After an unnecessary and unfulfilling season 3 flashback premiere, followed by two very lacklustre episodes 2 and 3, this writer was, admittedly, on the verge of giving up on Z Nation. However, 'Escorpion and the Red Hand,' in all its intensity, has resurrected this show back to respectability.
This week Team Bite Mark encounters several survivors in conflict with a mysterious group known as Red Hand. Curiously, their leader is known as El Scorpion, despite him having been with our protagonists this whole time. The episode also focuses on 10K as he escapes from the out-of-control Murphy. There was also no Citizen Z and his annoying new friend, funny how many of the best episodes of Z Nation were sans DJ Qualls.
When the title was released, an Escorpion centric episode was welcome news as his addition to the main cast has been one of the brights spots of this third season. The character brings that brand of badassery that every post-apocalyptic show needs, without the bland personality of Vasquez, last season's resident bad ass.
There was some rare pathos to this episode that really it made one of the best episodes of the whole series. It is revealed that Red Hand are really just following the legend or an impostor taking advantage of the legend that El Scorpion left behind, making Hector realize that he can never escape his past, his "ghosts" will always haunt him. It is because of this we see this continuous reluctance to be part of the team.
Warren though tells Hector the straight up truth: “I don’t need a saint. Or a lover. I need a killer. The only redemption any of us has is to survive.” In other words, though Hector can't run away from his past self, he can change what he does, and that's using who he has always been to survive and to, most importantly, help others survive. Her speech to him is a tad bit cliche, but there is a universal truth to it that resonates nonetheless.
What made this character moment even more impactful was how these two people were once sworn enemies and, for the first time, there is now some common ground. They understand each other and are on the same page. This was also evident in a few scenes before their talk when Hector was pleading Warren to wake up after she is knocked unconscious. In one episode this complex bond between Warren and Hector has become one of the strong points of this series.
Elsewhere, Dr. Merch helped 10K release himself from Murphy's control with the original HZN1 vaccine and what follows was quite the invigorating chase scene. The sequence, driven by drum heavy music, featured plenty of slo-mo shots and 10K making death defying leaps to escape the grasp of his captors. The scene had genuine, edge of your seat tension. Z Nation tends to do chase scenes very well, Vasquez running after Murphy in 'White Light' last year comes to mind. Funny enough, it was that episode that really got Z Nation going last season, and it seems this episode will achieve the same for season 3, hopefully.
Red Hand's siege of the toy factory also made for an exciting moment. The sequence introduced viewers to the "bomb zombies," which was pretty neat. Hector's amusing commentary, "you gotta admit, whoever they are, they got style,” summed up these zombies with bombs strapped to their chest pretty well. It seems Red Hand will be a major player down the road, and keeping them unseen is a wise choice, their mysteriousness is what gives them intrigue.
Despite all the heightened intensity and character moments, Z Nation is not Z Nation without its share of stupid, silly moments. And so, we had this out of nowhere minor storyline of Addy and her septic tooth. Watching Sun and Doc trying to hold her down to pull the tooth out made for a humorous aside.
Overall, this episode was packed with intensity, weighty emotional moments, and a small dose of Z Nation's brand of awesome silliness. There was also no Citizen Z, who's scenes often drag the show down, especially now that they have introduced a character more annoying than him. Hurray, to seeing Z Nation officially back, hopefully they maintain this quality for the rest of the season.
9/10
