Why Z Nation is better than The Walking Dead

Jim of WVa

Well Known GateFan
What people of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s generation refuse to understand is that there is television good enough to watch more than once.
 

Joelist

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You have to admire the Z Nation braintrust - they gleefully and without hesitation take the show into really weird places and make it work. Last season they proved that The Walking Dead when it claims to be dark are poseurs by going REALLY dark for a bit and pulling it off. This season it seems the keyword is surreal.
 

Joelist

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Whoa.

This week's Z Nation was both VERY well done and heart rending. Once again we bid adieu to a main character and once again it was done both tastefully and it drove development in other characters. This is an impressive show.
 
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Joelist

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I was just thinking again about the last episode of Z Nation and why it was kind of heart rending. And the why is - you get invested in these characters. They aren't a bunch of jackalopes like The Walking Dead; they aren't perfect but they rise above their imperfections and are legit heroes - even Murphy. As a result when one falls you feel it more.

Also, this had a lot of good acting but Keith Allan has to get a special gold star for his Murphy performance. Don't go to sleep on this show because it is currently the best show of its type on TV.
 

Joelist

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OM may be able to help you get it on Kodi. It is also on Amazon and other streaming services the day after it shows live (SyFy is doing that now with its shows - they sell streaming rights to them to Amazon, Apple et al who put them online 24 hours after SyFy shows it).
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Whoa.

This week's Z Nation was both VERY well done and heart rending. Once again we bid adieu to a main character and once again it was done both tastefully and it drove development in other characters. This is an impressive show.

Who did they kill off?
 

Joelist

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Lucy. Murphy's daughter.
 

Joelist

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Catching up on Z Nation.

Quality is still very good and as is the norm for this show it is very weird to boot. Among the interesting things going on are the surreal quality of the show has persisted this season (basically half the cast vanished into thin air),
actual character growth by Murphy and a potentially world destroying anti-Z plan by Zona.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Catching up on Z Nation.

Quality is still very good and as is the norm for this show it is very weird to boot. Among the interesting things going on are the surreal quality of the show has persisted this season (basically half the cast vanished into thin air),
actual character growth by Murphy and a potentially world destroying anti-Z plan by Zona.

I noticed that Murphy looks human again. How did that happen? When did Roberta go blonde?
 

Joelist

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There was a two year jump between the end of last season and the start of this one - for that time both Warren and Murphy were being held in Zona. Warren was exposed to Murphy's blood near the end of last season and over the two years it caused changes including her changed hair color. Murphy was the subject of experiments in Zona that caused his changes and also Lucy contributed to the changes.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
There was a two year jump between the end of last season and the start of this one - for that time both Warren and Murphy were being held in Zona. Warren was exposed to Murphy's blood near the end of last season and over the two years it caused changes including her changed hair color. Murphy was the subject of experiments in Zona that caused his changes and also Lucy contributed to the changes.

So is he still a half zombie or what? The clip shows that Roberta is either going insane or has gained some sort of superpower. Did she get bit?
 

Joelist

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She and Murphy were shot by the same bullet and their blood mingled. She has been having visions but the question is whether they were implanted by Zona or what are they? Murphy is in a strange place - he does not seem to still be able to control zeds and looks more normal but occasionally some of his latent tendencies still surface.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
She and Murphy were shot by the same bullet and their blood mingled. She has been having visions but the question is whether they were implanted by Zona or what are they? Murphy is in a strange place - he does not seem to still be able to control zeds and looks more normal but occasionally some of his latent tendencies still surface.

Wow. I have missed too much!
 

Joelist

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Z Nation has shown no fear at all of changing things up or indeed of doing strange and bizarre things - it's part of why it works.
 

Joelist

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And tonight we got a nice, crisp episode with A and B storylines that were tied together. Our heroes (those that did not vanish earlier in the season) enter a television news station in hopes of using the transmitter there to get back in touch with Kaya at Camp Northern Lights who had been calling for help as Zona troops had shown up there. Meanwhile......Citizen Z returns! I won't spoil things anymore, but nicely paced more adventure type story this time out. And there is a real and funny chemistry between Citizen Z and Kaya - they are fun to watch together.
 

Joelist

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This week was a weird sort of episode. Visually it was pretty goofy and the low budget visuals undermined the atmosphere a bit. However, a solid story and really good acting out of Murphy, Doc and Warren rescued it. We are still in a pretty surrealistic storyline but this show has made its stripes on being weird so it is now expected. And also it maintains motion in the story and keeps the navel gazing to a virtually nonexistent level.
 
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