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

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.

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.

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.