Day of the Dead ends it's freshman season with a mediocre climax that has only marginally improved from the lacklustre pilot. Luckily there were a couple amusing moments peppered throughout the episode like the immoral insanity of using Rhodes as bait for the zombies by chaining him to the back of a truck and Lauren saying "f*** it" before kissing Cam because it's the apocalypse - why not?
If there is a season 2 of this show, you have to wonder what it's going to look like. Everyone else who lived in town is dead in one way or another, leaving only our core group of survivors alive. There's a new zombie kid in Pittsburgh after the doctor lady injected her to try and save her life. Is the kid going to end up like McDermott and also be sentient and retain memory of her life? What kind of zombie show would it be if there's only a couple semi-human zombies wandering around?
Speaking of McDermott, how is Cam going to explain this to his friends? I feel like they might find it hard to accept a zombie as just part of their day-to-day lives though it could make for some great comedic moments. The reunion scene between Cam and his dad though was touching and sweet, with his dad saving him from other zombies and then cradling his face. It's a shame this scene comes right at the end of the season though because for most of the show Cam has been largely ineffectual and uninteresting.
While Cam bonds with his zombie father, the rest of the group saves the day by luring the zombies into an old mine and blowing it up, sealing them all in just like how the original zombie outbreak was stopped back when the settlers first arrived.
It's a nice full circle moment - I suppose - and there's another full circle moment with Jai. We start with Lauren saying goodbye and we end with Amy saying goodbye. She really has been put through the wringer in this second half of episodes, even wondering why they're fighting so hard to stay alive. But at least she knows he died saving people which she then honours by helping to save the world.
Overall, this was an okay ending to a show that never really did much to wow. Mostly, it just made me miss Z Nation which even at it's worst was zany and bold but there's nothing overly memorable about this show aside from the bare bones of the plot. I don't see it getting renewed but if it does, it will have to work hard to make an impact deserving of its renewal. We'll have to wait and see.
The Hitlist: Rhodes finally bites the dust in probably the most savage kill of the season, fully derserving even if he did seem to have vaguely good intentions of preventing the outbreak from spreading. Bad methods though. He said he had been willing to die to end the threat and Lauren told him to die then. It was badass and dark and he got ripped in half. Absolutely crazy. Boldest thing to ever happen on this show.
What did you think of the Day of the Dead finale and the show as a whole? Do you want to see the show get renewed? Sound off in the comments below!
