Z Nation: Warren's Dream

September 29, 2017 10:21 PM - Season 4, Episode 1

Z Nation is back, and as weird as ever.

Previously, on Z Nation, we had a literal cliffhanger: Murphy shot, the bullet passing through him and into Warren. Half the cast went off the side of a cliff. A Zona-based hovership cocked its sci-fi guns at everyone.

Fast forward to two years later, and a lot of stuff's changed, while other stuff remains the same:

* Warren's been in a coma for two years, offering us a 'lost' character that everyone must explain stuff to. Her hair is inexplicably blond now, and her coma outfit has plastic heels. She's having graphic nightmares about a burning hellscape that is the probable Zona future.

* Murphy's cured, and no longer blue. He claims everyone else is dead, but it's unclear if he's lying or misinformed. He is, after all, the Murphy.

* The Founder of Zona references one of my favorite zombie apocalypse points of comparison: the Toba event, and has big and creepy ideas about their gene pool.

* Doc, Addy, Lucy and Mei are working with the Marines to gather survivors to the Canadian stronghold of 'Newmerica,' where it's allegedly too cold for Zs. Zona is still after Lucy, which suggests Murphy isn't in the know, because he'd probably have opinions about that. Addy is also Lucy's hybrid.

* 10K and Red are an item, and our newbies on the Newmerica scene, forcing exposition in the B-plot.

* The Marines are surprisingly kind/sympathetic, with one of them offering a frazzled survivor a hug.

* Zona plans some sort of cleansing, or an apocalypse-for-the-apocalypse.

* We end the story with Zona capturing Addy and Lucy, and Dr. Teller (maybe) rescuing Murphy and Warren.

Some choice quotes:

Mei: What happened to you?
Doc: Oh, I cut my beard 'cause 10K thought I was some kind of Gandalf zombie and cold-cocked me.
10K: Gandalf?
Doc: You know, long white hair, pointy beard?
10K: Sorry. History was never my best subject.

And in Zona:

Self Driving Car: Shall I wait for you, Murphy?
Murphy: Nah, just park somewhere.
Car: Of course. Enjoy your evening. You too, General Warren. And you look stunning.
Warren: Murph, did your car just hit on me?

posted by mordax (7 comments total)

(Season long post didn't go so hot last time, so I'm going episodic again.)
posted by mordax at 10:22 PM on September 29, 2017

I love this show so much, it's one of the only shows on TV that is prepared to actually shake it up. For example I was not expecting self-driving cars. Not one bit.
posted by fshgrl at 5:39 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I love this show so much, it's one of the only shows on TV that is prepared to actually shake it up.

Me too. I've been on board basically ever since they were willing to kill the heroic white male lead and put the group under Warren. It's definitely my favorite Syfy outing. (Special mention to Blood Drive though, another thing I think could only really happen on Syfy.)
posted by mordax at 6:08 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's good to have Z Nation back. A blond Warren is awesome!

Murphy was, as always, pretty confusing. He changes sides so frequently it's never clear what's going on with him.
posted by jojo and the benjamins at 10:30 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Murphy is only ever on the side of Murphy. He's perfectly happy to be king of the rats, instead of trying to fix society.
posted by fshgrl at 10:14 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Those propaganda posters were freaking amazing, you guys!

I'm always happy to see Henry Rollins lending his square-jawed masculinity to any project. The tradition of completely unexpected guest stars just keeps on going.

I'm still annoyed by them writing off Cassandra. Mei I'm less enamored with, but okay, let's see what the show can get done with her this season.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:07 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

And Rollins dishing out hugs with a rationale behind it might have been one of the funniest parts of an already funny show.
posted by Seamus at 12:26 PM on October 9, 2017