Z Nation (Syfy) [** Spoilers **]

Agent Coulson

Zombie is the new Vampire.

mafaa

bluesfan

From the trailer it looks like a cheap Walking Dead knock off, but I live in hope.

expectationlost

mix between walking dead and zombieland

mafaa

"Z Nation" debuts on Friday, Sept. 12

mafaa

[url=hhttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/syfys-z-nation-walking-dead-726297]Syfy's 'Z Nation' vs. 'The Walking Dead': The Same or Different?[/url]

Agent Coulson

So interesting fact this series is being made by The Asylum film studios the kings of the title rip off Mockbuster B-Movies.

mafaa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS49gH-NBtk

mafaa

Z Nation: Five Season Plan Revealed, End Game Mapped Out

As cheap as the show looks, at least they went out and hired directors who know how to make the most of a small budget. The fantastic John Hyams is directing four episodes, Luis Prieto who helmed the visually gorgeous Pusher remake is doing two and then there's a few old hands at network TV aswell as a few less than impressive The Asylum regulars. I'm wondering if the series is a sequel to The Asylum's atrocious Rise of the Zombies and Zombie Apocalypse, two of the most inept and bland horror films you are likely to see.

Here's what John Hyams can do with a tiny budget, the man knows how to stretch what wouldn't cover the catering on a blockbuster to truly impressive levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQOiI7nM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3N6PY8IvPo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZfwupXfNA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7AEF7VCJLc

Mr E

Holy smokes, this was actually GREAT!

Lighter in tone than TWD, but the zombies are a much bigger threat (they can run). The last 10 minutes (

zombie baby!

) were a bit cheesy, but good fun... Didn't expect

the death

at the end either.

Pleasantly surprised!

Skerries

to quote one of the cast about how I feel about this "blaaaaargh!"

Agent Coulson

A really fun pilot episode it doesn't take itself too seriously and the smaller budget compared to TWD may also serve it well in the long term cheap and nasty just like it would be in a post-apocalyptic world.

Syfy knows its audience on a Friday night will be teenage boys at home and thats what they are aiming for not high brow just fun blood and gross deaths.

CastorTroy

Ah crap. I actually enjoyed that. Was trying to cut down on shows coming into the new season but just decided to check out the pilot and it was good.

Hmm, what ex cop and group did he meet at a prison. Strange hearing them being called zombies instead of names like walkers.

Considering it's from the Asylum most would assume that Z Nation was little more than a Z grade The Walking Dead rip off. After all we're talking about the studio who gave the world Snakes on a Train, Transmorphers and dozens of other no budget mockbusters which can most kindly be called watchable trash. Surprisingly, Z Nation manages to defy expectation and offer something a little different.

Unlike the Walking Dead, Z Nation starts with a bang and never lets up. Unlike it's ABC counterpart, survival play second fiddle to saving the entire world and thanks to a much lower budget Z Nation has a gritty, realistic touch that helps sell it. Visually the pilot looks good, there's some inventive and kinetic camera work in play thanks in no small part to the fact that John Hyams is orchestrating the mayhem but even his firm hand can't hide the the cheap visual effects. Thankfully though the majority of FX works is practical and the zombies all look rather excellent. The decision to have fast moving zombies isn't new but it does give the creatures a sense of terror and danger that The Walking Dead rarely manges. Slow moving zombies are all well and good but more often than not it's hard to get the pulse pounding when your zombies wouldn't win a race against a granny using a zimmerframe.

Characterizations here are directly out of screenwriting cliches 101. There's the gruff army guy, the put upon heroes, the criminal, the zany long haired hippie, the young guns and the kick ass black bad ass who'd sooner shoot you than ask questions. All in all it's a pretty generic bunch and while the dialogue is a little ham fisted and familiar the cast do a fine job with it. That they actually feel like real people is bonus and what's even more enjoyable is the fact that they're likeable. Tom Evertt Scott delivers the best performance as the leader with a concise and reminds us all that he's one of those actors we really should see more of. DJ Qualls turns up and dials the crazy up to 11, his episode ending speech is bizarre and I'd like to see his character get more demented as the series progresses. Being stuck in the Arctic on your own for a year must cause serious psychological affects so hopefully the writers will delve into them a little.

We've only seen 43 minutes thus far but based on them things are lookiong good for Z Nation. The decision to cast over actors instead of Z list celebrities is one that pays off and hopefully something The Asylum will consider in future endeavors. The show is the kind of schlocky B movie nonsense that goes down a treat on a slow Friday night. It's not trying to be big or clever, or ask serious philosophical questions. No all it's concerned with is having a little fun and the zombaby scene is one of the most ridiculously sublime you are every likely to see.

ziggyman17

any UK dates yet???

Gummy Panda

god its awful!!

Mr E

Looks like a marmite show... love it or hate it - no middle ground!

expectationlost

being a zombie some how makes babies smarter and the prisoner stupider

terryduff12

Was impressed with it considering the dribble that Walking Dead has turned in to. For the asylum and SyFy to have done this together shocked only problem most likely Syfy will cancel it or make a hash of it.

TerrorFirmer

Now I thought the Walking Dead had gotten bad but this really was pretty terrible.

Against it, it's typical Asylum fare, so if you've seen any of their movies, you know what to expect - sub-par acting, terrible dialogue, brutal CGI effects, mediocre editing and continuity all over the shop.

In favor of it, it's close enough to the Walking Dead for practical effects, which is commendable enough for such a low budget feature. If you're a gore hound, it's pretty good in that regard. The Asylum have made a zombie movie before, 'Rise of the Zombies', it was in every sense a pretty bad movie but it did have some quality gore in it which has carried over here - that seems to be the only saving grace of this show so far because it is incredibly sub-par in every aspect in my opinion.

The worst thing about it is definitely the scripting, which is just appalling - distinct lack of talent there, which might survive and even thrive amongst their usual fare of b-grade schlok, but a TV show that expects to draw you in and hold your interest every week requires a lot more effort.

Still, it's watchable. But don't be expecting a viable challenger to the Walking Dead - as much as I'm on the fence about TWD myself, I would consider the pilot of z-nation as having just scraped by.

Will watch it next week and see what's what.

red dave

I thought it was a good laugh. So in that regards I'm liking it.

The baby zombie was hilarious.

More of the same for me. It gives exactly what it promises which is a low budget zombie tv show. Nothing more and nothing less. I was more satisfied with that episode than the entire second season of The Walking Dead. My one disappointment in this episode was the death of

Harold Perrineau (Hammond). From the previews and promo material I thought he was going to be a season regular, unfortunately he's just in the one episode.

And what a way to go out

squonk

I was quite impressed! I wasn't expecting an awful lot to be honest but it got going straight away and kept the momentum up. I had a few worries watching it. First off the discovery of the baby. I ended up thinking to myself that Zombie shows and babies aren't a good combination. i.e. I wasn't too interested in a show where they tried to protect a baby and mankind's cure for Zombie-it is at the same time. I had a mad thought that maybe it'd turn out a zombie baby and, lo and behold, that's what happened.

I'm far more concerned about the demise of Harold Perrineau. He was shaping up as a great lead and set a great tone for the show. Once he did, half the cumulative acting ability of the cast died with him. Now he's gone I'm a bit less interested in watching the continuing adventures of the remaining cast.

Still, lots of gore and the zombie baby was both creepy and funny at the same time. It really was a stupid idea going back to kill the baby!

Agent Coulson

Enjoyed episode 2 as well the zombie caught in the wheel base was funny after they were driving over them.

Cheap badly acted badly written and lots of gory fun.

Episode two was more of the same only with the characters acting a bit dumber. The whole abandoning the truck moment was a bit head scratching, why one of them didn't hop in and drive it off was just odd. It felt like the writers desperately wanted something to go boom so worked the tanker in and then decided that the best thing to do was have the characters ignore it.

One thing that the show is excelling at is portraying a more realistic look, the Walking Dead looks good but that's one of it's problems. Everything looks far too nice whereas in Z Nation everything is grubby and dank, it helps sell the whole Zombie apocalypse quite nicely. Once again the direction healed elevate this weeks episode out of the gutter, John Hyams knows how to shoot action and he does a fantastic job of covering up the fact that each episode of Z Nation costs around $700,000. He knows how to paper over the shortcomings and I hope that the non Hyams episodes work as well.

Watching Z Nation and it's never going to be a show that people rave about, it's dumb fun more concerned with spilling blood in fun ways than it is in exploring any deep themes or issues. And you know what, that's not necessarily a bad thing. On a lazy Saturday evening there's a lot worse you could throw on. Z Nation is disposable junk food that entertains while it lasts but is quickly forgotten, it's dumb, the acting is pretty poor, the tiny budget obvious and the writing leaves a lot to be desired yet it still manages to be good fun.

touts

It is awful. Bad script. Bad acting. Bad effects.

But I think that's what they were aiming for. It's like one of those really corny movies on Syfy. There is clearly a market for this so bad it's good stuff and it will attract a loyal following but it's not for me.

expectationlost

the whole episode was designed to see lots of burning zombies and a big explosion and then we only say three of them and a distant explosion

smcgiff

Just watched it and unfortunately it doesn't fall into 'so bad it's good' - it's just terrible. I'm out.

duridian

Why don't they head for the CDC in Georgia? Totally unrealistic!

I must say I loved the wheel zombie. The amount of humour in this compared to TWD is kinda nice for a change.

DMcL1971

What happened? Episode one had fast zombies but episode two has slow zombies?

The fast zombies were the best thing about this show. They posed a genuine threat to everyone. There was a sense of tension because if anyone let their guard down for a second they could be killed. But now in episode two not only are they slow, but you can now just walk past them and push them out of the way safely. Whereas everyone was scared and stressed in episode one, now they wander around cracking jokes and ignoring the zombies, they only seem to bother killing them when they start to get annoyed by them.

With fast zombies it was different from and more exciting than The Walking Dead but with slow zombies it just becomes a cheaper version of it.

DMcL1971

DMcL1971 wrote: »

What happened? Episode one had fast zombies but episode two has slow zombies?

The fast zombies were the best thing about this show. They posed a genuine threat to everyone. There was a sense of tension because if anyone let their guard down for a second they could be killed. But now in episode two not only are they slow, but you can now just walk past them and push them out of the way safely. Whereas everyone was scared and stressed in episode one, now they wander around cracking jokes and ignoring the zombies, they only seem to bother killing them when they start to get annoyed by them.

With fast zombies it was different from and more exciting than The Walking Dead but with slow zombies it just becomes a cheaper version of it.

I assume that the reason for the zombies to behave so oddly was due to them being attracted to sound. It's an interesting idea that could, if handled properly open up a world of possibilities.

DMcL1971

Deleted User wrote: »

I assume that the reason for the zombies to behave so oddly was due to them being attracted to sound. It's an interesting idea that could, if handled properly open up a world of possibilities.

I hope you are right. I'll stick with it if the zombies remain fast. We'll find out next week.

duridian

Another explanation for the fast/slow could be dependent on how long since they had turned into zombies. More decayed = slower zombie.
During episode 1, when the spiked mace got its test run, they fended off a couple of fast hillbilly brother zombies. One of the Camp Blue Sky group said something about the brothers were only recently turned by the look of things. I took that as maybe having something to do with the agility of the zombies.

squonk

Not as interesting as the pilot for sure but I'll stick with it for now. If they just cop out and have slow zombies from now on then the show really will go nowhere. The premise of the show as I see it is fast scary zombies getting battered in fun ways! I don't think the show is any more complicated than that! I thought they might have fecked a few matches into the big tank with the zombies actually. The two bikers are an interesting development as well.

DMcL1971

Well this week some of the zombies are fast and some are slow. I'm still enjoying this for the brainless fun that it is. The story is full of holes but I don't care, I'm enjoying it.

There was a real 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' feeling to this weeks show. I had been eating my dinner whilst watching it and had to pause the show until I was finished.

the_syco

"Oh look, they got the kids out" lol.

The fact the Asylum made it nearly made me nearly switch it off there and then! Usual Asylum calibre of acting though. Find myself having to force myself to watch it, but jeebus that

spider baby

can move fast!

Shall give it a few episodes though to see how it goes.

CastorTroy

This week's was fun while building characters. And a bit gross.

duridian

There were elements of this week's episode that reminded me of an episode in The Walking Dead Season One video game.

red dave

I really enjoyed this weeks episode. Was good fun. Even though I was expecting it I still jumped when

the zombie appeared in the back of the car.

The scene where

cutting off skin on the dinner table

was gross.

Thumbs up for me

Agent Coulson

Another fun stupid gory bloody episode with Zombies not Walkers.

Stoned Zombie

squonk

Yeah agreed! This show is so crap it's great! Z Nation and Banshee are both great demos of how crap TV can actually be great!

red dave

A few good moments this week for sure. The family of robbers and the stoned zombie. Stoned zombie scenes were very funny. Good stuff

DMcL1971

I'm liking this more an more each week.

Far more fun than The Walking Dead.

CastorTroy

Wonder if we'll get to see 10K get his 10,000th zombie. Maybe have him killing loads between episodes as well.

This is a fun series. Just hope they either don't run out of ideas or finish voluntarily before they do. Citizen Z is already getting kinda pointless outside of telling them where to go.

Think only questions I have that I pretty much choose to ignore for this series is where do they get all the ammo and where do they get all the fuel?

Also similar to Walking Dead, they seem to have no problem getting covered in zombie parts or blood which clearly sometimes goes in their mouth yet doesn't kill them.

squonk

I thought the point with this show though was that everybody has the Z virus. If you get a heart attack and die you mutate into a zombie. The reason you become a zombie when the Z's attack you id that they eat you and you die anyway. I think you can get all the Z blood you like on you and you'll be OK.

Agent Coulson

Another really good episode and unexpected death..

This show knows what it is and it is doing a great job at making a fun series.

DMcL1971

This is now my favourite show on telly. Another great episode, great kills and plenty of laughs.

red dave

Fantastic episode and gutted with the death, wasn't expecting that at all. Brilliant show!

NUTZZ

SyFy renews 'Z Nation'

SyFy has renewed Z Nation for a second season, EW has confirmed.

The renewal news has come in the midst of the show’s first season, which has achieved consistent, yet middling ratings since its series premiere. In spite of the non-Walking Dead numbers, SyFy is putting its weight behind the zombie drama.
The show centers on a post-zombie apocalypse that has ravaged the United States, where a group is tasked with transporting the sole survivor of a zombie wound to a lab across the country so that his antibodies can create a vaccine to save humankind.

squonk

Proper order this renewal! The show is great! It always delivers and is very enjoyable indeed. Delighted we're getting more next year!

CastorTroy

I'm happy about the renewal but at the same time, I'm not sure. I really enjoy it but it may be better as one season and done.
They do seem to be going through all scenarios and could be out of ideas by the end of the season. Cannibals, safe haven, cult all done as well as other scenarios. But hope to be proven wrong.