'Batch 47' continues on the concept of Z weed introduced last week. The marijuana grown from zombie compost has potential curative effects for the virus and Murphy heads down to the titular place in hopes to to find a vaccine.
Batch 47 is hidden in a botanical lab overseen by Odegard who is portrayed by Dileep Rao (he plays basically the same character in
Inception and
Avatar, if you are wondering where you have seen him before). Odegard welcomes people, who he calls harvesters, to enter the lab and find a seed that could be the cure. The show continues to be inventive with the variety of undead the survivors confront and in this episode there are plant zombies. These particular group of Z's are somehow interconnected by a vine, which is connected to a master zombie. Killing or shooting them only spreads the virus making them quite a challenging foe. This is another example of
Z Nation's impressive creativity and is an effective use of the show's many wonky ideas.
A few key secondary characters appear this week and thus, there was quite a bit of story building. We find our Dr. Kurian had survived the nuclear blast after hiding in a fridge. The doctor now has a disfigured face and he reveals his plans to inherit the earth with Murphy after the human race goes extinct. Kurian is still the same mad scientist we know from last season; however, he is no longer as menacing due to the introduction of a new character who also makes his presence known in 'Batch 47.'
This brings us to Hector Alvarez, the mysterious man with the rocket launcher in 'White Light.' Known as "The Scorpion," Alvarez is a drug kingpin who is the one responsible for supplying people with Z Weed. He and his cartel, The Zeroes, are pretty much your stereotypical aggressive, but not so smart, gangsters. We do not know what their true agenda is, but the episode sets them up as major players for the season to come. They end up killing a zombified Odegard, after they test Batch 47 on him, and then attempt to destroy the lab. The Zeroes would eventually escape with Dr. Kurian in the trunk of their van.
Lastly, Serena also makes her brief appearance at the end of the episode. Her and Murphy's child seems to be developing along nicely. It is not clear where this storyline is going and what her motives are, but this whole alive baby in the womb story is admittedly quite repulsive.
Throughout 'Batch 47' there is also a sub-plot involving a lone woman named Mariah who is taking care of a sick, parentless child. She begins the episode as a harvester and barely escapes the lab. Mariah is eventually saved from Vasquez and in her interaction with the survivors, we get some genuinely heartfelt moments as she talks about her relationship with the child. There was quite a bit of development for her character in such a small amount of screen time. It seems Mariah will return in future episodes and there are no qualms with that.
Speaking of new characters, whatever happened to that guy from 'Zombie Road' who was travelling with Murphy and Cassandra? He was quite annoying, so nothing but joy at his disappearance. Hopefully, he doesn't show up again.
Overall,
Z Nation continues to impress with its creative use of zombies. The episode also establishes the trio of possible antagonists in Dr. Kurian, Alvarez, and Serena, all of whom will add some much needed depth to this season. Mariah is also a character who could be making her return in future episodes, hopefully without the child, who we are left to be believe is breathing her last breath. Nonetheless, the story continues to build and move along at an exciting pace and 'Batch 47' is another great episode in a fantastic season so far.
What did you guys think!? Please leave your comments below!
About the Author - Kollin Lore
Kollin is an entertainment writer and a film and television, in particular genre TV, freak having grown up during the 90s and early 2000s a dedicated fan of Buffy and Angel. Current shows like Person of Interest, Supernatural, Ripper Street, Penny Dreadful, Grimm, The Blacklist, Game of Thrones, and dozens of other shows are currently occupying Kollin’s nightly hours. His reviews for Into the Badlands and The Expanse will be coming this fall!
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