Season 4: Slow Start, Needs to Keep Momentum

[10kfever]

I first posted this to Tell It to the Dead, but that forum seems to be on hiatus. Thought I'd try here: 

Things just keep getting weirder and weirder, with everything still up in the air. By next week, when at least some of the group get back together, maybe things will start to make some sense. The viewer does have to look for the foreshadowing the writers sneak in, and I've probably missed a few.

First, I noticed the twitching finger of the mommy zombie who got shot in the head in the season's first episode. So, I was ready when ep 2 made it clear that head shots no longer work. But is this clue part of the reset, or something else entirely? Then in ep 2 we sat through some very long repartee from Murphy and the the Founder. What struck me as significant was the bit where the Founder said that only 10% really understand what the other 90% think they understand. I'm guessing there are many more twists to come. (That's not quite what he said, but it makes more sense this way...)

We saw a group of Zonans devour a guard, leaving only his cap and glasses behind, and yet the the golfer's homicidal tendency didn't include cannibalism. We know Red saw something before the camp survivors all disappeared, and that Sun Mei, sleeping beauty that she was, saw something before she, too, vanished. Maybe she managed to get away from whatever happened to the others.

We also saw some alarming things. Addy was ordered to fire at the group at the convoy, but I figured she wouldn't actually try to hit anyone, especially since she and Lucy were prisoners of Zona. So what's with that whole two bullets striking together in mid-flight? Was she really trying to kill 10K (although she didn't know whom she was shooting at until a bit later). Maybe it was just something cool the fx could do, or maybe it's more foreshadowing of things to come. (Either way, the required "suspension of disbelief" on the part of this viewer pegged the meter -- two bullets striking perfectly head on defies any logic.)

And backing up even a bit more, why did the Zona guards use that cabin for shelter? One told the other to keep an eye on the vehicles, as if he expected to find the abandoned convoy there.

Like I said, weirder and weirder. I'm focusing on plot here because the characters haven't really done anything yet to capture my interest. Not even 10K can keep me interested when the characters are just talking to one another. Early days yet, of course, much explaining to do, but so far only Warren and won't-he-ever-shut-up Murphy have kept my attention. Sorry to lose Teller, but I was glad to see him again, however briefly.

Now I'm going to get picky. Teller told Murphy that something in his blood made people go homicidal. Does this mean Warren and 10K are going to go nuts because they've had a dash of the ol' Murphy Juice? And 10K's had more than a dash.

That whole stupid shootout and unkillable zombie scenario. Really? I could figure out three ways they could take care of the zombie *and* get the convoy back to camp. There was absolutely no reason to just cut and run. And it wouldn't have taken that much more screen time...just a minute or two, and they could have cut some of the nonsense with the zombie running back and forth between the Zona shooters and Our boys.

Really, if they don't pick up the pace and plot quickly, they're going to lose viewers and never make it to a 5th season, and I'm not ready to give up on these great characters yet. Lucy and Addy are just getting interesting (what's with that eyepatch anyway? Is it just covering an injury, or is it some sort of seeing-eye thingie?)

I love the fact that Murphy was complaining the whole time he was being told he had to leave Zona, and yet he never failed to follow Warren; he could have quit at any time but he just kept moving along, bitching all the way. Doc is still very much Doc...he seems to get all the best lines! As for the others, including my boy 10K, they could vanish without leaving a mark on the story thus far.

Or perhaps I'm just bummed because the great "flashback" to Season 3 gave us such a wonderful story and set the foundation for the entire season to follow. Season 4 is opening with a lengthy whimper, and fans of the genre aren't going to put up with it for long, if it's not too late already.

I know, I know, hindsight is 20/20, but frankly I'm appalled by the poor writing thus far; these storytellers have proven up to the challenge of creating exciting, unpredictable scripts, but in this critical fourth season, they don't have the luxury of dropping the pace like they've done. I'm hoping they get their act together soon, or Z Nation's growing momentum will fall into the category of really good shows that just didn't...quite...make...it....

I, for one, am not ready for that.<sigh>

Come on, somebody say something, please...!

[jhlipton]

7 hours ago, 10kfever said:

I first posted this to Tell It to the Dead, but that forum seems to be on hiatus. Thought I'd try here:

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So what's with that whole two bullets striking together in mid-flight? Either way, the required "suspension of disbelief" on the part of this viewer pegged the meter -- two bullets striking perfectly head on defies any logic.)

That was definitely done for the cool FX.  Required "suspension of disbelief" pegging the meter?  This is an Asylum [Sharknado] production.
 

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Now I'm going to get picky. Teller told Murphy that something in his blood made people go homicidal. Does this mean Warren and 10K are going to go nuts because they've had a dash of the ol' Murphy Juice? And 10K's had more than a dash.

They didn't get the Zone Juice that was created from Murphy's blood.  So they're fine.
 

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That whole stupid shootout and unkillable zombie scenario. Really? I could figure out three ways they could take care of the zombie *and* get the convoy back to camp. There was absolutely no reason to just cut and run. And it wouldn't have taken that much more screen time...just a minute or two, and they could have cut some of the nonsense with the zombie running back and forth between the Zona shooters and Our boys.

The zombie going back and forth like a ball in a pinball machine was fun!  But yeah, they could each have taken a truck back to the camp.  See "Asylum Production" above.

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(what's with that eyepatch anyway? Is it just covering an injury, or is it some sort of seeing-eye thingie?)

Obviously covering an injury or she would have used it when sighting her rifle.

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I love the fact that Murphy was complaining the whole time he was being told he had to leave Zona, and yet he never failed to follow Warren; he could have quit at any time but he just kept moving along, bitching all the way.

Murphy gotta be Murphy!

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Come on, somebody say something, please...!

Done!

[10kfever]

Thanks for commenting. I really couldn't tell if Addy was aiming with her eyepatch eye or not, and there's that whole eyeball thing in the opening credits. Got me wondering. Glad we agree on the convoy stuff...it was poorly handled. I, too, thought the zombie bouncing back and forth like a pinball machine was funny; the humor is one of the things I love about this show. They need more humor and more action to get the season rolling. And I love the characters; they're brilliant. I'm hoping tonight's episode will put some of my fears to rest. Right now it's just not grabbing me, and I'm a huge fan.

[Nashville]

On 10/12/2017 at 11:10 PM, 10kfever said:

So what's with that whole two bullets striking together in mid-flight? Was she really trying to kill 10K (although she didn't know whom she was shooting at until a bit later).

I suspect Addy was initially shooting for real, because (a) the Zona goons told Addy they would kill both her and Lucy if Addy didn't, and (b) Addy was concerned the other shooter (not yet known to be 10K) might kill everybody in the cabin - herself and Lucy included - if she didn't.

 

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Maybe it was just something cool the fx could do, or maybe it's more foreshadowing of things to come. (Either way, the required "suspension of disbelief" on the part of this viewer pegged the meter -- two bullets striking perfectly head on defies any logic.)

Three reasons:

1. Showing us that even with just one eye, Addy is badass as ever; she can shoot just as well as 10K, and do it shooting odd-eyed relative to the scope.
2. Being able to make impossibly accurate weapons shots against all odds is an industry-standard action-show super sharpshooter trope; reference John Malkovich's character in RED taking out an RPG with a pistol shot for an example.
3. Of course they did it for the cool SFX. :)

 

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That whole stupid shootout and unkillable zombie scenario. Really? I could figure out three ways they could take care of the zombie *and* get the convoy back to camp. There was absolutely no reason to just cut and run. And it wouldn't have taken that much more screen time...just a minute or two, and they could have cut some of the nonsense with the zombie running back and forth between the Zona shooters and Our boys.

That wasn't nonsense, that was comedy at its best. ;)  The writers were parodying the old-timey carnival shooting games, where the target would reverse direction and keep going whenever you scored a hit - except in this case, the target was a zombie instead of a tin duck.  :>

 

On 10/13/2017 at 10:13 AM, 10kfever said:

 I really couldn't tell if Addy was aiming with her eyepatch eye or not

No; Addy was craning her neck all the way over the rifle butt to get her good left eye aligned on the scope - and as I mentioned in the episode thread, that exaggerated shooting posture was the only thing that saved Addy from a 10K killshot.  If Addy hadn't had her head in such a screwy position, 10K's shot would have ventilated her brain instead of grazing her cheek.  The eye on Addy's eyepatch is simply painted on for ironic decoration - and yet another reason to love Addy.  P-)

 

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, and there's that whole eyeball thing in the opening credits. 

??  TPTB tweak it a little differently for each season, but the eyeball has been a staple since Season One - unless you're referring to the ball bearing in this season's opening montage, which I think is simply a tribute to 5K's slingshot.

Edited October 18, 2017 by Nashville
Gotta love irony.

[diebartdie]

Better title to this thread would be "Season 4 slow start, needs more cowbell." I'll see myself out.

[10kfever]

Going way out on a limb here:

Murphy was blue for awhile (3+ years), but by end of season 3, he was losing the blue, his hair was white, and he was "becoming."

In season 4, Warren has been in a coma for two years, and now she has white hair and visions.

When Murphy and Warren rescue Lucy, she "feels" something before the crash. It wasn't Murphy she was feeling...turns out it was Warren.

So, maybe Warren was part of an experiment for those two years in a coma. Is she, too, now "becoming" whatever the heck Murphy was supposed to be? Whether Teller or the spooky dude, was someone toying with Warren's DNA in an effort to complete whatever Merch had started with Murphy? After all, it was Merch who developed the "booster" that kept Murphy from turning more Z. And she was working for Zona. Not a stretch to think someone else was doing the same sort of work.

Just musing while waiting for tonight's episode...

P.S. Nashville, the end of the season 4 opening credits is a weird, twitchy eyeball, just after the ballbearing or lead ball... I'm thinking the eyeball must be there for a reason, and my thoughts automatically go to Addy and the "eye" on her eyepatch. Just more for me to muse about. <sigh>

[ottoDbusdriver]

19 hours ago, 10kfever said:

Going way out on a limb here:

Murphy was blue for awhile (3+ years), but by end of season 3, he was losing the blue, his hair was white, and he was "becoming."

In season 4, Warren has been in a coma for two years, and now she has white hair and visions.

When Murphy and Warren rescue Lucy, she "feels" something before the crash. It wasn't Murphy she was feeling...turns out it was Warren.

So, maybe Warren was part of an experiment for those two years in a coma. Is she, too, now "becoming" whatever the heck Murphy was supposed to be? Whether Teller or the spooky dude, was someone toying with Warren's DNA in an effort to complete whatever Merch had started with Murphy? After all, it was Merch who developed the "booster" that kept Murphy from turning more Z. And she was working for Zona. Not a stretch to think someone else was doing the same sort of work.

Just musing while waiting for tonight's episode...

P.S. Nashville, the end of the season 4 opening credits is a weird, twitchy eyeball, just after the ballbearing or lead ball... I'm thinking the eyeball must be there for a reason, and my thoughts automatically go to Addy and the "eye" on her eyepatch. Just more for me to muse about. <sigh>

Or maybe it has partly to do with the bullet that passed through Murphy and hit Warren -- because that bullet should not have put her in a coma for 2 years, unless there was a little bit of Murphy along for the ride, since Murphy wasn't fully cured by that point.

Based on the size of the bullets hitting the shield in the intro, I thought it was a cannonball (especially since it hits with such a large thud).

[Nashville]

On 10/21/2017 at 9:24 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Or maybe it has partly to do with the bullet that passed through Murphy and hit Warren -- because that bullet should not have put her in a coma for 2 years, unless there was a little bit of Murphy along for the ride, since Murphy wasn't fully cured by that point.

Personally,  I don't think Murphy IS cured. I suspect the Zona people pulled out much of Murphy's original blood for serum and probably replaced the removed plasma with transfusions, to the point his "zombie blood" (for lack of a better term) was diluted enough to counteract the changes in Murphy's appearance.

IF I'm right, we'll know pretty quick.  Now that Murphy's back out in the world and away from Zona's machinations, his ZV-immune antibodies will multiply without opportunity for dilution - and if transfusion dilution is the reason Murphy returned to normal, he'll be reverting back to Ol' Blue Skin again in fairly short order.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Nashville

[51Muses]

Nashville, that is the most logical and plausible explanation I've heard yet. And he was using his blood for his blends before Zona got him. So it's reasonable to think his color change was due to the dilution.

OttoDBusDriver, my bet is on the bullet. Murphy's blood may have been totally different since at that time he was in becoming mode. 

[10kfever]

Oh, help me. Ep 4-5, another episodic mis-adventure. We learned it's not Zona, the group, especially 10K, likes dog chow, and Murphy is still snacking on himself. A little action, a lot of confusion, some scary bits, a touch of humor...what the hell are these writers up to? Haven't they found a storyline yet for a season that's almost half over? How can they create a map without a single point of reference as to where they were or where they are? Is Murphy going to get some mojo back now that he's been bitten? Worst episode yet! Argh!!!

[Ohwell]

There is a thread up for the most recent episode.