Z Nation - S3E12 - The Siege of Murphytown

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Previously on Z Nation, “Doc’s Angels”

Z Nation - S3E12 - “The Siege of Murphytown” |  Kellita Smith, Keith Allan, Anastasia Baranova, Nat Zang, Russell Hodgkinson, DJ Qualls, Emilio Rivera, Sydney Viengluang | Writer and Director: Dan Merchant

BITES AND MORSELS

Warren and her ragtag band of marauders stage their assault on Murphytown, but The Murphy himself already has them wrapped around his pinky finger. While Kaya attempts to make contact with Roberta and Sun Mei, Citizen Z - with Uncle Kaskae’s help - is flying to the lower 48 to personally relay critical information to Warren and Murphy about Lucy’s whereabouts. Speaking of, Addy continues her hunt for The Man and gains even more ground thanks to some rotting “bread crumbs” Lucy has left behind.

Oh yeah, and 10K isn’t alone in this world after all!

ZOMBIE ROLL CALL

Zs to the left of me, Blends to the right… here I am, stuck in a gunfight with you! C’mon, of course this episode was going to be crawling with puppies and kittens! Nothing especially gruesome occurred (save for a few zombies clogging up some turbines) but a few folks like Hopper (Dylan Vox) and Hope Chaffin (Kathryn Brown) bit the dust. Hopp always seemed like he was riding high on borrowed time and he accepted that. Then there’s poor, silly, doe-eyed, misguided Hope. Roberta did her dirty with a machete to the heart. Will won’t take kindly to that at all.

In the meantime, Murphy was doing his best impersonation of an evil Bowie with his ‘Heathen’ inspired attire and “zombie stardust” pigmentation. Seriously now, who is his personal shopper? It’s apparent some random Blend is scouring all the thrift shops and vintage stores in Spokane to get their king the best threads. 

THE END IS NIGH! …RIGHT?

Talk about an episode that covered a lot of ground and still left viewers anticipating every second of season three’s final two episodes. Nothing turned out as expected in either camp, with the chaos of war quickly turning into bloody carnage. Unfortunately some supporting characters had to spill pools of blood before Roberta and Alvin realized if they kept it up, they’d eventually cancel each other out.

If one were to delve a little deeper into Z Nation’s overarching narrative this season, viewers could recognize a fairly convincing analogy between the leads and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It’s only fitting! Murphy and Warren have been flirting with their dark sides for some time but the failure of their original mission finally tipped the scales. With no semblance of order to rein them in, each went their separate ways and quickly twisted into shadows of their former selves.

Despite his increasingly churlish attitude and rank dismissiveness towards humans, Murphy rode into town on his white horse and claimed to be the savior everyone had longed for. Oddly enough the first horseman is typically attributed as Pestilence, however for centuries he was known as a Christ figure. Which is all too fitting for a character like Alvin, who constantly sees himself as the Alpha and the Omega of the post-ZA. While he greedily fed his ego with their adulation (and brains), hundreds if not thousands of his followers will surely suffer before all is said and done.

Everyone assumed the end of Murphytown would occur in this episode as Warren - the archetype of War - rolled in 20 soldiers deep and was eager to lay waste to everything Murphy’s followers built. Problem is, as many of us have noticed, Roberta hasn’t exactly been herself. Although Murphy had gone through significant changes in season three, Warren was damn near ready to sacrifice her friends and her very humanity for what little order remains in this slowly dying world.

While Murphy and Warren cast a large shadow for most of season three, 10K’s persistent trust issues within himself - mainly due to his frequent vaccine  injections - made him a shell of his former self. Tried as he did to fight Murphy in “They Grow Up So Quickly”, 10K succumbed to his torture and Thomas was born. While 10K wouldn’t be your classic example of Famine, Alvin left Tommy devoid of everything he held dear, thus starving him for any semblance of normalcy. Although killing ten thousand zombies was his chief motivator for staying alive, Tommy quietly remained a hopeless romantic, drawing strength from the loves he’s lost over the years. Thankfully and completely out of nowhere, Red and 5K (Natalie Jongjaroenlarp and Holden Goyette) saved his butt and fully restored our beloved eagle-eyed sniper (with a little help from the original vaccine Roberta injected in him)! Who knew true love’s kiss was a cure for practically everything? Penicillin? Nah. EmergenC? Weaksauce. Find you a paramour that snogs as well as she kills Zs.

As for the final horseman, it’s The Man, who is Death incarnate. Need we say more?

Perhaps this review went further down the rabbit hole than we meant. In viewing “Murphytown”, it only establishes that there’s so much depth and dark subtext in Z Nation. Sure, it’s a damn entertaining hour of television with its creative kills, weird-ass zombies and colorful personalities adorned in what can only be described as road warrior chic. Yet no one should underestimate the crazily complex and elaborate world its writers have designed.

NOTES OF THE DEAD

• First off, what? Furthermore, WHAT?! Citizen Z is going to be a daddy??? Talk about a sudden shift in priorities. Not only does this give us even more adventures up north but assures Ramona Young is here to stay as our proud mother-to-be! Unless… nah, don’t do that to us, Z Nation. DON’T DO IT.
• Although it’s nice that Warren and Murphy are on the same page for the time being, there’s no way the two of them aren’t fiddling with the knives they’re holding behind their backs. Lucy may be priority number one, but can either one of them control their people after all the bloodshed?
• Auerbach, the engineer sent by Murphy to restore power? You know, the one who tried to reason with the guys with guns? How the heck did he survive all this time until now? (RIP Dummyhead)
• Where in the world were Red and 5K all this time? While we’re asking a plethora of questions, will Doc find a new pair of pants by the next episode?
• Oh right, Uncle Kaskae crashed the plane… if he and Simon are grounded, Kaya is gonna take on a lot of responsibility for the network (and child) by the time they get back.
• When Hope said “Murphy loved you” with her dying breath, it makes one wonder if she used past tense because Alvin saw/sensed Roberta murder Ms. Chaffin, like he scouted the Red Hand through Thomas’ perspective.