Michael, WTF?

[Grognaurd]

OK, I get the whole "I need a few hours away from Pegs to decompress." I understand it, I really do. I am always on the lookout for the next ex-Mrs. LaMarche.

But what about the team?

I understand the leave no man behind bravado and why circumstances on the ground may require the change in plan. I do not want to rehash the end of Season 2. But, what about now? MIchael has gone from savior to Marvin as quick as a light switch.

I used to tell the higherups, that when it comes to the happiness and safety of my crew, there is God and there is me.

There may not be an issue at all, but I would have to run into a hell of a lot more push-back than we have observed for me to allow that undertaintly to remain.

[Cabbage Patch]

This isn't the first time Michael has withdrawn and left everyone else to their own devices. His behavior after The War, when Burt took over leadership, felt similar. One the one hand it's understandable, I'm sure we've all been through that peculiar hell that is the "wait" portion of "hurry up and wait". On the other hand he's said that these people are closer to him than the men he served with in combat, and he seems to have left them to their own devices.

[Grognaurd]

CP, I am ok with that for the most part. But, in Season 1/2 Michael was all upset at himself and feared what others may think. Even when Burt first starts to replace Michael, Michael still cares. Burt says he can see Michael peakiing out the doorway. On top of the war, Michael is only a couple of days away from some sort of horrific experience at the water works that is so disturbing he will not write it down or discuss it with anyone. When we fast forward to the last week of July and Burt is still in charge, Michael is full of sarcasm. So, I assume he still cares about everyone.

The Colony was a big grow-up story for Michael. When he comes back, he puts things in motion to move. THey get to Fort Irwin and just hangs it up. Yup, when they get to the fort, the pressure will be relaxed. He will not be under as much tension minute by minute and can decompress.

So, I wrestle back and forth with the answer to this one.

Is it he really does not care enough to take initative?

Maybe he is pretty damn sure what happened to her before they got to the fort and has already made peace with it.

[Pfargtle]

well, everyone in the tower died between his earlier attitude and the instance when he just wants to alone with his guitar. a lot of people died, just like before but there were even more this time. hes prolly just trying to deal.
remember when he stepped out of the helicopter a couple chapters ago and kinda had a breakdown? i think this is like that but he doesnt want to tell anyone.

[Cabbage Patch]

I'm going to try to looking at this from Michael's perspective. Ever since the outbreak he's been trying to get his people someplace where they can be safe, and for quite a while Fort Irwin has been the place he hoped he could find that. Now he's at Fort Irwin, and things don't seem so bad. There aren't any zombies, there's food, hot showers and the familiar Army "hurry-up-and-wait" routine. What do you do when, against all hope, your best-case scenario comes true?

I suspect that after Tanya's outburst that we're going to see Michael get his fire back. Suddenly he has people to worry about and problems to attend to again.

[zedhead]

plus i would just like to add that michael showed the emotional maturity of a twelve year old in dealing with pegs, especially in the line "i don't have that option so why answe", almost saying that if he were in their shoes he would get the hell out of there.
i don't think ill of michael, i love the guy, but i just don't think he has had any actual relationships, of any sort, with people before this, and so now it is affecting him. Similar to a shut in going off to college and flunking out his first semester because he was actual focusing on friendships instead of work for once

[GeneTwo]

I agree Michael is still in his egg shell. But I think he is growing out of it, or breaking out of it. The group hugging scene with the other tower survivors is a great leap for him. I think the old Michael would have kicked a rock then yelled at Datu.

[trubkir]

Michael was for the most part the leader of the tower. Leadership isn't all wine and roses, sometimes (hell probably most of the time), the leader has to get a person or people to do things that the person or people don't want to do. When Michael was serving in the regular army it was easier because he could say I'm a Sgt. you are a lower rank so go do the job. I haven't served in the military but I have been a crew leader and in my opinion you can be friendly with your crew but you can't be friends with your crew. So again, in my opinion, Michael was toeing a line of being civil with the people but trying to keep some professional distance so that he could ask/tell someone to do a job and not have that someone think there was favoritism at work. He fell for Pegs and didn't take time to process his own state of mind so he tried to keep some distance but did it badly. I think he was trying to get the people to stay because for better or worse that group was a known commodity. With the exception of Riley and Tanya he is now entering an unknown that is even a bigger unknown. It is only natural for people to fight change. I am starting to feel like I'm rambling. I shouldn't try to post "off the cuff"