# Z Nation on SyFy



## markpud (Sep 8, 2014)

"Human struggle to survive a zombie apocalypse that hit the United States three years ago. A group is tasked to lead a survivor of the plague from New York to California. A laboratory that will test his blood for a possible cure."






So one man is immune and we have to keep him safe.... 

This will of course be compared to the Walking Dead, so it'd better be good if it wants to live up to it!

Premieres this Friday 12th September on SyFy in the USA. Couldn't find details of a UK network picking it up though.


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## BAYLOR (Sep 9, 2014)

It mystifies me that the popularity of Zombies continues the way it does .


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## Jesse412 (Sep 9, 2014)

Is this a series?  From the trailer I assumed it was a film.


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## markpud (Sep 10, 2014)

Yeah it's a series! And in a few days we'll know if it's any good


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## Droflet (Sep 14, 2014)

Just seen it. It's 'just like Walking Dead,' minus the superb writing and story development, decent acting, competent direction etc. etc. A p*ss poor rip-off of a great show. I'll watch the second one just to confirm that the sci-fi network is up to their usual standard.


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## Jesse412 (Sep 15, 2014)

About time Syfy did their own zombie series. Some of the casting is good and it starts out pretty fast paced. Some decent gore but nothing as good as Greg Nicotero. 



Spoiler



The vaccine premise at least provides a bit of hope in what is otherwise a dire situation.  I got a kick out of that Walking Dead reference as well.  I wasn't expecting them to kill of the best actor on the show in the first episode.  Zombie babies and animals are pretty ridiculous and the baby zombie scenes in this episode were pretty awful.  I'm not a fan of running zombies either.


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## markpud (Sep 17, 2014)

So.. I like the premise of it being 3 years down the line, and it's not every man for himself, the army is still active (ish) and things seem somewhat organised. I feel like in TWD things go too far into "everything we knew is gone" when I think/hope more infrastructure could survive. Also, fast zombies!

Bad points - yep the acting was a bit ropey and the zombies don't look up to Nicotero's standards. And the whole thing with the baby was ridiculous.

So why did that one soldier stand and wait for them to bring down the gate when he could take taken some if not all of them out before that happened?

Also there will apparently be zombie animals, so that could be great/awful.

Don't think AMC will lose too much sleep over this!


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## Jesse412 (Sep 20, 2014)

"Fracking Zombies!"  I thought the second episode was much better.  



Spoiler



The DJ Qualls scenes were actually kind of good and the oil refinery is a pretty interesting setting.  Nice to see the  Z-Whacker return.


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## markpud (Sep 27, 2014)

Enjoyed episode 3 even if the characters continue to be over the top. I wonder if they've read the Walking Dead and decided to pre-empt where that show is likely going this season...

Also, a big bell. I guess that's the American equivalent to Big Ben?!


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## Jesse412 (Sep 27, 2014)

Not as good as the last but a pretty solid episode and the DJ Qualls scenes continue to be entertaining.


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## markpud (Sep 27, 2014)

Yeah he's a good character and fairly believable as an isolated tech guy. As for what's powering his Arctic base, best not to ask...


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## Jesse412 (Oct 4, 2014)

"Full Metal Zombie" was decent.  



Spoiler



Romero and Night of the Living Dead are confirmed to exist in the Z Nation universe.  It's great to see Bill Moseley show up as General McCandles.  The DJ Qualls scenes were kind of funny as were the scenes with Doc stuck in the ventilation shaft.


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## markpud (Oct 9, 2014)

I enjoyed this one too, the series is growing on me... 



Spoiler



Doc getting the Z stoned was hilarious, if corny.. and was there a hint or 2 of recognition from it? Qualls is an empathetic character, even if he's in the most unlikely of locations with not much hope of being rescued or being able to leave by his own means. Crazy General was somewhat clichéd but it was fun nonetheless.


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## Jesse412 (Oct 11, 2014)

"Home Sweet Zombie"  



Spoiler



The zombies running into the electric fence scene was kind of funny as was the drill bit breaking off in dude's skull.  Murphy starting to look part zombie.  Since it's Syfy I assumed the tornado would have more zombies flying around in it.


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## markpud (Oct 12, 2014)

Spoiler



Zombnado! That was funny, and hopefully prevents them from making the full length Zombnado movie! Citizen Z getting a drinking problem? Interesting to see the random folk out there listening to their radio whilst barbequing.... will they be significant? Nope, this is SyFy not AMC


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## Jesse412 (Oct 18, 2014)

Episode 6 "Resurrection Z" This show just keeps getting better and better.   



Spoiler



The DJ Qualls intro was good and helped set the mood for the following creepy cult scene nicely.  I like seeing the group having to improvise after being unarmed and killing the zombie with the electric hand mixer is one of the best kills so far.  I wasn't expecting Charlie to be the one to die.


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## markpud (Oct 18, 2014)

Spoiler



This is one element where Z has the edge on TWD - it's not scared of killing off the leading male, twice!

Murphy's power to pacify the Z's could come in very handy, if he wasn't so unstable! But I think this will come to pass!!


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## Jesse412 (Oct 25, 2014)

Episode 7 "Welcome to the Fu-Bar" 



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I like how the group keeps running into different pockets of survivors.  Splitting up the group should be interesting. The outhouse zombie was pretty funny.


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## markpud (Oct 28, 2014)

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The heart of this one was Warren dealing with Charlie's death, which was done well. 

They didn't even get a vehicle upgrade after winning the contest and being vital to quelling the Z's!


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## Jesse412 (Nov 1, 2014)

Episode 8 "Zunami"  



Spoiler



The DJ Quall scenes were outstanding, his best yet.  Yuri turning out to be a hallucination was an excellent twist although you could see it coming.  The mass zombie migration is an interesting idea.  Doc's thoughts when he was locked in the morgue made me laugh.  Murphy is a huge asshole, at least he came back for the group though. I'm expecting him to be able to control the zombies even more as time goes on.


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## markpud (Nov 1, 2014)

Spoiler



Yep its starting to look like Murphy is going toe be some kind of zombie pied piper, that's if he doesn't go completely feral first. Were his eyes more zombified at the end? And his casual stealing from then condemning the family to death by the zombie husband was done without a care

Citizen Z's cosmonaut friend was fairly well telegraphed with the detector/alarm that he smashed, but he was totally convincing. Were you waiting for the dog to wake up zombie too?!

No signs of the 2 of our group that were separated last week, looks like next week is their turn though.


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## Jesse412 (Nov 8, 2014)

Episode 9 "Die, Zombie, Die... Again"  



Spoiler



Addy & Mack are kind of boring on their own and the Groundhog Day dream scenario quickly got annoying.  However the actress that plays Addy is quite good and the episode picks up a bit in second half.


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## markpud (Nov 9, 2014)

Spoiler



There was that element of "oh-no a sub-plot episode" so it matched Walking Dead this week, in that regard! The dream sequences were a bit cliché initially, but I thought the writers did a good job of subverting that by switching the dream POV etc. I suppose it's the point of a dream that you don't react logically, but ranged attacks on the big boy with his machete should have been fine to take him down 1 on 1...


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## Jesse412 (Nov 16, 2014)

Episode 10 "Going Nuclear" 



Spoiler



The irradiated zombies actually looked kind of cool.  Russell Hodgkinson continues to be enjoyable as Doc.  I like seeing Warren step up and lead the team.  The Murphy scenes were pretty funny.


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## markpud (Nov 16, 2014)

Yeah they're giving it all they can in terms of extreme circumstances and gimmicky plots, but it adds to the fun. 



Spoiler



Running the plane on Vodka was cool, and pretty realistic for it to fail the way it did. Is the zombified daughter following Murphy another sign that he's going to become the Pied Piper of the dead?! And she didn't attempt to attack the others either! Scenes in the nuclear plant were good fun if ridiculous. I was waiting for the Terminator 2 lowering into the vat of lead (this time nuclear coolant)!


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## markpud (Nov 22, 2014)

Spoiler: Episode 11



Girl power! Again getting well into the tropes with an all-female society that casts out all males over 13... Would Addy really  have been so quick to turn her back on the gang and her lover? I get that she's traumatised but it was just a little convenient. I was hoping they'd full on assault the camp after they shot Mack. 

Murphy getting some "pie" was hilarious, and super-campy of course! 

Very little from citizen Z this time, other than it's the first time our gang get to actually see him, and he reunited them back together.


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## markpud (Nov 22, 2014)

Spoiler



And how could I forget the zombie bear!! Pretty unlikely they could keep it confined, though....


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## Jesse412 (Nov 22, 2014)

Episode 11 "Sisters of Mercy"  



Spoiler



The actress who played the cult leader was pretty creepy although sort of sympathetic.  I'm kind of surprised Abby allowed her self to be manipulated like that and sad to see the actress Anastasia Baranova leave the show.  The zombie bear was actually kind of cool.  I wasn't expecting the biker they chained up to survive.  Once again the Murphy scenes were kind of funny.  Can't say I care that they killed off Mack though.


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## markpud (Nov 23, 2014)

Spoiler



I hope that they'll find their way back there again to pick her up, the biker is another loose end that could come into play... We didn't see Mack's body so is *possible* the ladies were really bad shots and he got away


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## Jesse412 (Nov 29, 2014)

Episode 12 "Murphy's Law"  



Spoiler



Murphy golfing was hilarious.  Glad they're continuing to explore his abilities.  Great ending.


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## markpud (Nov 30, 2014)

Spoiler



Yeah this was a great episode. Although my Pied Piper theory isn't quite true as he seems to repel the Z's more than lead them! But the fast zombies were fun, and the viagra zombie thing was hilarious with them all talking in turns with the binoculars. Glad they didn't actually show those zombies (not as far as I noticed anyway!)! Were we to believe that the Z's were getting into the drugs and popping pills?? We saw a few weeks back that they like Dope smoking 

They implied that Mack wasn't dead, although we last saw him walking into a hail of bullets.... The action took us east so there is still chance to revisit the Sisters of Mercy camp perhaps? 

I've often thought an umbrella would make a good weapon vs zombies!


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## Jesse412 (Dec 6, 2014)

Episode 13 "Doctor of the Dead" was the most suspenseful episode yet.  



Spoiler



I liked the flashbacks with Dr. Kurian.  The gory lab tech was the best special effects makeup of the series so far.  Interesting they turned Cassandra into a zombie hybrid.  Glad Doc didn't actually die.  That's one hell of a cliffhanger.


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## markpud (Dec 6, 2014)

This series has far exceeded my expectations, looking forward to season 2!



Spoiler



OK I'll bite...(!) now are all those nukes still operational? Any why can't Cit Z override them? He's not going to last long out in the snow, lightly dressed, even if he somehow avoided getting nuked to death! And where was the poor dog?! Why did a base in Colorado getting breached cause 1 nuke to go to the base, and a whole tonne of them to go to Northern Lights!?

Nice to see Mack and Addy, briefly. Looks like they left the crazy lady cult!  They should realistically be all that's left after everyone else gets nuked. Because driving for 6 minutes really ain't getting you out of the blast range. Certainly not out of the radiation dead zone....

The not-zombie on the trolley was nicely done for sure. He, Murphy and now Cassandra are all immune? Although I wonder what Murphy turned into after he shed his skin? Something closer to the trolley guy?? Murphy bit Cassandra, on the face? Or did another Z get her? A regular Z would have taken more than 1 bite though...


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## Jesse412 (Dec 6, 2014)

markpud said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> OK I'll bite...(!) now are all those nukes still operational? Any why can't Cit Z override them?





Spoiler



In real life the U.S. keeps their launch codes on older computers that aren't on a network so that they can't be hacked.





markpud said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Why did a base in Colorado getting breached cause 1 nuke to go to the base, and a whole tonne of them to go to Northern Lights!?





Spoiler



The way I saw it was that they were launched from his base not coming at him.





markpud said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Nice to see Mack and Addy, briefly.





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Was Mack there I thought I just saw Addy.


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## markpud (Dec 6, 2014)

Jesse412 said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> The way I saw it was that they were launched from his base not coming at him.





Spoiler



Definitely inbound, according to his on-screen graphics ("where are you headed.... oh", and the final scene where he goes outside at least one is heading down towards him. The rest may have been launched from there, but the launch scenes we say didn't look frosty! They looked like a bunch of nukes were parked up on launch pads, out in the open, waiting for their lucky day! I'm happy to handwave that we didn't need to see them raising up from underground bunkers on some automated system..





Jesse412 said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Was Mack there I thought I just saw Addy.





Spoiler



They were both shown, but on reflection they weren't in the same shot so not necessarily together. But they were both looking up at the rockets.


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## svalbard (Feb 4, 2015)

I just caught the first 2 episodes of this and it looks promising. Will stick with it for a while to see where it goes.


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## markpud (Feb 6, 2015)

Welcome aboard the Z-train! Walking Dead it ain't, but it doesn't take itself too seriously and I enjoyed it.


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## svalbard (Feb 7, 2015)

Just watched the 3rd episode and while the acting is a bit off, the storyline iffy, it is still sort of addictive.


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## svalbard (Feb 26, 2015)

Finished watching the series the other night. Overall I would give it the thumbs up. What it lacked in production qualities and acting chops it more than made up for it in action and humour. The characters were quite engaging, with Murphy becoming more and more compelling as the series moved on. It will be interesting how the 2nd season pans out giving the cliffhangar ending of Season 1.


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## markpud (Feb 26, 2015)

I agree, not a show that took things too seriously, but it was engaging and took risks with the characters as well as the scenarios. Hoping it returns (I feel like I've written that sentence many times this evening!)


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## Jesse412 (Sep 13, 2015)

Season 2 Episode 1 "The Murphy" So Happy this show is back and more importantly the Z-Wacker.



Spoiler



Great intro and I'm glad they got right into the action.  The gore in this episode was decent as well.  The nukes exploding was crazy and the scientist who hid in the frig burning was really cool.  The frozen zombies DJ Qualls had to fight off looked pretty good.  Not sure who fired the missile that blew up the nuke though maybe an automated defense system.  The scene with Murphy in the shopping mall had me cracking up as did the zombie strippers and it's interesting seeing what he's becoming.  Roberta was badass saving that girl and I'm enjoying her character arc.  The fire extinguisher kill was hilarious.


Preview for the rest of the season looks fun.


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## svalbard (Sep 15, 2015)

I loved it. The show is absolutely bonkers.


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## Jesse412 (Sep 20, 2015)

Episode 2 "White Light" 



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Lots of good action throughout this episode.  Doc's out-of-body experience made me laugh.  The DJ Qualls scenes were pretty tense.


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## Jesse412 (Sep 27, 2015)

Episode 3 "Zombie Road" 



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Doc and Murphy tokin' with that dude had me cracking up.  I thought the wagon train was pretty cool and I liked seeing the group hook up with more survivors.  It was interesting seeing Murphy not being able to mind control the Blasters.  I thought they really nailed the action throughout this episode and for the most part the special effects makeups and gore looked really cool.


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## svalbard (Dec 10, 2015)

On a binge of this show at the moment. I am as far as The Nativity scene. What a wonderfully twisted story this is turning out to be. Walking Dead take notice.


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## svalbard (Jan 31, 2016)

Finally finished S2 and looking forward to S3. 

Murphy has me conflicted. Is he to be trusted, or is he being set up to be the arch-villain for S3.


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## Rodders (Oct 29, 2016)

Bumping this. I started watching searies one of this last week and while the Zombie phenomenon isn#t really my thing, i have enjoyed this a lot. 

Series two on order from Amazon.


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## Rodders (Dec 20, 2016)

Bumping this. I just finished season two and found it to be very entertaining. 

Murphy can be a selfish fool, but at times, he seems to have the most humanity. An interesting end to the series, so i await season 3.


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## Rodders (Feb 22, 2017)

So, i've just watched season 3 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm glad to see that it still retains it's humour, which really makes this easy to watch. It ended on a good cliff hanger, so i will be very interested to see how that is resolved. 

"The Man", the Red Woman and 5K were all very interesting characters and i hope that they return. Murphy continues to be a great character.  I was pleased to see on IMDB that there will be a fourth season. 

I find myself becoming more and more interested in the Zombie sub genre as a result of this series. I'd never really taken much of an interest in it before. I watched the first series of The Walking Dead and really enjoyed it, but i found it REALLY bleak and i have to force myself to get back into it. (I have series 2 and 3 to watch. Maybe i'll try thios weekend.)


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