Chapter 41-1 Eye of the Storm

I was going to post this in the observations upon re listening area but since we are already talking about it here...

I am curious if Michael just likes to stick to what he is used to or what. When the series first begins he seems to have little to no trust for the civilians. He mentions multiple times that they are not trained soldiers as a way to say they probably can't handle certain situations. As time goes on he grows attached to them to the point that he trusts them more than his soldiers. When he arrives at Ft. Irwin he doesn't want to return to being a soldier again. Once he is 'forced' to he falls back in line and now is back to trusting his soldiers again over all others.

So does he just get comfortable with the team he is with and resist change? Has it always been trusting soldiers and being in the tower side by side with civilians was just a detour of necessity? Hard to say really but it is interesting the flip flopping back and forth he does.

Well, I am glad we got foreshadowing early on in this season about what an idiot that he was for the first few months back. I do not like "this" Michael. I thought he had grown more than this.

Do you think Michael is acting out of frustration from not catching Randy or Ink or the hive yet? Or just desperation for the whole current situation? Or something else entirely? I get what happened with CJ, though completely uncalled for that is just an angry emotional response and a need to have someone to blame. But some of the other things like how he left Puck to chase Randy, that is harder to explain.

One :tinfoil: theory I just thought about. What if Randy saved Michael somehow at the waterworks but got bit/scratched in the process; he asks Michael to shoot him so he doesn't turn into a zed but Michael can't stomach to shoot his savior (similar to how he won't shoot Datu now even though the other soldiers want to). Randy turns and Michael feels guilty that he let him turn into a zombie and others have died because he couldn't pull the trigger before. Now he is trying to right his own wrong, but he can't tell anyone because then people would blame him for some of what is happening. And we know Michael doesn't like to take blame (jambalaya MRE wrapper anyone? Didn't read Carl's report about little ones turning people into other little ones?)

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Originally Posted by Unit

Do you think Michael is acting out of frustration from not catching Randy or Ink or the hive yet? Or just desperation for the whole current situation? Or something else entirely? I get what happened with CJ, though completely uncalled for that is just an angry emotional response and a need to have someone to blame. But some of the other things like how he left Puck to chase Randy, that is harder to explain.

One :tinfoil: theory I just thought about. What if Randy saved Michael somehow at the waterworks but got bit/scratched in the process; he asks Michael to shoot him so he doesn't turn into a zed but Michael can't stomach to shoot his savior (similar to how he won't shoot Datu now even though the other soldiers want to). Randy turns and Michael feels guilty that he let him turn into a zombie and others have died because he couldn't pull the trigger before. Now he is trying to right his own wrong, but he can't tell anyone because then people would blame him for some of what is happening. And we know Michael doesn't like to take blame (jambalaya MRE wrapper anyone? Didn't read Carl's report about little ones turning people into other little ones?)

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That is a really good theory!!!!! I like it!!!

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Originally Posted by Unit

Do you think Michael is acting out of frustration from not catching Randy or Ink or the hive yet? Or just desperation for the whole current situation? Or something else entirely?

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I think Michael is kind of frustrated searching for "the" important or "connecting everything" information; he has searched for it now for four months, and still too many things remain a mystery to him. He is an intelligence-soldier; I could guess that he is used to getting more information in a shorter period of time in order to draw pictures and conclusions with the aim to thoroughly plan strategies. He is looking for the needle in the hay; and this is dissatisfying for him. Up until now he actually has nothing to offer, which really qualifies as "the" kind of information to establish an attack-plan against Ink's army.
In addition he seems to be under a certain stress, 'cause he knows that CJ could and maybe will make him stop searching sooner than later, which again raises the level of frustrating.

So things start looking bad for him; and that is maybe the reason he is loosing control ...

Best wishes!
Liam

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Originally Posted by Unit

Do you think Michael is acting out of frustration from not catching Randy or Ink or the hive yet? Or just desperation for the whole current situation? Or something else entirely? I get what happened with CJ, though completely uncalled for that is just an angry emotional response and a need to have someone to blame. But some of the other things like how he left Puck to chase Randy, that is harder to explain.

One :tinfoil: theory I just thought about. What if Randy saved Michael somehow at the waterworks but got bit/scratched in the process; he asks Michael to shoot him so he doesn't turn into a zed but Michael can't stomach to shoot his savior (similar to how he won't shoot Datu now even though the other soldiers want to). Randy turns and Michael feels guilty that he let him turn into a zombie and others have died because he couldn't pull the trigger before. Now he is trying to right his own wrong, but he can't tell anyone because then people would blame him for some of what is happening. And we know Michael doesn't like to take blame (jambalaya MRE wrapper anyone? Didn't read Carl's report about little ones turning people into other little ones?)

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But why does he sound so mad at poor Randy then?
"Sorry man, I can't kill you... But I promise, I will hunt and hate you the rest of my life. Deal?" :D Maybe Randy tried to drag Michael through a door so he'd be catched by the behemoth as well, asuming that that was what got Randy in the first place. Somehow the door slams closed, and now Michael is pissed because Mr. Techieguy broke his arm...
...I don't know...

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Originally Posted by Storm

But why does he sound so mad at poor Randy then?
"Sorry man, I can't kill you... But I promise, I will hunt and hate you the rest of my life. Deal?" :D Maybe Randy tried to drag Michael through a door so he'd be catched by the behemoth as well, asuming that that was what got Randy in the first place. Somehow the door slams closed, and now Michael is pissed because Mr. Techieguy broke his arm...
...I don't know...

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Maybe his anger is at himself and not Randy? He is mad that he didn't do what he should have, or maybe what he promised he would?

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Originally Posted by Gooer

The idea of Pegs being in a position of command doesn't sit right.....She's more a follower than a leader, but then again, we haven't given her a shot, so maybe she actually is a good leader...? Also, CJ seems to prefer running everything herself, considering (I think) we haven't heard her ask anyone for help. Pegs offered it to her, but she had to persist, since CJ thinks she isn't apparently clever enough...

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At the tower, Pegs really had little to do. Can't shoot or cook... Plus a TEOTWAWKI meltdown could have made her vurnerable for the first two seasons. She's an authoritative figure in the Colony as head of the farming. I think she's gotten stronger or is able to show her strong side now that she has skills to back it up.

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Originally Posted by Footbutt

...i don't think the Zeds smelling the way they do (like poo) is anything to speculate...

have to agree with cabbage here. The smell is absolutely something we can speculate on. The smell of the biters could indicate what exactly is going on with them internally. I don't believe ALL of them are pooping their pants.

and good point about the car cabbage. The only thing I can say to refute the idea of bill moving the car himself is biters did capture datu without harming him. Regular biters...now is that the same as moving the car? Starting it, putting it in gear and driving? No...but I can suspend my disbelief that far. At least for the sake of keeping ink un-poop-smelly.

;)

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One interesting thing about their smell is that Micheal described it in "The Two Things" as flesh that has been rotting for days.

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Originally Posted by Gooer

Ugh, mixed emotions. In my opinion, just because you know stuff about someone, doesn't mean you care about them. I know tons of people that i hate, but i still know stuff about them. And with Michael, it's sort of the opposite, he used to care about them, despite not getting to know everybody, but since the start of the hunt for the zombies, he has been too absorbed by it, making it his one priority, or at least that's what we've been shown.

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Did sound kind of like a Jimmy Stuart movie.