Z Nation
Z Nation will return sometime in 2016 so far exact time and date remains unknown.
Season 2: Episode 15:
Episode 15 shows all the signs of a production company being surprised by being picked up for a third season. I’m thinking the final episode was in the can, cast paid their final checks when they are informed they’re all going to have to go through this agony for another season.
A good part of 15 must have gone to the cutting room floor to add in the footage to leave us hanging until next season, no word on when next season will begin if ever.
So we have Murphy and 10K taken to the sub. Murphy is guarded, strapped to a examine table, suddenly he’s, up watched it twice how did he ever get loose? He is next shown in a zodiac boat racing away from the exploding sub with both the captain and Dr. showing facial bite marks.
While on land the fearless zombie fighters are attacked first by La Reina and then by red star troppers. Did they destroy the sub or did Murphy kill roughly a hundred sailors? 10K appears to be missing, OMG!
Hector and Vasquez kiss and makeup. Citizen Z meets Eskimo Nell and fast growing Lucy displays her command of all things zombie.
Season 2: Episode 14:
What would a trip to California be without a visit to Disneyland? Well our fearless zombie fighters burn out their last El Camino on the outskirts of Disneyland only to find it was nuked, but apparently safe enough to walk through looking like the typical junkyard the Asylum loves to film in. Only thing to survive, the Matterhorn Ride shown in the distance. What a pity.
Flashbacks for everyone still alive. Zombies are apparently still a government secret despite their breaking out all over. Roberta’s flashback shows her carrying and using a sidearm yet knows nothing about zombies, security, etc. Gets her crew killed by leaving the door open.
Funniest flashback is Vasquez’s family escaping their coffins at the funeral home. Hint: The embalmed do not rise from the dead!
Citizen Z was hacked and destroys his equipment, with luck we’re done with this character. He can spend the rest of the series walking out of there.
Preview scenes showed the Queen of the Dead going after Murphy at the hidden lab? cabin cafe location, then removed from later on demand showings, weird huh?
Season 2: Episode 13:
Poor Murphy thought he would have a whole army of zombie, a zombie marine corps, a zombie navy corps, a zombie space corps, is this guy out to lunch or what?
Dr. Kuian lost his head thanks to Roberta. Attention writers, not even living heads can talk without lungs pushing air past vocal cords, there is no zombie hybrid magic that can change this fact.
Bunch of nonsense. More running, zombies released from processor to attack zombie hybrids, big fight at the end rids us of the Escorpion character.
Everyone drives off in El Caminos, how long until they are afoot again?
Season 2: Episode 12:
Does this show even have writers, or do they mash together ideas viewers send in to make up episodes?
How else is it we repeatedly leave an episode with our mangy mutts driving a respectable vehicle only to open the following episode with them once again afoot running from zombies? What became of the nice mini-van they left the hotel with at the end of episode 11?
Wonder where in Canada they filmed this part of Mexico? This is what happens when they get too big a budget, party time!
We’re told zombies are composted for fuel (methane) the first rule of composting is no meat, no dead animals, etc. Figure we’re shown a lingering view of the zombie processor so we’ll know it when the zombies are later released to facilitate an escape.
OK, they get thrown in the pit of zombies in the dark and survive the test . . . begs the question, why trained troops green berets commandos etc. failed to survive? Now that we’re expected to believe Dr. Kuian is responsible for the plague meaning it wasn’t a targeted attack on cites and military bases. Keeping in mind the effect even in small towns was instant. Show needs a script doctor.
Roberta gives up her chance to rid herself of Vasquez who has repeatedly shown he expects at some point to walk off with Murphy despite Roberta’s love fantasy.
They’re preparing to inject Vasquez, and didn’t even tie his hands!!! Gee whiz, I can hardly think what might happen next.
To be continued . . .
Season 2: Episode 11:
Another magic bullet episode. Not even the greatest shooter on earth can know exactly how a bullet will exit a zombie skull, let alone know how it will ricochet off Doc’s medallion instead of hitting him and knock off another attacking zombie.
Apparently we need this nonsense because 10K is missing his military rifle (maybe the indians took it?) and is now for some unexplained reason using a bolt action five shot hunting rifle. Guy should carry a pistol for close encounters, maybe learn to throw knives.
Episode takes place in another abandon hotel. Believe they said they were there four years, gives us a time frame for the plague. They pass around a talking stick to take turns speaking, actually a rain stick available at most zoo gift shops.
Fat chick is made a move on by a Cylon looking babe, but doesn’t fall for it. Later refused to allow her into their motley crew.
As usual the gang of misfits ruins everything. Murphy’s fever dreams after being wounded calls the local zombies to the hotel wrecking it before he wakes up ending the call.
Writer’s plot complication of another Cassandra style zombie is eliminated by having him and Murphy’s shooter, shoot each other.
Leader Anthony Michael Hall (boy did he get old) gets knocked on the head with his own talking stick, blood is shown on the floor by his head injury which could prevent his turning if dead, he does not appear in the final scene.
Season 2: Episode 10:
Zombies versus native americans, Elizabeth Warren would be so proud.
Episode starts off with another dream sequence, if we’re lucky it will become prophetic. Another run down vehicle breaking down. Actually a good strong metal sided high windowed RV would be a good choice for the five day actual trip to cross country with or without zombies.
Interesting how thin the veneer of civilization is for the leader / professor of native american studies to revert to savage hatred of white folk in particular as the cause of everything evil now that the paychecks stopped coming.
Can’t say I recall an actual tribe taking credit for this mishmash.
As they have a casino we can assume they are sovereign with control over their land. This can be both good and bad as they are not subject to building codes which may have prevented their casino from falling down.
Earthquake resistant steel reinforced concrete walls should have parted the horde like the prow of a battleship. If the contractor actually installed it seeing as how there would not be proper inspections as the work progressed. Instead rotting dead things are able to collapse it in seconds like one of those buildings in India.
Poor Murphy suddenly cares about zombies feeling pain, unlike what they might feel when he causes their arms to tear off on the stripper pole, how quickly we forget. And now the Grand Canyon is now full of broken (more or less) zombies, best of luck to those down stream.
Citizen-Z forget-about-it. Those zombies should be frozen solid!
Season 2: Episode 9:
Amazing two good shows in a row from the people who gave us two, “It was only a dream.” episodes in a row.
Ok Ok the show can’t support serious concern for any of these characters so the lean is heavy toward entertainment, fun and games.
No explanation for the transition from one fifty year old vehicle to another fifty year old vehicle. V.W. Kubelwagens don’t exactly grow on trees in the American West or anywhere else for that matter.
Bernadette, instant transmission, what was up with that, does she have super powers or suffer from writer nonsense.
Dan, not bad David Bowie Man Who Fell To Earth imitation.
Bring the zombie plague back to Zona, great plan, not. Good thing they left the flying saucer killer gun available, those MIB zombies looked pretty fresh, did Dan kill living agents? Test crew from year one, nice touch the space suit umbilical cord looking like a alien tail. All a fake (sigh).
Left unknown, why do the space suits explode? What is the trigger as it can’t be the death of the wearer, the wearer is already a dead zombie.
Murphy is still wearing the collector costume, not a bad look.
Season 2: Episode 8:
Hey a zombie show where they’ve heard of zombie movies!
This could be the best Z-nation episode so far. Shame they won’t tell us the actor who played Dean the Collector.
Sweet ride. Great set location, wonder where it is in real life? Dean was perfectly nuts at whatever kind of insane that was. Bugs me they never show evidence of stocking up as the characters appear to arrive back at the car with nothing in hand despite having been in a treasure trove of everything they could need including showers, food, weapons, etc. Either Roberta is lying to Murphy or sadly mistaken over the extent of her control over events once Murphy is delivered.
About time to point out that other show exists in an alternative reality, alternative universe that is virtually exactly like our reality, only without current zombie movies from the last 50 years, how strange and yet so typical.
Season 2: Episode 7:
Is this a show or what? I’m starting to lean toward the, or what?
Worthless episode, but what are we learning?
It would appear all large population zones were hit at the same time like a wave washing over everything instantly creating the source of vast herds of zombies.
This rules out conventional means of distributing diseases as sending the infected as carriers is impossible when instant as is most rapid dispersal methods such as exploding canisters more likely to kill the bugs then free them.
In any regard it appears the rural areas lucked out, those with a cabin in the woods received a zombie free pass.
Season 2: Episode 6:
A real hodge podge episode. Where are we, how did we get here? Last scene they were driving, now running in the road, what happened?
The Lincoln bus is interesting. Suggests the zombie plague came without warning, turned people instantly, no going to bed feeling a little strange. They all must have turned at once, no biting and they just sat there until Doc showed up.
Shandra was still human, zombies don’t speak or at least not beyond saying, “brains”.
Do not understand what made Lucy’s new parents want her after the first rejection. OK maybe Murphy bit them, (turns out he did) if so why are they acting so different from Shandra who was not a happy zombish human hybrid. Resolution on my TV wouldn’t allow me to see if that was a bite mark on new mom’s face (it was).
Season 2: Episode 5:
Third try wasn’t the charm. Murphy’s mutant power over zombies doesn’t work often enough to waste time better spent running away.
And the writers killed off pie girl. How are they going to feed the baby?!!! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!
Season 2: Episode 4:
Another BS fest, story line is not advanced, we learn nothing or I’ll be damned if I know what we learned.
The writers gave Murphy super z powers and the writers take them away, for a second time in a row.
Can anyone explain how a zombie head finds the wind to speak, unless the rest of the zombie was under the counter? If Wolfen (1981) taught us anything, detached heads may move their lips, but cannot vocalize. Can not recall any time z nation zombies went for brains, so why would this thing’s first word be, “brains”. Granted it is funny as a homage to past brain eating zombie flicks.
And bazooka boy now identified as Mr. Scorpion psychopath nut case. Would have liked to be a fly on the wall for his report . . .
“Hi boss, I’m back”
“Hey Escorpion, how was your trip, did you get the goods?”
“Sure did, though I had to kill our chemist and burn the place down.”
“How’s that?!”
“He insulted me by not following my orders not to look for batch 47. Couldn’t leave that go unchallenged.”
“You idiot, you destroyed our sole source of z weed!!! Henchmen take Mr. Escorpion here out back and . . .”
On the plus side the special effects were better then usual, the weed zombies of high quality and a few more items were colorized then usual. This show would have been state of the art around 1962 when the color TVs started coming out.
How less concentrated z weed 47 leaf will do anything for the little girl beyond making her a superior zombie remains to be seen, if ever.
Murphy’s pie girl, hope it’s not a belly buster scene reprized from Alien(s). See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!
Season 2: Episode 3:
Another black and white episode. Teased us like they were going to add a pretty girl to the cast, didn’t happen.
So apparently it is fine to have a big firefight, kill a bunch of people, then those who are left all become great friends, sorry about that we’re good now.
Mad Max road warrior fast radioactive zombies that won’t obey Murf’s mystery power, whatever everyone ends up dead. Next week zombie weed and herbal cure, how much worse can it be then the Viagra zombies?
Season 2 Episode 2:
No explanations given no explanations needed. People are worse then zombies, never forget.
Is this show in color or filmed in Black and White with a few items colorized later? All my memories of the episode are in B&W.
How much punishment can Doc take?
How much punishment can the viewers take?
Bazooka boy: Weapon reveals your position to everyone. Should attract zombies from blocks away. Single shot.
Recall it used to cost a fortune to rent a hand held rocket launcher prop for a show like when they used one on Buffy. That one you could slow and watch the rocket travel to the target. Either the price went way down or these are just flash at one end boom at the other with no actual connection between the two.
At the end we’re shown a drop of blood on bazooka boy’s wrist, where did it come from, what does it mean?
Lost one, no loss, gained one, OK viewers win on this trade.
How long do car batteries keep a charge to start right up on the first try, how long is untreated gas good for? Just wondering how much longer our fearless zombie hunters will be able to jump into dust coated vehicles and drive off?
Season 2: Episode 1:
Q. “Is that snow?” A. “No it’s radioactive ash.” left unsaid, ” … and we’re all the walking dead with about ten days left before radiation sickness does us in.”
Tactical nukes that kill no one, that’s a surprise. Except for the casual mention Murphy killed millions, really there’s that many people left within the strike zones, much like when I claim I’ve saved millions of lives, in video games.
Citizen Z, there’s no doors in that base? Who woulda thunk.
Zombies seem faster this year, kind of detracts from the grossness of the slow mo attacks when it’s all over in seconds.
Well at least it wasn’t all a dream.
Episode Thirteen:
Looks like our heroes were paid a visit from the script doctor who added a back story and evil doctor to flesh out the show’s history a little.
As usual we’re left to guess why the facility wasn’t secure, how some zombies got out of containment . . .
And now atomic missiles are headed for everyone, can we be that lucky? Stay tuned as Z-Nation has been given a second season starting Sept 11th.
Episode Twelve:
National Guard Girl: Pop Pop I’m outta ammo. Gun Nut Boy: Pop Pop I’m out too. Grab golf clubs and bop zombies. Really? Who doesn’t keep their guns loaded to the max in a zombie apocalypse with spare clips and more. Didn’t Chester’s place supposedly have everything they needed? Didn’t they embark on the chase of Murphy’s kidnappers with no fresh source of ammo yet arrive at the truck alarm zombie battle loaded for bear?
Next we’re supposed to believe zombies can be drug addicts, that they would have an interest beyond biting to have the mental where-with-all to experiment with drugs, maybe the writer was on drugs.
And we’re supposed to believe vehicles that have been sitting years will start right up and go. What’s the odds of that?
Sure, it’s just a show. Show on a budget, lazy writers can’t have forty zombies or more destroyed before running out of ammo in order to go melee so characters arrive on scene with only two bullets in their guns.
Episode Eleven:
Someone please tell me this was the episode where family of cast and crew get to be on the show in a crowd scene. I for one would have preferred to lean more about Chester’s story then the Amazon Women from the Moon crowd. Kids on the road, good start, all down hill from there. Zombie bear, worst fake monster ever on the level of a space zombie with ping pong ball halves for eyes with pupils drawn on with marker. If this story is a one-off then it’s a stinker except for getting rid of two annoying characters. Could be saved if revisited by the group, not handled like a spinoff for the Bobbsey twins such as the multiple dreams episode pile.
Episode Ten:
Fairly good episode with an attractive set and props. Hard to tell if the radioactive zombies were actors or CGI. Hey, careful opening that door, there might be a zombie behind it! O.M.G. there was a zombie, rinse and repeat. Not going to question the science, reactor or silo, it’s a show after all.
Episode Nine:
It was all a dream, again! Who makes two “it was all a dream” episodes back to back? That’s viewer abuse! Nasty trick, the dream excuse explains all the holes in the script. Is this going the route of original Star Trek where they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay good sci-fi writers so they hired anyone who then ported the cast into their passion, earth’s past, Rome, a Western, etc. Z nation has managed to create a cast of purely ancillary characters.
Episode Eight:
It was all a dream, Murphy continues to be the only character of interest as he continues to do what’s best for the overall good, motivations suspect. Usual stupid stuff, dealing with zombies for years, yet armed with only a kitchen knife and leaves the door unlocked, makes sense, not.
Episode Seven:
Really? What? Really REALLY? You’re kidding this is a show? Total of entries is worth less then the prize? Everyone shoots at once. Magical bullets? Another long pointless speech, followed by Michonne Clone battles zombie swarm, but everyone who matters gets away okay, really? Hey Asylum see if Dead Season Twitter gal is still looking good and needs work. Are we having fun yet?
Episode Six:
Great episode, too bad it was at the senseless cost of a compelling character that will be sorely missed. What are the odds money was involved? On the plus side Murphy grew a set. On the negative, more of the same old flashbacks and another long pointless rambling talk to run out the clock at the end.
One general question hangs out there. How do zombies recognize fresh new zombies? Somehow these brain dead creatures come to know the moment their victim turns and halt their attack. Perhaps the virus communicates on some primitive instinctive level like a hive/herd mind?
Episode Five:
Show opens with our zombie fighters in a quasi secure location in a small house with a low chain link fence they have electrified. This zombie stunner allows easy broom stick mercy without gun shots, etc.
Of course this can never last, the generator cuts out which attracts fresh zombies to swarm toward the house. Out Out Everyone Out the back, so why did they leave the front door open? It does allow the scene ending with the first zombie receiving mercy. It is a poor strategy to hold back to dispose of a few zombies as that will not make any difference to the rest of the swarm. Get away from there as far and as fast as you can.
Zombie clusters on the hillside, computer placed five more times on the hillside, same wacky zombie on the right, just outside of each group gives it away.
Don’t know about you, I find it strange those firemen were in full dress for fire fighting when they all became zombified and locked away in whatever area that door fronted. Also strange we again had, Are you ready, pop pop pop pop I’m out of ammo, I am too. 2nd time we’ve had this excuse to switch into melee mode.
Roberta Warren|Kellita Smith sits in a chair while the whole house disintegrates into flying shards around her, ending with her under the chair without a visible scratch instead of being a zombie pin cushion. Are we supposed to believe that was her husband’s ghost shielding her? Weird.
And the show ends with the team abandoning the first almost good looking girl, part of a totally defenseless couple, without weapons, transport, recovering from brain surgery, because they may have family in the area? And we’re treated to a final zombie fireman, was he Roberta’s husband, was he alive when they arrived, the fireman who sent the couple to the house and later killed or long term zombie, who knows?
Oh and Murphy|Keith Allan shaves his head and beard, we’re supposed to think it’s because he’s crazy, I think it’s because viewers confuse him in action scenes with Charles Garnett|Tom Everett Scott. Better luck next week.
Episode Four:
How did the family that kills together end up on the road being eaten by zombies? On the editing floor or just another script writer brain fart?
It would appear ZNation zombies don’t require a brain shot to put down. A hit with a 45 will knock a man off his feet, yet our hero’s empty their magazines into two zombies until running out of ammo, go figure.
Nice example of The Asylum doing their long meaningless talk segment to run out the clock.
Have to wonder how that total ruin of a chopper ever got on a roof in the first place . . .
Guess we have to assume they resupplied despite lack of evidence. Old man Doc did a nice imitation of when Daryl got shot at for looking like a zombie. Strange how much better he got after being shot.
This show can only get better, eh?
Zombie Town (Syfy Channel)
This will be the only report on Zombie Town. Horrible is a kind description of a group of misfits that have wasted six years trying to make a zombie movie they should have finished within 30 days. While some of the actual movie snippets showed promise, the actual show about making a movie is so bad I turned it off 45 minutes into it, unable to stand a minute more. Rated four skunks.
Episode Three:
They gotta be kidding ! What’s next, vampires? Oh that’s right, preview scenes show Amish zombies, maybe vampires next week.
B&W again for the most part. Not fun, not funny, not scary, a little gross, the zombies are more of a nuisance. If you can only eat living meat, what was cooking on the grill? What kind of people live in a zombified world, who can live anywhere they want, and don’t even have a door? They did have a gate, no door. Oh well . . .
Episode Two:
They might as well have shot it in B&W Gray Scale and added the explosion in editing.
Action a little better.
Characters still unappealing.
Wheel-well gag was original and funny.
Looks like we’re locked into the crazy guy for the life of the show, bummer.
Season 1 Episode 1
Ten minutes into ZNation I’m thinking, this looks like something The Asylum would make, when will John Saxon appear? And it turns out The Asylum is responsible! Now don’t get me wrong, The Asylum is 100% better then they were ten years ago, especially when they have some money to work with. Even so they failed to pull it off.
When you don’t have a decent budget to work with, you don’t say, “I have no working capital so I have to make a movie that looks low budget.” You say, “How can I find ways to make this show look big budget?” Too bad for us Z Nation looks very low budget.
I don’t know about you. For me my favorite part of zombie movies is the road to hell. The portion I’d like to linger on is the transition from perfectly normal to when it totally hits the fan. Examples are Dawn of the Dead and Resident Evil Apocalypse. Next I enjoy the downfall of the secure location where planning for the future didn’t plan for this.
In ZNation the road to hell is disposed of under the credits. The secure locations are soon gone and within minutes we’re running around in the woods, back alleys and junk yards, like most Asylum pictures spend their time when not wasting ours with long pointless speeches. No building tension, just people yelling at each other.
World War Z went with a fast conversion to zombie which went well with the first half of the movie before it ran out of gas in the lab. The trouble with fast turns is we lose the drama of the slow turn taking the person over.
The Asylum does stay true to form, their form that is, by having a second location that is little more then a broom closet with electronics and one or two people who act as if some kind of command center giving orders or advice.
With Z Nation being three years into the apocalypse we lose the joy of news reports from saying it’s a hoax to the station being overrun.
ZNation is supposed to make zombies fun again, at least that’s what one article said. How many zombies will they have to hit with a hammer before it becomes fun? Maybe when the hammer gets stuck in a zombie skull and hammer guy gets eaten, that might be fun.
Frankly I didn’t find any of the characters appealing, which is a good thing considering how many have been killed off so far including the only apparently real actor Mark Hammond|Harold Perrineau who was likely being paid in cash money instead of acting class credits.
Will I watch next week? Sure, have to get my dose of zombies one way or the other during the down time between seasons of the Walking Dead.
