Z Nation - Season 4 is upon us

[RJDiogenes]

At this point, we're eight years into the Zombie Apocalypse. When the show began, it had already been three years, then there was a two-year time jump between the third and fourth season.

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.

I'm not sure about the others, but he's definitely grown to have respect for Warren.

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

Well, he's gone through a lot of changes, from reluctant VIP to Zombie Messiah to suburban nerd, but he's never stopped being a self-centered jerk.

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 think the cure is wearing off.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

In one sense, this week was just kind of a bottle episode seeing how much they could get out of sticking the cast in crates. However, I thought it was really well done and it kept me interested throughout. And not so much a bottle episode as last week because there were some neat visuals such as the half-zombie that Warren electrocutes.

It looks like Murphy's condition takes a turn as we see what the apparent bite brings.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, okay. I'm not quite sure what to make of that one. Hopefully it's going to be revisited, because as a standalone story it's very disappointing.

I was kind of expecting them to find Addy, Sun, Mei, and Red here-- being sonically zapped and kidnapped would explain those disappearances-- especially when Sarge saw a bird. But no suck luck.

On the face of it, the story makes no sense. Somebody is stunning passerby and kidnapping them to clear out the Zombies in an underground maze, which is presumably some sort of government installation. They have the technology to do this (and to remotely control a truck) and to move their victims around and supply them with weapons, but they can't deal with the Zs themselves? And they can't even issue instructions over a loudspeaker? None of it made any sense, and no resolution or explanation was even hinted at by story's end. And they found evidence that more people had been kidnapped in the meantime, but Warren didn't even suggest going back to help them. And it apparently never occurred to anyone that this could have been the fate of the convoy and the camp?

Maybe it's eventually going to make sense.....

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Spoiler

Wasn't expecting Lucy's sacrifice to save Murphy, I wonder how that will affect him going forward.

We got some classic Z Nation Z's with the zombie fingers and the frankenzombie. The four-armed frankenzombie loading and emptying a clip from an uzi was quite a sight. Leaning a bit heavy on bottle episodes though but maybe the Zuggalos(!) next week will open things up a bit.

10K back to counting kills is a good sign that he's back to normal (for Z Nation that is).

I'm never sure about Z Nation's geography. Eerie, Indiana seems quite a bit east of where they were. Though I guess with Warren behind the wheel they may be making good time (even if they're not having a good time...).

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, that surprised me-- I've been expecting Sarge to die, but I never expected Lucy to die, especially not by sacrificing herself to save Murphy. I was hoping that the show would end with her and Murphy reconciled, so this was not exactly a welcome development. Murphy has become a somewhat sympathetic character at this point, finally learning to care about someone else more than himself. The question is, will this change him for the better or will he become even more bitter and selfish than before?

The mystery around Warren deepens. First she had a vision of some sort of technology embedded in (or replacing) her hand, and now she has a heads-up display telling her when to take a turn and tipping her off to entry codes. Dr Caligari () claims to have never seen her before, so perhaps she has had a chip implanted in her head or something. I still don't think she was really in a coma for those two years.

And Addy, Sun, Mei, and Red are still among the missing. And no updates on Citizen Z or Kaya. Sarge is a cute addition to the team, but I want to see our other characters before the season ends.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I miss Doc and Addy together because they had developed a cute rapport.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Okay, this one was surreal-- but that's par for the course for Z Nation. I like the idea of an evil circus, but I wish the clowns had looked more like regular clowns than messy Joker from that Batman movie.

So, it looks like Murphy really has taken something away from his experience with Lucy, despite his murderous anger-- which he may or may not have worked through by torturing and killing clown kid and his mom. So is he cured for real now or what, in terms of his Zombieness? I was thinking that Lucy's bites would turn him blue again, but there was no indication of this.

Other than that, this was kind of a minor episode, resulting in yet another change of plans to head to NewMerica-- make up your minds, people!

And still no sign of Addie, Red, and Sun Mei-- or Citizen Z and Kaya. And what's up with this red bra that magically appeared under Sarge's shirt?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Okay, this one was surreal-- but that's par for the course for Z Nation. I like the idea of an evil circus, but I wish the clowns had looked more like regular clowns than messy Joker from that Batman movie.

That's part of the whole ICP Juggalo thing they had going I guess. I think they're a few years too late on that one though they could've referenced that awful magnet song just to cap it off.

Other than that, this was kind of a minor episode, resulting in yet another change of plans to head to NewMerica-- make up your minds, people!

Yeah, not great, but I did like the biodiesel truck but I don't think any vehicle lasts too long on Z Nation.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's part of the whole ICP Juggalo thing they had going I guess. I think they're a few years too late on that one though they could've referenced that awful magnet song just to cap it off.

Ah, okay. I didn't even know what a Juggalo was.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Ah, okay. I didn't even know what a Juggalo was.

Lucky man.

 

[RJDiogenes]

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Bob and Doug zombies, ya hosers! Plus, mounties and hockey players, they made it to Canada. Then later, their we get nuns, priests and bishops!

I thought the guest character was pretty interesting tonight and made for a nice subplot that was a little different than the usual Z Nation affair. To the point that the little gag ending didn't sit well as I felt that guy deserved better and it kind of weakened the story. The actor did a nice job which probably made it work even better than it did on paper.

But dammit Warren! Their road trip probably looks like one of those cartoons where they draw a dashed line on a map between two points but its filled with wrong turns and big loop-de-loops.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, this had the potential to be a really good episode, but between the bad ending and Warren's continuing wishy-washy behavior it really turned out to be the weakest episode of the season.

The guest character was indeed quite interesting, and really brought out Murphy's hopes for Lucy and Warren's doubts about her new mission (as if her constant waffling wasn't enough to illustrate that). To wipe him out in a two-second slapstick ending was not the best artistic choice ever. That really could have been cut. And Warren's lack of awareness of what happened to her in the past two years (which was surely not a coma) and her lack of clarity on exactly what her mission is and her never-ending series of mind changes does not add up to a compelling mystery-- just a show that thinks it has a direction, but doesn't.

Aside from that, the setting and story elements were cool and visually interesting, and the Canadian jokes were funny. But what was the story with the green mist arising from that dead Z who "smelled worse than the rest?" It went straight to the corpse of the cardinal and was able to raise him from the dead, despite being deceased long before the ZA started, but does this represent some change in the nature of the Zombie Virus or was it just a gimmick to give a Cardinal Z?

And finally-- Kaya is back, and with a kid that looks older than a year and a half. Although I could be wrong about that, since it's been a while since I've had any toddlers hanging around. But Citizen Z is still missing, and Zona is after Northern Light for some reason. My theory that Citizen Z is behind NewMerica must be wrong, because he would have been in touch with Kaya about it-- unless there is some twist forthcoming.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Finally! Citizen Z is back, and reunited with Kaya. It's about freakin' time. And they had a nice little reunion, along with Junior Z, while fighting off Zona soldiers and a Mad Z that has been following Simon since his plane crashed two years ago. And Warren's gang managed to restore communication with them, at least long enough to learn that Black Rainbow is real-- and has some connection to Northern Light. (And any lingering theories I had about Simon having some connection to NewMerica can now be put to rest.)

The rest of the episode was weird-- not what I expected, but interesting and rather touching. When the capsule description said there would be flashbacks to the beginning of the ZA, I assumed it would involved members of our gang. However, it was just about the news staff of some random local news station. And yet it was quite a compelling, and ultimately very sad, story. I liked how the onset of the ZA occurred mostly off camera and escalated by degrees: Plane crash. Survivors. Cameraman attacked. Badly burned bodies rioting. And then back at the station, the cameraman dies from a Zombie bite and we see how quickly the infection spreads. All of this plays out against the personal interactions of the staff, with the focus on the former Weather Girl, who has just been promoted to Co-Anchor. She is awkward and insecure, but committed to her job-- she finishes her report and signs off before fleeing the Zombie horde and even makes a last transmission from the roof as she awaits rescue from the news copter. Unfortunately, the copter crashes and she dies alone on the roof, to be mercied by Warren eight years later. How did she die? Hit by shrapnel? Killed by the Zombie virus? Slow starvation? Suicide? We don't know. We only know that she was brave, but could not be saved.

This season has kind of meandered, but we're getting near the end now, so some kind of resolution is presumably forthcoming. I hope the show is renewed for at least one more, so we can get a stronger finish.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Considering last season and the start of this one the season has been rather rudderless. Warren’s visions seems to have been more of a distraction than a driving force in their quest.

This show has never been high budget but it seems extra cheap this season as well which doesn’t help any. I admit using a bubble machine is a novel way to create an apocalyptic storm but it’s a tough sell. I think it may be why we’ve been missing so many cast members as well. Maybe if the stories were a bit stronger, the show has always walked a tightrope between reach and exceeding its grasp but I feel it’s done better.

Last episode had an interesting experimental approach at least with the story of aspiring reporter Carly. This episode is basically flatout comedy and slapstick which had some amusing moments but undercut the tension too much I think. You should never feel 100% safe when dealing with Z’s. I thought the “Canadian” episode was decent but the series really feeling like it’s just kind of coasting lately.

I would like to see Warren’s story go somewhere.

 

[RJDiogenes]

You think Addy, Sun Mei, and Red are missing to keep costs down? I hadn't thought of that. It's certainly possible and doesn't bode well for another season, if there is one.

Hopefully I can see this today. It wasn't on On Demand yesterday.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Okay, a green foam episode. This show just gets more and more surreal. A storm of-- what was it?-- atomic green toxic lake-effect foam. And the rest took place in a barber shop run by a Sweeney Todd wannabe who really just wants to steal everybody's underwear. The budget must be getting really low. And Warren was hardly in it. I'm beginning to agree that the reason we're not seeing Addy and Sun Mei and Red is for budgetary reasons.

I can't say that I especially enjoyed this one, despite the character interactions. It was a serious gross-out episode, which I don't really go for. Although we did get Sarge in her underwear, so it wasn't a total loss.

I'm really hoping this show can squeak out one more renewal, only because it was a really cool program and it deserves to end better than this.

 

[Morpheus 02]

This was an OK episode... I too thought the foam was a creative way to save money. ANd let's not forget, Citizen Z & Kaya were also missing.

In the previous episode, with Citizen Z being reunited with his family -- I was hoping our gang would be the ones to help with that, but hey, the family is now together. Was there an episode where Citizen Z met the gang? ANd why did he part ways then?

So are they planning something with Addy? Seems really random that she dropped out...and I am still convinced that Lucy came back to life...we didn't see her body actually burn... I think the Z's coming in helped to save her.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's a good thought. I'd like to see Lucy return before the show ends.

Citizen Z met the group at the end of last season, but he got on a plane to return to Northern Lights when he found out Kaya was pregnant.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Return to Mercy Labs. This week had some nice character beats and atmosphere. It was really easy to buy Citizen Z and Kaya’s relationship and they seem very natural together and we got a little extended time with them. The kid seems pretty cool as well.

The gang is back at Mercy Labs and finally Warren’s visions start to get somewhere with a like help from our northern friends. They no longer have to roam randomly they have a mission and of course it begins with obtaining the thumbprint of the president which I imagine will be over the top and silly.

It was kind of nice to see 10k paired up with Warren which we haven’t seen much and the boy in “amber” was a good setup for Murphy and co. I thought they did a good job integrating the flashback clips without leaning on them overly as just lazy filler.