Wednesday Warriors – Page 9

Daryl Dixon

Posted on January 21, 2015January 23, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Last week I wrote about Rick Grimes, the leader of the survivors of AMC’s The Walking Dead. This week, I thought I’d add to my Wednesday Warriors series by talking about Daryl, the pragmatist of the group. Not only does he have a way of making things work by taking the simple approach, but he’s also the character no one would want to lose if things in the series should end up going south.

There’s a running joke on the internet, more of a meme. It goes something like this:

“Everyone makes fun of the redneck until the zombie apocalypse.”

It may seem funny, and yes, I must admit that it does strike me as humorous. But it also contains an element of truth others would rather ignore. That truth being, rednecks know a lot more about survival than the rest of us could ever imagine knowing in our entire lifetime.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) draws the audience in with his quick use of his bow and the easy way about him as he hunts for squirrel. What would make most of us sick; Daryl will eat without a second thought. If a group goes into an abandoned house looking for food in the cupboards, he’d be the guy who’d scavenge in the basement in the hope of finding a mouse he could skewer for his evening meal.

I’m just getting started. His crossbow is his weapon of choice. Not only does he hunt with it, he also kills walkers with it efficiently. In some instances, he utilizes the arrow only and spikes walkers through the top of the head. Then, of course, he also can use the butt of the bow to ram it into a biter’s head, delivering an equally brutal blow as a means of silencing the undead.

He may act mean, and can sometimes go off on people, as if he were about to slap them silly, but he knows when they need his help. He’s had run-ins with folks who have wanted to kill him only for them to find later that he was willing to forgive and help. He has a conscience, and that’s a good thing. None of the survivors can dispute his loyalty. He’s always willing to help, and he is always willing to push the extreme to get things done.

Daryl Dixon may be a fictional character, yet his personality is recognizable as one who everyone knows. He may not be approachable, and he may seem aloof, but make no mistake, when things get out of hand he is there to rescue everyone in distress.

You can be sure of that.

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If you’ve watched The Walking Dead, what do you think of the character Daryl Dixon?

Wednesday Warriors

Rick Grimes

Posted on January 14, 2015January 16, 2015 by Jack Flacco

He awakens from a coma to find the world overrun by walkers. Once a small town sheriff’s deputy, now he’s a leader to a group of survivors who he fights for so that others can live. His entire life becomes a life serving others. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

For today’s Wednesday Warriors let’s have a look at The Walking Dead’s strongest character, Rick Grimes, and what makes him who he is. Be warned, spoilers lie therein.

Played by Andrew Lincoln, Rick begins his journey into real life horror by taking the job no one wants. That job is that of leader to a band of people who have no clue what has caused walkers to take over the world. All he knows is what propels him forward each day—the hope for a new beginning, the hope to survive another day—hope. Perhaps a place out there exists that will save his group from the ravages of the roamers. Perhaps that place is closer than anyone thinks. Wherever it is, he’ll be damned if anyone or anything will stop him from finding the peace he so richly deserves.

Every season of AMC’s The Walking Dead, Rick gets that much closer to losing his mind. But isn’t that what being a leader is all about—walking a thin line between making the best decision to becoming an utter failure? In that sense, he succeeds admirably. He’ll have his good days, where everyone will love him for getting them out of the worst of messes, to his bad days, where everyone will question his sanity for him wanting to rid a prison filled with walkers. If that isn’t enough, he has to fend against insubordination at every turn, and that’s not including those outside the group who want to see him dead.

Adding to his troubles, Rick has to deal with the ever-increasing threat of walkers to the group. His life has become nothing more than a game of shells. No matter what he does, he’ll always meet with opposition, and if he so happens to do good, there’s isn’t enough time to relish the moment because the undead is ready to pounce on him and those he loves.

Of all The Walking Dead characters, Rick is the one who goes through the most noticeable transformation. From an everyman to someone bent on survival, he pushes the limit of what it means to be human, all in an effort to keeping the group together and his sanity in check. If anyone needs a reason not to live another day, it’s Rick. Yet, despite all the obstacles, he makes it through each day with a new resolve that never betrays his strong convictions—even if it looks otherwise.

Rick Grimes, Wednesday Warriors’ rock, and a walker’s ultimate nightmare.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, what do you like about Rick? What excites you the most about the show?

Wednesday Warriors

Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer

Posted on January 7, 2015January 12, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Sent into the fictional South American country Val Verde, Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team of crack mercenaries hunt and kill guerilla forces responsible for the kidnapping of presidential cabinet members of Guatemala. But once they discover there’s more to the mission, another enemy surfaces in the jungle, and one by one they die a horrible death—everyone except Dutch.

Today, Wednesday Warriors salutes Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, the man who single-handedly defeats the ultimate fighter in a place that for lack of a better term some may call hell.

Having served in Vietnam during the Battle of Huế with former teammate Agent George Dillon (Carl Weathers), Dutch’s only concern when receiving a mission, is to get in and out in one piece, taking his team along with him. Confidence is high, his team also fought in Afghanistan and survived. Who would suspect they couldn’t pull though for this mission? After all, everyone of the old crew shows up for the party:

Jorge “Poncho” Ramirez (Richard Chaves) is the Spanish translator whose ever-present sarcastic wit graces the team.

Billy Sole (Sonny Landham) is the one who senses something amiss when he feels the presence of another entity hunting them. Little does he know how right he is.

Blain Cooper (Jesse Ventura) is the tobacco-chewing cowboy whose weapon of choice is a modified M134 Minigun. He calls it “Ol’ Painless” but in reality, within seconds it can punch a hole in a huge swath of jungle forest.

Sergeant “Mac” Eliot (Bill Duke) is Blain’s best friend, and the man who eventually administers the first wound to the unknown creature. Who are we kiddin’? He’s the guy who takes the first shot and wounds the predator.

With his whole team by his side, Dutch doesn’t suspect what lies before him in the jungle to be a threat. Yet, once his team slowly breathes its last, and Dutch has no one but himself to rely on, he takes matters in his own hands. A trained soldier, a survivalist, a gambler, he seizes the opportunity in the environment around him to blend in, vanish, disappear. Little does he know the predator hunting him also has an advantage, and that is to find its prey using its own skill sets at its disposal.

Warrior against warrior, the battle lines are set and the cat and mouse game is on.

Dutch’s keen sense of anticipating his enemy’s next move is what keeps him alive time and time again. Nowhere does it say he should play fair. And to that end, he takes advantage of everything he comes across, rigging it to meet his needs. Dutch will not go down without a fight.

Dutch’s resilience is what makes his character unique. As a formidable opponent—even if the creature he battles is more cunning and better equipped than he is—Dutch will do anything to survive. No matter what the obstacle, no matter what the situation, he will win. It’s within his nature to conquer. He will not go without taking anything and everything with him.

Predator‘s Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer—Wednesday Warriors’ ultimate survivalist.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

What did you think of Predator and the subsequent movies?

Wednesday Warriors

Clark Griswold

Posted on December 24, 2014December 26, 2014 by Jack Flacco

It may seem odd to highlight an everyman for the second article in the Wednesday Warriors series, but Clark Griswold is not your everyman. He’s the family man who’d make even the Father of the Year look ordinary. And since it is Christmas Eve, who can say Clark is not a warrior for the holidays?

Known for going overboard with his dedication to the holiday season, Clark (Chevy Chase) takes his place among heroes willing to uphold traditions in order to have a fun old-fashioned family Christmas Vacation.

It begins with hauling the family through the white tundra of the awesome winter wonderland in a quest to find the perfect tree. Not just any ol’ tree, but a tree that would make the Eiffel Tower seem short. When asked where he plans to put a tree that size, since it wouldn’t fit in the yard, he quickly says it’s not going in the yard. It’s going in the living room. And, of course, once the tree is set, all Clark has to do is to cut the rope holding the thing together. With a tree that size, we all know what happens. Let’s just say not a window survives.

Ah yes, Clark Griswold, the world’s last true family man. His idea of spending his bonus check is to buy a swimming pool and fly his family down to christen it. A man like him is a lost art. He makes setting up exterior illumination easy. He can’t simply have one, two, three rows of lights on his roof. He has to have the whole roof, pillars leading to the roof, window and doorframes covered in lights. If the draw of electricity becomes too much for the town to handle, all they have to do is switch to auxiliary power to keep up with Clark’s demands on the grid.

When Clark goes all out, he goes all out.

And when everyone’s ready to bail on him because the holiday becomes a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency, he steps in to do what any reasonable man would do—he holds them hostage by threat of violence while wielding a chainsaw as if it were a carving knife for the holiday turkey. Who could blame him? He lost his mind ages ago when he attempted to be the perfect father and hell showed up at his doorstep declaring war on his annual festivities. No, no—no one’s walking out on his fun old-fashioned family Christmas.

But the best part of who Clark is comes when he realizes that no matter how bad things get, he eventually snaps out of his morbid sense of adventure to accept what little good the holiday season presents—even if he keeps company with the jolliest bunch of idiots this side of the nuthouse.

[Author’s note: From my family to yours, have a wonderful holiday season.]

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

Have you seen Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation? What is your favorite part of the movie?

Wednesday Warriors

John McClane

Posted on December 17, 2014December 19, 2014 by Jack Flacco

“When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.” ~Hans Gruber

Welcome to the first article in the new Wednesday Warriors series where testosterone doesn’t take a day off, and guys wearing their hearts on their sleeves is an anathema. At least in the beginning—I’ll eventually have to talk about American Beauty’s Lester Burnham, but for now, let’s start it off with a bang.

John McClane (Bruce Willis) is a practical cop. His no-nonsense approach comes in handy when he visits his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) during her new company’s Christmas party. He just came off the plane with a lump in his throat. He never did like flying. One of the other passengers gives him a coping mechanism: walk around barefoot while curling your toes. Advice that comes in useful later on, yet for now, he can’t even find his wife in the company registry. Not until he searches for her under her maiden name Holly Gennaro does he find her.

Once at the gathering, the real party starts. Walking around barefoot, enjoying terra firma in his room, a team of terrorists takes over the building and holds the partygoers hostage—including Holly. John makes a mad dash to the upper floors of the building where he’ll plan his response. He must be kidding himself. How could he possibly beat a well-armed squad of killers barefoot? Yes, he didn’t have enough time to put on his shoes when he had the genius idea of leaving the confines of safety.

Which brings us to the inevitable statement the Die Hard series created—John McClane is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing prepared him for what was about to happen next.

Hans Gruber (Harry Potter Professor Severus Snape‘s Alan Rickman), the leader of the terrorist group, sends a hit squad to eliminate their thorn in their side, John McClane (Roy Rogers as John so eloquently introduces himself with the series catchphrase). You probably know what I’m talking about without my repeating the words, of course.

When the supposed terrorists catch up with John, he manages to handle the situation his way—by the end of the barrel of a gun. This prompts the terrorists, who survive John’s onslaught, to march from an elevator while Holly looks on:

Ginny: [Karl smashes a table of glasses in fury] God. That man looks really pissed.
Holly: He’s still alive.
Ginny: What?
Holly: Only John can drive somebody that crazy.

If only the terrorists knew who they were dealing with, they would quickly make a beeline for the exits. This does not happen.

The conclusion sees all of them dead as John McClane emerges soaked in their blood while Beethoven‘s Ode to Joy plays in the background and the building burns to the ground—as with all true 80’s movies.

On a personal note, I don’t think a Christmas has gone by without Die Hard or Die Hard 2 making an appearance during the holidays. They’re that good. And why not? With the protagonist transforming himself into a reluctant hero, what’s not to like? He is a teacher to those who don’t know what to do with a bad situation.

His solution? Make it work.

[Author’s note: In celebration of the new Wednesday Warriors series, I’ve changed the header color to reflect the cool winter season. What’d y’all think?]

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

What do you like about John McClane? Which Die Hard movie is your favorite?

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