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5 thoughts on “558 – Cotton Clad Calamity”

  1. Raznaak

    Yup, he’s a bastard XD

  2. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Are those pajamas available in XXXL in the gift shop?

  3. Otaku

    It’s been a while, so let me ask: Did we get a reason for him to WANT Susie dead? Not to backseat, but if we didn’t, I’m worried were about to move into “Stupid Evil” territory. Now, stupid happens, don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad storytelling for that to be the case here.

    You’ve just done a good job NOT having that be a driving factor, so the “Kill off the stars of my successful reality TV show.” seems shortsighted, otherwise. Oh, I guess I could be mistaken about the in-story reality TV show’s success. Like, if the company behind them is losing money, or they think a change in management at the ranch would make the whole thing more popular/profitable, then I can see the above scenario happening as well.

    I REALLY think I’m just forgetting something important, but that I don’t have time to deep dive to remind me of, hence the comment. >_<

    1. Deoxy

      It certainly has been stretched out over quite a while, but there have definitely been hints from quite near the beginning that whoever is running the reality TV show definitely wants her dead.

      But I certainly don’t recall any reason why.

      1. Clint

        Yeah it’s fair to not remember since it’s been a hot minute (many, many minutes) but if you feel like a refresher the most relevant bits would be the beginning of Episode 8 and the end of Episode 15. We haven’t explicitly spelled out exactly what The Exec means by his “side hustle” or who was on the other end of that phone call, though.

        I’m hoping that when the whole thing is eventually available it will make sense, or at least enough sense to have hung this narrative on.

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558 – Cotton Clad Calamity
Posted on August 26, 2026 by Dawn

What would you call this? Armchair assassination? Merk-from-home?

Well, Suzie ain't dead (or undead) quite yet, so we'll just have to see if his gloating is justifiable.

Verhoeven’s legacy keeps people diving back in…

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Clint

I’ve mentioned Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven many times over the course of these blogs. Not every movie in his oeuvre is a classic, but his big three (IMO) are all but ingrained into my DNA and, by process of creative osmosis, infused into the inspirations of Zombie Ranch as well.

I’m speaking of the science fiction triple threat of Robocop (1987), Total Recall (1990), and Starship Troopers (1997). They don’t share source material, they don’t comprise any sort of shared cinematic universe — and yet their visions of media-saturated dystopian futures are certainly connected in theme and presentation. There’s a critique of the excesses of American culture, sometimes light and sometimes harsh, almost never subtle but almost invariably — well, fun. It makes them very rewatchable. It writes catchphrases into your psyche: “I’d buy that for a dollar!” — “Get your ass to Mars!” — “Would you like to know more?”

Are they shallow? Are they deep? Are they somehow both? Verhoeven never seemed to lose sight of these being popcorn-munching action movies even as he took the piss (as the British would say) with his subject. And with all the adventure and explosions involved it would seem natural that they would be further adaptable into video games, right?

Well, results there have varied. But oh sweet liberty did the makers of the game Helldivers 2 get it right. Look, I’m just going to take a minute to link the opening cutscene here. See if you can sense a certain familiar vibe:

Okay but blah, blah, we’re all jaded gamers here, we know better than to trust a fancy cutscene. Well, I’m happy to report the game very much preserves the whole feeling of the above in its actual play, right down to the propaganda videos that will play between missions as you and your fellow Helldivers kick back momentarily on your Super Destroyer before another suicide mission in the name of Democracy.

It is patently ridiculous, over-the-top, and it’s probably the first “war shooter” I’ve ever honestly enjoyed, probably because in addition to nailing the satirical aspects the game didn’t lose sight of that other Verhoeven factor of being fun. Since it’s multiplayer this can, naturally, depend on your fellow Helldivers of the moment, but if you ever felt like stepping into the boots of Verhoeven’s vision of the Roughnecks, of Johnny Rico or “Dizzy” Flores, this is as good as it gets, ironically even though there are actual official Starship Troopers games out there.

If you’re looking for Heinlein’s original vision you’ll probably need to keep moving along, but hey, at least there are tacnukes. Just no real powered armor to compensate. Let faith in Freedom be your shield… or at least the shield of your next diver in line after that one vaporized.