Black Summer

I was quite impressed with this show.

It's centered around the early days of a zombie apocalypse, and those who have to live through it. It adopts an almost documentary style that I found to be particularly effective.

I really enjoy the fact that the characters are always on the run and that no place is safe. The zombie menace is omnipresent and the zombies are actually, you know, deadly and aggressive. Even a lone zombie can be a real handful. It almost feels like a war movie. The characters are clearly shell shocked as the world they used to know collapses around them. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I enjoy the fact that the dialog is minimal, as it better represents the horror these people are living through. In other zombie shows, they'd be drinking lemonade at a farmhouse whilst spending 3/4 of the season endlessly talking about their feelings.

Now granted there is some "cheese", some questionable decision making by the characters, but you can't have a zombie show w/o some of it.

I sincerely hope this continues. It's better than Z-Nation, and miles better than TWD (which I used to love). I have no way of knowing, but appears there's some review "brigading" going on. I'm guessing it's the devoted fans of TWD.

I had average expectations but was gripped from start to end. Cleverly shot with a real time feel, the characters are fascinating and acting to match. Looking forward to S2!

Like many reviewers before stated - the production is good, the acting too, and it got some really suspenseful moments, but, and this is almost pretty standard these days, the behavior of the people is sometimes too stupid to believe (for example standing in the middle of a road and screaming for help in the middle of nowhere will not help your matter, I take any bet), and last but not least, to cite Lord of the Flies is an overused and boring approach these days, just saying. Anyway, Black Summer is solid and sometimes even good and beats easy everything TWD and FTWD delivered over the past few years/seasons. If you (still) like to watch zombies (like I do), Black Summer will be a really pleasant surprise and experience.

There are plenty of zombie shows and movies but this show did very important things right. It felt like an apocalypse you could be in yourself. The only thing this show lacks is star power, something I don't consider a weakness. It's not on display and that's a good thing. The problem with modern audiences is that when I try to sell them on a show the first thing they ask is "who's in it". My favorite thing about this show is how dangerous the zombies are, because let's face it, shooting a zombie in the head is not easy when it's running at you like a maniac. 'The diner' and 'the heist' from season 1 along with 'card game' from season 2 is some of the best story telling I've seen on a show. This is a gem of a show and worth a look.

Watched both season in a weeks time. First season was very good; would have given 7, maybe 8 stars. I was confused from the get go on season 2. I watched until then end on it didn't get better. Could have done without the second season.