So a lot happened last season with zona and murphy’s little city and infection and cure and Warren maybe with Murphy disease and 10k shot up with we-don’t even know what and all kinds of things and shenanigans. Honestly the whole of season 3 was a hot mess of chaos - the mix of the main plot line of Zona and Murphy interspaced with sheer random hijinks nonsense. Far too much nonsense. So much nonsense.
I’ll be honest, I found it tiresome. And this first episode of season 4 gives me some hope that they’re trying to put together some kind of coherence for this season
Warren is having some super ominous, burny volcanic dreams: which is all worrisome. Until she wakes up, in a cocoon with a blonde wig and a whole lot of confusion. She nearly kills a small child before having more ominous visions and she collapses again
She wakes up again with Murphy leaning over her. Only he looks human - he’s cured, no longer blue and generally being bright and happy. They’re in Zona, the rich people refuge of civilisation. Apparently the genius of the founder plus Murphy’s blood has created a vaccine against zombieness and everything is happy. The whole town is very very creepy, Murphy is wearing one of those rich people woolen vests which only rich golfers wear. It’s kind of like a required uniform to warn everyone that someone insufferably rich approaches.
Warren is almost dazed as she walks through this place - it’s ridiculously isolated from the rest of reality, full of ludicrously rich and privileged people and the apocalypse hasn’t touched it. It’s just like 21st century America - in a Gated Community for the ludicrously wealthy
According to the residents and Murphy, the rest of the world is terrible. Almost no humans, packs of zombies, everything is death, everything is terrible. And all their companions are dead.
Nice moment of surreality - it being thursday. Zona still has days of the week; this stuns Warren who hasn’t had to measure time like that in 8 years. That, along with the luxury of self driving, personalised cars and even a museum
Despite the shiny look of it all, there’s definitely an undercurrent of ominousness - people wear barcodes and are only allowed in certain areas. Warren also has issues - which Murphy has managed to big her up as a hero and a general and she’s well and politely received by society - but Warren is clearly not comfortable at the idea of less than 10,000 uber wealthy people living in utter luxury and utterly abandoning the rest of the world. She also remembers clearly that this luxury has in part come with kidnapped scientists dragged to Zona whether they wanted to or not. She’s not doing well herself, when going to a posh dinner run by the Founder (who is not in great health - he created the original cure with his blood and it has left him disfigured and with considerable health problems) she finds it all awkward, doesn’t find the cutsey way they discuss fighting zombies palatable. And when she is invited to cut a novelty cake in the shape of a zombie head she has another flamey vision that she ends up splattering it across the room.
Murphy is not amused with her “PTSD moment getting in the way of his gravy train - but Warren is determined to escape. Sneaking and fighting her way across Zona until she finds an exit - which leads to a cliff and the ocean. She’s recaptured but considered for psychiatric evaluation not banishment. She has more ominous visions - and her ambulance is ambushed by a Dr. Teller who has other plans.
We see an edge to Zona as well - lots of talk about “Renewal” writing off the “unvaxed” and creating a new society. There’s also talk of something called “The Reset.” Warren keeps having visions of burning flesh - and one of the Zona scientists has created a gas that burns zombie flesh like fire… this could go so very wrong.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of the world isn’t quite doomed, just yet. In particular we have a very very very hairy Doc catching up with 10K (or Tommy), now living in a defensible Treehouse with Red (5K came to a very very messy end). 10K is also coherent - one of the worst elements of season 3 was 10k basically checking out. And Doc in, well, anything - but he’s quite awesome with his duel hammers here.
Doc wants to convince them to come to a Newmerica - apparently a settlement in Canada which is far far too cold for reasonable people zombies. It’s even been set up and supported by the actual remnant of the American government. Or their marines anyway. While 10k is leery, he quite likes the set up they have, Red wants to go. The number of zombies has been increasing after all. This convinces them to go
I don’t know what the ominous bad thing with Newmerica will be (and there will be one) but at the camp where people are gathering to travel they meet again with Dr. Sun Mei who is still around! Everyone’s happy to meet again - but the marines are… odd. One of them trying to comfort battle hardened, grizzled veterans of the apocalypse with hugs.
Only Z Nation would have an ominous government plot with hugging marines.
Meanwhile Addy and Lucy (now about the same age) running around the Wilderness, randomly saving people (Including Lucy using her zombie mojo. She also isn’t too concerned with dead humans… but objects to injured zombies. So far this isn’t a bone of contention between Lucy and Addy)
Addy is also radiating badassery everywhere.
Zona tries to catch up to them presumably because they still want Lucy’s woo-woo. They’re delayed first by a huge ball of zombies, but eventually set up an ambush preying on Addy’s willingness to save people. It seems Addey and Lucy are also psychic…
They also intend to reach Newmerica.
So… ok, Z Nation, keep this up. More of this, less of the random weirdness.
