Review Guide:
Episode 1.01 Pilot - Review & Advanced Preview
Episode 1.02 Fracking Zombies - Review
Episode 1.03 Philly Feast - Review
Episode 1.04 Full Metal Zombie - Review
Episode 1.05 Home Sweet Zombie - Review
Episode 1.06 Resurrection Z - Review
Episode 1.07 Welcome to the FU-Bar - Review
Episode 1.08 Zunami - Review
Episode 1.09 Die Zombie Die...Again - Review
Episode 1.10 Going Nuclear Review
Episode 1.11 Sisters of Mercy Review
Episode 1.12 Murphy's Law - Review
Episode 1.13 Doctor of the Dead (Season Finale) - Review
Z Nation - Doctor of the Dead (Season Finale) - Review
The long journey to get Murphy to a lab finally came to an end when the group arrived at the Colorado lab, after the plan to go to the California lab got scrapped. Once the group did arrive at the lab they spent a good amount of time searching around for Doctor Merch. There was an interesting scene where Murphy and the others were able to pass through a horde of zombies without getting attacked. This means that as long as the zombies see anyone with Murphy as no threat, then they won’t harm them.
While searching around for Dr Merch, the group encounter a hall of horrors. Innocent people were locked up, who had been experimented on. It was great to see Dr Merch's failed attempts at finding a cure for the outbreak. I liked how as the group progressed through the hall of horrors it seemed to get worse, with a more devastating outcome for the person who had been experimented on.
The two mutant monkeys did get out, and it led onto Murphy fighting with them. It was a great fight scene, but what I found intriguing was the fact how Murphy managed to decapitate the heads from the creatures/humans bodies. Murphy seems to be getting stronger, and is developing each week. There were signs earlier of his increased strength when he got out of the cuffs. I am really excited to see what happens with Murphy in season 2, considering how much he has developed this season going from a normal human to someone who now has superhuman strength.
Throughout the episode many things were uncovered which helped us understand how the virus got out. The introduction of Dr. Kurian as the new villain was done through perfectly timed flashbacks. The flashbacks helped us understand how the virus came into being. He had travelled around the world collecting blood from all sorts of victims of different diseases. He collected blood from an Ebola victim, Krokodile addict, a radiation victim and someone who had survived a deadly earthquake. It was a strange mix of people, but he is a bioweapons developer and it somehow managed to create a zombie virus. I did like the build-up to the reveal as to what his intentions were, because at first I had no idea why we were even seeing this new character, it was a great way to introduce him.
The title Doctor of the dead is rather fitting to his purpose. He later appears at the lab with the intention of taking Murphy to California. It was fairly obvious his intentions were bad, and luckily Citizen Z was on a nearby screen to warn them. Over the more recent episodes he has been really useful to the group, and I’m finally starting to enjoy seeing him. This episode he seemed to add a lot to the story, and I really liked the suspense when he was frantically searching around for who the man confronting the group was. I am wondering now if Dr Kurian will play any part in season 2. Instead of having weekly villains, like Helen and the cannibal guy it might be a good idea to have one main villain, which would create an interesting story arc for season 2. The only downside of having one villain is we might not get as many "disasters of the week" which is really what makes it different than other shows.
When the group got warned about Dr. Kurian, Cassandra suddenly appeared to take out the two military men he had with him. Murphy seemed to have infected her with his own variation of the zombie virus, where he can control her, for example by ordering her to take out the two men which she did. It is a real shame though that her character becomes slightly interesting in the finale when we should have seen a lot more from her in terms of character development and dialogue over the season. If she is to survive she has to become more interesting, as a character, especially now that she has Murphy's variation of the vaccine in her. I would hate for her to go back to saying one line per episode. The show needs interesting characters, and sadly this season she just hasn’t been one. Murphy soon flees the lab, with Kurian in hot pursuit. Doc was caught in the firing line, when Kurian was trying to get Murphy.
Murphy decides to not go through decontamination, even though Citizen Z warns him a missile will hit the lab in 7 minutes if he leaves. Murphy decides to leave anyway with a missile on its way. I understand Murphy wanting to leave as Kurian was behind him, but the fact how he didn't seem too bothered that everyone else was going to die was really heartless. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of leaving them will be once the group find him again. His intentions this season have been all over the place. At one point, he is a great asset to the group, the next he is betraying them or leaving them to die. You truly can't tell what Murphy is going to do next.
The last 5 minutes of the episode was just chaotic, every character on the show was on the move. We see Murphy make it to the surface and escape in the groups van. He also left with one less layer of skin. He decided to peel the layer of that was rotting away, which we saw it doing earlier in the episode. We then see Doc, Warren and 10k make it out alive, so they should be in season 2. I am hoping they don't kill off Doc in the première. I really hope they find some way to help him; perhaps Murphy could help, if they ever find him.
We also got a glimpse of Mack and Addy who surprisingly are both still alive, although it is unclear as to where they are. I did think one of them would die, so I am glad that they both aren't dead, but if we get another Addy and Mack central episode… I won’t be happy. The fate of Cassandra is left unknown, but I am pretty confident she is dead, as that big of an explosion hitting the place will kill anything unless your miles away from it. If she is dead it wouldn't be a huge loss, well to me at least. Lastly, Citizen Z's fate is also left unknown; the missile was coming straight for his base. If he does survive it will be interesting to see where he goes or what his next move is given that his role this season has been to watch over our core group. Another troubling matter I’ve been wondering is what happened to the dog? Where was he when Citizen Z was running to the outside?
Summary
It was a fantastic finale. I really can't wait to see season 2. There was plenty of action in this episode, but more importantly some answers. We found out who made the virus, and how he made it. We also got some more development from Murphy; he has increased strength now. The main thing the finale left us with was the fates of several key characters left unknown. I imagine someone will be dead before season 2 starts.
The last thing I want to say is thank you to the thousand plus readers that have been reading weekly, and to all those who have commented, it has been a blast! See you in season 2!
As always thank you for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought of the episode!
