A couple years ago I would have just scoffed at this and blamed it on being a SyFy show, but they’ve upped their game with Dominion and Defiance, both of which have very deep and relatable characters and well constructed plots. There are the beginnings of some interesting character developments, but at this point most of the characters seem to be very surface level and lacking in the type of depth that makes them relatable. You just sort of have to roll with these things. I wish I was making this up, but a character actually gets stoned with a zombie. There’s also a moment where one character gives a zombie a contact high. Well… actually we do have that zombienado to look forward to next week, so perhaps we can top that. You can’t get much more ridiculous than that. They went bowling for zombies with the Liberty Bell, for goodness sake. It became startling clear this show isn’t taking itself too seriously. After an abrupt skid out, the Liberty Bell flies loose and mows down several zombies, leaving their lower legs standing comedically detached on the asphalt. For some strange reason the Liberty Bell is placed on the back of a truck and, even though it doesn’t make sense to haul around an extremely heavy item when you’re trying to conserve gas, they choose this vehicle to add to their convoy. The moment that I realized this show wasn’t taking itself too seriously happened when they went bowling for zombies with the Liberty Bell. The tone, though, is pretty far removed from The Walking Dead in almost every way. A lot of these details can be handwaved away, though, and you can pretty much imagine it’s the same universe, but focusing on a different group of survivors. ![]() If he existed in their universe, surely he would have picked up Rick’s transmissions at some point and responded. There’s also an NSA agent stationed at the North Pole (played by Supernatural‘s DJ Qualls) who seems to be able to control communications far better than anyone in The Walking Dead universe has been able to. In Z Nation it appears that there’s at least one office still operational in California, though their fate is uncertain at this point in the story. This seems to be the end of the CDC in that universe and all further efforts are put towards surviving in a dramatically new world. In The Walking Dead, it seems like the only member of the CDC left is Jenner, who meets his end pretty early on in the story. The only major difference are the details surrounding the CDC. ![]() The zombies also don’t look quite as aged as those in The Walking Dead, but that could simply be make-up budget, and not an actual zombie “rule” for the universe. Most of the zombie “rules” are the same, including the fact that everyone is infected already and will turn when they die regardless of if they’re bitten. This show could seriously be taking place in the exact same universe as The Walking Dead, just in a different part of the country. I’m not sure if I’m completely sold on the show yet, but every time I’m about to give up something happens like the well delivered line “ma’am, you’ve got a finger in your hair,” and I decide to stick around just a little bit longer. There’s going to be a tornado hurling zombies at our protagonists. If you don’t believe me, next week will actually feature a zombienado. For the most part, the mythology could fit in with The Walking Dead nearly perfectly, but it’s tone is much more campy and fits closer to SyFy’s fan favorite original Sharknado than the aforementioned critically acclaimed AMC drama. Z Nation is something I hadn’t heard of until just yesterday, but I quickly plowed through the first four episodes in one sitting because I couldn’t look away.
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