As ubiquitous as zombies have become in more recent years, the number of Romero-style living dead zombie shows are surprisingly few. Maybe it’s the oodles of extras, or the years of your life in the make up tent, or the simple desire to avoid being compared to another unnamed media juggernaut, but you can count the number of old school zombie shows on one slightly chewed hand. As a staple of games and film and nerdy basement couch discussions everywhere, it’s a bit surprising that the zombie apocalypse comes in so very few televised flavors. That flavor tends to be grim and deadly and bloody with a side of sweaty, monochrome, and dour.
The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead want you to believe the zombie apocalypse could happen and when it does, anyone and everyone might find themselves in a world of warlords, rampant psychosis, and the constant threat of betrayal and death. Z Nation, the only other full blooded zombie show on TV is pretty sure all of that is also true, but what if you planted weed and fertilized it with zombies and smoking it gave zombies back their soul? What if you had radioactive zombies and fungal zombies and plant zombies and a psychic rat king zombie hybrid who is a massive jerk, but also possibly the last hope of mankind? What if our heroes had to contend not only with the ravening hordes of undead, but Z-nados bearing spinning walls of hungry zombies above the fruited plain? What if I told you a disgusting and fetid cheese wheel has it’s own theme music for a while? If the answer to all of these questions is, yes, oh-my-goodness-where-have-you-been-my-entire-life then you are in for a treat. If the answer is no, then you can go back to watching that other zombie show and bite your nails with the rest of the dead heads while you wait to find out who dies. Again.
Why would you be waiting to see who Negan kills when you could be watching this?
With it’s third season premiere, it’s pretty clear that Z Nation knows what it is and who is watching. Rather than answer the questions left by last season’s cliffhanger, it uses its entire two hour premiere to jump back in time and introduce story elements for the coming season. Taking place somewhere during the events of Season 2 our heroes find themselves sidetracked from their potentially world saving cross country jaunt to help defend a tiny and savagely incompetent settlement, not from zombies, but from other humans. The other humans come in the form of four Blackwater-esque dudes with assault rifles led by an enormous, hairless figure known only as “The Man” (Joseph Gatt, Game of Thrones). The settlement includes a boy raised by crows, a girl named Red who dresses in red, and a scientist who knows more about zombies than he should. By the end of the episode our gang of survivors has painted the entire complex red (with actual paint) for no clear reason and must ultimately contend with a chain gang of weaponized zombies in helmets (Oh no! No headshots!).
If this sounds absurd, it’s because it is. Z Nation knows it’s pedigree. Before The Walking Dead and regardless of the occasional door buster like Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days, and Zombieland, zombies were the stuff of home made, B-movie schlock fests. If there was screaming girl in a tank top and buckets of fake blood, fans were happy to see their favorite flicks ride the trope train into sequel fueled direct to VHS destiny. Today you can find these campy gems by the hundreds on the back pages of your favorite streaming service or in the dollar bin at your big box entertainment store. Z Nation is a love letter to the fans who still buy them and an era of cheap and easy horror flicks that we may never see again.
