Z Nation

Right, well with the sheer amount of baggage that both SyFy Channel and The Asylum comes with, in forms of questionable movies and TV series, then it was with a certain amount of skepticism that I sat down to watch "Z Nation".

However, now that I have gone through seasons 1 and 2 in a very short time, I must say that I am more than impressed with the outcome of "Z Nation". Fearing that this would be nothing more than just another mockbuster cash-in on "The Walking Dead", I had no particular high expectations for "Z Nation". But I will say that I am glad that I did sit down to watch it.

"Z Nation" breaks the traditional formula that both SyFy Channel and The Asylum tends to use, and it does offer up something unique to the zombie genre. Sure, there are massive similarities to "The Walking Dead", for example, then "Z Nation" does turn the table and prove to be innovative with new ideas and concepts to the genre.

The special effects in "Z Nation" is a massive step up from what both SyFy Channel and The Asylum previously has managed to muster in their previous productions. And that was really a massive improvement, especially because it worked out quite well. And the effects are great and that really works in favor of the series.

What really blew me away and had me riveted to the screen was the characters and the story. The characters are nicely detailed and fleshed out. Lots of really memorable characters in the series. I especially enjoy the Doc and Murphy characters, played by Russell Hodgkinson and Keith Allan respectively. These two characters are more than enough to sustain the series all by themselves.

"Z Nation" doesn't take itself as serious as "The Walking Dead" for instance, and that is result of SyFy Channel and The Asylum. But it works out well enough for the series, because it adds a good comedy element to the show, which is a colorful layer.

There are some very outrageous things happening throughout the series, which may actually not appeal to just everyone in the audience. I did, however, enjoy it.

All in all, then "Z Nation" is more than worth checking out. Just bear in mind that it is not "The Walking Dead" in seriousness and such. It is, though, a good addition to the zombie genre, especially if you enjoy something that breaks the traditional formulas used in the zombie genre.

This is not a TWD replacement or competition, certainly in its current state. Not that TWD is the epitome of excellence but the apparent lack of budget and mostly unknown actors give Z Nation a less professional finish.

Coming at a time when we are over saturated by all things Zombie, Z Nation seems to know that its not going to break any records or do anything groundbreaking and so doesn't try. Instead, what we have is a show where the makers are giving us a bunch of characters ( I cant even remember their names) who are knee deep in Guts and supremely confident in cracking the skulls of the Zombies and the whole thing is a 45 minute long gore fest with a bit of a back story.

I personally didn't want to get involved in another series where you have to love or loath a character, get involved in their love lives and generally care about them especially in another Zombie world so its quite refreshing to know that it doesn't matter who lives and who dies and judging by the carnage the producers don't care who lives or dies either.

After the first two episodes, I can say that it was fun and I will watch the third episode. Why? cos its a laugh in a visceral,gory and silly way.

Just don't expect a serious, well written and high budget TWD experience and you might have a bit of fun with it...

Don't take the apocalypse too seriously. Break all taboos the genre has adhered to. Tell an insane story that gets completely out of hand, like Weeds once did. Include a handful of extremely likeable characters. Add trash. No, add Trash with a capital T.

Sounds good? Because it works for me!

Seasons 1-4 get a rating of 9 stars from me. I rate season 5 with 3 stars. This show has been funny and highly entertaining until season 5. One of the things that made this show so good was that the writers managed to find a good balance,keeping the political stuff to a minimum and there wasn't a lot of deep diving into emotional dilemmas. This season the writing is sappy and feels forced with lame lines about "who we want to become" and "not acting out of fear" blah blah blah. As if having legitimate concern about someone eating your brains is some sort of silly fear that should be scorned. The writing this season is terrible! The "Talkers" won't eat you if they get enough biscuits that contain human brains. The viewer seems to be expected to just accept this premise no questions asked. Who makes the biscuits and where are they getting brains from? And why aren't our characters having a moral dilemma with THAT?! In previous seasons anything that seemed stupid in the writing wasn't a problem b/c the show was so fun to watch. This season is nothing but a lame lecture.

Honestly have to leave 10 out of 10 for this.

This show does not try to be anything it's not. It's got character development, shocks and twists with who lives (and dies)

It's got humour, you can often relate to people in your own life - so and so would be exactly like that in that position....

Is it award winning? No

Is it entertaining? Absolutely

Am I currently reaching all 3 seasons ready for season 4? As I write this now

Comparing this to TWD, is like comparing Got with Vikings. Both fantastic in their own right, but 2 totally different shows