What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

Z Nation: Zunami

I was glad to see the Chiller network is running a Z Nation marathon amid the vast wasteland that is weekend television.This was my favorite episode in the first season. And I think a turning point for several characters.

At the beginning of the episode, the group has just lost their leader, Charlie. He’s also the love of Roberta’s life (at least this life), and she’s about to give up. Murphy, in his not-so-subtle way, tells her to get back with the program. A “zunami” is coming – a wall of zombies, headed south, and our friends are trying to stay a step ahead of them. Having had no water for a couple of days though, they’re not at the top of their game. Only Murphy is fine, since he can “retain his bodily fluids.”  They become trapped and the only choice is to hide inside the dead body chambers of a morgue, after ousting one of the inhabitants. Murphy, not having the same worries as the others, is able to remain among the zombies and goes out to find supplies. To distract themselves from what’s surrounding them, Roberta thinks about food and Doc thinks about bands from the ‘70s. One of the expendable characters they’ve picked up along the way can no longer take the claustrophobia, and busts out of his chamber, quickly getting eaten, while the others hold their collective breaths.

Citizen Z gets a visitor, cosmonaut Yuri, who has landed from a defunct space station. Although Citizen Z is cautious, the two become friends, sharing stories, having a nip of vodka, and playing golf.  Citizen Z has been alone a long time, so it’s a happy moment when he’s finally able to communicate with another human being face to face. Especially when he began this episode saying good-by to Charlie and saluting his bravery via webcam.

This episode is heartbreaking on a couple of levels.  One is the change we see in Murphy – becoming both braver and more hardened. He’s a reluctant anti-hero, starting to realize the power he has over the zombies. After stealing supplies from a living mother and child, he lets the zombie father back into the house. Why? I still don’t get that. Is there some method to that madness or does he have a cruel streak? After seeing season two’s premiere episode last night, I’m hoping Murphy comes back from the dark side. He isn’t entirely gone, but I don’t like where he’s headed.

And there’s also Citizen Z finally forging a real friendship, only to realize at the end, he’s still alone. Earlier in the episode, a carbon monoxide alarm has gone off.  Since it’s interfering with Citizen Z’s concentration on his golf game, he’s whacks it with the golf club, knocking it off the ceiling, rather than checking the air levels. This does seem a little contrary to Citizen Z’s personality, but creates the setting where we get to really know him.

Seeing it again was interesting in the way that watching The Sixth Sense a second time is. We can now look for “clues.” The first thing Yuri says to Citizen Z is that the air is not safe, even after Citizen Z has told him it’s all right to remove his helmet; Yuri having so many similarities to Citizen Z is no coincidence, but understandable, since he is Citizen Z; Citizen Z researching Yuri’s space station on his tablet (yes! we still have wifi!) and seeing that it had run out of air and all were presumed dead; Yuri’s continual questioning about Citizen Z’s dog sleeping the day away; Yuri knowing that Citizen Z’s real name is Simon, which even we didn’t know.

When Citizen Z discovers Yuri has put his space suit back on, he draws a gun and asks who Yuri really is and why he has intruded on the compound.  At first, Yuri tells him he’s asking the wrong question, but when Citizen Z asks why Yuri has put his suit back on, Yuri tells him he’s closer.

A physical fight ensues. Yuri is about to strangle Simon, cutting off his air, while continuing to badger him into remembering what he knows. What is different about today? What is wrong with dog? What do you know? When Yuri asks him why he can’t breathe, Simon says it’s because there is no oxygen. Yuri disappears and the figurative light bulb comes on. Citizen Z drags himself and his dog outside, where they both recover. (Whew!) Seeing Citizen Z standing at the entrance to the compound, alone with his dog (only known as Pup) was actually a little painful and brought tears to my eyes. I so wanted him to have some company.

While The Walking Dead is more like a combination of Orson Welles and Werner Herzog direction, Z Nation is like a Tarantino/Rodriguez effort. The terror is high, but the humanity and laughs continually bubble to the surface, somehow making it more personal. (The only advice my father gave me upon leaving home was, “Don’t lose your sense of humor.” He must have known how easy that would be to do in this world.) I’ve found myself invested in this diverse band of characters, rooting for them, laughing with them, holding my breath when it looks like there’s no way out for them, and weeping inside for them.

I love the horror genre, but zombies have always been my favorites, because zombie stories are rarely really about zombies; instead being representative of real life terrors. Sometimes it’s obvious, like those where humans became zombiefied because of biological warfare or some nuclear waste leak. Others contain more subtlety, like Colson Whitehead’s Zone One, which basically tells us that we need to leave a lot of our “dead” ways behind. (I read it while the electricity was out after Hurricane Sandy and I couldn’t have picked a more appropriate book.) While I haven’t made a definitive decision on what Z Nation is really about – and like The Walking Dead, we are not privy as to why this is happening – I tend to think they both involve the human struggle with ourselves, as well as those who are different from us, and trying to move forward in today’s ever-changing landscape.

Or as Pogo once so succinctly put it: We have met the enemy and he is us.