So to DC, with the
zombie president, arrive in DC. There’s some suggestion that DC is radioactive
- I assume that the end of the world unleashed some nukes along the way?
There’s lots of
fighting with the usual level of “is this awesome or is it corny?” moments we
see over and over on Z Nation (the answer, always, is “both”)
As they go the zombie
president gets more and more abused in Murphy’s clumsy, careless hands (because
slacker Murphy of course) and they vaguely speculate about the Man with a Plan
who cut off thumbs while following Warren’s visions as they’re led to a bunker
underground, through halls full of blind zombies who haven’t seen daylight in
years. 10K keeps showing his awesome skills and Lilley is less and less and
less subtle about how much she admires him.
The Man with a Plan
is also present, throwing zombies at them and trying to get to the drone ahead
of them: and with the launch codes he got from Northern Light he may not need
thumbs so it’s a race against time.
And we go into
Warren’s visions and see why she’s having these: Dr. Tiller woke Warren up
during her coma to teach her how to stop Black Rainbow - teaching her step by
step. He even apologises for using fire and brimstone to force the memories
into her head so she didn’t forget. He hails her as saving humanity
With these instructions
Warren sets the team up to use the president and keys to set of the alunch as
soon as she replaces the canisters in the drones with the ones she’s schlepped
across the country for. But she has to go alone - because this is a suicide
mission
We have an extremely
powerful and emotional goodbye moment from the gang and Warren goes in like a
big damn hero. And confronts the Man With a Plan
Murphy: “He’s
shooting at her!” “Never mind, she kicked his ass.”
Because Warren is
awesome.
She changes the
canisters and seems to be victorious - when the Man with a Plan knocks her out.
Horrified and even knowing it’s near certain death, Murphy charges in to help
her.
And Warren returns to
her visions: only to have Teller joined by the Founder, thanking her for her
great role in sacrificing herself for the Reset. Yes, Teller isn’t secretly a
good guy (I was beginning to really think he was), they’re not spreading a
vaccine: he’s spreading the two canisters that mix together to form Black
Rainbow. And she wakes up in time to see one of those canisters break open in
the fight between Murphy and the Man With a Plan - and they scream in agony
Warren desperately
jumps into the drone, the door closing behind her as it begins to take off. She
fights to remove one canister (possibly? Maybe?) - but fails to remove the
other before the drone releases it’s Black Rainbow… the drone then begins to
crash with Warren inside
The others watch
Black Rainbow begin. Despite his cries of pain, Murphy is still alive - but now
red. He and Doc prepare for the end, seeming more defeated and tired than
scared… while Lilley finally jumps 10k
Murphy and Doc both
comment on how they saw that coming. As did we all. Except maybe 10K
I’m left with a lot
of questions
Some of them are good questions for a show that has been renewed - did Warren succeed in sabotaging Black Rainbow and what will be the side effect? Who is the Man With the Plan (everyone assumed he was Zona but this doesn’t appear to be the case), what does it mean that Murphy is now red? I’m going to guess now that a) Black Rainbow doesn’t kill everyone and b) Warren survives.
I also want to know
where Addy and Sun are because it’s damn weird both disappeared - there’s still
a lot of mystery there.
But I’m also left
with some more dubious questions - like the Man with the Plan being so hostile
to them if he wanted to save the world? And, frankly, last episode I had
concluded my recap saying that Warren was causing the reset - since that seemed
like an obvious conclusion. I find it odd that Warren decided to continue
following the visions after that.
This was definitely
Warren’s season - powerful, determined, compassionate, excellently acted and I
think the show was even sensible enough to keep her out of some of the more
zany antics. Warren is Serious Business. We don’t demean her with shenanigans.
I also can’t miss that her chosen weapon is a shield - in this Marvel saturated
times we can’t ignore the symbolism of it. Warren is definitely the protagonist
and an awesome character - and even if her agency were compromised for much of
the season she was still a powerful, inspiring leader and in the end she
definitely steps up.
Interestingly her
closest relationship is with Murphy which, I think, has really worked
throughout the season with layers of complexity. He challenged her more than
anyone, but he ended up being her greatest and strongest supporter with a real
level of respect there. I think it stands out simply because 10k and Doc were
kind of lacking in anything but presence. Though Lilley was close in following
Murphy in the strength of her presence.
We continue to have a
desperate paucity of LGBTQ characters - one attempt played for laughs is beyond
poor
And barring two
episodes this season was excellent in balancing both the serious core of the
plot (with Warren) and a whole lot of silly zaniness which makes Z Nation, Z
Nation. And why it remains one of my major guilty pleasures
