Day 5

Tired of zombies? Me too. Day 5 is a unique and inspired post-apocalypse, its characters slowly tweaking out as they go longer and longer without sleep. Production values are so-so, but much, *much* better than you'd generally see on Youtube; I'd say it's somewhere between Sci-Fi Channel and network TV. The concept is more than enough to make up for the occasional deficits. Sometimes I'm not sure whether something is bad acting or great acting, because people tend to act pretty weird when they've gone without sleep for five days. (Other times, like dream sequences, no, it's just bad acting.) Main characters are all good though.

Part drama, part comedy, but mostly The Odyssey. Infrequent gratuitous boobs, swearing that usually feels natural, some on-screen violence but only when called for.

First season *is* better than the second season, which sometimes felt formulaic. 8 stars for first season, only 6 for the second.

"Day 5" is an intriguing little apocalyptic horror/sci-fi/thriller/dark comedy, that must have been released onto some online platform, because I'm not exactly sure where it first aired (I downloaded it).

Though, it seems to have been shot, and take place, in Texas.

It's basic premise centers around the sudden onset of an apocalyptic phenomenon, whereby- for some unknown reason- every living and breathing thing on Earth, ends up fully and completely dead...if it happens to fall asleep.

We follow a number of survivors, as they wander through the streets of Texas, warding off sleep by any means necessary. They are struggling to figure out what the hell just happened...while trying to retain their sleep-deprived sanity...and not die.

This main group of survivors includes a pilot; a drug addict and his young friend; a radiologist and one of the members of her crew; an insomniac and the woman he adores; a couple who received a "warning call" prior to the onset of the phenomenon; that woman's brother; and one of his D&D playing friends- along with a few other groups, and individuals they happen to cross paths with along their way.

Not only are they each, individually, battling the onset of sleep; they are collectively working together to try and figure out what, in fact, is really going on. Eventually, they manage to deduce Dallas to be ground zero- based on the location of the "warning call" and how the phenomenon spread.

Now, they must navigate a world inhabited by a bunch of insane, sleep deprived, self mutilating psychopaths- who are hellbent on killing everyone they come into contact with.

Not everyone is bad though, and those who have survived thus far, are starting to look like the "chosen ones"- whose purpose is to repopulate the Earth....granted they can survive the psychopaths, and make it to the 5th day, that is...

The introductory season of this series is only 6 episodes long.

The first couple episodes start off a bit slow, but it picks up as things move along, and by the end, you are right into it... trying to figure out what is going on for yourself!?

However, by the end of the 6th episode, you aren't any closer to piecing things together or understanding the truth behind the mystery.

In fact, it ends so abruptly, with a whole lot of loose ends: like what happens to the insomniac guy who can't fall asleep?; who the sniper woman actually is- and what her role in these events truly are?; what happens to the pilot, radiologist, and drug addict dude; what becomes of those they meet along the way, as they seek out an answer or cure to whatever the hell is going on...or whatever the hell is ailing them...

This is all a bit frustrating, but f*ck if I'm not anxious as hell for the next season to begin already- so I can become privy to what is happening in this topsy turvy world of the pre-to-post apocalypse.

Overall, I really enjoy the concept of this series, and there is just enough gore to keep the horror buff in me satisfied. I'm fully stoked for the next season to begin so that we can all learn more and see where it's going to lead.

Fans of shows (that slowly reveal elements of their plot lines over multiple seasons) like The Returned (FRA/US-remake) or The Kettering Incident (AUS), will surely enjoy this series. Definitely recommended!

7.5 out of 10 (a rating that will surely go up, as loose ends are tied up in future seasons).

I was surprised by this series. It was so much better than I'd expected because, in my experience, straight-to-YouTube programming is often indicative that a TV show sucks. So, although I expected a low budget disappointment, I found that "Day 5" is just as good as any big studio produced sci-fi series on TV. In fact, my primary criticism of this show is that it's not available on a cable channel like Syfy. It would reach so many more people if it were.

My other criticism of "Day 5" is in regard to gore. At times the gore just seems silly and gratuitous, and I find myself rolling my eyes, ready to disengage and turn my attention elsewhere. But the program still keeps me intrigued, and I want to see what happens next, so I continue to tune in.

Overall "Day 5" is entertaining and fun, and has a fresh, kinda hipster feel to it. My favorite actor from the series is Katie Folger. She's a standout from the cast. Clearly she's a talented young artist and I love her wickedly cool delivery and performance as Meredith. If a futuristic thriller is a film genre you'd enjoy, then "Day 5" is definitely worth checking out. Glad to see there'll be a Season 3.

I only watched the first episode and half of the 2nd, so I am not ready to rate this, but so far, its promising. I did not expect much coming in, and at times the lines and acting seem corny, but the ideas are worthy to keep you interested. So far the characters did pretty much what I would do, except I know about a couple of devices that are meant to keep you from falling asleep, some you connect to your ear lobes and they give you small electric shocks. I did some night driving and falling asleep behind the wheel was my biggest fear, and let me tell you, pulling a nose hair out does more then 2 cans of red bull and half a pack of cigs.

I find it weird that there are basically no insomniacs left, they have a pretty good chance of "breezing" past the first 5 days given that they were well rested when this thing started.

Hmm.. will keep you guys updated.

--- Finished season 2: Pretty munch binged it, plot does not advance as quickly as you would wish (or expect considering the premise that they only have days if not hours left), some things are still not explained, like at all, I can say the junkie guy seems more real and other characters begin to actually bring something, but I feel it did not capitalize on that potential I saw in the beginning. Charters die, time passes, we are left just as clueless as before. Who did this? Why? How? These questions are left completely unanswered as the director goes on wacky road trip through laughable physios breakdowns (why did we need ponoko?), parody level encounters (braindead sergeant bullet surgery, really?), and goofy couple looking for cup cake valhalla. Yeah, it gets slow and pretty tiring and if you nod off IRL you might miss random crap they seemingly just threw in for shock value (last episode in season 2 with its choice of 3 paths, one literally covered in chunks of gore after chainsaw massacre incident, that leads to a couple of of characters so unbelievable I thought the group finally started having hallucinations, but no, they were real, and completely pointless to the overall plot and merely used as a C4 and drone dispenser.

Solid 6, maybe a 7 on a good day.

Season 3 has been confirmed from rooster teeth productions, I don't know about everyone else but I can't wait for season 3 it's a fun show with good caracter development and a fast paced storyline.