Z Nation - S4E6 - Back From the Undead

Previously on Z Nation, “The Unknowns”

BITES AND MORSELS

Murphy is on the verge of death, and Warren is too focused to reach an unknown destination that may hold a clue to her insufferable visions. Having no other option, Lucy looks after her father and makes a fateful decision that shatters the morale of the group.

ZOMBIE ROLL CALL

“Back From The Undead” had its fair share of standard issue Zs - which 10K and Lilley took care of quite easily. The same can’t be written about their experience inside the Bio-Mod facility. From the jump, Warren realized things were all kinds of wonky, beginning with the skeleton of an employee in the control room having two of everything. The further she and the other went inside the labs, the crazier things became.

If dealing with a jar of wormy fingers that burrow into your belly was disgusting enough, Lilley, 10K and Doc got mollywhopped by a “frankenzombie” - the unfortunate result of a literally mad scientist that grafted zombie parts on his own person. This dope name Dr. Caligari (Jason Pead) sought to attain immortality, and in a way he did. Just not the form he expected, as his zombified assistant’s hand took over his body and regrew his dead colleague from his healthy cells, leaving Caligari as nothing more than sentient skin tag. Yep. Gross.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Just when we believed Roberta couldn’t get any creepier, she burns rubber through the midwest to reach a dilapidated bio-research firm in the middle of nowhere. At least that’s what it seemed for the rest of the crew, but Warren was certain of herself for most of the episode thanks to the exact coordinates and instructions implanted in her limbic system. Virtually every crumb of pertinent data was encoded in Roberta’s brain - including access codes and the identities of the former researchers - except for what she programmed to acquire at Bio Mod.

So great! Warren has acquired a strange canister filled with a volatile compound… but we still have zero answers! All we can posit is the cylinder has something to do with ZN-1 and the seldom mentioned band of rogue scientists - most of whom were scooped up by The Man during seasons two and three. We still don’t know if Teller was directly responsible for Warren’s programming or another “ally” within Zona zapped her frontal lobe in the hopes she could prevent The Reset. It’s obvious this shadow partner isn’t associated with the other mysterious presence that forced the crew to clear out an underground facility in last week’s “The Unknowns”. Nevertheless, whoever has scrambled Roberta’s brains has taken dubious measures to stall Mr. Sunshine. Still, we aren’t certain the endgame to Warren’s visions.

THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE

Man, what an absolute heartbreaker. It’s been a long time since one of the key survivors had bitten the bullet on the show, but this time it was a major league downer. After years of being apart, and weeks of angst and turmoil, Lucy and Murphy were finally on the same page. Granted, Alvin took a gnarly bite from a Mad Z last week and nearly died a handful of times, but they’re on speaking terms now!

In spite of their contentious relationship - which stemmed from the shocking revelation for Lucy that Murphy believed his daughter was dead and he was cured - it was apparent they still had a bond. It wasn’t as intimate as it once was, but the two had just enough time to realize they didn’t need a psychic connection to share their innermost thoughts. Lucy made her feelings known when she bit Murphy twice to revive him in time from turning. Unfortunately, the stress of the moment accelerated her aging once more, and the next time Murph awoke, Lucy was a full fledged adult that shared a striking resemblance to her mother (Sara Coates).

While it was fun to see Coates and Allan reunited, it was a bittersweet affair as her presence affirmed the uneasy reality that Lucy’s lifespan had been halved in half a season. Hitting her 30s after only a couple years of existence wasn’t going to stop Lulu from sassing at her pop, who was feeling all sorts of guilt for all manner of reasons. Imagine briefly waking from a delirium caused by an infected bite and seeing your daughter age before your eyes as she continues to save your unabashedly selfish, shamelessly myopic existence. By the time Lucy reached her twilight years, Murphy was reborn and hopefully penitent for his recent slate of indiscretions.

Sadly, Murph doesn’t recognize how good he had things - or how much better they could have been - until there’s no turning back. First it was Serena, now Lucy… their deaths were costly lessons for Murphy and serious blows to the resolve of Warren and the others. Nevertheless, they must persist, in the spirit of all they’ve lost along the way.

NOTES OF THE DEAD

• In the opening seconds of “Undead”, the survivors sped through what’s left of Eerie, Indiana… an odd little town that may or may not be the center of weirdness for the entire planet. It was a lovely nod to Z Nation co-creator Karl Schaefer, who clearly knows his way around the strange and unusual.
• Tommy managed to kill his 8,000th zombie (and perhaps a dozen more, along with a very fidgety finger). Good job, young man. Hopefully all this killing hasn’t made you a callous person with a growing dark streak. Speaking of…
• Things haven’t been a bowl of cherries between Murphy, Doc and 10K. We’ve known the three of them haven’t seen eye to eye for a season and a half now, however when Murph was on the throes of death, Tommy and Doc whispered their plans on when was the best time to mercy Alvin. While Doc was unsure, Tommy was all about a preemptive strike. “I don’t want to take another risk like this… plus I’m really tired of him.” ohhhh snap! Say it with your chest, 10K! Now that Murphy is 100% and Lucy’s gone, this is going to make the rest of the road trip awkward AF.