Z Nation - S2E3 - Zombie Road
Previously on Z Nation, ‘White Light’
Starring: Kellita Smith, DJ Qualls, Keith Allan, Anastasia Baranova, Michael Welch, Russell Hodgkinson, Nat Zang, Pisay Pao, Matt Cedeño, William Sadler, William Voorhes, Rosslyn Greer | Director: Dan Merchant
With Murphy now in tow, the gang is trying to put distance between them and the zombies, bounty hunters, AND nuclear fallout that’s sweeping in from the west. Deep in the sticks, supplies dwindling, things aren’t faring as well as can be. Fate may be favoring them as Warren and 10K witness a convoy being ambushed by a small group of marauders. It isn’t long until things get a bit “hazy” for Murphy and Doc, and the ongoing threat from the undead is raised to a whole new level with the introduction of blaster zombies.
Led by Sam Custer (William Sadler), the “post-apocalyptic wagon train,” as Doc affectionately calls it, isn’t faring well at all. If a guy behind a flaming car and another circling on an ATV can trap a semi truck strapped to the gills with firepower, you aren’t going to get far on this miserable rock that used to be Earth. Cue the super squad, who quickly saves the day and becomes a part of the ramshackle caravan. Not all is roses and lollipops as Warren, Murphy, and the others sense this collection of survivors are beyond any help.
While the second season has run off to a brutal start, the attitudes of the gang in ‘Zombie Road’ were especially grim, to the point of misanthropy. From the beginning of the episode when the convoy was attacked to its inevitable demise, everyone had an innate feeling that there was no point in assisting Custer and his dopey nephew, or holding any hope for those dying from radiation poisoning. It’s understandable because their survival is paramount and it is literally them against the world thanks to Citizen Z’s broadcast. Roberta, Vasquez, and the rest have been running ragged and have little sympathy to spare. What matters most is their ability to kill heaping amounts of zombies, a task that is put to the test with the savage “blasters”.
The unfortunate victims of the nuclear fallout, blaster zombies are meaner, leaner, and a helluva lot more hungrier than the average zombie. Blasters display a pack mentality and a strong resistance to Murphy’s charms. With the fallout blowing across the country, it won’t be long before those unpleasant buggers will be a more common sight.
As the rest of the crew do their usual badassery, Cassandra’s progression (or regression?) into a hybrid was front and center during ‘Zombie Train.’ Since her mysterious introduction way back in the first episode, Cassandra has always remained a mystery, deftly traversing through the grey area to necessitate her survival. After Murphy’s bite, her abstruse and feisty behavior was overtaken by her newfound abilities, unchecked ferocity, and odd affection towards Murphy. Thanks to the Z Weed that Wrecking Ball (William Voorhes) freely shared between Murph and Doc, Cassandra might have found the panacea that could restore the humanity that she supposedly lost.
Only Z Nation would allude that smoking marijuana - which usually makes one a zombie - could potentially be the cure for reversing ZN1. If that isn’t a call to legalize it, I don’t know what is.
The frontier proved to be too much for the woeful wagon train and once more, Murphy slipped his way out of Roberta’s clutches.
No worries, as all of them are heading to Minnesota to investigate firsthand whether a herbal remedy for the zombie virus is legit next week in ‘Batch 47’!
Z Nation airs Friday nights at 10/9c on Syfy.
