Z Nation is an American action/horror/comedy-drama/post-apocalyptic television series that airs on Syfy, created by Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler, and produced by The Asylum. The first season of 13 episodes premiered on September 12, 2014. Z Nation is filmed in the Spokane, Washington, area.
On June 16, 2016, Syfy announced that Z Nation's third season would be preceded by a TV movie, set prior to the climax of season 2 and introducing central characters for the third season. However, the movie was instead presented as the first two episodes of the season, the two-part "No Mercy".
On December 15, 2017, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth season, which is set to premiere in 2018.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Premise
Z Nation begins three years into a virus-caused zombie apocalypse, which has already killed most humans. In the days just before society fell apart, Murphy was one of three inmates at Portsmouth Naval Prison in Kittery, Maine, who were unwilling participants in a government-approved experiment. Each inmate was given a different test vaccine. Murphy was the only one to survive the vaccine injection. He is the only known survivor of a zombie bite who did not himself turn into a zombie, and his blood contains antibodies that are mankind's last and best hope for a vaccine. However, something is wrong. He seems to be mutating into some form of hybrid between zombie and human, his skin is shedding and his body turning blue, and he seems to be able to control and even mesmerize certain types of zombies he encounters. Yet, he hasn't turned, and still maintains full control of himself. The series revolves around his travelings with a small group of survivors being led through the apocalypse by Simon "Citizen Z" Cruller, who watches the world from his multiple computers. The group is looking to use him to solve the zombie pandemic.
The group must transport Murphy from New York to the world's last known functioning Centers for Disease Control research lab in California. However, Murphy harbors a dark secret about his condition that threatens them all.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Kellita Smith as Roberta Warren
- DJ Qualls as Citizen Z
- Michael Welch as Mack Thompson (seasons 1-2)
- Keith Allan as Alvin Murphy
- Anastasia Baranova as Addy Carver
- Russell Hodgkinson as Doc
- Pisay Pao as Cassandra (seasons 1-2, guest season 3)
- Nat Zang as Thomas "10K"
- Tom Everett Scott as Charles Garnett (season 1)
- Harold Perrineau as Mark Hammond (season 1)
- Matt Cedeño as Javier Vasquez (seasons 2-3)
- Emilio Rivera as Escorpion (seasons 2-3)
- Tara Holt as Lucy Murphy (seasons 2-4)
- Joseph Gatt as The Man (season 3)
- Sydney Viengluang as Sun Mei (season 3-present)
- Ramona Young as Kaya (season 3-present)
- Natalie Jongjaroenlarp as Red (season 3-present)
- Holden Goyette as "Nature Boy"/5K (season 3)
- Grace Phipps as Sgt. Lilly (season 4-present)
- Henry Rollins as Lt. Mueller (season 4)
Recurring cast
- Lisa Coronado as Dr. Marilyn Merch (seasons 1-3)
- Mark Carr as Sketchy McClain (season 1-present)
- Doug Dawson as Skeezy (season 1-present)
- Pup (seasons 1-3)
- Sara Coates as Serena (seasons 1-3)
- Donald Corren as Dr. Walter Kurian (seasons 1-2)
- Gina Gershon as La Reina (season 2)
- Frank Boyd as Dr. Harold Teller (seasons 3-4)
- Cecil Cheeka as Kaskae (season 3)
- Darlene Mccarty as Nana (season 3-present)
- Aaron Trainor as Will Chaffin (season 3)
- Kathryn Brown as Hope Chaffin (season 3)
- DeRon Brigdon as Wesson (season 3)
- Michael Berryman as The Founder (season 4-present)
- Michael Oaks as Mr. Sunshine (season 4)
- Kodiak Lopez as JZ (season 4-present)
Guest cast
- Scott Roddan as Donner
- Rick Rivera as Tobias Campbell
- Yuji Okumoto as Bernt.
- Bill Moseley as Arthur McCandles
- Jason Gallagher as Keith Richards
- Christy Choi as Brittany
- Conner Marx as Cosmonaut Yuri
- Kelly McGillis as Helen
- William Sadler as Sam Custer
- George R. R. Martin as Zombie George R. R. Martin
- Tom Beyer as Dean
- Missi Pyle as Bernadette
- Eddie Spears as Gorden Firecloud, a.k.a. Red Hawk
- Tinsel Korey as Ayalla Firecloud
- Anthony Michael Hall as Gideon Gould
- John Wu as Lt. Mong
Production
Z Nation is produced by Go2 Digital Media for The Asylum. On June 29, 2014, it was announced that the filming of 13 episodes for the first season of the series was underway. On October 12, 2014, Syfy announced that it had ordered a second season of Z Nation. Schaefer and Engler have described Z Nation as an attempt to "put the fun back into zombies", criticizing shows like The Walking Dead for being too serious. Z Nation's first season had a budget of less than $700,000 per episode.
Reception
The first season of Z Nation received mixed reviews from professional television critics. Its aggregate score on Metacritic is 48/100 based on reviews from 11 critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a rating of 53%, based on reviews from 17 critics, with the site's consensus stating "although it's hampered by an overcrowded narrative, Z Nation manages to muster up some fun scares without taking itself too seriously."
Chris Carabott of IGN noted that the show "continues to set itself apart in campy and inventive ways." Brian Moylan of The Guardian called Z Nation scary "in the same vague way as that talking green blob is in the Mucinex commercials" and concluded that viewers would hate all the characters, but that "Citizen Z (DJ Qualls) is especially horrible." Merrill Barr of Forbes magazine said the show had a high entertainment value.
In its first season, Z Nation averaged 1.42 million viewers per episode, including a .48 rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic.
Broadcast
Z Nation is distributed internationally by Dynamic Television. The series premiered on Syfy in Australia on April 1, 2015, and was watched by 26,000 viewers. The United Kingdom premiere aired on Freeview channel Pick on July 21, 2015.
Home release
Season 1 was released on DVD on February 10, 2015, by Syfy in association with Universal Home Entertainment. It was also issued on iTunes, with episodes running approximately 41-43 minutes each.
The series is available on Netflix worldwide.
Sharknado series crossover and references
The film Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, released in July 2015, featured a cameo appearance by Smith as Sgt. Warren.
The 2017 film Sharknado 5: Global Swarming featured a cameo appearance by Hodgkinson as Doc.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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