Episode 1 Archives - Page 2 of 2

Z Nation, Season 2, Episode 9

November 19, 2020May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Rozwell takes place in Roswell New Mexico, the home of the Roswell UFO incident in the summer of 1947. Some things never change.

Rozwell starts with a bang. A pretty young lady is being chased by a zombie until she’s saved by a mysterious flying object we don’t quite see, but we do see its capabilities. The flying object takes care of the Zombie while leaving the young lady unharmed.

Team Murphy isn’t far off and they have there own experience with the UFO before it disappears in a flash. A little ways down the road Team Murphy finds a diner full of survivors who are UFO believers. Hard core believers. Our blond friend from the first few moments of Rozwell is their leader, and after a bit of discussion and prompting from 10K, she agrees to take Team Murphy to the nearby military based.

On the way to the base the team sees the remnants of Zombies, as well as the “Triangle Zombie”. Something other than normal is definitely going on.

Once at the base the team is treated to a fun elevator ride as they descend into the secret subterranean military base. The team encounters technology that shouldn’t exist, as well as armored beings that are nearly bullet proof. Nearly, but not quite.

In the end we find out that twisted love is to blame for a lot what is going on in Rozwell. Team Murphy moves on while our blond friend in charge of the UFO worshipers decides to continue her journey, regardless of the truth.

Rozwell Scoring

Rozwell scored a 69/100, putting it just 1 point away from Worth Your Time territory. The UFO stuff was fun, but I do like me a little more classic Zombie killing as well.

Season	Episode	Episode Name	Score
1	1	Puppies and Kittens	95
1	2	Fracking Zombies	80
1	3	Philly Feast	80
1	4	Full Metal Zombie	81
1	5	Home Sweet Zombie	75
1	6	Resurrection Z	81
1	7	Welcome to the Fu-Bar	83
1	8	Zunami	64
1	9	Die Zombie Die… Again	29
1	10	Going Nuclear	79
1	11	Sisters Of Mercy	82
1	12	Murphy's Law	80
1	13	Doctor of the Dead	91
2	1	The Murphy	90
2	2	White Light	81
2	3	Zombie Road	90
2	4	Batch 47	60
2	5	Zombaby	85
2	6	Zombie Baby Daddy	86
2	7	Down The Mississippi	87
2	8	The Collector	63
2	9	Rozwell	69
2	10	We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon	72
2	11	Corporate Retreat	85
2	12	Party with the Zeros	64
2	13	Adiós, Muchachos	69
2	14	Day 1	90
2	15	All Good Things Must Come to an End	94
3	1	No Mercy	90
3	2	A New Mission	77
3	3	Murphy's Miracle	80
3	4	Escorpion and the Red Hand	70
3	5	Little Red and the Wolfz	79
3	6	Doc Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	73
3	7	Welcome to Murphytown	67
3	8	Election Day	80
3	9	Heart of Darkness	70
3	10	They Grow Up So Quickly	85
3	11	Doc’s Angels	70
3	12	The Siege of Murphytown	70
3	13	Duel	90
3	14	Everybody Dies in the End	70

Z Nation, Season 2, Episode 1

November 11, 2020May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

The Murphy kicks off Season 2 of Z Nation.

The nukes are coming down, and the team is about to face some fall out.

Murphy has run, and Team Warren barely escapes the initial blast, and Cassandra appears to crawl out of the crater of the lab, or at least what was Cassandra.

Citizen Z isn’t faring too much better at Camp Northern Light. The nuke aimed at him appears to have hit a plane, bringing down a horde of zombies. Citizen Z survives, but the base is in bad shape. He barricades himself off from the undead long enough to send out an urgent call to whoever can hear him. He knows Murphy is on the loose, and tells anyone listening that there is a huge reward for getting Murphy to the west coast.

Sisters Of Mercy

Mack and Addy are still at the Sisters of Mercy, but the nukes and one of their exiled children have torched the place, killing almost everyone. Mack and Addy drive away on a four wheeler as the woman that Murphy slept with back in Season 1, Episode 11, creeps out of the tree line, and guess what? Murphy is going to be a daddy!!!

Murphy on the other hand is buck naked after shedding his skin, and decides to go clothes shopping, with a few zombies in tow. It’s not long before a scavenger finds Murphy, and tries to take him prisoner so he can collect the bounty.

The plan doesn’t go so well after Cassandra shows up. She’s not quite herself, but she does seem to recognize Murphy. This kicks off an interesting bit of Murphy’s quirks as he uses his “Zombie Whispering” to try and get two of the female zombies to kiss.

Team Warren

Warren, Doc, and 10K are somewhere out on the plains with no vehicle and no supplies, and Doc is hurt. Warren leaves them to go find supplies, help, or both. She doesn’t get far before fatigue and depression make her question whether she wants to survive any longer.

Warren is about to pull the trigger when she hears a girl’s scream, and it renews Warren’s purpose. All she needed was someone to save, and she goes into b*dass mode.

Warren really was at the end of her rope though. Once the girl is safe Warren passes out, hitting the ground hard.

Warren’s Fancy Machete Work

Lucky for Warren, the kid is kind enough to take her home to safety after she passes out.

While Warren is enjoying the hospitality of the girl’s family Mack and Addy are reunited with Doc and 10K.

10K For The Rescue Kill Shot

Lucky for Warren, she meets back up with Doc, 10K, Mack, and Addy and the team is able to make up some ground using Mack’s 4 wheeler to pull them along.

Team Warren finds Murphy a little ways down the road in Cheyenne Wyoming. Murphy has taken over the local strip club.

Practical Clothing?

I think Addy has the best one liner of the episode when she looks at Cassandra’s gold hot pants, and says, “I’m sorry, what is she wearing? Is that mildly impractical for the apocalypse?” Unfortunately for 10K, Cassandra doesn’t seem to really recognize him, and she’s clearly keeping herself between Murphy and the humans.

The episode ends with a zombie strip show that ends in a centrifugal force amputation that leaves the team distracted and vulnerable, giving another band of bounty hunters just the opening the newcomers need to get the drop on Team Murphy.

The confrontation ends with Murphy hitting the Zombie Panic button, leaving all the humans to fight for survival as Cassandra and Murphy flee out the back of the bar. This leads to the third awesome zombie kill of the episode with 10K using a fire extinguisher.

Zombie Fire Extinguisher Kill

The episode ends with Team Warren going to follow Murphy before cutting away to Murphy’s Baby Momma. She’s standing on the road, looking left and right, before she asks her belly, “Which way is daddy?”

We then see the outline of a little hand move across the inside of her belly, pointing the way.

The Murphy Scoring

Wow, the Season 2 opening episode was packed with awesome scenes and storyline. I’m giving The Murphy a 90/100.

Now on to important questions. Let me know in the comments bellow which kill you think was the Best Zombie Kill. We have Warren’s machete work, 10K’s headshot, or 10K’s fire extinguisher kill. For me the fire extinguisher takes it.

Fight me if you disagree.

Season	Episode	Episode Name	Score
1	1	Puppies and Kittens	95
1	2	Fracking Zombies	80
1	3	Philly Feast	80
1	4	Full Metal Zombie	81
1	5	Home Sweet Zombie	75
1	6	Resurrection Z	81
1	7	Welcome to the Fu-Bar	83
1	8	Zunami	64
1	9	Die Zombie Die… Again	29
1	10	Going Nuclear	79
1	11	Sisters Of Mercy	82
1	12	Murphy's Law	80
1	13	Doctor of the Dead	91
2	1	The Murphy	90
2	2	White Light	81
2	3	Zombie Road	90
2	4	Batch 47	60
2	5	Zombaby	85
2	6	Zombie Baby Daddy	86
2	7	Down The Mississippi	87
2	8	The Collector	63
2	9	Rozwell	69
2	10	We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon	72
2	11	Corporate Retreat	85
2	12	Party with the Zeros	64
2	13	Adiós, Muchachos	69
2	14	Day 1	90
2	15	All Good Things Must Come to an End	94
3	1	No Mercy	90
3	2	A New Mission	77
3	3	Murphy's Miracle	80
3	4	Escorpion and the Red Hand	70
3	5	Little Red and the Wolfz	79
3	6	Doc Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	73
3	7	Welcome to Murphytown	67
3	8	Election Day	80
3	9	Heart of Darkness	70
3	10	They Grow Up So Quickly	85
3	11	Doc’s Angels	70
3	12	The Siege of Murphytown	70
3	13	Duel	90
3	14	Everybody Dies in the End	70

Black Summer, Season 1, Episode 1

November 3, 2020April 30, 2023 Leave a comment

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.

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.

Season	Episode	Episode Name	Score
1	1	Human Flow	85
1	2	Drive	80
1	3	Summer School	70
1	4	Alone	82
1	5	Diner	86
1	6	Heist	90
1	7	The Tunnel	83
1	8	The Stadium	91
2	1	The Cold	95
2	2	Prelude	80
2	3	Card Game	91
2	4	Cold War	83
2	5	White Horse	88
2	6	Currency	69
2	7	The Lodge	75
2	8	The Plane	99

Z Nation, Season 1, Episode 1

October 18, 2020May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Puppies and Kittens is the start of something awesome. Z Nation honestly has one of the best first episodes ever. The world is overrun by the Undead and the people working on a vaccine are about to get overrun. This single event drives the next five seasons. Murphy has been bitten, and he hasn’t turned.

Puppies and Kittens kicks of the series, and the season with non stop action, while setting the groundwork for the next five seasons. The initial zombie horde scenes are first class, and one of my all time favorite scenes of any zombie show is when the dead wash up along the riverbank, and the survivors at the camp don’t quite realize how bad that is going to end up for them, for about 30 seconds:

Episode 1 introduces us to the heart of the Z Nation cast as well. It is the apocalypse, and some people will come and go, but all the major players are introduced in Puppies and Kittens. Yes, there are other players in the game, but these are my favorites:

Murphy:

Murphy is the convict turned successful zombie vaccine survivor. The nations, even the worlds, chances of long term survival are flowing through is veins…maybe.

Keith Allan plays Murphy like an expert at a piano, always striking the right note at the perfect moment. Murphy is a very flawed man, and while he has moments of redemption and growth, he is who he is.

Doc:

Russell Hodgkinson, if you’re reading this, you are my all time favorite character of the series. You bring the fun, funny, and awesome to every scene you’re in.

Doc always has just a little more story to tell, shedding a bit more light on what has been an interesting, complicated life. I hope I bump into you at an airport someday so I can thank you for how many times you’ve made me smile and laugh.

Lt. Roberta Warren:

Lt. Roberta Warren is the rock of the survivor group. She’s smart, hard as nails, and knows how to mercy the undead while never losing her compassion.

Lt. Warren is what we all want and need in our survivor group. She is a utility player who thinks on her feet and can shift from strategy to hand to hand combat without breaking a sweat.

Citizen Z:

Citizen Z is my second favorite character of the series. I’m sure it has nothing to do with him being a computer geek fighting the good fight from behind his keyboard, and I somehow identify with that.

Citizen Z is the lone survivor of an NSA/Military communications base in the far north. He stays behind to make sure that Murphy is in transit, only to find that his comrades leave him behind, and save his life in the process. Citizen Z has the full capability of the United States intelligence systems at his fingertips, and he uses it to full effect to help the survivors try to get Murphy to safety.

10K:

What does a sniper do when his unit has been devoured and he’s all alone? He goes on a target hunt to try to get his number to 10,000 kills, that’s what he does.

Puppies and Kittens Scoring

Puppies and Kittens kicks off an awesome series and scores 95/100. If you are not watching Z Nation yet, you need to be!

Season	Episode	Episode Name	Score
1	1	Puppies and Kittens	95
1	2	Fracking Zombies	80
1	3	Philly Feast	80
1	4	Full Metal Zombie	81
1	5	Home Sweet Zombie	75
1	6	Resurrection Z	81
1	7	Welcome to the Fu-Bar	83
1	8	Zunami	64
1	9	Die Zombie Die… Again	29
1	10	Going Nuclear	79
1	11	Sisters Of Mercy	82
1	12	Murphy's Law	80
1	13	Doctor of the Dead	91
2	1	The Murphy	90
2	2	White Light	81
2	3	Zombie Road	90
2	4	Batch 47	60
2	5	Zombaby	85
2	6	Zombie Baby Daddy	86
2	7	Down The Mississippi	87
2	8	The Collector	63
2	9	Rozwell	69
2	10	We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon	72
2	11	Corporate Retreat	85
2	12	Party with the Zeros	64
2	13	Adiós, Muchachos	69
2	14	Day 1	90
2	15	All Good Things Must Come to an End	94
3	1	No Mercy	90
3	2	A New Mission	77
3	3	Murphy's Miracle	80
3	4	Escorpion and the Red Hand	70
3	5	Little Red and the Wolfz	79
3	6	Doc Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	73
3	7	Welcome to Murphytown	67
3	8	Election Day	80
3	9	Heart of Darkness	70
3	10	They Grow Up So Quickly	85
3	11	Doc’s Angels	70
3	12	The Siege of Murphytown	70
3	13	Duel	90
3	14	Everybody Dies in the End	70

See how all Zombie Series rank here!

The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Season 1, Episode 1

October 16, 2020April 30, 2023 Leave a comment

The Walking Dead, World Beyond, Season 1, Episode 1 is titled Brave. It is ten years after the initial Zombie Apocalypse has decimated the planet.

The world is reminiscent of the Hunger Games. There are several factions. Each acts on their own with little to no communication between them. This ties into the two main character’s background. Iris and Hope’s father was taken away from Campus Colony to help the Civic Republic.

It is very clear that Iris and Hope’s father was very important to the Campus Colony. It is also fairly clear that even though he left to help the Civic Republic, he doesn’t quite trust them. He set up a pager and a printer so he can send his daughters messages without the Civic Republic knowing.

TWD: The World Beyond — The Walking Dead: World Beyond

After a long pause in messages, Iris and Hope’s father sends them a warning. Things aren’t going well. Safety is not guaranteed. This triggers the girls, and two of their friends to decide to walk over a thousand miles to get to New York, where the Civic Republic have the girl’s father.

Sneaking Away

The small group sneaks out of Campus Colony, followed by their guardian, who is essentially the town sheriff, and his female deputy. Which is just in time, because the Civic Republic decides its worth killing everyone at Campus Colony to find the girls.

The campus slaughter was actually a little vague. Or maybe I’m just dim. I wasn’t sure where they were killing people, even though Elizabeth, the Civic Republic Leader, asks if her men checked in several of the buildings.

Thus starts the Episode 1, Brave.

Overall I enjoyed it. There is a lot packed into the first episode, including some very heavy handed foreshadowing. The girls are both tortured by the memory of losing their mother, which leads to several flashbacks. In the process we find out that the woman who killed their mother, just happens to be the pregnant mother of one of their travelling companions, who of course remembers his mother and unborn sister fondly. I’m sure he doesn’t know that Hope shot his mom after his mom killed her mom. (I hated typing that many moms in such short order.)

The acting is okay, but some of the dialogue seems forced. Hopefully the cast will gel more with each other as the season goes on.

Brave Scoring

Brave earned a 70/100 and I am hoping it gets better, because I am looking forward to the next episode. What cost it points? The rough edges in the dialogue and some of the acting is a B-. The other item which cost some points is that Campus Community seems a little too clean and well fed for the apocalypse. I know its 10 years later and they have a secure campus, but still, it didn’t feel enough like the apocalypse for me.

Season	Episode	Episode Name	Score
1	1	Brave	70
1	2	The Blaze Of Glory	50
1	3	The Tyger and the Lamb	65
1	4	The Wrong End of a Telescope	71
1	5	Madman Across the Water	60
1	6	Shadow Puppets	60
1	7	Truth Or Dare	60
1	8	The Sky Is a Graveyard	62
1	9	The Deepest Cut	55
1	10	In This Life	50

See how all Zombie Series rank here!