If you watch the inaugural episode of syfy's answer to The Walking Dead, Z-Nation, then you have to realize that this interpretation of a zombie apocalypse is a far different animal. There's tongue-in-cheek and camp aplenty, there's little of the melodramatic waxing poetic or somber posturing that pointedly asks us to invest emotionally into the plight of the characters in regards to the detrimental disturbance of the human condition. No long "let's dwell on how the zombie virus is affecting the survivors" scenes with melancholic music asking us to cry in our pillows. The Asylum obviously sees their vision as a chance to yuck it up and load the screen with plenty of zombie mayhem. Two words: zombie baby. You get to see a camp reduced to a bus loaded with the undead (including children of the camp) after zombies in a river surprise two of the "guards" who believed they were "put to rest" and just happened to wash ashore. Seeing the zombie rise in unison was kind of cool if a bit abrupt. The thing about the opening episode is that the pace moves at such a clip that lingering on details of the plot seems futile. Basically, the plot is about a National Guard sergeant (one of those with a presence that is respected, resolve important in those that follow him, and command that is so badly needed) played by Tom Everett Scott and his trusted second-in-command (Pisay Pao), stuck in a bind when a lieutenant (played by a wasted Harold Perrineau, spending his entire time barking orders and pointing his gun at people) orders them to help him transport a "human guinea pig" (Keith Allan) to a "defense outpost" (a school) because in his body could provide a vaccine for the zombie virus (after injected by a serum, Allan survives 8 zombie bites and lives with seemingly no side effects). Allan is a grouchy, self-absorbed prick only concerned about himself. Allan's true colors certainly are revealed when he tells Scott and Pao to leave the baby they find at the school. DJ Squalls is a tech IT guy at a NSA post, left alone after the soldiers with him go up in a plane (leaving him behind!) that crashes. Squalls will use his visual/audio equipment and government technology available to him to keep in contact with (I'm guessing, the survivors and
) the outside world that might still be alive. His closing scene, complete with an imitation radio deejay speak and Raybans, is especially cheesy. Scott isn't a bad hero, I must admit, and Pao is typical tough gal back up, and these two seem capable of guiding people along the way as zombies come from all angles repeatedly. It was pitiful seeing Perrineau used the way he was, and how his character was disposed of. The zombie baby scene is probably what most viewers will remember about this. The special effects are variable, but that is to be expected coming from The Asylum. Scott really caves in some zombies while protecting the baby as Allan does nothing but stand at a distance and watch. If you are expecting pathos and tear-jerker reflection moments attempting to tug at your heartstrings and have you contemplating "what if?", stick with The Walking Dead. Z-Nation isn't that show. The thing is that this show can go pretty much in a number of places, but I wonder if the only audience that will watch this is those looking for a campier product that doesn't take itself so seriously. I think the tough times ahead for Z-Nation is separating themselves from The Walking Dead besides the "pales in comparison" remarks certain to criticize it as it continues.
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