Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 210: 18 Miles Out

 SPOILER ALERT!!!


Rick (to Shane): "It's time for you to come back."

Synopsis:  Rick and Shane take Randall out to leave him to his fate, only to nearly get killed when their conflict erupts in violence;  Beth hovers between life and death as she considers the future and the grim struggle for survival that lies ahead.

18 Miles Out finally brings the Shane vs. Rick conflict to a head.  A week has passed between the events of the previous episode, and Rick has decided to let Randall, their former assailant, live.  He and Shane drive 18 miles out to an abandoned municipal complex where they plan to leave the young man tied up but within crawling distance of a blade and some basic supplies for survival.

Randall gets dropped off ... until he admits he knows Maggie.

On the way to the drop-off, Rick pulls off and he and Shane have a frank discussion about the latter's questionable decisions and his romantic pursuit of Lori.   I am not going to go into detail regarding the discussion except to comment on the way Shane, when confronted, confesses to it all: shooting Otis at the high school to survive, his love for Lori, and his regret - which seemed very genuine  - that he betrayed and hurt his best friend.   Rick forgives him and tells his partner that from now on Shane needs to consider Lori, Carl, and his unborn son off limits.   He also tells him that he, Rick is in charge, not Shane, and that the only way they move forward together is if Shane accepts that.  With the matter seemingly settled, the journey continues.   Rick and Shane find the complex they are looking for, kill a couple of walker zombie deputies (who noticeably have NOT been bitten) and prepare to leave Randall behind.

That is, until Randall shouts out that he went to high school with Maggie and knows Hershel Greene, which means he knows where the farm is, and knows how to lead his group back to the farm, which compromises the group's operational security.  Rick and Shane eventually get into a fight regarding whether to kill him or not and end up inadvertently releasing a small group of walkers from a nearby building.  Neither man has a firearm, having lost them in the fisticuffs, and thus have to run for their lives.  Shane ends up trapped in a bus, and Rick dispatches three zombies after finding his Colt.  Randall gets lose and joins in on the zombie-killing carnage.


Preparedness Observation - Assuming

We're all wondering what the CDC guy told Rick back in Season One?  I think that he told him the virus has mutated and everyone has it.  No matter how you die, you still reanimate.  My proof lies in the foreshadowing with the two deputies with no bite marks, and the fact that back in Episode 9, when Rick shot the two guys in the bar, he made sure to put a bullet in each of their heads.

Richard Marcinko, founder of Seal Team Six, wrote a book on leadership several years ago where he talked about the sin of assumption.  There are various religious connotations to that phrase, but Marcinko was talking about strategic planning and operational procedures.  Marcinko stated that assuming things are always going to be the same way just because they always have been the same way is a recipe for failure.  We must adapt to changing conditions or perish.   I have a feeling that Rick Grimes is keeping that little secret because he knows how devastating to his group's morale it will be.

As preppers we have to understand that things might change, and change drastically, when a crisis occurs.

Meanwhile, Back at the Farm ....

Beth is talking and pretty much tells Maggie she wants to kill herself.  Andrea says they should let her make the choice, but Maggie and Lori will hear none of it.   Andrea and Lori also have a conversation about some of Lori's choices and how everyone she loves most is still here but everyone else has had to bury their dead.   It's a standout performance from the actors that makes you realize while people still have confidence in Rick, Lori isn't exactly a favorite among the group.  Ultimately Beth chooses survival, but only after trying to cut her wrists with glass.


Shane Gets A Dose of his Own Medicine

Shane pushes the door shut while awaiting rescue.

Back at the drop point, Rick is tempted to leave Shane to his fate.   For a moment it looks as if it he is going to pile Randall back in the car and take off.   Then he sees the bodies of the two deputies and changes his mind.  With Randall driving, Rick shoots several walkers at the bus and Shane jumps out of the back door and into the open window of the Hyundai.  Once safe, they toss Randall back into the hatchback and drive back to the farm.  Rick admits they will probably have to kill the boy, but he just can't do it without having thought it through some more.   Shane still thinks its foolish to keep him around, but bows to Ricks judgment.  After all, the guy just saved his life.

Preparedness Lessons for Episode 210:

• Operational security and keeping your bugout location hidden may force you to make some tough choices - like whether a skinny kid lives or dies.
• Leadership has to be well-defined in group survival, and everyone has to accept it.
• Never commit the sin of assumption.
• Be careful when you write someone off; someone may do the same to you.
• Be ready for all seasons.   During the episode Rick commented that the group had to get ready for winter, and before the zombies showed up they scavenged 20 gallons of fuel and the weapons of the dead officers at the county compound.  They need to get serious about raiding pharmacies and grocery stores to get supplies into a safe, warm location before winter's cold causes canned food to freeze and burst.  They need warm clothes, shoes, and MORE ammunition.  Point of note:  there was a fire truck at the compound.  I hope they thought to look for fire extinguishers, fire axes, and a neat little entry tool called the Halligan bar.  Not only is it good for getting into buildings, it could be a heck of a melee weapon.   See Adrian's Undead Diary, a zombie fiction online journal, for some examples.

A final note:  Shane said that when the zombie outbreak started, it was just a couple of weird stories on the news, and within two weeks the hospital was being overrun as depicted in the sixth episode of the first season.  You'd like to think that maybe things would have held together a bit longer than that.  It also means that there should be a lot of supplies laying around as most people were probably overrun fairly quickly. 

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 209: Triggerfinger

Spoiler alert!

Hershel (to Shane): "Do us all a favor and shut up."

Synopsis:  Rick, Hershel and Glenn have to fight their way out of town after confronting friends of the men Rick killed.  Lori gets herself out of a jam.  The group is split over a new arrival.

There are so many times I wanted to cheer during this episode; then there were other times I was unnerved at the Machiavellian manipulations on display.  Triggerfinger is at times full of sound and fury, but the quiet beats of the story when guns aren't blazing make for some compelling television.   How much preparedness information will we be able to glean from the screen? Let's take a stab at it.

Hi, I'm Glenn, but my friends call me The Load.

Rick is becoming harder and more heartless in this world of no quarter.  He killed the pair at the bar in the previous episode, but he hesitated to kill the other who showed up looking for them.   There are a few reasons why he would do so;  he'll kill when he has to, but he realizes there are precious few enough living humans to go around.   Also, having just seen Glenn, a.k.a. the guy who stands with a shotgun and does nothing while his friends are being threatened by thugs, freeze up in action might make one think he was the only gun that was going to be in that fight.  I tend to think it was the latter.   Rick would never call him on it directly, but the way Glenn refused to look at him after the shooting told the tale.  He knows he screwed up, Rick knows he screwed up, and now Rick has doubts where previously there were none. 

Hershel, in the meantime, has made his peace with his earlier reluctance to kill even walkers and grabs a weapon to defend himself.   He doesn't always agree with Rick (witness the look he gave Rick when the deputy tried to deescalate the standoff outside the bar)  but he knows what needs to be done.

This gets back to the survival mindset.  In a survival situation, you have to consider paths of action that you might not take in normal times, and in Hershel's case it appears he has followed and old saying from the foothills of Appalachia where I grew up:  you might as well get to doing it, because you've got it to do.  My grandmother told me that right after my grandfather died.  Family members were going to take turns staying with her and she turned them down. She was a strong woman.

In a survival situation, there can be no doubt.  You have to be able to count on the other members of your party to follow through.   Anything else could spell doom for the entire group.  Weapons training is not the same as combat, just as putting down walkers is not the same as shooting real people.  In a real-world situation where you have to defend yourself, unless you are trained and experienced in such situations, you are going to freeze, if only just a little bit, and do that "not me, not now, I don't want to do this" debate in your head.  Shane and Rick need to teach these folks how to cover each other and clear urban terrain.

You can't go wrong with face.

Outside the bar, it's Walkerpalooza.  The gunshots have attracted a large crowd of walkers (the town seems infested now) and one of the gunmen, wounded by Hershel, ends up being consumed up close and personal.   Another falls from a roof and gets impaled on a wrought iron fence, and the third bugs out in a truck.

Rick wants to try to save the dude on the fence, while Hershel, who has just witnessed walkers take down the other thug he shot, suggests shooting him so he won't have to endure being eaten alive.  Rick talks him into attempting an amputation, and the group is assaulted by walkers until finally Rick turns and yanks the leg off the stake in a fit of desperation.

I have some real qualms about Rick wanting to save the guy. I realize that every life is precious now, but this guy was shooting at him a few seconds before.  Then again, this was the Rick who went back for Merle Dixon ...

While I'd like to think I would try to save the guy, in my heart of hearts I probably would have shot him in the head and jumped in the truck.  Sorry, but this was a three way battle between walkers, thugs and our intrepid band of heroes, and I know who I am rooting for.

Really?  Are you that stupid?

On the other hand, I was almost rooting for the walkers out on the highway.    Lori has some serious issues.  Not only does she take off without telling anyone, she takes no backup, and doesn't know where she is going.  She has been taken care of for so long in this environment by Shane and Rick that she forgets just how dangerous the world can be.  

That being said, she drops the two walkers who attack her pretty quickly, including using the old blade in the eye trick pioneered by Andrea and the good ol' .38 round to the head trick pioneered by ... just about everyone else.  It's nice to see that another female besides Andrea can take care of herself.  I just wish she'd think a bit more before she did stuff that put her in positions like this.   Preparedness isn't just buying guns and food;  it's about saying "what if" and avoiding situations that could be life threatening as well.

Lori's disappearance leads Shane on a one-man rescue mission (as only Shane can do) to find her, and he lies to her and tells Lori that Rick and crew are already back at the farm.  This leads to a confrontation between the two that reinforces a couple of points for me:

• Way back in the series premiere when Shane asks Rick how he and Lori were doing, it wasn't just idle curiosity.  He wanted her back then, even before the dead starting walking around eating people.   And all his sexual conquests were ultimately worthless because the one woman he wanted he couldn't have.  
• Lori still has unresolved feelings for Shane and she doesn't want to deal with them.

What does this have to do with preparedness?  Not much on the surface, but it is a direct result of a dysfunctional group dynamic caused by supposedly intelligent people making very bad decisions the pressure of a survival situation.  And that has everything to do with it.   These characters need to start thinking about the repercussions of their actions in a world where the snap of a twig underfoot could make the difference between life and death.  There is a mental state called normalcy bias, and these people have a bad case of it since coming to the farm:

 The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.  ~ Wikipedia

Daryl has done the oh so smart thing and retreated way from the others, moving his tent away from them and withdrawing from even Carol.  Sure, he's tough, but he has to sleep sometime.  Ask Ed Peletier about that. Actually, you can't, because he was eaten by walkers while sleeping in a bloody tent.

The group's cohesion is further strained over the decision to bring Randall to the farm and treat his leg, then send him on his way.  Fans wondered what would happen to the group after the search for Sophia was over, and now we know.  Whatever force of hope that bound them together in the hunt for Sophia is long gone.  Things are falling apart, and no one appears able to step up to put the pieces back together.  In fact, Dale is actively helping things along by his continuous (and cowardly) attack on Shane's support in the camp.  The poison pill he fed to Lori in the last episode finally bore fruit at the end of the episode this week, when Lori, in a scene reminiscent of Macbeth, tries to convince Rick he has to get rid of Shane, because Shane will never stop coming after her.  It was unnerving to watch her behave in such a ... conniving way.   She channels into Rick's protective instincts and what is probably his unspoken yet understandable desire to confront his friend about carrying on with his wife in his absence.

No good is going to come of this.  

Preparedness lessons for Episode 209:

• Groups of people have to stick together in a survival situation and be able to count on each other when the chips are down.
• Just owning a gun is not enough.  You have to have the will to use it to defend yourself and other, and have training in its tactical application if possible.
• DON'T GO OFF BY YOURSELF.  There should be a group of three minimum when outside the fence.  
• Normalcy bias can kill.
• Sometimes group cohesion unravels because of the stress of the crisis; sometimes it is by design. You need to think hard about how to prevent it.  Either live together or die apart.

 Next week:  More walkers, Maggie threatens Andrea, and Shane and Rick finally have it out.

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 208: Nebraska

Spoiler alert!

Rick (to Hershel): “This isn't about what we believe anymore.  It's about them.”

Synopsis:  The camp divides into Shane vs.  Rick, with Shane getting an early lead on the balloting.   Sophia's death hits home; and the show sets a record for the shortest guest star stint in television history.

Nebraska picks up right where the last episode left off, with Rick killing a zombified Sophia and the group shocked by the discovery that she was in the barn all along.  There are two themes here that merit the attention of those who are preparedness minded.  First, in a crisis situation there is a good chance that someone you care for is going to get injured or possibly die.  Secondly, despite this tragedy, you are still in a survival situation and survival activities must continue.

 For Hershel and his family, the "Barnmageddon" massacre of the walkers is a wake-up call.  While Maggie has seen the light regarding the true nature of the undead, the rest of the group blindly followed Hershel's belief that somehow they could be restored.   Only Shane's action of shooting a walker multiple times without any discernible effect is able to convince them that these people are no longer people.   

In any disaster, especially a long-term one, there will be a tendency on the part of some to assume that eventually life will return to normal.  Most of us believe emergencies are short term.  Ask the city of New Orleans about that.   Katrina and the resulting levee failures ripped the guts out of a major metropolitan center in the United States, and the area still has not fully recovered.  

On the day this episode premiered, I woke to find the the water shut off in our house.  I quickly realized the cold had frozen the pipes and over the course of the next ten minutes, using a hair dryer, I was able to thaw them and get the water going again.   I had addressed this problem previously by adding an electrical heat tape to the section of pipe prone to freezing and had wrapped the pipe with foam insulation.   For whatever reason a portion of the insulation had come undone and been pulled away from the pipe.    Once the water was flowing I repaired the insulation issue.   Then I began to think about how easily the expanding frozen water could have caused the pipe to burst, and my minor inconvenience would have been a major problem coupled with and emergency call to a plumber.   I also realized that my stored water was outside in my outbuilding and probably frozen solid.    And what if the water outage was caused by a city pipe bursting due to the cold?   I need to take a serious look at this side of my preps.

She's not dead dead, she's mostly dead.

But I digress.   The Greene clan now gets to mourn properly for people they should have rightfully capped and buried long ago.  Hershel's wife and stepson are among the bodies, and just as Dr. Greene's step-daughter goes to her mother to mourn her, we get the meaning of the "Double Tap" rule from the movie Zombieland; never go near a hazard, like a supposedly dead walker, without lots of caution and the proper equipment, like a gun. 

On the other side is Team Rick, who have had more brushes with death than they care to remember.   Glenn tells Maggie that they've lost people before, but that losing Sophia is different.   In a way, I understand that.  Sophia and Carl are the only "kids" left.  If the children can't be kept safe, can the safety of anyone be assured?  Carl's matter of fact statement regarding Sophia being put down is a chilling testament to just how hardened this group has become to death and gore.  Is it any wonder that Hershel regarded them with caution?  Is it any wonder that he wants Shane away from his family?

Shane, T-Dog, and Andrea do their grisly dirty work.

While the characters deal with the implications of the actions at the barn, T-Dog and Andrea point out that these folks ain't gettin' any deader, so the mess has to be cleaned up - Annette, Shawn and Sophia get graves, while the rest of the bodies are burned in a pyre.   (Point of note:   Lori mentions more walkers could have heard the gunfire.)  Once again we see Shane just getting stuff done, all the while defending his actions to Dale and Carol. 

The graves are dug, the service, awkward yet poignant, is held, and the bodies of the other walkers are burned.  Hershel and Rick both have their own crises of confidence as Rick realizes his snap decision to leave Sophia in the woods led directly to her death and Carl's shooting, and Hershel realizes that there will be no cure, and that the world as he knows it has ended.  Hershel seeks solace in self pity and the bottom of a bottle, while Rick occupies himself with finding Hershel to help Beth who has collapsed post-massacre into a catatonic state.  (Another side note:  my son believes she got scratched when her mom - now a corpse - attacked her.) 

There is a fundamental problem with how the survivors retreat into separate corners after the service; sure some people need space to grieve, but in a situation like this, someone should have been watching Hershel and Carol to make sure they didn't slip off.   Hershel is the only darn medical help anywhere to be found, and they left him alone?  I guess it could be chalked up to everyone tending to what happened and what needed to be done, but Hershel Greene is maybe the most rare commodity left in this post-Apocalypse world.

Rick gets his Shane on.

And it is still a dangerous world.   Lori plays walker-tag and ends up flipping her Mercury Sable driving into town to find Rick by herself without knowing where she is going and without telling anyone where she went, thus creating yet another  missing person to find. Rick, Glenn and Hershel run into two nefarious refugees, Dave and Scrawny Tony.  These two pump the trio for information about where they are holed up, how many are in their party, and whether they have room for more refugees.   Rick and Hershel obviously see right through the nice act and stonewall the pair, noting how disrespectful and vulgar they behave.   The tension builds, with the strangers maneuvering around the bar to cover Rick and the others without actually pointing a weapon at them, until Rick gets the drop on them and  shoots them first.  It's an act of violence that shocks Glenn and Hershel and shows just how far Rick is willing to go to protect his own now.

Here is a scenario all preppers have to face:  at some point, you may have to defend yourself against people who mean to do you harm, take your resources, and pee on your body when they are done.  I once heard a commentator remark that in New Orleans  it took only four days for a major U.S. city to descend into anarchy, and how we would like to think the veneer of civilization is a little thicker than that.  How far are you willing to go to defend your family, your neighbors, and your resources?  If you think prepping is just about stocking guns, ammo, and food, think again.  It's a mindset.  It's a determination to defend your right to live and survive even when all the odds are against you.

If you are looking for a lot of hope, you won't find it in this episode except for the fact that Maggie admits her love for Glenn to him right before they leave the farm to find Hershel.  Glenn has always been a scrappy survivor.  Now he has something to fight for, and I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

Preparedness lessons for Episode 208:

• Realize what your most precious resources are and take steps to safeguard them; this includes people with valuable skills.
• Realize there is a good chance that someone in your group is going to be injured or die;  you have to work to prepare yourself for that eventuality and work on dealing with it before it happens.  It could be something as simple as making sure everyone stays busy to take their mind off the person for awhile until the emergency is resolved and people get the change to grieve outside a survival situation.
• The emergency is just one thing that puts you in danger.   Rogue groups can be more dangerous.  Treat all meetings with strangers as potential hostile encounters.  Approach with caution and use someone in an overwatch position to cover you.  Think, if Glenn had been hidden behind the bar instead of poking around listening to Rick and Hershel, maybe that scene could have ended with the newcomers still alive.
• When discussing matters with strangers, practice operational security - a topic about which Glenn knows nothing.  During the bar scene he was an open book.

Sorry for the hiatus ...

Hi folks, sorry for the long hiatus. I am gearing up for some additional posting, but the holiday season was extremely busy and I found myself behind in several areas. Look for more posts, followed by the reviews for the back season of The Walking Dead when the back half of Season 2 begins on February 12.

In the meantime, check this Reuters story that actually portrays preppers as something more than crazy conspiracy theorists:

Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to themselves informally as "preppers." Some are driven by a fear of imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm.

U.S. Gun Sales Set Black Friday Record

According to Time,  background checks for gun sales surged 32 percent on Black Friday, setting a new sales record:

The agency saw 129,166 requests for the instant background checks required for all firearm buyers. The previous high was Black Friday 2008, which drew 97,848 requests.

That's an interesting coincidence;  while I grew up around firearms, I never owned one until November 2008 when I purchased my first handgun.  That was when I had my first "great awakening" that our society was in for trouble ahead and I began thinking about how I was going to defend myself and my family.

While the article does a decent job of presenting both sides, Time does go out of its way to say gun ownership is somehow decreasing in our country.  Huh?

In 1997, 40% of American households owned guns, and in 2004, the last time a widespread survey was conducted, only 36.5% did. While sellers did report a surge in sales after Obama’s election in 2008, concerned that their gun rights would change, the trend tapered off. Can this latest wave of gun sales blast sellers back into profitability?

This boggles my mind.   Gun sales set records and ownership is decreasing?   At one point in 2009 my local gun dealer told me handgun manufacturer Glock's production lines was tens of thousands behind the demand.

Perhaps folks who had the same worries about stricter gun laws responded to the questions in a negative manner because they thought somehow the survey could be used to track them down if gun confiscations took place in the future.

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 207: Pretty Much Dead Already

Spoiler alert!

Shane (to Lori): “See Rick, he ain’t built for this world, not for how it is now.”

Synopsis:  Shane takes preemptive action with the barn walkers to protect the group; Dale realizes how big a threat Shane has become; the group finds Sophia.

Pretty Much Dead Already brings most of the simmering plot points of Season 2 to a dramatic conclusion that will change this series forever.   The events of this episode are going to have long-reaching consequences that may rip the group apart.

The preparedness lessons that lie in this episode have more to do about the psychology of survival than any gear or tactical tips.   This is a study of two contrasts:  Shane’s survival at any cost versus Rick’s survival while maintaining a semblance of humanity.   It’s a question every prepper must ask: what are we really willing to do to survive?

Deep discussion:  Rick pleads to stay at the farm.

As I said in a previous review, we need to understand our motivations and who we are before the survival situation is thrust upon us, and that in a long-term crisis group survival is going to be the only way to thrive.  Rick is willing to live with Hershel’s deluded reasoning to keep his family safe for the time being until he can make him understand just how dangerous the walkers in the barn are to everyone.   Shane is ready to take action.  The situation must be dealt with, but the men come to odds over how to do it. 

How it must suck to be Rick Grimes.  You just found out your wife is pregnant, she’s been sleeping with your best friend, and a dozen creatures who want to eat you are parked about a hundred yards away.  You can’t do anything about it, and these people expect you to find the solution.   Rick’s plea to Hershel is one of desperation both for his family and for his peace of mind.   

Gunfight at the Hershel Corral:  the group kills the walkers.

On the other hand, Shane has a pretty clear idea of what needs to happen and just gets it done.   He goes for the guns, tracks down where Dale had hidden them, and leads a vigilante gang to the barn to deal with the walkers.  He wants to run the group, and thinks Rick’s appeasement of Hershel is going to get everyone killed. He acts to “protect” the group, but at this point anyone who has seen this show should have serious doubts about his motivations.   There is more than just survival on his mind; his discussion with Lori, comparing his exploits to that of Rick’s, is more proof that he cannot let Lori go.  He’s obsessed with her, and is not going to stop until he has her or until his obsession short-circuits his loyalty to Rick with devastating consequences.  His real objective is to marginalize Rick and replace him as both the leader and the man in Lori’s life, and he’s willing to sacrifice everyone to do it. 

If nothing else, Shane is proof that being sociopathic can be extremely liberating.

The walkers did not have to be dealt with right then. Shane provoked the incident to both assert control of the group and to force a confrontation with Hershel.   When the series returns from hiatus in February I expect him to advocate taking over the farm.  Why not?  He already killed Otis and the “nomad” survivors already outnumber those on the farm.  Right? That’s a slippery slope, isn’t it?  He’s no longer a survivor then.  He’s a raider. 

Other points:

• Dale knows what is coming, and tries to stop it, but in the end cannot pull the trigger on Shane.  Killing walkers is one thing, but he cannot kill a living person in cold blood, not even Shane.  I valued his discussion with Andrea admonishing her not to become another Shane; looking at her face at the barn in the final scene I think she finally understood what Dale meant.
• Glen and Maggie seem to be the most standout characters in this episode.   They are caught between both camps.  Maggie has fallen for Glen and advocates that her father allow them to stay, pointing out that all the other farms in the area are overrun with walkers or burned out.  It’s very clear that Glen and Maggie mean something to each other, and that they fill a void in each other’s lives.  To me the most heartbreaking moment was when Glen, holding a shotgun as the walkers advance out of the barn, pleads with Maggie to let him help due what needs to be done.  This is hard for her both to see people she knows get put down and to watch her father deal with the grief.
• Daryl and Carol also have a moment.  Daryl realizes that after a lifetime of being told he’s worthless, someone cares about him.  Carol realizes that after being brutalized by her husband there is something more than just fear.   There is hope.   Then that hope is taken away. 
• I liked Carl in this episode;   he is starting to assert himself.  Carl becomes a major force in the comic series, and appears on his way here. 

The minor nit I have is with T-Dog; I really hope the writers make more use of him in the back end of the season.  He can shoot, he is good with his hands, and he is strong.  We need a T-Dog episode.

Real action:  Rick ends Sophia's suffering.

Finally, we have the resolution of the fate of the barn walkers, and we learn the fate of poor Sophia.   According to series creator Robert Kirkman, who was interviewed on the Talking Dead show after the episode aired, Sophia was found by Otis, who corralled her and put her in the barn before Rick, Carl and Shane showed up at the farm.  Since Otis died the night after Sophia disappeared, without telling anyone else that she was in there and before they told Hershel they were looking for a little girl, this means Sophia was bitten and died the first night she was alone in the woods, and had been in the barn all along.  It also means that Shane, for all his “this search is putting us all at risk” rhetoric, was the one who prolonged the search by killing Otis at the FEMA shelter. Once again his premature, violent actions have worked to the detriment of the group.

Where does this leave us, the preparedness-minded viewers?  We are left with a vision of what a survival situation might become and how two people with similar backgrounds and training can react in completely different ways.  Once again, we need to ask ourselves:  who are we and what motivates us?  How are we going to react, and how far are we willing to go to ensure survival?


Coming in February:  Rick and Shane FINALLY have it out, and Hershel orders the group to leave.   Will Shane do so voluntarily?  And who is getting put in those graves?

Report: Missouri Survival Store Chain Reports Huge Surge In Sales

Patrons fear economic collapse is looming.  According to Steve Dorsey at Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters Inc. in Webster Groves, "“I’ve had people in here that are very wealthy and they’ve spent thousands of dollars just on backpacks that they fill with survival gear, one for each person of their family.”

Link

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 206: Secrets

Warning: spoilers below!

 

Carl (to his mom): Everything’s food for something.

Synopsis:  Hope dims as the group is running out of places to search for Sophia; Andrea finds her place in the group, and in Shane’s pants; we learn why secrets in a survival situation never stay secrets for long;  and others in both Rick’s group and Hershel’s group start defining how THEY want to live.

Secrets is an episode that really ratchets the tension between and within the two groups;  Hershel plainly sees that letting the others stay is NOT going to work for him, while Rick and Lori are determined to convince him otherwise.  Glen proves that he would never earn a government security clearance, and Dale confronts Shane (SOMEBODY needed to) about what really happened to Otis and about the fact the he saw Shame almost shoot Rick in the back.

There’s been a lot of expressed disappointment in some online forums for what has been perceived as the “soap opera nature” of the second season.  I can see why people might hold that opinion.   Walker attacks have been less frequent, and the group’s safe haven at the farm, even if temporary, has given the characters the breathing space to start thinking about … other things.

Personally, I think the show is living up to its premise.   We in the preparedness community have to learn to form relationships and partnerships with others to survive any truly long term situation (see my comment in a previous post regarding this issue).  Many of us have families who taught preparedness early and often, and have formed bonds with fellow preppers for mutual support.  Some have purchased locations where a whole group of like-minded individuals can go if things go south and survive as a community.

The characters of this show have not had that luxury.  These are people of different backgrounds, abilities and temperaments thrown together by circumstance and who are forced to survive from day to day against a relentless enemy who will not tire, will not rest, and will not offer even the slightest chance of survival unless they focus and work together.   Given the relative safety of the farm, why is it surprising that they would revert back to old habits and preoccupations with the walker threat abated?

Leaving the drama aside, there are some preparedness lessons this week we should all take to heart.

Time for target practice.

1.  Everyone should become familiar with firearms and how to safely handle them.    There has been another debate raging in online forums regarding how firearms are handled in this show.   Some view the show as anti-gun rights.  It is my opinion that while there have been demonstrated reasons for controlling the firearms (Andrea’s attempted suicide at CDC and shooting Daryl by mistake come to mind) the time to teach everyone in the group firearm safety is here.   They have the breathing space and the time to make it happen.  Firearms are essential to survival in a hostile situation.

By the way, I am taking it on faith here that they managed to find some more ammunition for target practice by scavenging during their excursions from the farm. There are a variety of weapons there, and I'd have to assume that Dale and T-Dog found more.  There are just too many firearms in the United States for there not to be a bunch left in the abandoned cars on the Interstate, and with billions of rounds purchased every year, there has to be ammo as well.

2.  Outside of a secured area, there is no such thing as safe, even if the area is familiar and well-traveled.   Glen and Maggie make another trek to town for pharmacy supplies, and in an inattentive moment, Maggie is almost killed by a Walker behind the counter.  If not for swift action on Glen’s part, she would have died.   Everyone assumed the town and pharmacy were clear.  Their surging sense of normality is going to get someone killed.

That being said, some of Hershel’s group is starting to realize what this world has become.  Patricia, Jimmy and the others volunteer for target practice with Shane, and Maggie moves from taking offense at calling the zombies in the barn “walkers” to using the term by the end of the episode.   A near death experience will do that for you. (Minor plot nit:  how did the Walker get into the pharmacy?   Did someone leave the back door open?)  They are finally beginning to see the world as it is; Lori has become so immersed in its darkness that is all she can see.   It’s an interesting dramatic contrast.

Speaking of which, Andrea really should not have walked away from Shane the way she did.   When members of the group move outside the fence, they are in enemy territory.  Shane was being a jerk, but I am convinced he is the Saul Tigh of this series.  He’s an emotional mess, and he can’t go three feet without antagonizing someone, but he GETS IT DONE.   

Andrea gets her gun on.

3.  Tactical training is important.  Shane and Andrea proved that when assaulted by walkers in the subdivision.  Shane is using the search to teach Andrea how to move tactically through a house and how to move as a unit.  When they exit the final house to a street littered with walkers, Shane communicates how he wants to handle the situation and executes it.  He covers his partners back and gives her the room to become confident on the trigger. The only problem I have is that he didn’t “cut the pie” on the corner coming out of the door next to the driveway all that well (30:32 is the time index if you are watching the Itunes download).  Also, here is another nit for the direction of the episode:   they enter the house, and inside the door is an open floor plan.  There is a garage in front of the room to the left (facing into the house like Shane and Andrea).  They proceed through, find the walled off area, go down some stairs to a basement level, where there is apparently a second garage with the door half open.   How many cars did these people own, and why was their Mustang parked in the driveway with all that space? I know, it’s a TV show …

4.  Drywall won’t stop zombies.   Or bullets, for that matter.    The family that attempted to make a stand in their house had dry-walled off their back hallway in an attempt to hide from the walkers but didn’t do anything to reinforce it.   Some two by fours nailed across the opening would have been of immense value.  If you are looking at staying in your house for a long-term emergency, give serious thought to hardening it against attack.  Some ideas:

• Plant thorny plants beneath windows intruders might use on the ground floor.
• Reinforce the strike plate that holds your door deadbolts in the wall by replacing the supplied short screws with longer screws that will anchor it deep into the wooden door frame.
• Get a security system with a battery backup.
• Create a “safe room” where the family can gather as a last resort.
• Consider storm shutters that roll down over your windows. 
• Have a supply of sandbags on hand to fill and place a layer around outside walls at strategic points when the stink hits the fan.   Typical home construction materials will NOT stop a high velocity round.  News sources are replete with accounts of accidental firearms discharges in which the bullet passed through an outer wall, went through the wall of another house, and struck someone.

5.  A leader of a survival group must use the skills of EVERY person.  I agree with what Maggie said to Glen to an extent.   He showed leadership and planning skill on multiple occasions in the first season.  He’s not in your face like Shane or a lone wolf like Daryl.   He needs to reassert himself. Hopefully his speech to Lori was the beginning of that.

Loose cannon:  Shane taunts Andrea.

6.  You cannot ignore problems and hope they go away.  Shane, despite his value to the group, is a loose cannon and he must be dealt with, whether Rick wants to or not.   Dale might have confronted him for his own reasons (I think Dale is sweet on Andrea, and it was obvious what she and Shane were doing out on their own) but he was dead accurate about the deputy’s character.   Shane would like to be Rick, the one everyone looks to, but he’s not, and every time he gets the chance to show his leadership skills, he makes a questionable call.  I like the way this scene played.  Dale refused to back down even though Shane threatened to shoot him. 

Likewise, Rick finally knows about the pregnancy, and Shane and Lori’s affair.   I think his calm reaction to the news that his best friend was knocking boots with his wife is one of the most incredible acts of forgiveness I have seen … for now.   He already knew in the back of his mind.  I wonder how he will address it with Shane? 

Finally, the secret of the barn is spreading.   Dale confronts Hershel, and Hershel responds with an interesting question.   It seems he has his own doubts about what happened to Otis. Here’s an interesting question as well:  if Hershel said for the rest of the group to stay Shane had to leave, would Rick force him out? 

7.  Finally, cooking or heating your home with auxiliary sources can be dangerous.  The family who tried to hide in their home succeeding in burning themselves alive in the garage with either a cook stove or liquid fuel heater.   Make sure you follow ALL directions for safety if you have such devices for emergency or camping use.

Next week: The crap finally hits the fan as the walkers in the barn become general knowledge, and Rick makes a final plea to Hershel to let them stay.  

Editor’s note:  I am experimenting with changing the format of the reviews and I am working to make them more of a bullet list than a narrative with a bulleted summary at the end.   If you have any preferences, e-mail me or leave a comment.

Holiday Safety Video - Turkey Fryer Safety

Turkey fryers have become popular at Thanksgiving.   This year State Farm has released a safety video featuring the incomparable William Shatner.   Please enjoy and be careful if you fry this holiday season.

No one ever accused Shatner of under-producing anything ... well, there was the ending of Star Trek V ...

Preparedness Review of The Walking Dead Episode 205: Chupacabra

Warning:  Spoilers Below!

Hershel (to Rick, on behalf of preppers everywhere):  It's a wonder you people have survived this long.

Synopsis: Daryl overcomes the demons of this past;   tension between Rick and Shane build; Andrea shoots Daryl by mistake; and the secret of the barn is revealed.

Chupacabra is a Daryl-centric episode that nevertheless manages to build the tension between the two groups of survivors and shows the widening gap between Shane’s pragmatic survival mentality and Rick’s noble, if sometimes risky, belief that he has to save everyone. 

The opening teaser, which depicts Shane, Lori, and Carl stuck in a traffic jam outside Atlanta with Ed, Carol, and Sophia Peletier and witnessing Army helicopters unleash ordnance on the streets of the city was an interesting choice that shows why Shane thinks the way he does.   Another interesting point was Ed’s insistence that Carol keep quiet about their supplies, even using the term “operational security.”

While Ed was his usual abusive jerk self during this scene, he did have a point.   They were surrounded b dozens, possibly hundreds of people who had no way off the road, were running short of supplies, and were already on edge (witness the fight behind Lori and Shane as they walked forward to see what was happening in the city).   As I pointed out in my review of Episode 204, though, a little charity goes a long way.   He could have quietly passed a couple of MREs to the obviously armed and useful deputy and started building an alliance.  As a prepper, you need to know that the people you build a network with are going to have your back.   I get the strong impression Ed would have thrown his daughter in front of a Walker if it came down to him or her.

Daryl manages to skewer himself with his own arrow.

Which leads us to Daryl.  Daryl becomes injured when his horse throws him, he slides down an embankment, and one of his own arrows pierces his side.  He is forced to bind his wound and try to climb out of the gully on his own, and while drifting in and out of consciousness because of a blow on his head sees visions of his long-missing brother (for those who thought Merle had been holding Sophia hostage, sorry to disappoint you.  Merle's appearance was a hallucination).   We get a glimpse of how Merle pushed and bullied Daryl all his life;  it's obvious that Daryl has spent years trying to earn Merle's approval, but through his interaction with the vision-Merle (and I really hope this doesn't become a regular thing) we see Daryl has realized just how full of it his brother was and how his allegiance now lies with the group.   I still say Daryl is going to be forced to make a choice between family and the group at some point.  Norman Reedus has to carry this part of the episode and does his usual fantastic job.

Thankfully the show toned down the melodrama this week with less Lori and Shane and more dramatic tension developing between Rick and Shane.   Shane wants to cut their losses and abandon the search for Sophia; Rick simply cannot abandon the girl to her fate and takes heart in the fact that Daryl brings back Sophia's doll.  I can see Shane's point; except for the supplies scavenged on the interstate they don't have a lot to move out with if they are forced onto the road again, and every available person is searching for Sophia, not engaging in group survival activities.  They need ammo, more antibiotics, food, water in portable containers, etc.   Rick has to at some point realize that and start curtailing the search to get more supplies for the group.  While everyone feels for Carol and wants to find Sophia, they simply do not have the manpower to continue the search indefinitely.

Here is a training note:   Every person in the group needs to be taught how to be found  if they get separated.  Sophia cannot be expected to stay in one place with walkers roaming through the woods, but how much easier would the search be if she had been taught to create some sort of marker that showed where the was headed?   It could have been as simple as  a group of rocks shaped into an arrow pointing out her direction of travel. 

They are running out of time.  Hershel is increasingly uncomfortable with the strangers' presence.  Daryl has taken a horse without permission and lost it, the survivors' attempts to say thank you by fixing dinner is seen as an encroachment on his home, and Rick allows Jimmy (the previously unnamed teen last seen at Otis's memorial service) to take part in the search without checking with Hershel first.  Complicating matters is the obvious friction between Hershel and his family;  Hershel plays it safe and is convinced his way is the best way;  at the very least Maggie and Jimmy are using the strangers' presence to circumvent his restrictions.  The two groups are not gelling, and the dinner, meant to bring them together, instead serves to showcase the tension that is building under the surface. 

Speaking of training, Andrea's nearly killing Daryl with the rifle is proof to me why she doesn't didn't need a gun.   These people need to be trained in firearms safety, and fast.  

Jeff DeMunn turns in a standout performance.

While this is primarily a preparedness review, I have to stop to admire the utter unadulterated brilliance of Jeff DeMunn's performance this week.   The scene between Dale and Andrea is one of the best of the series and shows what happens when the writers realize the full potential of the characters instead of relying on the melodrama of last week.  If he isn't nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy there is no justice in this world.

Andrea:  How's he doing?

Dale:  Fine. What about you?

Andrea:  I shot Daryl!

Dale: Don't be too hard on yourself.  We've all wanted to shoot Daryl.

His look at Glenn and Maggie at the tense dinner speaks volumes, and betrays what is going on to Hershel as well. 

Walkers now inhabit the barn.

Finally, we have the scene that changes everything:  Glen enters the barn (those who have read the graphic novel knew this was coming) and discovers Hershel has at least a dozen walkers locked up in there.   From what he said about waiting on a cure in previous episodes and his insistence of having his people handle any walkers on the property, we can surmise that these are relatives and neighbors he has isolated until they can find some way to reverse the process.  Of course we know how foolhardy this is -- these are walkers,  for goodness' sake -- but Hershel seems determined to keep them around.

Preparedness lessons for Episode 205:

• Try to have some extra food set aside to help people who may not have the resources they need stockpiled.  A little charity goes a long way.
• We cannot survive a long-term mass disaster on our own.  Be careful with whom you form survival relationships, because there are people who will throw you under the bus (or in front of a walker) to ensure their own survival.
• Search in groups, to make sure a rescuer doesn't become the one needing rescue.
  
• Understand your motivations, because at some point you may have to make a hard decision as to where your loyalty lies.  
• Teach people simple skills that will help them survive being separated from the main group, including how to be found.
• Typically, you will underestimate how things like medical supplies you need in an emergency, at at least 20 percent more than the number of an item you think you will need.
  
• Firearms training is for everyone.  
• Don't underestimate the dangers that surround you.  Assume the worst case scenario.

Next week:  Dale confronts Shane about his actions, and Glen and Maggie discuss why the barn is full of zombies.   Oh, and the worst case scenario appears to happen. Shocking.  Makes you wonder how Hershel came off all high and mighty, doesn't it?

Vehicle Preparedness: Basic and Advanced Preparedness Topics

Our vehicle is the single most expensive thing most of us will ever by with the exception of our home.  It is a complex machine mass produced for a worldwide market, and can carry us hundreds of miles at a time.   In fact, we sometimes lose our perspective of just how far from our homes we travel every day.  If you commute 45 miles one way every day like I do, you realize pretty quickly that what takes you less than an hour to drive could take days to walk.

We’re going to take a look at some of the basics of vehicle preparedness and how you can minimize your risk of a breakdown, maximize your preparedness for adverse events, and prep your primary vehicle as a bugout ride.

The Basics

Let’s start with the first concept:  a vehicle is going to either break down or require ongoing repairs at some point.

Keep your vehicle in good repair.  

• Minimum Capabilities:
• Keep all vehicles in good repair
• Four wheel drive on main vehicle, or traction-enhanced (locking differentials, etc.)
• Main vehicle needs to be able to carry everyone in family, including a minimum of gear and supplies for 1 week
• Main vehicle needs to run on standardized fuel (gasoline, diesel), not specialized fuel (high octane, bio-mix, propane,etc.)
• Stored fuel for one full tank (e.g., if your vehicle’s tank holds 20 gallons, store 20 gallons) in man-portable containers
• ‘Fix a flat’ or Slime
• Self-vulcanizing plug kit
• Air compressor (12 VDC)
• Hose clamps, various sizes (or hose wrap or duct tape)
• Siphon hose
• Funnels (keep in mind that a funnel for your fuel tank will probably be different from the ones that you use under the hood)
• Full-sized spare tire
• Emergency road equipment (flares, warning reflectors, etc.)
• Navigation (maps, GPS, etc.), stored in vehicle
• Basic spare parts (hoses, belts, sparks plugs, fasteners, etc.)
• Extra fluids (oil, coolant, transmission fluid, washer fluid, etc.)
• Tool kit, stored in vehicle
• Fire extinguisher
• Jumper cables
• Recovery strap/tow rope

• Extended Capabilities:
• Extended fuel storage
• Additional spare parts for vehicle