Review Guide:
Episode 1.01 Pilot - Review & Advanced Preview
Episode 1.02 Fracking Zombies - Review
Episode 1.03 Philly Feast - Review
Episode 1.04 Full Metal Zombie - Review
Episode 1.05 Home Sweet Zombie - Review
Episode 1.06 Resurrection Z - Review
Episode 1.07 Welcome to the FU-Bar - Review
Episode 1.08 Zunami - Review
Episode 1.09 Die Zombie Die...Again - Review
Episode 1.10 Going Nuclear Review
Episode 1.11 Sisters of Mercy Review
Episode 1.12 Murphy's Law - Review
Z Nation - Pilot - Advance Preview
Z Nation, three years have passed since the zombie virus gutted the country, and a team of everyday heroes must transport the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab waits for his blood. Although, the antibodies he carries are the world’s last and best hope for a vaccine, he hides a dark secret that threatens them all. With humankind’s survival at stake, the ragtag band embarks on a journey of survival across three thousand miles of rusted-out post-apocalyptic America.
Syfy wants to try and grab the attention of The Walking Dead fans by airing their own brand of Zombie television with Z Nation. I could sit here and talk about how much I loved it, but in all honesty it wasn't good. Firstly, you get thrown right into the apocalypse except that there is still functioning electronics and cars don't seem hard to come by. Characters use guns constantly instead of the silent weapons like a spiked bat, which are more effective and don't draw the zombies. The characters seem idiotic and it feels like when watching them together as a group it feels like it's an every man for himself scenario.
The Zombies in Z Nation seem to come out of nowhere, even when the survivors are not making any noise whatsoever. It felt a little unrealistic, especially when most of the time nobody was making a sound with any weapons, then suddenly a zombie swarm would pop up. Also, I found it funny how bullets are hard to come by, but some characters decided to spray down a zombie instead of burst firing their guns and at one point in the episode our characters were still shooting a zombie after they had already shot it in the head. They all seemed to have unlimited ammo since no one ever reloaded or changed their magazines, which just made the show look cheap and unrealistic.
I can already see a relationship forming between two of our lead characters. If it's anything like Maggie and Glenn from The Walking Dead where that takes center stage with scenes between them two it might end up becoming irritating to watch.
I am probably being a bit harsh on the show as there are many things the show has going for it, such as some of the characters are pretty interesting to watch and there was occasional dialogue that did make me laugh. The story does seem intriguing enough to make me continue watching to see if they complete their mission, I just hope I can overlook the negatives and the show will gradually grow on me over time.
The zombies also looked believable enough with their ripped of flesh faces. The backgrounds where the scenes took place all looked nicely set up and did give off the vibe that it was an apocalyptic world and that everything was deserted. The dialog between characters was nicely written, however, it was a bit cheesy at times. The things they were saying made sense, they wasn't just talking total rubbish, however at some points in the pilot some scenes were hard to believe with characters listening to perfect strangers and following their every command, instead of doing what they wanted to do. I do kind of expect pilots to be everywhere as it is just putting its feet on the ground so I can only hope that the second episode turns out be much better, Z Nation wasn't the worst pilot I've seen this year, but it's far from the best.
Summary
While I get what the show is trying to do, it just feels beyond unrealistic most of the time. The show tries to create something different from what we have seen before, but the damaging anti-realism of the show and the severe foolishness of some characters left much to be desired. I'm still going to continuing watching it regardless of what I said, as I love Zombie themed shows. I just felt it wasn't as good as others, such as The Walking Dead and Helix, although given time I am sure that it will be.7/10
As always thank you for reading! Check back September 13th for a full review of episode 1!
