The gang has found a nice quiet house in Southern
Illinois and everyone is being disturbingly or domestic (with edgy elements –
betting on prescription pills). All is peaceful but Citizen Z comes on the
radio to warm about incoming storms.
Of course the peaceful domesticity is just a shallow skim
– the house is protected by an electric fence which Warren flips zombies off
and when Mac and Addy look for a bed they have to skip over a room full of
corpses (and that, for people on the run, being fully naked to have sex is
actually a novelty).
Points to the side snark as well – Garnett (referring to
Mac and Addy) “I can’t remember the last time I snuck off with someone.” Warren
“I can’t remember the last time I wanted to.” Which I translate as “hell no,
don’t even think about it. Not going to happen.” They think of the past, their
lost families and Garnett suggests they drop by Warren’s home town on the way –
but she doesn’t see the point, everything there (including Antoine her ex) is
gone. She never got to say goodbye
before she left with the National Guard.
Addy also has some flashback angst as the storm gets closer (we have the jewellery triggering a memory cliché). And the storm knocks out the electric fence. Time to run and fight and make dramatic one liners
Citizen Z is drunk and even more random than usual –
reporting that a huge Tornado is on the way. His warning is heard by multiple
survivor groups (he seems to have a following).
The group argues about what to do (Warren – ignoring “some
punk with a satellite”? Seriously? What nonsense is this?). Eventually with the
storm rolling in they have no choice but to shelter in Warren’s home town (that’s
some horrible abuse of Chekov’s gun right there).
Warren sees the memory wall that has been put up, pictures
and messages about missing people, or people looking for lost family; she sees
a lot of people she knew including Antoine, still waiting for her. Murphy is,
predictably, unpleasant about it.
They make it to Warren’s house (it has a storm cellar)
and Murphy continues to be a horrible person while Warren deals with sudden
powerful memories. They find someone else has also taken shelter there – a woman
and a badly injured man, sent by a fireman who may be Antoine. Murphy continues
to be a terrible person. Most of the gang goes for supplies before the storm
hits – leaving a few behind (and instructions to Mac to watch the wounded guy
in case he turns).
Addy continues to have flash backs. And so does Murphy –
only Murphy’s come with his teeth changing colour and maybe his eyes – and his
hair falling out. Maybe the serum only delayed the effect of the zombie bites?
While Warren takes Garnett on a trip down memory lane.
Seriously describing her first kiss while they kill zombies. They grab supplies
at the fire department but don’t find anyone there – though they do find
Antoine’s locker, complete with a letter Warren sent from the battle of New
Jersey (presumably zombie war). Touching moment interrupted by ZOMBIE FIREMEN!
They’re wearing helmets which complicates things a bit. They kill the zombies –
alas including Antoine’s best friend a second before Garnett puts an axe
through his head.
Back at the house, Murphy is confused and has lost all
his hair – and Doc decides to heal the concussed guy by drilling into his
skull. Yes with a drill. An electric drill. And it’s awful, so very very awful.
It is now time for the Zomnado. Yes yes it is. We knew it
was coming. The gang gathers in Warren’s house except 10k and Cassandra – and Warren
gets out her wedding album and wedding ring and sits reading the album –
blocking the door to the storm cellar, not letting the others out or going to
safety herself. This looks like a kind of passive suicide, he refusing to seek
safety even as Garnett yells at her from the cellar.
A zombie is blasted into the storm cellar and they leave Murphy to deal with it – he pokes it, seeming to commune with it until Mac loses patience and stabs it – Murphy looks tearful as he says “mercy”. He even hugs its body for comfort when the storm hits
Cassandra and 10k shelter in a car during the story,
Cassandra panicking and grabbing 10k’s leg (which seems to be his primary
concern – at least before the car ends up on it’s roof).
The storm hits, doing lots of damage to the house –
through it we see a man in a fireman’s uniform emerge and hold Warren who says “I
waited for you.”
In the aftermath, Garnett leaves the cellar and finds the
house destroyed – he finds Warren under her turned over chair. She’s alive –
and apparently unharmed (I’m shocked, I was so expecting her to be dead). After
Garnett Addy joins in hugging Warren. Even guy who got his head drilled is
alive. Doc even raids his stash of morphine and gives it up to him to help with
the pain; they don’t join the group though.
Warren tells Garnett that she’s basically had some
closure from the whole experience and they head off – in a fire engine (which
may be the worst choice for a vehicle).
Ok… that was unexpected. When I heard that this was going
to be the zom-nado episode I expected the worst – or most typical –of Z-Nation.
I expected cheese. I expected the ridiculous. I expected the silly
And we didn’t get it. Not even a little. Murphy has
pretty much opened a whole new possible plot line and was sold with some real
disturbing conflict. Doc actually did a great job of stepping up and being an
actual medic even while confused. Warren threw her all at the emotion, pain and
loss of this episode with Garnett also backing it up. It was rather excellent –
ok, they’re not the best actors in the world still, but they had a good un up
at this one.
I also liked that we got to see Warren be emotional and
vulnerable and hurting and desperately sad – since we’ve seen her be strong and
tough and angry a lot.
I also was impressed by the casual acceptance of trauma on the show. Addy is clearly having issues and she explains to Mac “zombies” and he understands – and gives her space and concern and support. “Zombies” is the only explanation because they’ve all been there and rather than saying “suck it up and deal” they make room for people having these problems. The same with Warren, when Addy and Garnett found her alive, they weren’t angry or outraged or shocked; Garnett even accepts that she doesn’t want to come into the cellar and accepts her right to choose to end it if she does. Instead, they’re releaved, happy – and understanding. Trauma and the effects of trauma are normalised for them and they all make room for that – without
Of course, that clashes badly with the general treatment of Murphy and shows that HIS trauma, in particular, is considered part and parcel of his “worst man in the world” shtick.
That all leaves me a little curious as to where this is
going. Up until now I’ve said that Z
Nation has cast itself as almost the anti-Walking Dead it was a show that didn’t really do emotional drama.
It was silly. It had shoddy continuity. And it was fun – very very very fun in
a I-can’t-believe-I’m-watching-it kind of way. It had zombies and gore and
action and zom-nado’s and zombie babies and weird generals who think they’re
directing an army and stones zombies… it didn’t have angst or moping or
introspection or moral choices.
So where do we go from here? And how well can the angst
and the silly be married together?
