Chapter 37-1: Balance of Power

[UndeadSweeper]

or... "Earth apes" (@pmchawk) she could be implying that once you're bitten and you turn that you then download more books from audible to wile away your afterlife once TOWTM has had his use of you.

Great, now I think that ADLO #1 was said "Audible" all along......

[IamPaul]

YES!! So glad to have you back, new and fresh in my ear holes. Is there something to Michael not finishing his intro: 'That was then,' would normally end with 'And this is now'. Has the whole series been Michael's journal recap? I guess since the Chapter last season where he pieces together Saul's story after seeing the Blackhawk land in LA. I love the new classical version on the intro song too. And who exactly is face down in the cover art? I was thinking Michael. Could be puck though too. Especially as cocky as he is shooting from the truck. And the little one basically giving them the big Fuck You before Michael shot it in the head. SO excited for the coming story. Just so happy right now. (Breaks down in tears)

[MrRedBeard]

Is there something to Michael not finishing his intro: 'That was then,' would normally end with 'And this is now'. Has the whole series been Michael's journal recap?

I was wondering what was up with that too. I found myself finishing his line because I don't link things to be incomplete. Then I started wondering if the person reading the journal in the future was re-capping that line in emotion.

[IamPaul]

I was wondering what was up with that too. I found myself finishing his line because I don't link things to be incomplete. Then I started wondering if the person reading the journal in the future was re-capping that line in emotion.

I did the same thing. Also going to check out your podcast. Always like podcasts outside of the "Group". I listen to multiple Breaking Bad podcasts and Doctor Who and Walking Dead as well.

[MrRedBeard]

Thanks

[AtomicHamster]

Great beginning to the season! the episode started with my single favorite line from the whole show.
Michael Cross saying "I never feared death or what lay beyond if today was my day but that was then........"
Awesome!!!!!!!
I got goose bumps in my tingly places!

The Mighty AtomicHamster is greatly impressed!

[Witch_Doctor]

I'm with Liam on the Little One's words. I think i might hear 2 syllables in the second sound it makes. So, at best, I could stretch it to "die... alive... die!" But I'm thinking it was more like "die.... die.... die!" with the speech pattern causing a little pause in the second "die".

Either way, I definitely don't get "we're alive" from it. YMMV

What I did notice was Michael saying "We were stronger now. What we faced here couldn't compared with what we left behind in Boulder or Fort Irwin. Or so we thought." More of that ominous foreshadowing....

But quotes like that keep me thinking that we are still reading from Michael's journals instead of being "present" in real time.

I think it foreshadow the Game changing idea that the Little Ones might be trying to intentionally infect humans as opposed to using them as food. Micheal & Co. seem to e on the verge of discovering this.

Regarding Amy's infection, I predict that the method of transmission will now become a critical topic for the survivors. They are right on the cusp of realizing that bites and blood exposure are not the only way that the INKLINGS can infect. Remember that Amy kept insisting that she wasn't bitten. I doubt that she was simply trying to hide her contact with a Zombie because she could have just as easily said that she was cut in a fall. She, somewhat, sounds convinced that she couldn't even have been infected by the scratch. On top of that, Micheal questions Tanya about what she knew of Amy's injury. He sounds dubious to the idea that a scratch, alone, could explain her turning.



Gonna admit that I missed reading that the Inklings' self inflicted wounds were used to 'poison' their nails like blowgun darts tipped with tree-frog butt-juice, but clem131 is onto something big. This is evidence of a game changer. The purpose of the Inklings is to spread the specialized infection. Sorry NikVoodoo, but here's your much maligned FrankenZombie.

Anyone catch Micheal's foreshadowing comment? "...but we were stronger now. What we faced here couldn't compare to what we left behind in Bolder or Fort Irwin; or so we thought." Yeah, right now they think that the 5 remaining Little Ones (Tanya is keeping score) are easier to deal with than 150K but Mike is foreshadowing that the SHTF later. Zombie Tag, anyone?

[Witch_Doctor]

Ok, we have to nip this in the bud. After careful research, I believe the Zed said one of the following:

"Hi, tough guy"
"Wanna try some apple pie?"
"You're lucky you can drive!"
"Hey, wanna get high?"
"I'm breaking out in hives!"
"What is that, tie dye?" (in ref. to the ABU's)
"You wouldn't believe my sex drive!"
"I've got a glass eye!"
"This attack took a nose dive..."
"What are you, a wise guy?"
"I'm having problems with my hard drive."
"I'd kill for a french fry"
"Long live Versailles!" (maybe he was a French Zed!)
"O.K.... who wants potatoes with chives?"

Funny as monkey-flung pooh. Also, perfect commentary on the debate over what the thing said. As for myself, I find myself agreeing with everything someone posts about what #1 says.
"Oh, you think it's reciting the lyrics to 'Bye Bye Miss American Pie?' Yeah, I think I heard that too!!!" It's a good thing nobody is on trial for murder, and we're the witnesses.
If you ask me, I think #1 was voiced by the same actor who did the voice for Bossk in Empire Strikes Back. I swear when Admiral Piett says, "We don't need their scum." Boskk replies, "Let's fool around." bossk.jpg

No worries, this is not the first, and will not be the last time dialogue will stump listeners. Hear are some of my favorite miss-hears for your hard-of-hearing pleasure:

Michael: Tanya, you ok?
Tanya: Michael, thank God, you’re here.
Michael: Tanya, show me.
Tanya: I can explain, if you just listen to me. I know how the whole thing started, how to immunise ourselves against it and how to save the whole of humankind, if you’ll just listen to me for a second.
Michael: Let me see.
.
.
.
Also, when asked where Tanya was bitten, Puck says ‘Forum’. This is a dangerous place.

Forearm = forum

Sorry if its been asked and answered already, I have absolutely no time to read all previous posts...
I'm relistening to the story and have made it to Chapter 26 again and remembered that I always wanted to ask about a peice of dialogue and what was said exactly. Corporal Puck is talking to the gang about showers and changing into PT's, then at time 5:43 says something which always sounds to me like... "I've worked the ketchup on and she made me get behind" wft????
Can someone please let me know what he is really saying here? A rep for an answer, thanks.

I have work to catch up on. = I've worked the ketchup on.

There were some tantalizing clues to the overall situation in this story. Some observations:

• Big Macs at the mess hall? That speaks to a pretty robust supply situation. Either there's a supply of fresh beef available along with wheat, vegetables, etc. (via Boulder?), or there are frozen stores that are still viable. Both seem like good signs this far into the zombie apocalypse. My first thought when I heard the title "Red Winter" was that it could mean the survivors might face starvation, but this makes me think they might be better off than that.

Cabbage Patch later edited his post, but he heard Puck say, "Baked Mac & cheese" as "Big Mac & cheese"

[wh33t]

So stoked for WA to be back! Great episode!

[Red Shirt]

Cheese & Rice people, dang. Like Nik, I forgot what this place can be like when their are fresh episodes to talk about. I should have known better than to slack off on new episode night...

Yeah, not a fan of gratuitous violence, or at least showing it. There's something to be said about hearing it vs. seeing it.

Agreed. I listened to the YAP podcast Apocalypse series and I think you mentioned it yourself Kc, about Jaws being scarier because you didn't see the shark. What the imagination of the viewer/listener fills in on its own is often far more terrifying.

Maybe Little One #1's "die, die" weren't a threat against them, but rather a plea for the soldiers to kill it.

The mercy theory seems to be gaining some traction... I think the best guess for what it was (trying) to say was "Why am I alive, let me die."

About the Length
A few people bitching in this thread about the episode being too short. Guys-- the episodes are always about 20 minutes long, except for a season finale. You should know that each 20 minute episode takes dozens of hours to produce. You want a longer episode? Then donate a few hundred grand to Kc so he can quit his job and work on this shit full time!

Should I happen to win that obscenely large lotto ticket... Wayland Productions is at the top of my list.

Podcasts, like nature, seem to abhor a vacuum. Lt. Angel Tenudo checked out of the story last season. Now it looks like his replacement has reported for duty...Warrant Officer Greg Muldoon.

There has been some discussion of the meaning behind the name "Balance of Power" for the newest chapter. Namely, who is the leader now, Michael or CJ? But with the introduction of Chief Muldoon into the newly expanded survivor group, we might have a potential contender. A Warrant Officer is an Officer after all. However, Warrant Officers tend to be a bit laid back and "stay in their lane", as do aviators. I would suggest that Muldoon, as a warrant and an aviator may actually have no interest in leadership. I have also considered there may also be a fourth possibility... A civilian leader to lead the colony while the military personnel use it as a base of operations.