Z Nation - S4E1 - Warren’s Dream

Previously on Z Nation, “Everyone Dies in the End”

BITES AND MORSELS

Well damn… that’s one way to open up a new season! Two years have passed since the Westward-bound survivor group apparently met their fate atop Mount Casey, and things couldn’t have gotten any weirder… but they did! Now healed and presumably safe within the borders of Zona, Warren has little time to process what happened to her and the others as Murphy pushes the benefits of staying isolated in “paradise” with a sinister gaggle of one-percenters.

ZOMBIE ROLL CALL

Zombies! Zombies everywhere! In the time since we last saw the crew, the world is worse for wear. Chaos reigns, hope is lost and the hunger still burns within the growing numbers of undead. Now firmly set in her teen years, Lucy (Tara Holt) does her best to stem the tide and prove zombies do retain partial memories of their former lives, but her efforts are a drop in an extremely large bucket. It’s hard to make a difference when everyone remains so damn gun happy!

HOME SWEET HOME?

Everything about the premiere hinged on Warren’s return to the real world, her efforts to understand what the hell is going on, Basically, she had a lot on her plate and Kellita Smith proved once more that she’s the chops (literally and figuratively) and gravitas needed to ground Z Nation at its maddest.

It turned out the bullet Roberta took in the gut after it passed through Murphy was a blessing of sorts because it granted her a one-way ticket to the mythical Zona. Though a few years late to her orientation, Warren broke free from her rice paper chrysalis still as bad-ass as ever but now haunted by a disturbing dream that reveals a black rainbow and a world on fire. The reality Warren now inhabits doesn’t remotely resemble the ashen landscape that creeps in her subconscious, yet Murphy and his new companions quickly deflect when Roberta even hints about the condition of outside world.

Of course they don’t give a fig about what’s left of the world now that they received a stable vaccine created from Murphy’s blood, and no one is more thankful for its success than Zona’s Founder (Michael Berryman), a die-hard doomsday prepper that adopted Alvin’s favorite shade of blue, and has a penchant for dad jokes. The entire scenario is understandably surreal for Warren and for the viewers, and naturally, we can’t take anything at its face value on Z Nation. Something evil is afoot and The Founder himself proved it by announcing his final solution - The Reset - is ready to be enacted. 

What is The Reset? Details are sparse (it’s only the premiere after all) but it seems to involve an aerosol that burns flesh upon contact, which was created by a character named “Mr. Sunshine”. Apparently no one got the memo in Zona to never trust men that wear tinted glasses and dress like super judgemental art gallery critics.

Well, it was nice to catch up with the rest of the world before it was scorched to ruin…

HOPE ON THE HORIZON

While Roberta is coping with a multitude of obstacles, Doc, 10K, Red, and Sun Mei are finally reunited after their big run-in with The Man in the season three finale. Viewers learned Doc - who’s somehow looking crustier than ever - has been on the run since his team-up with “Gramps”, and heard rumors about a potential haven for the last humans on earth, called Newmerica. After reacquainting with his BFF 10K and Red, the three left the safety of Tommy’s treehouse (a excellent title for a children’s show) for the hazards of the road in the hopes of reaching this unconfirmed settlement.

At an encampment managed by Sun Mei, the presence of a few marines (lead by an disarmingly affable Henry Rollins) partly validated the myth of Newmerica, and some semblance of the U.S. government continues to operate in the fringes of the wild. In spite of this promise of peace and defense against the Zs, survivors have to contend with bands of increasingly psychotic Enders as well as the intimidating presence of Zona.

It seems life on the road has hardened Lucy during her most formative years, and proven costly for Addy, having lost one of her eyes during one of their countless pursuits by Zona troops. Despite Zona’s persistence, avoiding capture by their goon squad is as easy as breathing for the duo. Except uh, they somehow were fooled by a craftier-than-usual pack of Enders.