Discovering A Pandemic

DISCLAIMER: The following blog may contain material some may consider to be spoiler worthy. It is recommended that you read at your own risk. I could claim responsibility for you not paying attention to this warning, but I won't.


Disclaimer Addendum: Some of you may note that I normally post in teal, nothing but teal and only teal. I assure you, the following colourless blog is not a style choice, merely a matter of functionality. I apologize sincerely for any confusion this may cause. *EDIT* Nevermind, I'm just an idiot.

It was a Sunday afternoon and I was bored to tears at the thought of doing a weeks-worth of laundry, making dinner, lunch for work the following day and shaving the Grizzly Adams-esque beard I had decided to grow out for the playoffs. No new SModcast that week. Nothing interesting on TV. Perhaps there was a new podcast I could get into? HP Podcraft had gotten dull, and I could only take so much RED ICE Creations ‘learning’. I needed something fresh… but what? A friend had been pestering me for some time about this new podcast she had gotten into, and I’d like to say I was on the fence about it, but in reality I wasn’t even near the yard. I was inside with the blinds pulled low, hiding behind a bookcase full of bricks with a .22 and a scope.

“It’s got zombies and shit! You’ll love it!” she said, her voice as seductive as a cheese grater buttplug. I had been ignoring her recommendations for months since trying out a show that shall remain nameless, mostly because it sucked but also because I’m not here to plug anything (except Grizzly Adams). Her taste in films was too different from my own, her taste in music on the opposite end of the spectrum and really the only thing we had in common was a mutual love of intercourse, wine and cheese. Don’t get me wrong… those are three great reasons to want to nurture a friendship, but it did little to bolster my confidence in her choice of entertainment.

I had flipped a load of laundry, made a sandwich and sat down to waste a little time on ********.com (The First Rule of ** is: You don’t talk about **). If you’ve been there… then you know, and if you haven’t, it is something best left alone. Anyway, I was catching up on my ‘Podcasts. Lettuce Dickscuss’ thread when I noted reference to the same podcast by one of the site’s Zombie Crew alumni. Being ZC myself, it was hard for me to ignore it any longer. I had to find out.

What had I been missing? Twenty episodes to catch up on? What was all the fuss about?! WHY CAN’T ANYONE TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IT’S AND ITS!?

Three hours later, my laundry still sitting in the dryer, unfolded and getting more wrinkled with each passing minute, I was knee deep in season one. However, not without reservations.

The series opener left me with two questions: Am I really going to get into this? Am I going to end up going to work tomorrow, or will I be calling in ‘sick’? Ok, that’s really three questions, but is anyone actually counting, or even reading? These two questions had really perplexed and left me a little leery about continuing on with the series. Not be sound disparaging but I felt the acting to be a little stiff; granted it was the first episode, the actors really had yet to find their character’s respective cadence and develop relationships with each other. Best way to equate that to something familiar would be any pilot episode of any TV show you’ve ever thought was amazing, brilliant or awesome (which is really all the same thing). The story was intriguing though and had definitely captured my attention. I was curious to hear what was going to happen next, but I wasn’t sure I was really in the space to look past the rigid interactions and deliveries that felt as though they needed one more rehearsal.

Oh I can see hate mail piling up for this already.

I think it would be obvious at this point that I decided to continue the adventure, but if it isn’t:
It was at this point I decided to carry on with the adventures of Mike, Saul and Angel.

It really felt like a story about three army buddies, returning from the dangers faced on deployment overseas only to face a greater threat once ‘safely’ back home. That was exactly what I was expecting; to say the least I was pleasantly surprised to discover how wrong I had been and as the hours passed and the story unfolded it became less the story of three army buddies facing yet another danger (a la I Love A Mystery) and more the story of Man’s Last Stand. As more characters were introduced I found myself focusing as much attention on what was taking place in the world as I did how to character interaction. The bonds forged in the heat of conflict, the camaraderie that one would expect to accompany a dire situation such as an outbreak of something. The bickering, the squabbling, the tantrums and sidling… it all felt so very real after a short time. It felt natural.

I reminded myself of this as I argued in favour of the show to others who had listened to the first episode and criticized it for its humbled beginnings; humbled, though showing strong promise. I argued until my fingertips were sore with one individual in particular for days, and finally, after much cajoling and wading through condescension, mockery and ‘elitism’, the show prevailed, won his heart and now he pesters me endlessly about what’s going to happen next. In one respect I wish I’d never introduced him to it, on the other hand, the more people who hear this, the better.

I admit, his excitement was contagious and I soon found myself syncing my listening with his, in an attempt to vicariously experience it for the first time once more. By this point I was two chapters deep into the Second Season and it was with an incredible amount of patience that I opted to go back and re-live Season One. Knowing full well what lay in store (at least to the extent of Chapter Fourteen) for the residents of The Tower I could only answer his questions with ‘Just wait… you think things are bad now… Jesus, just wait.” Watching as the story carried him away on his own journey. A journey I remember taking but a days prior. I knew the excitement I had as I made my way deeper into the world KC had created for all of us.

To this end, I’ve laughed, I’ve tilted my head to one side muttering ‘What the fu---?’ with a confused look on my face, got a little choked up (Chapter Ten: Episode Three) and cried like a baby (Chapter Twelve: Episode Three.) Those of you who have lived through those chapters already may understand what I’m saying. Chapter Twelve in particular had an impact on me that I had not anticipated. I felt a lot of emotion in one particular scene and has stayed with me since and shed a very different light on my favourite character, Scratch. However, that’s another story entirely.

For now, I stand in a space of gratitude for the writers and the cast that brought the show to life, and thank them for creating something as thrilling, intriguing and humorous as they have. I can only hope the quality of the show continues to rise as it has from the first episode.

Cheers,
Satan.

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