Z Nation - Season 4 is upon us

[Mr. Adventure]

Z Nation starts off Season 4 following the crazy cliffhanger of Season 3 with an apocalyptic vision of zombies burning in a hellish landscape. "Two years later...things have gotten worse."

Warren awakens from a coma in the sexiest, most inappropriate medical clothes since The Fifth Element. She soon finds herself in surreal suburbs of Zona with Murphy who is way too comfortably domesticated and content. But what of those signs warning of the impending reset? The chemistry between Murphy and Warren continues to serve well.

I wonder if cult fave Michael Berryman (of the original The Hills Have Eyes) is supposed to be connected to The Man because he could very capably pass as the father of Joe Gatt. And we get Henry Rollins as a touchy-feely soldier giving hugs to the survivors in the wasteland. Apparently, they couldn't wrestle Peter Weller from The Last Ship but they cast a reasonable facsimile as the creepy scientist making the gas that looks to power the flesh burning purge of the reset and Roberta's visions. Regardless, the casting person scored a couple of fun ones.

So it looks like there's going to be two threads running, Roberta and Murphy dealing with Zona and the reset while the rest of the gang goes off to find the promised safe haven of NewMerica (in Canada!). Doc has reunited with 10K, Red and Dr. Sun Mei. Meanwhile, Lucy and Addy are also making their way to NewMerica.

I'm assuming that Lucy is responsible in some way for saving Addy's life given that they can now communicate telepathically. Addy is also missing an eye and sporting a bite mark (I can't remember if she had one from Murphy or if this is fresh but I'm assuming the latter). There's some nice aerial camerawork in the truck chase.

Pretty decent setup for the season, looking forward to more Z Nation crazy comic book adventures.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Whoo-hoo, Z Nation is back. I should be able to see it this afternoon.

 

[Morpheus 02]

I can't believe I am still following this show...

I know the actor for Murphy is happy not to do makeup...but he's weirdly "happy"...so wonder if he's fake, or about to have his bubble bursted.

Now, I am confused... did 10K hook up with someone else, or what?

Also, did they show what happened to Citizen Z, or is he another loose thread?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I can't believe I am still following this show...

I know the actor for Murphy is happy not to do makeup...but he's weirdly "happy"...so wonder if he's fake, or about to have his bubble bursted.

Now, I am confused... did 10K hook up with someone else, or what?

Also, did they show what happened to Citizen Z, or is he another loose thread?

The end of the episode suggests that Murphy's happiness such as it is isn't going to last. 10K is still with Red but she's lost the distinctive garb, I don't recall him with anyone else. I think Citizen Z is en route back to Kaya who had informed him she was pregnant but we haven't seen him yet.

 

[RJDiogenes]

My suspicion is that Citizen Z and Kaya are the founders of NewMerica, but my friend Hope says that's too obvious.

I'm always a bit dubious of time jumps, but I'm keeping an open mind. Warren seems to be in really good shape for someone who's been in a coma for two years-- not very stiff or emaciated, no difficulty speaking, no cognitive issues (unless you count the visions and cake violence, which seem unrelated). And what was up with that cocoon? Is this bad writing, artistic license, or has she not really been in a coma and they just want her to think that she was?

I'm also not sure if Murphy really thinks that the others are dead and is lying to Warren yet again.

The Twilight Zona is obviously too good to be true. In the scene where the Founder started everyone clapping, I got the impression that he may have some control over these people in the same way that Murphy used to have some control over people.

As for the rest of the gang, I'm glad everyone is still alive, but wondering why they are all split up. I guess the implication is that it was Warren who was keeping everyone together, which is fine, but I hope the details get filled in with flashbacks. It's especially odd that Doc and 10K would split up. And we definitely must know what happened to Addie's eye. I hope it doesn't take too long for everyone to get back together.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Yeah, I'm sure there was more than a standard coma at work. Given her look and garb maybe some kind of Zona "next level of human" type experiment or what not.

Interesting notion with NewAmerica, as it is situated up north...

 

[Morpheus 02]

My suspicion is that Citizen Z and Kaya are the founders of NewMerica, but my friend Hope says that's too obvious.

I'm always a bit dubious of time jumps, but I'm keeping an open mind. Warren seems to be in really good shape for someone who's been in a coma for two years-- not very stiff or emaciated, no difficulty speaking, no cognitive issues (unless you count the visions and cake violence, which seem unrelated). And what was up with that cocoon? Is this bad writing, artistic license, or has she not really been in a coma and they just want her to think that she was?

Umm, this is made from the Asylum, so I think bad writing is standard. And let's not forget we saw the reappearance of the Moebius Zombie Tumbleweed, which we last saw (within the show) at least 2 years ago....if THAT is still rolling around (literally), i'm not taking this too seriously. Certainly no more so than The Orville.

I'm also not sure if Murphy really thinks that the others are dead and is lying to Warren yet again.

The Twilight Zona is obviously too good to be true. In the scene where the Founder started everyone clapping, I got the impression that he may have some control over these people in the same way that Murphy used to have some control over people.

As for the rest of the gang, I'm glad everyone is still alive, but wondering why they are all split up. I guess the implication is that it was Warren who was keeping everyone together, which is fine, but I hope the details get filled in with flashbacks. It's especially odd that Doc and 10K would split up. And we definitely must know what happened to Addie's eye. I hope it doesn't take too long for everyone to get back together.

we'll see...I am still amazed how I am willing to follow this show!

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, I'm sure there was more than a standard coma at work. Given her look and garb maybe some kind of Zona "next level of human" type experiment or what not.

That was definitely odd patient garb-- not that I object.

Umm, this is made from the Asylum, so I think bad writing is standard.

The writing is remarkably good for an Asylum production.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

we'll see...I am still amazed how I am willing to follow this show!

People here follow My Little Pony and Power Rangers so I think an allowance can be made.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

This one disappointed me. It had a trope I really hate with the Zona doctor constantly saying "I can't tell you." instead of explaining *something* about the sitch. Everything just falls completely to shit overnight and the b-story with Doc and 10K wasn't much better. I guess there setting something up with the indestructible zombies but that seems an ill-advised direction.

I think they're trying to give us a bigger story but I'm missing how that was broken up before with road trips to crazy settlements of the week and weird strains of zombies.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Anyone still watching?

Some thoughts:

Seems like a lot of shows lately have set up some cliffhangers that they don't feel like bothering with once they come back.

Kellita Smith has an awesome set of choppers. For that matter, Keith Allan has a great head of hair.

I could've swore Lily was Asian when she was wearing sunglasses! She looked really different to me without them.

I liked Henry Rollins' weary Lt. Meuller. Too bad.

Warren has the Z Nation logo as a shield? Of course she does.

I'm hoping the mad Z's don't become the norm. I like my zombies to play by the rules.

So we have the group mostly together. Addy, Red, and Sun Mei are still MIA. Wonder if we'll see Citizen Z.

At the end of the day this was like eight people in the woods but I thought it was an OK episode. Still feels like they lost a step from last season though.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm still watching, but I don't usually get to see it till Saturday afternoon or Sunday. And I see I forgot to post my review here last week. I'll post both tomorrow.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Last week:

Well, we've got a couple more mysteries on our hands. The maddeningly suburban Utopia of Zona has collapsed, thanks to a flaw in the vaccine created from Murphy's blood-- apparently he's got some kind of impurity in his system, but we don't know what that's about yet. And then the convoy from NewMerica went all Roanoke-- followed by the encampment. Weirdly, Doc Sun was the sole survivor of the encampment disappearance, but she seems to have disappeared, too, by the time the scouts got back. Oh, and there's a new kind of Zombie that can't be killed with a head shot. Nice.

Addy's gotten pretty good with a gun-- she matched 10K perfectly in that shootout. Too bad they never found out that they were shooting at each other.

But now Warren and Murphy are headed back to the mainland, so hopefully the gang will be back together soon. Still no sign of Citizen Z and Kaya, but I'm sure they have something to do with NewMerica.

This week:

Okay, most of the original gang is back together-- but Addy, along with Sun Mei and Red are still among the missing. And we seem to have a new member in Sarge. Sadly, the Lieutenant bought the farm-- he was kind of cool.

But the mystery of all the disappearances has not yet been solved, and the weird noises from the woods persist-- remind me a bit of Lost. What's out there and how does it make people disappear without a trace? Is it connected to the new indestructible Zombies? In addition to the new indestructible Zombies are there Zombies that eat people entirely, bones and all, and then clean up after themselves?

I got a kick out of Murphy dealing with his frowny teenage daughter, but the highlight of the episode was Doc and Warren's moment together-- Doc losing his hold on hope and Warren bucking him up just by being Warren. And I absolutely love Warren's new Captain America shield. Get your kicks on Route 66!

Still no sign of Citizen Z and Kaya, though, which is getting more worrisome, especially now that they're not going to NewMerica.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I got a kick out of Murphy dealing with his frowny teenage daughter, but the highlight of the episode was Doc and Warren's moment together-- Doc losing his hold on hope and Warren bucking him up just by being Warren.

It was a nice moment and one that I think people might not expect from a series like this at first blush.

 

[RJDiogenes]

People tend to underestimate this show, but it is really good. It's certainly much better than I expected when it first came on.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"We were nowhere near the Grand Canyon."

Well, this episode was pretty tense in spots, although it seems like not a lot happened-- but what the heck did Warren see when she was climbing up the tower? Does she have a bionic hand or something? In any case, I'm pretty firmly convinced at this point that she was not in a coma for two years. She's remembering something, or trying to. And with that sleek black outfit and the Route 66 sign, she is now the Wonder Woman of the Zombie Apocalypse. Up till now, the Savior was The Murphy-- now it seems to be The Warren.

Looks like Sarge is going to be part of the team for a while. I thought for sure that she was a goner when she disobeyed Warren's order to disengage from the booby-trapped Zombie. And then I thought she was a goner again when they were struggling with the multi-booby-trapped Z. I was surprised when she was still alive at the end of the episode, and I hope that they don't kill her off like they have so many other newcomers.

There was a time when 10K was practically mute, but he's been speaking up a lot lately. Mostly to be snarky to Murphy. Speaking of whom, he seems to be reverting back to his Zombie mode. Or something.

And still no sign of Citizen Z, but at least we know that Kaya is still alive and on the air with their kid, who must be about a year and a half old or so. I wonder where Citizen Z got to.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Warren definitely looks like a grindhouse cult heroine, Pam Grier would be proud. I'm not sure what's up with that hand either though it's been obvious that something has been going on with her beyond just being in a coma.

And 10K is like a whole new character now, it's quite refreshing to hear him express himself.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, Red obviously did him a lot of good. I hope they find her and Sun Mei soon.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Yeah, what is up with Murphy eating himself...did he look in the mirror and say "Bite Me"?

Keith Allan has done a really good job with the character... Murphy is still snarky, but grown as a human. His "intervention" seemed really sincere, and he really has grown to respect the others. And interesting that despite the intervention they still follow Warren. But glad everyone knows and are trying to work together.

I hope they really show Murphy have a lot of respect for Addy when he sees her again....she's taken care of his baby through adulthood... he owes her a lot.


I didn't really watch the first season.... how would you guys say Murphy has changed?

Also, other random question... how much time has passed since the outbreak started.


Hope to see Citizen Z soon...and eventually get reunited.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Yeah, what is up with Murphy eating himself...did he look in the mirror and say "Bite Me"?

He's been feeling alienated from Lucy, I wonder if he's trying to reconnect with that zombie side? Or maybe just a side effect of his cure?

I didn't really watch the first season.... how would you guys say Murphy has changed?

I came into the show later as well so I'm not the best to answer that. I've been meaning to catch up but damn so much TV, so little time...