The Whopper has Major and Ravi finding a body. They think it is going to give them the materials needed to perfect the Zombie Cure, but it finds out its just some other poor thug. At least until Liv makes a brains burger and the dead man’s memories lead them to the correct body. Eventually.
Brains Burger
There were a lot of great scenes in The Whopper. One of my favorites was the dead man’s last romantic conquests. Her reactions were just perfect.
D*ck Never Called Me Again
If you aren’t a regular fan of iZombie the premise is simple. Zombie are real, and Liv uses her position in the medical examiners office to kill two birds with one stone. She has to eat, or she will devolve into a raging, brain hungry beast. The second bird is her desire to go the right thing. Because she gets flashes of her meals memories, it gives her the ability to help the police solve what might otherwise be unsolvable cases.
The Whopper Scoring
The Whopper hit on so many fronts. There is an awesome sub story with Major, another with Blane, and as always Rose McIver plays Liv and her brain dependent emotional state to perfection. Which is why The Whopper is Worth Your Time and scores an 85/100.
Fifty Shades of Grey Matter starts with a librarian kicking a young man out of the library. According to the older librarian she’s kicking him out because he likes to watch snuff films on the library computers. Good reason to kick him out.
If Books Could Kill
This introduces us to the episodes victim. A mousy blonde librarian isn’t feeling so hot. Before she can go home sick though she ends up coughing up some blood and dying suddenly.
Once in the medical examiners office Liv makes herself a snack. I’m not sure what to call it.
Librarian Brains
One of my favorite parts of the episode is when we hear Kristin Bell’s voice. It made me smile. I am assuming that Kristin is a fan of the show. Unfortunately for Liv, she is now on erotic author, librarian brains. Her victim loved to write erotica, and was sadly a victim of a marriage that wasn’t able to satisfy her own erotic needs. Let’s just say that Liv is on some brains that make her desperate for a specific type of attention.
While Liv is dealing with urges she struggles to contain, Major is dealing with his own troubles. His activities as a Zombie Assassin are threatening to catch up to him.
Fifty Shades of Grey Matter Scoring
Fifty Shades of Grey Matter was one of those great episodes. Liv, played by Rose McIver, is an amazing actress. She plays each “brain” so well. She also does naughty and sultry really well. Which is why this episode is scoring an 85/100, making this episode Worth Your Time.
Abra Cadaver opens with Major’s dog on the floor, listening as Liv and Major, well, kind of go at it.
Heavy Petting
This leads to Liv asking if Major is really okay. They can’t have sex because of the Zombie Virus. Clearly they can do other things. They don’t show it. So use your imagination. Whatever it was, it was vigorous. Whatever they did do, it doesn’t relieve Liv’s anxiety about their relationship. She asks Major if he’s really okay with the limitations on their physical relationship first. Secondly, she asks if the way she eats and changes with eat meal matters.
The Victim
We then cut to a hotel. We have a victim. Syd Wicked was murdered with a playing card. Prestofest is in town, meaning the hotel is full of magicians and entertainers.
Syd’s brains get turned into some type of bacon and brains treat.
Tasty Brains
Back at Ravi’s house he’s sharing his relationship woes with Peyton who isn’t that sympathetic. Everyone has their personal issues. Ravi feels like his new girlfriend is moving too fast. Major and Peyton are both a little freaked out by Liv being a Zombie still. For Peyton that makes sense. For Major, it seems like a reversal as him and Liv just had some bedtime talk about the very same.
Back on the investigation front, we find out that Syd was not a well liked magician. His fellow magicians hated that he would give up their secrets. His death isn’t being being mourned. It’s cause for celebration.
Unfortunately for Ravi’s girl, she’s moving too fast for Ravi. When he comes back the living room she’s in full British get up. Dressed as a sexy Bobby. Any other guy might be happy but Ravi doesn’t look so happy about it. Ravi does however sleep with her and wait until the morning to tell her they can’t see each other anymore. As she puts it, “real classy”.
Going Full English
The Hunt For The Hunter
While all this is going on, Liv is helping Blaine find whoever is killing the Zombies. They think Agent Bozzio might know something about it and stake her out. All they see is Clive coming over for a lovely evening though. The next morning they break itno Agent Bozzio’s house. Unfortunately for them, they don’t find any information they don’t already have. They do however find a result coming from the FBI lab. The brains in Lieutenant Suzuki’s fridge were human. This forces Liv to falsify them to throw the FBI off the trail.
Peyton ends up at Blaine’s to share that Mr. Boss visited her. They bond over how scary Mr. Boss is. Blaine gives Peyton his number, and she takes it, just in case she gets “scared” again.
Meanwhile Liv has solved the crime, which had a nice little twist. I won’t lay out out as I don’t want to spoil it.
Ravi then misunderstands Peyton when they decide to watch a movie. He thinks Peyton wants a kiss. Peyton shoots him down when he goes for it though.
Abra Cadaver ends with Major slipping out after finding Liv high on Syd’s death obsessed brains. It is too much for him. He’s not able to handle this bit of brains induced mania.
Abra Cadaver Scoring
I’m giving Abra Cadaver an 85/100 as this was a great episode that is Worth Your Time. The twist was well done and the story was compelling.
Real Dead Housewife of Seattle as the name implies, centers around a group of catty women in a “friend” group. Our victim is telling a friend on the phone how she told someone off. As she’s chatting a man shows up at the door with a huge offer. He’s willing to pay ten million dollars cash for the beautiful waterside home. Which of course gets him in the door.
Our victim takes the realtor out to the deck only to get attacked. In the struggle they both go crashing through the glass guardrail to fall to their deaths. Well, she dies, but the realtor ends up in a coma in the hospital.
We then cut to the morgue where Ravi is working on the victim. He is explaining how the fall had a lot of energy because it exploded one of the woman’s breast implants.
Implans vs. Zombies
Clive finds the victims schedule on a printed stash of papers is his murder suspect’s pocket. The murderer isn’t a realtor. He’s a petty criminal. Because his suspect has the woman’s schedule, Clive is convinced this is a murder for hire. That puts the husband squarely in Clive’s scope as the most likely suspect.
For her meal, Liv makes some nice Tuna and Brain salad, delicious.
Tuna & Brains
We then cut over to Major getting squeezed. Almost literally. Vaughn Du Clark has sent his red headed assistant to remind Major they want results. In this case results mean dead Zombies.
Red Headed Be-Otch
While Liv and Clive discover a link between the murdered woman and Vaughn Du Clark, Major has taken his next Zombie target, and gained a dog in the process.
The next day Live and Clive go to visit Vaughn Du Clark, and Liv gets a flash of Vaughn and her lunches brain having sex. Clearly they knew each other – biblically. Liv and Clive are leaving when two worlds come crashing together. Liv and Major came face to face at Vaughn Du Clark’s door.
Major Rajor
Clive and Liv aren’t being to discrete, and talk about Liv’s vision right there in Vaughn Du Clark’s office. They think they are alone, but the Red Headed assistant has heard every word.
When Clive and Liv get the chance to interview the victims husband, he doesn’t help his rankings on the suspect list at all. Liv asks him if he was aware that Vaughn Du Clark was banging his wife, and the husband punches his hand through a glass table top – so I’m guessing he didn’t?
We then get to see Vaughn Du Clark confronted about his indiscretions as well, by his Red Headed Assistant, and we also find out in the process that she’s his daughter, and the product of one of the previous indiscretions to boot.
For some reason, Red Headed Assistant decides to set her sights on Major, and proceeded to seduce him in the gym. The why isn’t clear. Is it to get even with Daddy? To piss Liv off? Is it just a ploy to get more information?
Liv then goes on a Birthday shopping spree, which lines up perfectly with Clive discovering that the very same personal shopper that Liv is hanging out with, is Clive’s new top suspect. When the suspect tries to run, Liv goes full Zombie, and smacks her around a bit.
Liv is having a sad birthday, at least until she discovers the cake in the fridge. Peyton dropped by while Liv was out, and the fact that Peyton still cares, makes Liv smile.
Real Dead Housewife of Seattle ends with Vaughn Du Clark facing off with the husband of the woman he was sleeping with – who also just happens to be on the board of Max Rager. Vaughn doesn’t react well when he’s told the board is about to vote him out, and he reacts by introducing his opponent to a Zombie.
Real Dead Housewife of Seattle Scoring
Real Dead Housewife of Seattle scored an 85/100. There were a lot of great twists and turns, including Peyton coming back as the DA to go after the Utopium trade.
After how Chupacabra ended with Glen finding the walkers in Hershel’s barn, I guess Secrets is the perfect name for Episode 6.
Secrets opens with Carl back on his feet, feeding the chickens with Lori. Which leads to one of Hershel’s daughters collecting some of those chickens to feed to the walkers in the barn.
Which leads to Maggie bribing Glen to be quiet. Apparently she doesn’t know how to bribe a guy? Food?
Bribery
After Maggie gives Glen his basket of food, we get to see Andrea apologize to Daryl for winging him with a rifle. Daryl is cool with it though, he knows she thought he was a Zombie. Such a good guy.
Glen then gets into Lori’s business in an unwelcome way, telling her she has a medical condition because she’s preggo. Needless to say Lori hasn’t told anyone, and Glenn doesn’t understand why it might be an issue because he doesn’t know she’s a few weeks in – a few weeks longer than Rick has been back maybe?
We then get one of those silly moments. Carl wants to learn to shoot, and Lori is against it. It’s the Zombie Apocalypse for god’s sake, give your kid the tools to survive woman!!!
Glen then does exactly what Maggie asked him not to do, and tells Dale about the walkers, and about Lori’s pregnancy. Dale covers for Glen and tells Hershel he discovered the barn while out for a walk.
We then get our second dose of silliness in the season. Hershel is keeping the walkers because he believes they are still people. His wife and stepson are in there.
While talking to Hershel Lori finds out that the invitation to stay on the farm has an expiration date, and then realizes that her secret is out when Dale tries to comfort her after she gets nauseous when he’s cooking. Lori is not happy to have her secret out, which leads Lori to ask Glen to make another pharmacy run.
This in turn shows us Maggie’s mad face.
Mad Maggie
She is pissed, and her attitude doesn’t get much better when Glen hands her his shopping list. He might not know what the meds are, but I think she does.
Unfortunately for Maggie, there is a walker in the pharmacy. Luckily for her Glen is there to take care of business, which also exposes her to just how dangerous walkers are.
Maggie Almost Gets Eaten
While saving Maggie may have put Glen back in her Maggie’s good graces, Maggie is still pissed, she’s just mad at Lori now for making Glen go into town for the morning after pill. This also leads to Maggie telling Glen that she does see who he is, and that she does care for him, she just can’t bear the thought of losing anyone else she cares about.
We then cut over to Shane and Andrea making a run into a nearby housing development to look for Sophia, but all they find is a neighborhood full of walkers. This leads to Shane showing off his shooting skills:
While also giving Andrea the moment she needs to find her shooting mojo against walker targets. Shane forces her to clear her weapon and take care of the walker coming at her, which does seem to help her.
Maggie Clears A Jam
Andrea in turn thanks Shane for teaching her by grabbing his crotch on the way back to the farm. The camera pulls back to the car stopped on the road. We hear a horn and then cut away as Shane and Andrea get busy.
Back at the farm, Lori decides to take the morning after pill, then sticks her finger down her throat, unable to do it.
Dale is there when Shane comes back with Andrea, and he is very perceptive. He knows that something happened between Shane and Andrea and Dale basically tells Shane to get in his car and leave. Dale saw Shane aim at Rick in the woods, and he doesn’t trust him. Dale shares a bit too much with Shane though, and gets threatened in return.
Back in the Grimes tent Rick finds the morning after pill which leads him to go and confront Lori. She tells him she’s pregnant, and he asks if she still is, and she admits to puking up the pills. Rick is pissed that she was keeping it secret, but he is also convinced they can make it work.
This leads to Rick asking Lori if there is anything else he needs to know, and Lori admits that she and Shane were bang buddies. Of course she puts it in less graphic terms.
Bang Buddies
Rick takes this way to well in my opinion. He basically puts words in her mouth about how she thought he was dead. Am I just nuts or would he be a little more pissed – especially since she’s preggo? Can he be sure its his? He couldn’t have survived for long on that hospital bed with no care, which means she had to jump into the sack with Shane pretty quick – and or was already in the sack with Shane. Shane is a ladies man, he was even banging a teacher in highs chool, and Rick and Lori were having issues. Is it so hard to believe they were playing tag long before the apocalypse?
I’m giving Secrets an 85/100. The points are coming off because of the silly, counter intuitive logic used in several of the situations. Still Worth Your Time, but there are times when Secrets left me scratching my head.
Carl’s Questionable Decisions
Season 2, Episode 1, What Lies Ahead (29:15) – Carl scavenges a bag of edged weapons from a car without any adult supervision. Sure it turned out to be someone who was dead dead, but he had no idea.
Season 2, Episode 6, Secrets(7:45) – Carl gets caught with a revolver he stole from the RV. I get the motivation, but he should have asked first.
They Grow Up So Quickly picks up with Doc and Addy being captured by Lucy’s wardens. Lucky for Doc and Addy the kid is bored and wants some new people to play with.
Doc And Addy Get Captured
While Doc and Addy are captured, Murphy is facing off with 10K. Murphy is upset with the fact that 10K doesn’t seem quite as into being a blend compared to the others. He wants 10K to be his champion, to stop fighting Murphy’s control. Murphy thinks if he can give 10K a new mission, and a new name, 10K just might come to his side. All this is going down as Murphy has a letter opener in 10K’s hand. The scene ends with Murphy forcing 10K to bring the letter open down violently. We just don’t know quite where yet.
What’s The Password
Back at Lucy’s Addy and Doc are tied up and being questioned.
Time For Questions
This leads to Doc and Addy trying to talk their way out of trouble. They just have to convince the Lucy and her babysitters that Murphy sent them to get his little girl. During questioning, we find out that Lucy can control the blends just like Murphy can. When Doc and Addy are challenged for the password that Murphy was supposed to send they can’t do it. Doc is about to have his throat cut when Lucy commands her warden’s to let Doc and Addy live. She wants to play with them. Which leads to Lucy introducing her two new buddies to her other friends.
Lucy’s Friends
While Doc and Addy get to play hide and seek with Lucy we find out that so far 10K is still unwounded. At least for a little while. Murphy has renamed 10K to “Thomas” and makes him do the Knife Game. This is where you splay your fingers and touch the knife to the table between them as fast as you dare. Some people call it the Knife Game but my personal favorite name is Five Finger Fillet. Murphy makes 10K play until his hand is cut up a bit before being convinced that 10K/Thomas is ready to be told his new mission.
10K Plyaing Five Finger Fillet
Back at Lucy’s Doc was forced to kill one of Lucy’s plaything Zombies before it bit him, which leads to Lucy having a fit and running off. She has apparently never seen a dead Zombie before.
Addy Versus Ender
While Lucy is out in the wild, away from the relative safety of her homestead she encounters an Ender and Lucy can’t figure out why the Zombie won’t listen to her commands. She doesn’t seem to understand that even though the Ender looks like a Zombie, its just a human who has reverted to savagery. Lucky for Lucy, Addy is there to kick some Ender butt, earning Lucy’s trust in the process.
Lucy’s Trust
Back at Murphytown 10K/Thomas has received his new mission and a test. Murphy offers 10K/Thomas a syringe, telling him it will set him free, but 10K/Thomas doesn’t take it, apparently proving to Murphy that he wants to be a blend still?
Back at Lucy’s house, the kid is excited to hear Doc and Addy tell her about her mother and father, which leads to Lucy asking some fun questions.
Lucy’s Curiosity
In the end Doc ends up telling Lucy about the blueberry pie episode in a round about way, which leads Lucy to the conclusion that she’s blue because of those blueberries.
The Man
Things look like they are going to turn out for Doc and Addy up until The Man shows up with a new mechanical hand, on a mission to get Lucy. When Doc goes to collect Lucy’s wardens The Man uses the distraction to steel the kid. Wounded, but not down for the count, Lucy’s wardens turn on Doc, which leads to a kill with flare.
Zombie Kill With Flare
Doc is able to take out one, but Addy has to save him from the female warden with a gnome statue.
Meanwhile The Man is dealing with Lucy in the car, which starts with a game of a hundred questions. The Man tries to use his taser to shut her up, but she’s not a normal kid.
Shockingly Fun
When Lucy tells The Man she wants Addy, he freaks and tells her that Addy is Dead. This results in Lucy having a screaming fit, which causes Murphy to wake with a scream. When The Man puts a hood on Lucy’s head, Murphy suffers from the same panicked suffocation she does.
By the time The Man takes the hood off of Lucy she’s aged by several years – which goes back to a statement her wardens had said earlier. When she’s stressed she ages faster.
Meanwhile Doc and Addy have split up. Addy is taking the motorcycle to chase down The Man while Doc is going to try and reach Warren or Citizen Z.
They Grow Up So Quickly ends with 10K/Thomas walking out of Murphy’s headquarters, his rifle on his back. We don’t know what his mission is yet, but clearly 10K/Thomas is on it.
They Grow Up So Quickly Scoring
I’m going to give They Grow Up So Quickly an 85/100. There wasn’t a ton of Zombie violence but Doc is one of my favorite characters and he played a huge part of this episode, including an awesome Zombie Kill.
Things I Loved About This Episode
The interplay between Doc and Addy when they are trying to fake Murphy’s password.
Doc telling Lucy the story of her mom meeting Murphy. There were some awesome flashbacks to previous episodes here.
Corporate Retreat has one of the most awesome opening scenes ever. This is just a kick *ss few moments of Zombie Violence. I loved the segment where 10K covers Doc and a through and through shot bounces off Doc’s necklace to kill another zombie.
10K kicking some serious *ss
Outside the smoke is thick and so are the Z’s. Once Team Murphy makes it to the hotel they find themselves in the midst of a work retreat. The survivors left in the hotel were there for a conference. They’ve been stuck in the hotel with a self help corporate guru since the Zombie Apocalypse started.
Team Murphy
Shortly after Team Murphy has joined the survivors in the hotel there is a shooting. Murphy and another hotel guest have been shot. To make things worse, the bullet went through Murphy. This means the wounded hotel guest is now on the same path as Cassandra.
This leads to a crazy “trust circle” scene. The hotel guests and Team Murphy pass along a didgeridoo to decide who gets to talk.
After the initial “trust circle” kicks out one of the hotel guests to face the Z’s in the smoke, Doc explains how he’s been feeding the wounded man Murphy’s blood. You have to love Doc.
As Warren discusses the situation with the Corporate Retreat Leader they wander down to the kitchen to find that there is a Z in the deep freezer.
Surprise Freezer Zombie
Know what happens when Z’s are around? People get bit, and then you have more Z’s. Good thing 10K and Vasquez are both good shots. Otherwise the Corporate Retreat Guests may have lost more than they did.
Shots
Shots are heard close by and the team rushes in to find that Doc has been shot at while he cared for Murphy. The stash of food was stolen.
The team splits up to search the hotel. This leads to Addy and one of the female guests, Dana, being alone together. The woman seems to know something about what’s going on. She’s anxious and begs Addy to take her with her when they leave. As the two are hiding, Warren and Vasquez come in and clear the room.
Closet Time WIth Addy
As Dana and Addy spill out of the closet I love Warren’s “Everything all right?” comment. There is just something about the drawl that says so much more than the words.
The moment is then shattered as whoever stole the food makes some noise. All the attention gets drawn back to the main lobby. Vasquez and Warren charge in and find themselves face to face with the Corporate Retreat Leader. He asks them if they caught the thief?
Yes, I thought his sudden appearance was suspicious as well.
As the survivors sit in lobby, trying to make sense of everything that’s happening we get a moment where Addy and Dana are looking at each other across the room. Clearly they have a connection.
Glory Hole
Out in the lobby the situation isn’t so good. The horde seems attracted to the hotel, and some of them are starting to break through. This leads to a wonderful Glory Hole kill.
Glory Hole Kill
Lots of bad things happen after that. The Z’s already trapped in the hotel break free of their quarantine wing. Then the glass in the lobby shatters. Everyone flees into the kitchen where Doc is performing medical experiments with his two patients. The stress and anxiety turns the survivors into a bickering mass of name calling until Warren puts her foot down.
It’s time to find out who the killer is.
Doc has been giving the wounded hotel guest Murphy blood, all so he can ask the now Zombie Guest who shot him. It wasn’t the Corporate Retreat Leader after all, but Dana’s hotel beau instead, who wants Dana to leave with them. The look on Addy’s face is shock and pain. At least Dana had the good grace to say she never wanted anyone to get hurt. Well Dana, Addy got hurt! (And some people where shot and killed, but Addy got hurt!!!)
Revenge is taken however as the Zombie Guest takes Doc’s gun and kills the grocery thief, then gets shot in return.
Wrap Up
This is just about when Murphy wakes up from his concussion and the story quickly wrap up. With Murphy awake the zombies are released from whatever was pulling them to the hotel, and Ziggy ends up back at the door, covered in gore. They thought he was the killer originally and exiled him, but he did just fine with his hammer.
Iggy Returns
The Corporate Retreat Leader pays for his decision by getting his head crushed with his talking stick. Good for you Iggy!
There is clearly longing here for Addy, but she doesn’t really trust Dana for good reason, but still, you can’t just force a feeling to stop. They say their goodbyes, and they both hope they get to see each other again. Sadly, there was no kiss. Come on, be brave, show a peck on the lips or a hug, right? Then Addy climbs into the van to find all eyes on her.
Corporate Retreat Scoring
Corporate Retreat scored an 85/100. It opened with some solid action and then kept the pace and mystery up throughout, making it Worth Your Time.
Zombaby finds Team Murphy moving through a small town in Wisconsin. The Zombie apocalypse must have hit during their cheese festival, because the town is decked out with everything from a massive cheese wheel, to people in cheesy costumes. This reminds Warren about how they turned the Liberty bell in Philadelphia into a weapon back in Season 1, Philly Feast. Thus we get an epic rolling cheese wheel of death:
Cheese Wheel – Of Death
After escaping the horde in Cheesy Town, Murphy’s baby Momma, Serena, continues to suffer with horrible nausea.
Serena Spewing
Baby On Board
Team Murphy is trying to help with Serena when they are ambushed. This leads to Serena’s awesome rage killing spree as she opens up with an M4, screaming that there is a baby on board. Good times.
Serena is about to pop, so Team Murphy heads for a local Mennonite community, hoping to find friendlies and supplies. This introduces us to another great moment in Zombie Television history, the Zombie Sheep!!!
Zombie Sheep
As if Zombie Sheep wasn’t bad enough, the local zombies spew white powder when they are killed. That white powder just happens to be Anthrax spores, which takes 10K down for the count. The Mennonites have some cipro, but not enough for everyone.
The Search For Antiobiotics
This leads to the next two acts of Zombaby. Addy leads a small group to a local town to find more antibiotics as Doc and Murphy stay back to help Serena give birth.
Unfortunately for 10K, Addy isn’t able to find any antibiotics, and when she makes it back to the farm, 10K looks bad, and Addy collapses. Warren, Doc, and the bounty hunter are all ex military, so they have been vaccinated against Anthrax, but 10K and Addy didn’t serve, so they are suffering.
Warren comes to a difficult decision. The Mennonites have enough antibiotics to save 10K and Addy, but only if they take what they need, which will leave the Mennonites to die. The Mennonites don’t resist because its against their beliefs, they just let Warren take all the meds.
Back in the barn, Serena gives birth to a very Murphy-esque baby. I died laughing when the zombie wise men showed up.
Zombie Wise Men
While everyone was focused on the new baby, a horde of zombies showed up to great the baby, leading to Serena making the ultimate sacrifice so Murphy and their baby can escape.
After escaping the farm, we also get to see Addy giving 10K a box of condoms, and giving him the “don’t be stupid” talk. FYI, I did look for Billy Brand condoms for fun, but they appear to be made up for the show. It was very touching that Addy cares enough about 10K to give him the talk. We also learn that apparently 10K is a virgin, but Addy assures him there are girls out there for him.
10K Getting the Talk
Zombaby ends with Murphy naming his little girl Lucy. The episode ends with the giant wheel of cheese rolling along, taking out a cow before the credits roll.
Zombaby Scoring
Zombaby scored an 85/100 and earned every one of those points.
Black Summer is a Netflix show, and the Episode 1, Human Flow, starts strong.
Human Flow picks up as an evacuation is in progress. Rose and her family are trying to get out as the final military vehicles are rolling out.
Black Summer Evacuation
I really like the look and feel of Black Summer. There is urgency, but its also clear that everyone hasn’t seen just how bad its going to be, yet. The soldiers aren’t taking any chances, they are checking every survivor for signs of illness. This turns out poorly for Rose and her family when their little girl gets on a truck, but the soldiers stop her husband. He’s sweating, and when they search him they find he’s got a wound on his side. The reaction from the soldier tells us everything we need to do know about whatever is infecting people.
Losing Anna
Rose’s daughter rides away in the back of the truck full of evacuees. The military appears to be running just ahead of the undead. Rose and her Husband flee into a local house to hide. Rose goes into the kitchen to look for supplies. When she comes back her husband has turned. Rose runs. Her husband chases her. At least until his path brings him in front of a solider.
Rose’s Husband Being Put Down
After Rose is saved, we jump over to one of the other multitude of stories being woven together. Thus weare introduced to Sun and Barbara.
Barbara is an older woman who is scared and anxious. She almost loses her car and her life in the first chaotic hours of the apocalypse. Luckily for her she gets saved by William.
Spears is the final character we are introduced to. He’s being escorted by soldiers. We don’t know why, but it’s clear that he has something, or knows something. He escapes after using a bathroom break to create an opportunity to run. Spears ends up bumping into Rose as the episode is coming to an end.
Yes, there is a lot going on in Episode 1, and I only commented on the big stuff. Human Flow reminds me of the first chapter of Stephen King’s, The Stand. After the infection has killed off the majority of the survivors we get to see how random life can be. There are a series of vignettes where survivors die in a multitude of ways as they are struggling to cope with their new reality. Episode 1 of Black Summer has a similar feel. There are lots of characters suffering and dying as they learn the reality of their new world.
Human Flow Scoring
Overall, I’m giving Human Flow an 85/100. It gets big points for the feel and anxiety that it captures so well. The producers do tension well. I was sitting on the edge of my seat for most of the episode. So why didn’t the episode score higher? Because it is possible to squeeze too much goodness into a single episode.
Black Summer is awesome. I honestly would have enjoyed each journey getting a bit more time.
Night of the Comet is the movie that made me fall in love with the zombie genre. It has a great story revolving around two gorgeous sisters who are luckily inside when the Comet turns everyone who was exposed into the undead.
Night of the Comet
The two sisters, Regina Belmont played by Catherine Mary Stewart and Samantha Belmont played by Kelli Maroney have advantages. Their father was in the army and the girls know how to handle some military grade weapons. Those types of skills come in handy when the Zombies start to bite.
The sisters meet up with Hector Gomez played by Robert Beltran before deciding to send out a broadcast to other survivors from a nearby radio station.
As luck would have it, the people who come looking for them have ulterior motives. They need the blood of survivors to try and save themselves.
Night of the Comet Scoring
The movie is over twenty years old, and yet it has held up really well. The first twenty times I’ve watched this movie it scored a 100/100. Close to forty years later and it still holds up, earning an 85/100.
If you haven’t watched Night of the Comet, you have to put it on your short list now.
