Merle’s back on ‘The Walking Dead’ — let’s give him a big hand!

Say, that guy in the truck looks awfully familiar.

A couple of websites, including The Walking Dead News, posted this photo today of actor Michael Rooker as Merle from the set of the third season of “The Walking Dead.”

(Ah, the interwebs. We love you.)

Last time we saw Rooker as Merle he was preparing to chop off his own hand to escape walkers after being left stranded by the good guys on an Atlanta rooftop in the first season of “The Walking Dead.” That’s if you don’t count his appearance in his brother Daryl’s fever dream in the second season.

Fans of the show have been waiting for Merle’s return ever since, so today’s photo is good news for the upcoming third season, which begins in October.

A couple of other notes from the photo:

Merle’s got a new toy. Check out the spot where Merle’s hand used to be. It’s a sword, or a hook, or a machete. Something pointy, anyway. Good for killing zombies. Or whatever.

Is that the Governor’s truck? A couple of websites theorized that Merle is working for the Governor (David Morrisey), the Big Bad for the upcoming season.

Same truck?

We’ll see sooner or later.

iPhoneography: Cammack, Indiana

The town of Cammack was typical of many Indiana towns of its size. Life once revolved around a bustling rail line and grain elevator that served farmers in the area. A small downtown catered to the needs of farm families.

While the town has changed, time — and redevelopment — have been kinder to Cammack, in Delaware County west of Muncie, than many other towns.

While the grain elevator has fallen into ruin and the only rail line through the town carries freight trains that no longer stop, Cammack’s population hasn’t deserted the community. A good percentage of the relatively small population remains. A handful of businesses still operate and the American Legion post is still busy.

And recent efforts by developers to build new but historically accurate housing in the town have resulted in some beautiful houses.

At the center of town, the former grocery store and gas station has been remodeled into a restaurant and the former hardware store has businesses in its storefronts.

Here are some iPhone photos of Cammack from June 2012.

Above is the grain elevator, the focal point of the town but no longer in use. The wall of one section has collapsed/been knocked down.

The grain elevator’s tower in shadow looks kind of ominous.

Less so when well-lighted.

Rail lines served the grain elevator and conjure up an image of Indiana that’s familiar but endearing.

This rail siding isn’t used anymore, obviously, and is barely visible through weeds and other growth.

Several colorful tractors sit near the town’s center, emphasizing the area’s long agricultural history.

Cammack Station, the town’s relatively new and busy restaurant, is decorated with vintage advertising signs.

‘Mad Men’ ends strong season with low-key ‘The Phantom’

If the fifth season of “Mad Men” wasn’t its strongest, it was certainly one of the strongest, with Don and Megan hitting more than a few bumps on the road to domestic bliss even while Don coasted at the office, Sally struggling her way into her teenage years, Roger floundering, Peggy finding the strength to move on, Joan literally prostituting herself for the ad business, Lane meeting a tragic but inevitable end and Pete becoming even less likable, if that’s possible.

Yeah, “Mad Men” has had a busy 13 episodes.

That’s what makes Sunday night’s season finale, “The Phantom,” seem even more anti-climactic.

A day after watching the episode, I’m hard-pressed to remember what happened, right up until the end, when Don got Megan a part in a TV commercial then wandered into a bar, where he was propositioned by a young woman. We don’t hear Don’s answer. This was the season when Don choked his philandering tendencies to death in an especially memorable dream. But is he still feeling that conflicted, I wonder?

After the previous episode, in which Lane hanged himself to escape disgrace over his financial improprieties, this week seemed kind of forced and lackluster.

Pete’s little friend Beth got shock therapy.

Roger, maybe still trying to recover the high he felt when he took LSD, got buck naked in front of a hotel window.

Don and Peggy were briefly reunited at a movie theater playing “Casino Royale.” (Was it just me, or did anyone else feel uncomfortable, remembering the last time we saw Peggy in a theater?)

Pete got punched a couple of times — neither time as effectively as the whipping Lane administered earlier this season — but got an okay from his wife to get his apartment in the city.

Megan double-crossed her friend and won the TV commercial.

And the remaining partners, buoyed by the success of the firm, ended the episode looking out the windows of the floor upstairs from Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, contemplating future office space and their future.

That’s about it.

I really enjoyed this season’s “Mad Men” and its emphasis on the desperation of its characters played out against a background of the most jarring news of the day. Despite the lackluster season finale, the show remains one of the best and most absorbing on TV.