Warren and company are dehydrated with no water or food, left with little energy left to walk much less run, while Murphy's ongoing transformation into "something beyond zombie or human" continues, showing him nowhere near as fatigued or weakened as his human counterparts. Citizen Z notices that someone is trying to hack into his NSA type military computer systems, and he soon discovers that a Russian International Space Station astronaut has landed in a capsule outside his compound! There's a reason Citizen Z's dog hasn't moved since right before meeting the astronaut (an innocuous, puppy-innocent looking Yuri (Conner Max) who seems totally harmless), and this could be dangerous to him. How a morgue might be the savior of Cassandra, Doc, and the gang is quite a neat development showing that even when all hope seems lost, some luck and a little on-the-spot decision making can mean a lot! Murphy's taking food and water from survivors (a mother and her daughter!), and his allowing their father/husband (turned zombie without their knowledge) in the building to obviously kill them as the zombies move about outside is a stunning development in itself showing a really horrifying side to him. So Murphy takes it upon himself to provide to his gang (he almost decides to leave them, but at the last moment goes back for them) and take from a mother and her daughter as they look on in horror
this leaves a foul taste, even as Cassandra, Doc, 10K, and Warren are elated and thankful for his supplying them with nourishment. Murphy's conscience starts to get the better of him when watching them eat and drink up and insists on leaving, as Warren solutes him, now considering him a "friend". The sight of a dust cloud following behind a rabid army of the dead rushing towards town is rather stunning, as is the bursting into the morgue as they look for Warren and gang. How Murphy can now move about the dead provides a rather unique plot development different from zombie stories in television and film within the genre, and the visual of it all is rather fascinating. They don't even notice that he isn't necessarily "one of them", going about looking for fresh human meat. Warren peeping out the crack of a body bag as the zombies move about around her is definitely a frightening thought the show milks well. A person from the Dakotas not being able to hold out in a body hold chamber as Doc tries to calm his claustrophobia down appropriately has this feeling of helplessness
particularly disconcerting is the munching of his body once he leaves from the safety of its confines as Doc has to listen in devastation. One of the best episodes of the first season and a clear sign that while The Asylum might be known as a laughable crap machine spewing out garbage movies, they are really getting the job done with Z-Nation. DJ Squalls' dilemma, all alone and enduring the absence of another human companion, is well documented here as he goes from having Yuri to looking at an empty seat. I again re-iterate that this show has a lot going for it, and those writing Z-Nation are getting better and better
you can sense the confidence in the building of story arcs and characters as the show continues. The zombie genre is big enough for two zombie shows, and Z-Nation is a nice alternative to Walking Dead (sometimes taking itself so seriously, and can be so dour, that a relief from this on a show with the undead is needed). However, the tongue-in-cheek approach in a lot of what we see isn't all there is as the development of Murphy's character tells us. There is room for humor and drama as Z-Nation has proved to us.
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