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!
Thanks for this. I'm gonna check it out to see what's up. Looking forward to the full review!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome. The show is worth watching , I am going to re watch to see if I like it a lot more the second time round fingers crossed I do. I think once a few episodes roll out I will forget all about the negative things about the show and overlook them as The Walking Dead didn't start out too great and I now love that.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter I'm going to watch it.
ReplyDeleteIt fits my More stuff to watch = Win Win for me Category.
I am still going to continuing watching it regardless of what I said , as I love Zombie themed things. I just felt it wasn't as good as others , although given time I am sure that it will be just as good as others or maybe better.
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't like more shows to watch. Do you know yet which shows your going to be watching yet (new shows)? or are you literally going to try everything out like I am?
Yea when the new season starts or any other time new shows come, I pretty much Watch all the shows.
ReplyDeleteJust a few I don't watch which are genre dealing with based on a true story(mainly Movies), and recent history stuff like Mad Men, or The Americans.
Yeah I don't watch things like that either. I tried The Americans , but couldn't get into it.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Gracepoint , Forever and The Flash three of the best pilots I have seen in years!
Haven't seen Gracepoint, but sounds good, the other 2 will be part of my favorite watches I saw the other 2 pilots I liked them both a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I'm looking forward to seeing this. Pilots can be a bit off. Many times we see the second ep and think it was so much better than the pilot. So, I'd say give a bit of time.
ReplyDeleteThe American got better , l watched the first two episodes stopped and eventually started watching season 2 and l was hooked . A lot of the characters had interesting stuff going on even the kids .
ReplyDeleteIGN gave the season a 9/10 which l think is well deserved.
I gave up after 3 episodes in season 1 , I may start watching it again if there is nothing else on. It is good to know that IGN approve of the series as most of the time they nitpick at things.
ReplyDeleteIts not that I would not like The Americans, its premise even sounds good the bio. its just fits a niche of mine of seeing no point in watching something of resent History, Based on a True story(for Movies), and some spin offs. I sometimes pick up series that fit in that area, if there is a alternate universe setting in it. Tho this is true for every show, it has to be drastically noticeable for my niche group.
ReplyDeleteits like not watching scary movies, not because they are not good, but because you know you would get scared shitless when you do watch it.
Your welcome! Completly agree , that is what I plan to do. Most pilots are all over the place and like you said by episode 2 the show starts to build and improve which I am sure will be the same with this.
ReplyDeleteNice preview. Interesting that you mention those issues - I've noticed those issues on TWD in recent times. Am gonna check this out.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I do too with The Walking Dead. I hope this show becomes a bit more realistic which would improve my opinion on the show greatly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this review. I was thinking about watching this because I can't stand The Walking Dead. This show seem flawed too but I guess I will wait until a few episodes air to see if it's just a bland rip off or if they are trying to create their own zombie apocalyptic world.
ReplyDeleteYour welcome! I wouldn't say it is a rip of The Walking Dead , they are many similarities , but also many differences. The main thing is the plot is different. It is from the producers of Sharknado , so I was expecting total rubbish effects , but they were pretty good( not as good as TWD mind you).
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know. As long as they aren't as bad as the Sharknado effects or the other Syfy movies I won't mind.
ReplyDeleteGreat preview Robert, I enjoyed reading it. I am a huge fan of Walking Dead (I think it's my favourite show right now) so I am excited to check this out. It's a shame about the flaws, and I'm going to try and watch the show without any comparison to Walking Dead and just enjoy it for what it is. It will be nice to see a different zombie show but I don't think anything will beat Walking Dead for the time being for top zombie show.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anything could be as bad as that :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a huge shame about the flaws as I am too a huge fan of The Walking Dead and was really looking forward to this one. If I am being on honest I was being very kind in my review , there were a lot more negatives and I had originally planned to give it a 4/10 , but decided to be generous and think beyond the negatives as I will be reviewing it. It wont ever beat The Walking Dead.
ReplyDeleteWow, even with the criticisms, this sounds 100x more entertaining and worth my time than The Walking Dead. Which I'll still have to sit through every Sunday since my BF/roomie is obsessed with it. Wonder if he'll like this one.
ReplyDeleteIf he likes The Walking Dead he will probably like this one even if it isn't that good. Why don't you like The Walking Dead or is it just not your type of show?
ReplyDeleteI have complex feelings on TWD. Most Sundays when it's on, I'll sit in the room and kind of watch. Parts of it I'll find fascinating, some episodes will keep me pretty interested, other times I end up playing on my phone for the majority of it. I can recognize that it's technically a good show, with solid writing and great acting, some truly sickening "horror" scenes. And I love horror, but there's just something missing. I can be entertained by it but I never feel like I *have* to watch the next episode, and when I miss something I just ask my friend rather than watching it myself. TWD is the only show I'm like this with that I can think of, usually if I don't get really into a show I abandon it altogether but this one I have just enough interest to kind of check in here and there.
ReplyDeleteI think part of it stems from the fact I've never been a huge zombie fan. I love all things sci-fi/fantasy but zombies I've never loved too much, unless they're used briefly as a plot in a story that's not centered around them. The exceptions to the rule are all basically the anti-Walking Dead or have non-dead zombies... World War Z, Warm Bodies, 28 Days Later...also looking forward to iZombie.
Plus for some reason, because of the fact that TWD is supposed to be set in the "real world" and nothing can be explained away with something supernatural, it bugs me to no end when they have zombies that are so decomposed that they could not possibly have a brain or any fluid in their bodies to keep them "undead" and it's hard for me to accept that the zombies they encounter could continue existing after their brain has totally rotted away. Wouldn't be so much if an issue if the show didn't try so hard to be gritty and realistic (sans zombies), but Z Nation at least, looks like it knows how ridiculous it's concept is and is gonna have *fun* with it. So I'll definitely watch the pilot :)
Hopefully that's not too much word vomit but I'm trying to type in between taking calls at work. :)
I do understand what you mean , if they have no fluid in there bodies they shouldn't be existing , but I suppose the writers probably dont think much of it , like you have and just think about when somebody dies , they return as a zombie without considering the possibilities you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThe Walking Dead can be very unrealistic at times , not sure if have noticed that squeaky clean Hyundai car they drive around in?
Z Nation looks to be a more funnier take on zombies than The Walking Dead , so you will probably enjoy it more :)
It seems that this is the typical "syfy series": low budget, mediocre actors , mediocre story.
ReplyDeletepretty much. Although it is probably worse than your typical low budget series.
ReplyDeleteIf you fell that TWD is good, read the comic and see
ReplyDeleteyeah, the only hope of humanity, guy who has a cure in his blood, has to be transported across the continent because the last lab is there...so original scenario. And its all from syfy, a channel thad made a show about angels fighting humans more boring than the bold and the beautiful...
ReplyDeleteThe Walking Dead's new storyline is to transport a man to Washington , as he knows the cure. So Z Nations story line is literally the same as TWD. Some shows on Syfy have been good , Helix of late was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI hear they are a bit different from the show , I have been meaning to read some . Out of interest do you think the comics is better than the TV show?
ReplyDeleteI don't like preconceived notions of a new scifi worlds. It was like when Revolution started and everyone was pissed it wasn't about the apocalypse. We have to accept the world as presented to us at the beginning of any show. If that is clones exist, fine, or zombies or whatever. If there is one thing you can say for vampire canon, peeps who like it are a lot more forgiving of changes to lore than are apocalyptic fans who insist on "realism" in their apocalypses.
ReplyDeleteI liked season one and two of The Walking Dead but after that I just found it incredibly boring, I don't understand at all how it's the highest rated show on television, I guess it's just not for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to give Z Nation a try but I doubt i'll enjoy it if it's looks and feels cheap. Helix was cheap but they made it work, I don't think it will for Z Nation, at least not for me.
It's interesting that all the reviews i've read so far all give it 7/10 or seventy something percent yet when reading the review the words range from "it was horrible" to "it was great".
The show doesn't need to be 100% realistic , just realistic enough to make it not look stupid.
ReplyDeleteI was actually going to give it a 4/10 in my draft , but changed it as it could eventually pick up + plus I don't like to give to harsh of a score for a pilot as most pilots are often all over the place.
ReplyDeleteThe Walking Dead has gone downhill from season 2 , season 3 especially was extremely boring. I too don't understand why it is so highly rated , and gets like 16 million views on premiere of the new season when a show like Game of thrones only gets like 7 million an episode. Same with QUAT , that is much better than The Walking Dead and receives a lot less viewers. Maybe its because it is about Zombies or the "end of the world scenario".
It is still based on zombies though, right? And we can all agree that with a premise involving a zombie apocalypse the entire idea behind the show is 100% unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteWow 4/10 is pretty low. I tried Game of Thrones but couldn't get through the first episode even though it has everything I love about a show, I still don't know why I didn't enjoy it :P
ReplyDeleteI suppose TWD has turned into something people can discuss and talk about with almost everyone so that might be why people keep watching. I'm hoping OUAT gets a boost with the Frozen storyline coming up and Maleficent straight after it in 4B, it really sounds like it's gonna be a great season.
I havent seen the pilot so I have no idea if this might happen but maybe Z Nation will attract a Sharknado type audience, like "its so bad you have to watch it" type of thing :/ I guess we'll find out soon enough anyway.
yeah, but they dont have to go across the continent to literary the last lab...I really liked Being human, but syfy has almost all cheap and bad tv series...I've seen all helix episodes, its ok, but nothing new, a bunch of guys from some secret society or group wanna rule the world, they live forever etc, etc, there is nothing original in that show, a lot of filler scenes. Haven was pretty good, now its just repeating the same...every episode a new trouble, like procedural cop show. And I dont know why you gave me the Walking Dead example, I'm not saying that show is flawless.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't good , infact halve the writers here who got to see the screener as well thought my review was too generous. That is probably true about the "so bad , you have to watch it" audience. I could see people just watching it because of that.
ReplyDeleteI hope OUAT does well , it didn't have a great first halve last season with the whole neverland story line , which was probably the shows weakest storyline to date , but second halve of the season really picked up and was very enjoyable.
I think I am most looking forward to seeing Sydney Glass again in QUAT than anything else.
Thanks 4 your preview.
ReplyDeleteI knew that, after all, we're on SyFy so ... the "Sharknado effect" may always be playing in the background of every new SF show :-)
Your welcome! I think you could be right , this one especially feels like I am watching Sharknado except with Zombies.
ReplyDeleteQuite better! I don't watch the show anymore, I can't stand that fanfic :P
ReplyDeleteWell you won me over when you stated that it's not like the Walking Dead, which I hate because it's more about the survivors drama than terror. Let's hope Z Nation focuses on horror. I'm definitely going to give it a shot tonight.
ReplyDeleteYep I can agree with that , I was mainly referring to the unlimited ammo , and the not reloading of guns etc.
ReplyDeleteThe Walking Dead was the closest example I could thing off to Z Nation , hence why I gave it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it :)
ReplyDeleteOne word. Bloody awful. Well two words then but, oh my this was terrible. Zombie makeup? Okay but the camera doesn't like to really linger. Acting? Sorry but there's little of that to be had. Plot? See acting.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about this is the appalling dialogue. I actually laugh hard once and winced more than twice. This will never go beyond the first season, surely?
I'll be watching the next episode simply because it's kind of like watching a car crash in slow motion. The one redeeming quality they killed off after the very stupid decision to go and hunt a baby.
Kirkman, you having nothing to fear here.
I am a follower of Italian TWD I loved above all and defended to the hilt. I speak of the past because now we are really into boredom, the absolute most ridiculous and obvious in this show. Unlike you, I loved the pilot of Z nation: a few unnecessary words, a lot of action (if we are talking about people who throw away the bullets let's look at each episode TWD), zombie really dangerous (in TWD even my grandmother could make them out), make up ok (I admit that TWD is a notch on the few times that we see the zombies, of course. But how many times have I hoped that would take heed less than three zombies that make us see and more to the plot?), then if paralre of people who want to follow a leader just to make sure I would remember a governor and a certain Rick Grames more absurd than that you can not. Here at least they have the excuse of being ex-soldiers of the National Guard and then used to receiving orders and the boss is a lieutenant in the Delta Force. We then talk about the taboo breached a nenoato zombie, eating a live and is killed? Or the fact that eventually die even the main characters?
ReplyDeleteHelix does not speak because I failed to get even at the end of the third puntata.Secondo em what makes this series a good series zombie should do is see the zombies, makes them dangerous, talks little and acts much. if we are talking about realism in a zombie series sy fy, you're definitely looking at the wrong number.
I never got why they went to hunt for the baby , they should of just left it why take the risk. It is like watching a car crash , I can hope the next episode is an improvement as I would hate to see it go even more downhill from the pilot.
ReplyDelete