Chapter 40-1 Monsters

[Grognaurd]

Lock and Load 7id

Early on, I posed a theory that biters 1.0 have an area of affect sleep spell. Maybe it is just wha soldiers do, sleep whenever they get the chance, but everyone is doing stuff and the Irwin soldiers are sleeping. The third trimester pregnant lady is welding for the .50 cal and the crew chief is sleeping? Puck was ambushed by a pack and he sleeps so soundly he does not even have a line at Dunbar.

Beserkers that can soak up a lot of damage and get close enough to kill and make the opposition force sleepy so spec ops troops can mop up is one hell of a biological warfare weapon.

[scbubba]

Good post 7odd! (as usual)

The schizophrenia thing has been rolling to the top for me ever since I first listened to this episode. Specifically as you pointed out the paranoid schizo aspects of "having delusions and hearing things that aren't real"

Just because other people don't see/hear the things you do, does that make them "not real"? Hmmm.....

Chapter title - we know that Kc loved multiple meanings in the titles so I think we have the same thing this time too
1) Tanya and Saul would be considered monsters if people learned about the possibility of turning - Vic now knows. Who else will find out?
2) "Monsters from Eastern Bay" as CJ called them - will we one or more Mallers (I'm looking to hear Scratches voice at the end of 40-3)
3) Little Ones sure seem like monsters to Team Human - as Robbins says "Oh really!?!? Cuz I seem to remember a lot of families coming into Boulder that didn't do shit and were still attacked... These things will f'n kill you where you stand for no reason!"
4) Ink seems to be a Monster as well if he is creating the super Z and trying to control and/or wipe out the humans - but that's Monster singular, not plural....

I know I said the Father/Son theory was shot all to hell earlier, I think it might be. But I'm not yet willing to fully let go of the Ink/TOWTM/Pinstripes/Z-Commander are all just one guy. Mental issues could explain the differences in behavior observed in the Tower when Burt shot him and elsewhere (like the hospital where he snatched the arrow in flight). But I still think there may be "Monsters" there....

Food for thought.

[skankyfish]

I think Ink is very very aware of his life before turning. I think it was Witch Doctor that pointed out one thing that got me thinking tonight. His Eyes. He is the only turned one that has normal eyes. I think that is a big deal. A Sign that the lights are on up stairs. He has it more together than the others. We know he can read, write, speak, make complex traps (He pushed the cars together to make a dead end/kill zone), control himself (when the others attack they are rage machines and animals. He thinks. Played possum. Took his time getting in. Even smiled at the group in the hospital, Ect), control other Zombies, mix chemicals to make badder Zombies, and more. Hell...even his suit is well kept (Not in tatters). I think he is 100% in control and aware of what he was then and what he is now. I truly believe that is why his eyes are normal.

As for the Arena... if what I think is true is well... true... then he isn't going on instinct. Kelly even said that it seems that the assaults seemed like retaliation. That means you are planning and thinking. I think the Arena was just a place to hold the mass Horde. The reason why, I think, isn't important in story. He was a Hockey fan. That is where he caught his wife. He sold some stuff to some guys. I think that in the end he choose the place because it was big, and it was a pit. A place he can see everyone and keep control. A place where his people can eat, drink, and fight in games. I think he choose The Arena because he wanted to feel like a ruler. You can have your people play and fight with normals in the street, a garage, even The Hospital. He choose a place that is our times version of a Colosseum. I think it was because he has it all together (As much as a Zombie Crazy Man can) and he wanted to feel like a King.

I'm 100% behind all of this; great analysis.

One thing I still don't get - maybe I'm missing something - is why was the crime scene tape still at Radon? We hear Michael say something like "that explains why his office was all locked up" (and it does, he's right), but it doesn't explain the tape. I would expect the crime scene tape to go up immediately that there was some implication that there was evidence there, and then for a forensic team to sweep in asap to strip the place. I still feel like the only explanation is that there's been some recent development in the case (just before Z-day) that meant the authorities suddenly thought it was worth looking into.

[Witch_Doctor]

Well, this week's courthouse. Was it placed in Ingelwood? I missed it.

I don't think you missed anything. I keep listening over and over to see if they mention a street or anything that would hint to location. I got nothing. Kelly only mentions that she has an idea of which courthouse it might be. Other than that, just a google search of L.A. courthouses show that there \are two in Inglewood.

[Gnex]

Are we sure that Ink is actually turned? I could have missed it somewhere in the story but I see a lot of people saying he is the only turned one with normal eyes. I had personally pictured him as never turning at all. But if that is the case then it leaves us with a few questions..........

1) If Ink is not turned. Is he/was he behind the explosion that caused the turning??? If so, did he know how to keep himself from turning(antibiotics, etc, etc)? So did Ink somehow set up the explosion knowing that he would not turn, and knowing that he would be able to control those who did??? Meaning even if the explosion happened and he was locked up in a transport vehicle, he could call his minions to bust him out.

2) If Ink is turned. Was the explosion just merely something that happened??? And Ink became the person we see now after being bitten?? Did something in his medication from the mental ward keep him from fully turning???

[Witch_Doctor]

- I know we really have to go by what Michael tells us when describing the transport van. and im sure Michael would be able to tell the difference between "broken in" and "broken out" ....but I personally wonder...something about that all just seems fishy to me. I would MUCH rather believe ink busted himself out than a bunch of freshly turned biters broke in to get at him. the man is the daddy of the inklings after all...

have fun...or else
todd out

I keep thinking along the same lines; that possibly he was turned or turning during transport. Yet, Micheal says that there were dents along the rear of the van, and the glass in the windows were broken into, implying that it was attacked from outside. Another interesting thing is that there is never any mention of wounds or scars on Ink, other that the bullet holes in his shirt and the hand that Burt shot. So, if he was attacked and turned, how? Did they scratch him? Bite his finger? Spit in his eye? Maybe tuned a la Saul? That is, contact from blood on a bullet that passed through a biter. (But still, was he wounded?) Maybe no one notices any injuries on him because no one could afford to spend the time giving him a body search when their ass is on the line.

I'm not fully convinced he's turned, just master to the "monsters". Dr Frankenstein and his creations maybe. Why assume he was turned when the van was ripped apart? It seems more likely they were just breaking him out of jail.

Or, he was turning in the van and he broke out himself. The biggest problem with this is how would Micheal & Kelly figure this out? Any evidence left over that could imply that this happened? Any surviving witnesses?

[Gnex]

Not sure if this will lead someone else to anything. But I was wondering if there was any significance to the name of the guy Ink paid off...... Kowen? Cowan?? Cohen??? not sure on the spelling, but it just seemed weird to me that Kelly took the time to fully explain that little bit.....

Maybe a clue??

[tonyhind86]

Or is he in mid-transition, and the shopping lists he compiled for the ingredients at Raydon Labs are for a substance/remedy that prevents him from turning fully?

[scbubba]

Ink turned vs not turned - true we have no evidence either way. On the "clear eyes" thing, don't the little ones have clear eyes as well? They are obviously "turned" in some way shape or form but they aren't normal biters, for sure.

We know that Ink isn't fully bulletproof since Burt put a hole in his hand and we don't know for sure that Ink is bulletproof at all because their is the plausible theory that he could have body armor on under his suit (since they often armor prisoners in transport or he may have had access to get some due to his proximity to armed guards during his transport). So there is an argument for not being turned there (i.e., he's not bulletproof like the Little Ones). But he does have some pretty superhuman physical abilities: jumping out of the Tower and running off very fast, getting to the top of the gate at the Colony, possibly dodging fire from Saul's rifle, and jumping down from the gate and running off again.

In the end, I think Ink has something from Zday in him. Fully turned or partially turned or whatever, he is definitely different from the run-of-the-mill biter and is (IMO) involved in the making of the other special Z's and the Little Ones.

I am very curious as to how more of Ink's backstory will be revealed. I have serious doubts that we have any witnesses to the breakout amongst our main characters. Slim chance that someone from the Colony knows something. Could be CJ knowing how tight she is with intel and probably not wanting to encourage Michael on his quest - she might spill some beans if they relay these findings back to her. But I'm thinking very slim chance on that....

My main guesses on where we get more info on Ink's history? Ink himself (villain monologue perhaps?), Skittles, or Randy....

[tonyhind86]

If they double-check the mental facility or the courthouse, they may find some sort of transcripts from interviews, or even a video of him being studied by a psychiatrist. The fact that he can communicate with the other biters and has a level of super-human abilities does imply that he is, in some shape or form, turned. Then again, his ability to speak, write and his intelligence suggests otherwise.