This week's episode feels very much like a twist on the Clint Eastwood movie The Beguiled. It begins with Doc chasing down the signal he is picking up on the radio, desperate to get a hold of Citizen Z, so that he can get a message to Warren about Lucy's kidnapping. Doc manages to track the signal to a radio tower in what appears to be some sort of castle but is quickly attacked by zombies for his trouble. Doc fires his gun but gets nowhere because the zombies have been bedazzled which just happens to act is effective armour. Yes, bedazzled zombies. Fortunately for Doc, it seems that zombies are more interested in pestering him than eating him.
Doc passes out and when he awakes he finds himself in a comfortable bed, surrounded by three women. Sarah, Linda and Camilla decide that Doc is their guest of honour. Doc clearly is uncomfortable but decides to go with the flow of things. The women take Doc to their radio and he tries to send a message to Citizen Z, completely unaware that the radio is disconnected. When the power goes out, the women encourage Doc to spend the night and try the radio again in the morning.
The guest of honour treatment continues through the evening with Doc being fed what he believes to be vegan food which we later learn in anything but. After dinner, the ladies decide that it's time to feed their pets and that is when Doc learns that the women have taken cat lady to all new level because they have domesticated the zombies. One of the ladies has even bedazzled the zombies.
From what I've written thus far it must be clear to you that Doc's Angels is yet another filler episode. The one thing that has become true of season three is that it has absolutely become dependent upon Doc for comic relief. Z Nation has always floated back and forth between a serious treatment of zombies and glorious cheese. Some episodes have been more successful than others but this season, I think it would be fair to say that Z Nation has lost all clue of what it is or even what it intends to be. At this point, throwing in a Doc episode to hide the fact that there's no discernible plot is not working anymore. Sure, Russell Hodgkinson is fun to watch but it's too much to ask that he carry this show on his back.
Predictably, Doc ends up in bed with the three women though he acknowledges that this isn't going to end well. When Doc wakes, he hears Kaya calling out to Operation Bite Mark, causing him to rush to the transmitter hoping to make contact. It doesn't take long for Doc to realise that the wires aren't connected but before he can do anything about it, Linda enters the doorway. Doc takes off running and this is when he learns that the women have decorated their home with human hair, skin and bones. The weed they smoked the night before was somehow grown out of a dudes head and that the women are keeping male prisoners. Doc manages to free the arms of one of the prisoners and is warned to run while he can.
Doc heads back to the living room only to find the women are armed and waiting for him. It seems that now that Doc is onto them, they want him to be their latest victim. Things look bleak for Doc but the prisoners he ran into in the basement show up in time to save him. Doc makes his way back to the radio tower, locks himself in and works on the radio. Doc gets into contact with Citizen Z and asks him to pass on a message to Roberta that Lucy has been kidnapped by The Man and that he and Addie are in pursuit.
The reunion between Doc and Citizen Z is cut short when the women break down the door, forcing Doc to scurry up the ladder to the top of the antenna. The ladies get comfortable and sit for tea while Doc hangs onto the antenna. They taunt him about coming down and naturally, Doc refuses to do so. Seeing no other option, Doc kicks the support cable for the antenna loose, rocks back and forth and rides the antenna to the ground outside of the compound.
Up North, Kaya reports to Citizen Z that she's picked up a transition from The Man. Now they know where he's going with Lucy and just have to get into contact with Warren to let her know what is going on.
When next we see Doc, he's riding a bike to get back in touch with Addie. At the compound, the women put some of Doc's facial hair in an album to remember him by.
I officially want the hour I spent watching this thing back. I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am that there are only three more episodes this season. Normally, at this point in any season, as a viewer I should be excited because the show I'm watching is building to something but in this case, I think someone should take Z Nation out back and just shoot it. The show needs to be mercied and saved from itself.
