Z Nation

I think the problem here is that everyone is comparing this show to the Walking Dead, which in my opinion, has failed the zombie genre. The first two episodes of this show had me on the edge of my seat and the graphics were quite good (obviously not HBO good). The zombies in the show are terrifying and yes some of the acting is a bit stiff but its SYFY, they do have a budget, and they're spending it on the right thing, graphics. Almost non-stop action is what propels the show and a new "smart zombie" spin is whats going to keep me watching. Im tired of watching zombies get speared through the holes of a fence, it's time to let the humans be the hunted! I highly recommend you give this show a try because in my opinion they're doing almost everything right and it could be one of the most thrilling shows to grace the airwaves in a while.

I started watching this while on vacation i Thailand. I usually have SyFy on when it's available and I'm in my room. One night I watched this show and after a while I actually began to like it.

As it is an Asylum production I never have high expectations. But this is actually a good show, of course it's cheesy and campy, but hilarious. The characters are quirky and have distinct personality, sometimes played over the top. My favourite is Doc, hands down.

I enjoyed the ride the first four seasons. Episodes were a little up and down but overall I liked it and the story arches in later episodes worked ok. BUT! Then came season 5. This is when it went stright down into the toilet, because of, hrrm, the popular agenda nowadays. Sure there were a few good moments but most of it was just horrible.

So, save yourself some suffering and just watch the four first seasons.

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!

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.