Conditions are beginning to deteriorate rapidly.   When events like this happen - see Ferguson riots, Hurricane Katrina, the deadly influenza of 2010 that seems to strike down young people disproportionately, or the massive derecho that wiped out power lines for over one million people in the West Virginia area in 2012 - having a back-up plan is essential.

Cellular service is subject to disruption, but even when cell service is spotty, in many instances text messages will still work because it takes much less data bandwidth than voice calls.   Los Angeles has periodic blackouts, civil unrest, and natural events like earthquakes and wildfires.   Using text messages would have allowed for more communication and less frustration, most likely, and could have been reduced to one or two words.  A code word or phrase, which has been agreed upon by all parties, could have been a signal for everyone to get home and button up inside until things blow over.

Lastly, you have to tell everyone what is going on when it is safe.  I was throwing things the television because Travis and Madison were not telling family members what they saw with Cal.  Do you think Alicia and Chris might have been less pains in the butt had they had full knowledge of what is happening in the world?  Then again, they are teenagers ...

In contrast, Travis' use of alternate routes to get to his ex-wife's house was nice.   Once he realized the primary routes were jammed, he moved to the side streets.  If you have to drive a long distance to get to your place of work, you most likely have dealt with traffic jams caused by road maintenance or car crashes.  You most likely know of alternate routes you can take to get around the blockage.   The same principle applies here.  Know what alternate routes are available, and program into your GPS if you have one.   Google maps will provide alternate options when the type in the destination, but don't depend on technology that could lose signal or fail.  Grab a map of the area, highlight the routes, and practice driving them a few times.  Make sure your family does the same if they drive separately from you.  Have a central rally point and an alternate point planned for everyone to meet once they are out of danger.

Make sure you have enough gasoline as well.  I used to like to fill my tank up and a quarter full, but I now attempt to do so at half a tank. I also store gasoline with stabilized added in case service stations are closed.   If you are under a quarter tank and get stuck in extended traffic delays, you could run our of gas or be forced to conserve.   A massive storm in the northeast in 2009 crippled the West Virginia turnpike, stranding motorists in a miles long traffic jam for over 18 hours. The National Guard had to be activated to help clear roads and assist stranded cars.  Imagine being low on fuel and having to choose between keeping your family warm and retaining the ability to move the car when traffic starts flowing. With a little planning you can mitigate your chance of encountering difficulties by taking alternate routes and having sufficient fuel on hand.

Our characters decide on a strategy of social distancing to insulate themselves from the spreading disease.   Social distancing means you keep away from others to minimize your risk of infection, either by staying inside your house or apartment or relocating out of the outbreak zone. It is an effective strategy if you have sufficient leave to take off from work and supplies stockpiled so that you do not have to go outside.  Food, fuel, medications, and other supplies have to be on hand in sufficient quantities in order to support your household.   Your family has to be able to support itself for the time you estimate it is going to take for the event to pass.   This is dramatized in an excellent book, The Jakarta Pandemic, by Steven Konkoly.   Problems in this episode arose when Nick needed medication to ease his withdrawals and Tobias needed food.   Characters were forced to put themselves in harm's way.

Finally, Travis and Liza's decision to run once the police moved into the area in riot gear was a good one.  Just because you aren't doing anything wrong doesn't mean that you aren't going to get arrested.   The police I know don't relish arresting innocent people, but in a confused situation like that there is no way they can tell who is who.  Get off the street and away from the disturbance as quickly as possible.   The Preparedness Podcast has some information on riots and what to do in Episode 170.

Finally, two last random points:

• Why did they leave the food at the school?  It is suggested Tobias comes from a broken home of modest means.   He and his uncle need that food to survive.
•  Who carries a camcorder just waiting to film police brutality?

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 102:

• Work on a communications plan for your family that concisely communicates the situation and sets into motion per-arranged actions designed to keep everyone safe and as far away from danger as possible.
• Plan and practice alternate routes to your home or central rally point.  Familiarize your family with them.  Do not ride around with your car on empty.  Store extra gasoline if you can do so safely.
• Social distancing works well during pandemics, but be prepared to "bug in" with adequate supplies.
• If civil unrest is occurring, get out of the area as soon as possible.  That is your best method for avoiding violence.

 In two weeks:  Travis, Chris, Liza, and the Salazars have to abandon their refuge, while Madison and Alicia have to defend their home.   I imagine Nick is going to puke some more.

Preparedness Review of Fear the Walking Dead Episode 101: Pilot

Spoiler Alert!!!

Madison Clark (to student):  The authorities would tell us.

Student (who looks way too much like me in high school):  Shrug.

Synopsis:  Fear goes where no episode of its parent series has gone before:  Los Angeles, to a time before the events depicted in The Walking Dead.  Society is still humming along, but cracks are beginning to show.   A new strain of influenza is spreading across the country, and rumors of murderous people are starting to surface.  While a few people are paying attention to what is really going on, most of the citizens of Los Angeles scurry along, content to worry on their day-to-day issues.  The release of a leaked video of police officers taking down a walker forces the spreading zombie plague to the forefront, and the family that is the focus of our story is forced into the realization that something terrible is happening.

The debut episode of Fear the Walking Dead has the unenviable burden of rewinding time to the beginning of the apocalypse and showing us how the world fell apart.   It succeeds in doing so, but drags a bit in the middle.

I think Gloria's got your number, Nick.

The episode opens with Nick, a college dropout and a drug addict, waking in a disused church from a    He stumbles around the church, hearing vague noises and screams, until he finds Gloria apparently eating another addict’s face.  Her eyes are glazed and gray, and a huge pole has been jammed into her abdomen but apparently she is still able to move despite what should be a devastating wound.   Nick flees, exiting the church and running accidentally into the path of an oncoming car, which hits him.  He is transported to the hospital.
heroin-induced sleep to find his gal pal Gloria missing.

Next, we are introduced to Nick’s family:

• His mother, Madison, who is a high school counselor and is frantically searching for her son.   It becomes clear she has been down this road before with Nick.  Nick’s father, her ex-husband, battled drug addiction as well.
• Alicia, Nick’s sister, who is a senior in high school and cannot wait to graduate.   She has plans for after school to get away from the family drama and start a new life with her new boyfriend, whose name I forgot.  Let's call him Red Shirt.
• Travis Manawa, Madison’s live-in boyfriend, a teacher at the same school, and would-be stepdad to Nick and Alicia.
• Chris, Travis’ son from his previous marriage who wants nothing to do with his dad’s new living arrangement, and his mom, Liza.
It appears that the only two people that actually like each other are Madison and Travis, while the kids are stuck in orbit around their new relationship.





Travis and Madison:  not Mike and Carol Brady

Nick wakes in a hospital, refusing to answer police questions.   Madison and Nick arrive and toss the cops out, and Alicia makes passive aggressive comments regarding how her sibling sucks.  Meanwhile, Travis, gets a call from his ex-wife stating his son does not want to come over for his weekend with dad, and Travis is forced to accede.


Nick tries to make sense of what he saw.  Was it the drugs?  Is he losing his mind?  He has no idea.  The part is played brilliantly by Frank Dillane as a person who is not really sure what reality is at the moment.   Travis agrees to stay with him while Madison goes to work.  The principal, Art, stops Madison in the hall and asks if everything it okay.   As they talk, a student, Tobias, sets off the metal detectors at the door.  Madison, who likes Tobias, covers for him with the principal and takes him to the office.   Tobias surrenders a knife, and expulsion-level offense, and tries to warn her that something bad is happening around the country.  Madison, ever the adult, tells him if something was going on the authorities would tell people. 


Nick, meanwhile confides in Travis regarding the events at the church, and Travis sets off to investigate.  While he is gone, Nick’s roommate, an elderly man, expires, and is rushed “downstairs.”  The nurse starts to raise an alarm with the doctor in attendance, but the physician cuts her off.  


“We don’t know!” he says.  It’s a clue that “the authorities” know what is happening when people die and are trying to determine the extent of the problem.  The implication is that they don’t want to believe what is happening.  Nick uses the confusion to steal the man’s clothes and wallet and escape.
Alicia skips class at school to hand out with her boyfriend, an artist who is not as intelligent and probably won’t be going to Berkeley like her.  They agree to meet at the beach that evening to spend time together.


Travis finds the church drug users are visiting to inject heroin, called a “shooting gallery.”  He finds blood pools and smears on the wall, but strangely, no bodies.   He becomes convinced that Nick saw something, but he still isn’t sure what that might have been. All he knows is, “something bad happened here.”  Madison is initially dismissive of her son’s claims, but they go to the location to see if Nick went back there.   They find some of his belongings, and Madison sees the blood, but no Nick.  


They visit Nick’s old friend, Cal, who claims not to have seen Nick in a while.  Nick, meanwhile, has purchased a pre-paid cell phone and is calling someone about what happened in the church.  He needs to know the truth.  Is he suffering from a mental illness, or were the drugs laced with something to cause him to hallucinate?  While Travis and Madison search for Nick, Alicia goes to the beach, but her boyfriend doesn’t show and isn’t answering her text messages.  


Madison and Travis are on their way home that night, but get stopped in stalled traffic caused by a car accident.  Police loudspeakers blare for everyone to stay in their cars.   Gunshots are heard, and Travis decided to cut through the median and turn around.  Then next morning video footage is leaked from a TV news helicopter that shows a crash victim reanimate and attack a paramedic.  The police shoot the man, who refuses to die.  Finally someone shoots him in the head and puts him down for good.

The next day school is sparsely attended.  Students are watching the video on their smart phones and debating its credibility.   Travis and Madison are forced to call the police to search for Nick and return to the school.   Alicia’s boyfriend is a no show and he still isn’t answering text messages.   The school administration sends students home a half day early, and Madison trades a look with Tobias as he is leaving on a school bus.   


Nick finally meets the person he was calling.  It turns out his dealer is Cal, who maintains the cover of a respectable person while supplying heroin to the masses.  Cal is concerned Nick is going to compromise him, and takes him to a deserted area (that looks like the same empty storm drainage canal location used in the movie Grease) to kill him.   They struggle, the gun discharges, and Cal falls to the ground, dead.  Or dead-ish.


Nick calls his mom, and Madison and Travis meet him near the scene of Cal’s murder.   They find his car, and a blood pool like they found in the church, but no body.  Nick is apoplectic.  As they are leaving, they see someone in the tunnel behind the car.  It’s a reanimated Cal, who attacks Madison and Travis before Nick gets behind the wheel and runs him over with the truck.     Cal gets back up, and Nick hits him again, propelling the zombie out of the tunnel and into the canal.  As they watch, Cal again tries to get up despite both legs and arms being broken and a missing lower jaw.


Preparedness Discussion


Fear the Walking Dead gets off to a solid start, and does a decent job of building dramatic tension.   Principally, the pilot does a great job of showing just how dependent society is on normality.  We assume things will always be as they are now.   We rely on the police to protect us, the hospital to cure us, and the supermarket to be freshly stocked every few hours with food.  


This phenomenon is called Normality or Normalcy Bias. Normality Bias (I maintain normalcy is not a real word and was only popularized when Colin Powell used it in 2001 after the terrorist attacks; if you don’t agree, get your own blog) is the tendency of people to enter a mental state that underestimates the possibility of a disaster and the consequences of its effects.   This effect was on full display by people who were unwilling to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina or by the government’s failure to prepare for such a disaster.  This bias kicks into overdrive as the disaster looms.  


Fear shows this in subtle ways.  Madison’s dismissing of Tobias is something many preppers have experienced when trying to persuade friends and family to makes some sort of basic preparations.   As someone who works in the education field, I have seen adults dismiss teens out of hand like this more times than I would like to count.  Faced with Madison’s assurances, that have no basis in the unfolding reality, Tobias shuts down and shuts up.  I have seen at least one review that describes this scene as poorly written, but it rang true for me.


Then again, I had a face full of pimples and was about this kid’s size in high school.  I might have a soft spot for him. 


The media we consume tend to support Normality Bias. News outlets, especially traditional television, print, and radio sources, have only so much time and space to use for news and are forced to make choices as to what to cover.   Some stories that might be of national interest – the encroachment of Mexican drug cartels onto U.S. soil in Texas and Arizona, for example – get little airplay in the traditional media.  As preppers, we have to look deeper and things like financial data, reported terrorist incidents, and other potential sources for disaster and be aware of the threat environment.  
 
Watching Nick’s battle with addiction and apprehension for his own sanity is harrowing.  Anyone who has had a loved one suffer from addiction knows the anguish of watching someone you care about self-destruct without having the ability to help, because they don’t want it.  Nick knows he is in trouble, but cannot confide in his mother because of the gulf his addiction has placed between them. 
  
If you think your addiction – whether to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food, pornography, or any other product – isn’t affecting those around you, you’re wrong. Further, if there is a widespread disaster, what are you going to do if the object of your addiction is no longer available?  


Finally, I want to address the absolute fear of firearms characters display in this episode.  When Nick shoots Cal, he leaves the gun on the ground.  When he, his mother, and Travis return, and are forced to run over a zombified Cal, they leave the pistol on the ground.  While it could be argued that they did not want to touch the gun for fear of being implicated in a murder, the dead guy just got up and attacked them.  


The pistol is a form of self-defense.  We have the natural right to defend ourselves. You have to be alive to be able to defend your actions.

I do like that Travis has the initiative to fix his own sink.  That nascent sense of self-reliance is going to come in handy.


Preparedness Lessons for Episode 101

• Society exists on a very fragile system of services and assumptions that work to keep us reliant on that system.  Any disruption to those services creates havoc that may or may not be temporary.  Combat Normality Bias.
• Curb bad habits now while you can slowly wean yourself of the product, instead of being forced to go cold turkey when a disaster strikes.
• Start thinking about how to defend yourself instead of waiting for someone else to take care of you.

Next week:  Walkers start overwhelming the city, and Tobias and Madison run down the school hallways with a cart full of food.  C’mon Kirkman, fat kids going for food?  That’s messed up!