Z Nation - S3E10 - They Grow Up So Quickly

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Previously on Z Nation, “Heart of Darkness”

Z Nation - S3E10 - “They Grow Up So Quickly” |  Kellita Smith, Keith Allan, Anastasia Baranova, Nat Zang, Russell Hodgkinson, DJ Qualls, Emilio Rivera, Sydney Viengluang | Writer: Craig Engler | Director: Alexander Yellen

BITES AND MORSELS

Addy and Doc found Lucy along with her dedicated foster parents and a gaggle of zombies. Murphy slowly broke down 10K’s psyche and rebuilt it into a leaner, meaner personality. Just when everything appeared hunky dory in Springfield, The Man kidnapped Lucy to parts unknown. But don’t worry… Auntie Addy is on the case!

ZOMBIE ROLL CALL

It was practically a smorgasbord of Zs and Blends in this episode, with the first course involving the return of Ma and Pa Kettle (Kim Little and D.C. Douglas). Since Murphy bit his way into their lives in “Zombie Baby Daddy”, the Kettles appeared super content fostering their Bright Blue All Father’s divine spawn, Lucy. Naturally, the little princess received every ounce of love and affection the Kettles could spare… the same went for LuLu’s rapidly decomposing playmates.

What wasn’t there to like about Lucy’s beloved collection of zombie dollies? All the other kids growing up in the apocalypse would kill to have a real live (kinda) cowboy, superhero, Raggedy Anne or Abraham Lincoln to play with. Personally, the pirate zombie with double peg legs was the real kicker. No pun intended.

MISADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING

Written with bodacious aplomb by co-creator Craig Engler, it isn’t too surprising that everything about “They Grow Up So Quickly” felt like classic Z Nation. There was plenty of chaos to go around and the tone shared between the narratives was pitch perfect. Our favorite survivors were in the thick of it and despite their uncanny abilities to evade death, everyone felt as though they were running on borrowed time as the war between Murphy and Warren soon approaches. Thankfully, Engler let his craftiness shine and softened the gloomy aura with a spritely child that manages to see the good in almost everyone. Or in this case, makes them act good if they’ve been bitten by her daddy.

After much anticipation viewers were finally reunited with Lucy and man, what are they feeding her in Missouri??? Due to her mutated genes, our dear girl not only commands Zs but seemingly controls the minds of blends more thoroughly than Murphy. The only downside to Lucy’s condition is her accelerated aging when under duress. Tough luck, kid. At least you won’t have to worry about going to Prom if you get mad enough.

Although kids grow up way faster than we’d like these days, it was fun to watch Madelyn Grace hop, skip and jump her way around the episode as the oddly jubilant Lucy. She was as dangerous as she was innocent, completely unaware of the state of the world or the magnitude of her powers. Much to Ma and Pa’s chagrin, Lucy swiftly grew a bond with Addy and along with Doc, the two addressed the elephant in the room about why her parents left her with complete strangers. Naturally, a serious conversation like that can only be told thoroughly in one manner: a fairy tale!

While this entire fantasy segment was ridiculous fun, it was equally delightful to see Serena aka “Pie Girl” (Sara Coates) back in action as Queen of the Apocalypse. Watching her and King Murphy share the screen brought back a wave of nostalgia and a tinge of heartbreak as one could only wonder “what if”. Like their wacky dancing, Coates and Allan had a great push-and-pull during their all too brief scene. Serena may no longer walk among them but here’s hoping she occasionally returns in the dreams of her daughter and beloved. As the old saying goes, better to have loved and lost than never to have eaten pie at all. Or something like that…

Though Lucy hadn’t a single want in her little haven, her resiliency was quickly tested when a random Ender popped up in the woods to claim the precious angel as her own. Unfortunately for everyone, crazy ladies with klepto tendencies would be the least of their worries once The Man arrived. He made short work of Addy and the Kettles (probably the zombies too), leaving Doc to take the blame for the blitz attack. Now it’s up to him and Carver to find Lucy yet again and somehow find a way to give The Man a permanent dirt nap.

Good luck with that task, Addy. Seeing as how The Man (Joseph Gatt) hasn’t been touched by the slings and arrows of the zombie apocalypse (except by his own hand), she’ll be hard pressed to find a means to slow him down. Forget about eliminating him! C’mon now… his missing left mitt now has a cyborg replacement! Even an electrified Z-whacker can’t compete with that. By the way, where the heck did his new hand come from?

Anyway, welcome to the rest of the big bad world, Lucy! Fingers crossed it doesn’t age you beyond your years.

I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS

Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse for 10K, he’s gone full Anakin on us thanks to the Dark Lord himself, Alvin “Big Blue” Murphy.

10K fought as hard as he could, never wanting to be a blend among Murphy’s army of zealots. Still, Blue attempted to preen 10K’s ego by calling him “My Ajax, my Achilles… my Luke Skywalker”. If Alvin were more versed in his history, he’d know that Ajax fell on his own sword in disgrace and Achilles was shot with a poison arrow to his freaking heel. So yeah, let’s continue with the Skywalker reference. After a pretty gnarly and excruciatingly long version of The Knife Game and being handed a dose of vaccine that’d free 10K of Alvin’s influence, Murphy continued to ply his control over 10K and (seemingly) converted him fully to his side of the war.

Now known as Thomas, he’s charged with infiltrating Warren’s camp and returning her to Murphytown. That’s what the big piece of paper had written on it anyhow. The last part of Murphy’s instructions are difficult to read, but one could hazard a guess that it says ‘She must not be KILLED.’ Roberta better not be given mercy. SHE BETTER NOT. Can you imagine how mad all of Z Nation would be seconds after her death?! It’ll be pure anarchy across the blogosphere!

NOTES OF THE DEAD

• “I don’t know why there’s so much paperwork to do!” Neither do we, Murphy. Man, are we going to miss our smartphones in the zombie apocalypse.
• “Are you a princess?” Laugh. Out. Loud. D.C. Douglas really nailed that line when Lucy took him over for a hot second.
• There were a lot of nice touches across the Kettle homestead like the family portrait, Lucy’s doll, the cross stitch in the dining room. One could only imagine that Ma and Pa probably would have raised Lucy as their own and defended her with their lives without Murphy’s influence.
• So Lucy not only ages faster when she gets extremely emotional or scared, but has a psychic bond with her father? hmm. Good thing none of his enemies know about this yet.
• Apparently, kids and tasers don’t mix for all the wrong reasons.
• You know you’re getting too good at killing folks if all you need is a flare or a garden gnome.