S04.E12: Mt. Weather/S04.E13:The Black Rainbow

[ottoDbusdriver]

Episode Description:

Quote

Warren and the group must stop Zona from launching operation Black Rainbow to cleanse the landscape of zombies- and humans.

The secret of Warren's dream is unlocked when they reach their final destination, the "Black Rainbow" facility.

[51Muses]

Here's the sneak peek video. Northern Lights points Operation Bite Mark to the location of the President. 

Mt. Weather Sneak Peek

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 12/11/2017 at 2:52 PM, 51Muses said:

Here's the sneak peek video. Northern Lights points Operation Bite Mark to the location of the President. 

Mt. Weather Sneak Peek

At least the Secret Service cracked the window in the last SUV they checked, you know, so the people trapped inside wouldn't run out of air.

Edited December 13, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[raven]

Double episode this week, including the season finale.

[Ohwell]

Good, I'm glad it's the season finale and I hope they come back next season with some much better episodes because this season it was mostly Warren wandering around and the others just following her.  

[ottoDbusdriver]

4 hours ago, raven said:

Double episode this week, including the season finale.

Ooooooh, double episode.  Sweet !

[51Muses]

I will have my "Do Not Disturb" sign ready. The last episode was solid entertainment. I'm hoping for the same caliber episode or better. Fingers crossed.  I hope they reveal the cause of Warren's visions. It's not high on my priority list just really curious. And reveal Addy is alive or better yet with the team at the end. Is it too late to ask/expect a zombie cheese wheel appearance? 

SyFy has not indicated whether or not it will renew the show. I wonder if the back to back episode is an attempt to get the ratings up. The episodes have been so uneven this season that I think people turn off after a bad episode and don't always come back. It should have been a season that built up an audience on top of the core fanbase but that's not what happened. Overall, the show dropped on the 18-49 demos but held steady on audience numbers. The show was renewed for Season 4 by the end of November last year. So, they must be making a decision soon. 

Season 4 Ratings By Episode

I'm wondering what kind of cliffhanger the finale will have. Launch of the unstoppable missile(s)? Dream ala Dallas Bobby Ewing with Warren still in Zona? Alien abduction? Half the team "disappearing"? Last stand scenario surrounded by Zona soldiers ala Blakes 7? 

[Florinaldo]

Viewers in Canada should note that Space is showing only one episode tonight; the season finale is on the schedule for next Friday (unless the TV listings have not been correctly updated).

[10kfever]

Wahoo! Renewed...or else this is a terrible cruel joke. I mean, everything on the o trendy is true, right? Es, I just read about the renewal, but in my haste to celebrate, I forgot to copy the link. Just search under Z Nation Season 5. wahoo!!!

Stupid computer...always changes what I type. Anyway, hope you got the gist...

[51Muses]

Here’s a link, @10kfever

Z Nation Season 5 Announced

This episode is delivering the twists, turns & chuckles all right. On to D.C!

[10kfever]

https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidMLatt/status/941745520824926215/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftvseriesfinale.com%2Ftv-show%2Fz-nation-season-five-renewal-announced-syfy-tv-series%2F

This is the link I found.

No, I'm not giddy, not at all. Not me. Uh-uh. No way.

Btw (hey, I'm getting a handle on all these abbreviations)...did I miss something? When did 10K get goggles again?

On 12/7/2017 at 1:56 PM, 51Muses said:

Sneak peek at Episode 11 definitely back at Mercy Labs. Look! Smoke from the chimneys ... cue ominous music.

Back to the Lab

Btw (hey, I'm getting a handle on all these abbreviations)...did I miss something? When did 10K get goggles again?

[10kfever]

Yep, Warren is back! Good to see her wise-cracking and splitting skulls. Loved Doc's funny quips, although I think they were overdone. Spread the wealth, Craig and Karl! So pleased to see the group behaving like a group; everyone had great parts. This is how Z Nation should be! Oh, I'm just sooooo happy! Don't know who screwed up the bulk of this season, but someone has righted the ship. Good job all around.

[51Muses]

Just noticed the goggles, @10kfever. 10K is getting back to his badass form. 

Finally, we get to see what Tellar did to Warren. The programming did change Warren. And she willingly went through it.

Last sequence w Warren on the keyboard & the team needing the door code was tense. Is Tellar’s cure too good to b true? 

Edited December 16, 2017 by 51Muses
Added paragraph

[51Muses]

Yup, too good to be true. Good twist! Only 10 minutes left ...

[10kfever]

SPOILER if you haven't seen it yet!!!

Yep, I figured Warren was the reset, right up until Teller's first appearance at the beginning of the season. Then I figured she had to be the anti-reset. Very nice twist. So glad the turncoat is dead.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Zombie cheese wheel reference for the win!

[Stargazer2893]

I really hope season 5 will be better! :'(

[Nashville]

I’ve been waiting for Sarge to do that for over a month now.

[51Muses]

@PrincessPurrsALot, the cheese wheel is iconic. It needs to make a reappearance. 

@10kfever, by the end the whole reprogramming made sense. Just too bad the stories had to be constructed as to keep the twist under wraps. 

@Stargazer2893, this season has been a chore to watch at times. But perseverance was rewarded in the end.

@Nashville, the look that Sarge gave 10K after his slingshot trifecta said it all. 

Spoiler

Since only one canister was changed, what will this new mixture's effect be on the human population?

Red Murphy means what? Will all zombies get a red makeover? Murphy seemed energized and refreshed to me.

Sun Mei? Red? Will they solve the disappearing mystery? 

The MIA must be found. No way are Warren and Addy dead and gone. Nope, no, nyet, negative.

The devious maze and its creators must be dealt with. 

Is Newmerica doomed to fail? Will it be the start of a new civilization?

 

We have months to speculate away! 

[10kfever]

7 hours ago, Stargazer2893 said:

I really hope season 5 will be better! :'(

Only plus side is that it couldn't get much worse. I've been casually researching the season's episodes, writers, directors and so forth, but so far haven't found connections to good or bad episodes. Some of the key writers wrote some of the best...and some of the worst. New writers, same thing. Conclusion: the writers must have been high to concoct some of what we had to endure. So my advice for these key personnel is to STAY OFF THE SAUCE and keep your focus...you have millions -- okay hundreds of thousands -- of rabid fans counting on you, and we've proven we can express ourselves  (mostly) with thoughtful eloquence, you brain dead ass-hats.?✌️

[Ohwell]

This season was exhausting for me to watch, trying to figure out what the hell was going on (I still don't understand completely), and watching Warren wandering around with her visions.

I hope that next season will be much better.  I have a plea for the writers:  Bring back the damn cheesewheel!

[Stargazer2893]

Well, I'm glad at least that Roberta isn't actually a FemBot, lol, but....

 

Spoiler

I wonder why Teller turned evil, and what he meant when he said Roberta has an "immunity"? It seemed as though he was referring to her healing/not dying, as opposed to the obvious zombie immunity. This could be used as a way for her to survive the drone crash in S5.

 

The thing with the canisters hurts my brain. Why didn't she just remove them both?

 

I don't like 10k/Lily at all...it makes me think we'll never see Red again.

 

I thought it was hilarious when the president "fell" down the stairs, lol, and I am HERE for red Murphy!

[ottoDbusdriver]

Per @51Muses, I'm thinking that something bizarre is going to happen, since Mr. Sunshine wanted to put his 2 canisters into the drone, and Warren was programmed to put her 2 canisters into the drone, but then Warren ended up using her blue cylinder and Mr. Sunshine's red cylinder.  I think.  Or were both cylinders set to do the same thing ?  It's not exactly clear. And why wouldn't the option to stop Black Rainbow be to just NOT put the canisters in the drone ?  Drone launches, and nothing happens.

Since the giant manta ray Warren saw in her dream pretty much matched the manta ray drone in the video tape, how come the actual drone looked like a stealth fighter ?
That video tape was pretty funny.

So the black rainbow was actually millions of microdrones spreading the pathogen.

All this talk of NewMerica all season -- and nothing !!  And no sign of Addie, Red or Sun Mei for umpteen episodes.  That is kind of a big screw you to the viewers.

Did President Carlson know about the demise of Zona ?  Because she came across like Zona was going to rebuild humanity after the Black Rainbow, but Zona is gone.
How many people left Mt. Weather for NewMerica ?  Did they drive, fly, or walk ?

Did like the Doc's reference to the giant zombie cheesewheel.

If the secret bunker was 30+ floors beneath the mean irradiated streets of Washington, D.C., how come the drone hangar opened up to a dirt road on a clear plain on the surface ?  Because you would have to go a long way from central D.C. to find anything like that.

How did that drone even have usable fuel after 8 years ?  Because I don't think Mr. Sunshine brought it with him. 
And how did Mr. Sunshine get into the bunker ?  2nd entrance, maybe ?

I'm still trying to figure out how Murphy, Sarge, Doc and 10K even got into the hangar -- since they didn't know the code on the door to the hangar.
I guess Murphy was exposed to Mr. Sunshine's red canister -- and that's why he's now red.

Murphy: "Blind zombies. What will they think of next ?"
Doc: "You know what that means Murphy. They're tracking by sound, so no farting."
Murphy: "Me ?  I'm a perfect gentleman compared to General Off-gas here."

Loved 10K's bank shot slingshot double zombie kill.  That was awesome.
And he's getting close to his target 8454 and counting (not sure how many he killed down at that doorway.

The positive reinforcement posters in the bunker were typical for the military -- "Be Strong, Follow Orders", "You are the best of what is left, You can do it.", "See you on the other side", "Raining Peace", and "Vengeance is Yours".

Sarge: "Are we all gonna die ?"
10K: "Looks like it."
<Sarge leaps into 10K's arms and starts kissing him>
Murphy: "Surprise, surprise."
Doc: "Saw that coming."

[Ohwell]

12 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Sarge: "Are we all gonna die ?"
10K: "Looks like it."
<Sarge leaps into 10K's arms and starts kissing him>
Murphy: "Surprise, surprise."
Doc: "Saw that coming."

I loved that!

[phalange]

I thought it was a good twist that the President and her agents turned out to be baddies who were Team Zona. Smart of Sarge to trick them by thinking she went over to their side, only to take them out. I also loved Doc and Murphy taking out the remaining zombie congress. "I voted for you!" Had a big laugh when the President said the cast of Hamilton was also at Mt. Weather and then Warren had to take out a zombie in a Revolutionary War costume, and then at the end as they were getting the old zombie President into the car and Murphy was leading him like a dog. "Good boy." 

The last 10 minutes of the finale had me feeling stressed, and I wasn't expecting that twist with Warren having been programmed to release Black Rainbow. I assume she'll be fine if the show got renewed, but I'm curious to see how she's going to survive being trapped inside a drone that's about to crash. I liked Doc watching the impending doom with his sunglasses on, and I wonder what's up with newly-red Murphy. Only bummer was not getting any update on Addy, Sun-Mei, and the rest or learning anything about NewMerica. Hopefully these things are addressed in the season premiere. 

[rmontro]

I thought the last two episodes were good.  Doc and Murphy killing Congressional zombies was an endless supply of one liners.  They could have kept that up for an easy 20 minutes, I bet.

[10kfever]

Well, rats, this old lady must have been on a potty break...I didn't realize they'd gone to Washington and down a secret hatch. I'll go back to continue watching the episodes again. And loving them again!

[Jordan61]

12 hours ago, Stargazer2893 said:

 

  Hide contents

I wonder why Teller turned evil, and what he meant when he said Roberta has an "immunity"? It seemed as though he was referring to her healing/not dying, as opposed to the obvious zombie immunity. This could be used as a way for her to survive the drone crash in S5.

 

The thing with the canisters hurts my brain. Why didn't she just remove them both?

 

I don't like 10k/Lily at all...it makes me think we'll never see Red again.

 

I thought it was hilarious when the president "fell" down the stairs, lol, and I am HERE for red Murphy!

Yes to all of this, especially the part about 10k & Sarge. I thought Red was his true love. :(   But, like Doc, I saw it coming.

I was actually expecting some similar display of affection from Warren & Murphy. Those two have been exhibiting some serious chemistry since their "connection" in the church.

[Nashville]

Personally, I’m wondering if this was Warren’s (Kellita Smith’s) ticket out of the series; she’s already lasted more than 4x longer than OBM’s original leader (Garnett, played by Tom Everett Scott).  Which raises the question: if Warren is gone, who would become the group’s leader?

Have to say, though - if TPTB are killing off Warren, then the whole Murphy/Warren shared-bullet plot twist was wasted by the wayside; it barely got mentioned, much less explored.  :P

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

Yes to all of this, especially the part about 10k & Sarge. I thought Red was his true love. :(   But, like Doc, I saw it coming.

I was actually expecting some similar display of affection from Warren & Murphy. Those two have been exhibiting some serious chemistry since their "connection" in the church.

But, it could also be a case of Sgt. Lily deciding that since they were all going to probably die to go ahead and Simon and Garfunkel it with 10K.

[AngelKitty]

I am so happy this is coming back since there are way too many questions. The most glaring, to me, is what was up with The Man with a Plan's canisters and Warren's canisters. Wasn't he working for Zona?

I don't mind Sarge and 10K getting together at the end of the world. They're young. He can still get back with Red, if she turns up again.

I love Doc.

Story-wise, Warren has to come back because getting shot with Murphy blood bullet and getting sprayed by that red canister has got to do something to her so that she will survive. Of course if the actress wants to leave, then that would suck for us.

[Ohwell]

6 hours ago, Nashville said:

Personally, I’m wondering if this was Warren’s (Kellita Smith’s) ticket out of the series; she’s already lasted more than 4x longer than OBM’s original leader (Garnett, played by Tom Everett Scott).

Actually, I thought the original leader was played by Harold Perrineau, who was in only the first (maybe second?) episode before he was killed by zombies.   I just figured that he wanted out to do other things.

[Jordan61]

2 hours ago, AngelKitty said:

Of course if the actress wants to leave, then that would suck for us.

Yes, it would. I was thinking if they kill her off I'm not sure if the Doc & Murphy show would be strong enough to keep me watching.

And I totally get the 10K/Sarge hookup (it's the Apocalypse, baby!) but as someone who's been with her high school sweetheart for nearly 30 years it gives me the sads for 10K/Red.

Side note: Nat Zang and Gracie Gilliam seemed to be a couple at the premiere, although when asked about it during the audience Q&A they both dodged the question. So there's that.

[51Muses]

Per the canisters, @ottoDbusdriver & @AngelKitty, Doc Zona had the cure canisters. Warren had Tellar's necrotizing canisters. She removed the red necrotizing canister then put in the red cure canister. But, it wouldn't stay secure. She had to keep holding it in position with both hands. Because of that she could not remove the bad necrotizing blue canister. And she could not let go of the red canister once the ship launched. If she did, then only the bad blue necrotizing canister could be released. However, with the good red canister, there was a chance of cancelling out the effects of the bad blue canister. 

Now that I think of it though, the so-called cure may have been based on Murphy's blood. With its impurities, the cure isn't a cure, right? But with the mixture released, maybe the effect will be to give the zombies increased awareness and mental instability for some humans.

@phalange, per red Murphy, Tellar did say that there was a 79% chance the canister would leak into the. hangar hence she had to do it alone. So some escaped on Warren's first attempt. That was already in the hangar before Murphy went there. I think the gas helped to knock him out. Next, the red cure canister must have also released something. The two gases mixed in the air. Gas W (whatever) affected Murphy because of his half-zombieness. But, no effect on the humans. Looks like Warren was immune in some fashion because of the Murphy blood she has plus repeated exposure to the gas canisters.

President Carlson did not know about Zona's destruction. Doc Zona did not see fit to update her on that. It's likely that Zona founder and Tellar were in league and Doc Zona was not in their group. Doc Zona did not mention it because he knew Carlson was in touch with Zona and he didn't want them tipped off. The real mad scientist was the innocuous-looking Dr. Tellar. He had all of us fooled. Good casting choices for both docs.

Launch Pad Access - It wasn't shown that Warren had to enter a code to open the door to the pad. She used codes to enter the drone though. Once in the passageway, I fan wave that there was a tunnel with a fast maglev train to take anyone far away to the launch pad which was out in the rural areas. 

@Jordan61 & @Nashville, Warren is necessary to the show. She provides a strong POV and the "good" angel balancing out Murphy's bad side. Without her, the team wouldn't be a team at all. Kellita has said in interviews how much she loves Warren as a character. I hope the character is not written out for unnecessary shock value. Kellita appears on another show but Asylum must have worked out a schedule so she could do both this season. Side note: On Grace Phipps' twitter she does have pics with Nat Zang on vacay, so maybe they are a couple IRL.

Newmerica - How many from Mt. Weather would have survived a trek to Canada? These are people who have holed up in the bunker all this time. They have less experience with the Z's, mad Z's, Enders and such. If they headed out to Zona, same thing after they arrived there. If the journey didn't kill them, then the destination might have.

[Stargazer2893]

10 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

Yes to all of this, especially the part about 10k & Sarge. I thought Red was his true love. :(   But, like Doc, I saw it coming.

I was actually expecting some similar display of affection from Warren & Murphy. Those two have been exhibiting some serious chemistry since their "connection" in the church.

Warren & Murphy certainly have some unfinished business! Perhaps he'll lead off the search for her in S5.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Yeah, it looked to me like they didn't know whether the show would be renewed when the 13th episode was taped. Seemed kind of final to me, especially for Roberta. Unless the actress wants to leave the show, I can't see them killing her off while letting the others survive. She's a very strong lead character and most of the other characters have a lot invested in her.

After this season's first episode I speculated that perhaps this whole season would turn out to be a dream sequence. Maybe that's what the actual reset will be, a pretty much complete erase of this and possibly earlier seasons. Then the writers could move the story down a different time line where there is no Zona. IMO, Zona was effectively a dead end, plotwise.

[Nashville]

11 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

Yes to all of this, especially the part about 10k & Sarge. I thought Red was his true love. :(   But, like Doc, I saw it coming.

5 hours ago, AngelKitty said:

I don't mind Sarge and 10K getting together at the end of the world. They're young. He can still get back with Red, if she turns up again.

There's love, and there's horniness; I think 10K and Red were in the former category, while Sarge and 10K (at present, anyway) definitely fall into the latter. ;>

 

5 hours ago, AngelKitty said:

I am so happy this is coming back since there are way too many questions. The most glaring, to me, is what was up with The Man with a Plan's canisters and Warren's canisters. Wasn't he working for Zona?

Here's the thing, though; there were THREE sets of canisters:

1. The drone's original canisters: loaded with necrotizing fasciitis and designed to kill any/all survivors of nuclear strike rounds 1-3.
2. TMwaP's canisters: loaded - presumably - with the most current Zona formula designed to destroy the undead. Effects on not-undeads (i.e., survivors outside Zona) doesn't appear to have been a major concern in its development.
3. The original Teller-developed canisters Warren collected on her cross-country road trip: contents unknown(?).

The third set of canisters strikes me as the most curious, what exactly was in them?  And what are the ramifications of the different choices?

• If we go by Warren's last Teller flashback, they would appear to be an earlier version of TMwaP's canisters - BUT they were developed by Teller prior to his capture/indoctrination by Zona, when Teller was still an idealist working on a cure for the Z virus.  So - was Teller speaking the truth in the flashback, or was he lying to deceive the other Zonans participating in the subconscious programming of Warren?  
• If Warren did accept Teller's flashback statements as truth - and we were given no reason to think otherwise - with which canister set (#1 or #2) was Warren attempting to replace the #3 set she had just installed in the drone?  Given available information, none of the options appear optimal for continued human life.  Wouldn't the best choice have been None of the Above - to remove any canister from the drone, and render it ineffective?
• During Warren's struggle with TMwaP, a number of canisters were knocked to the floor and mixed up - and it was from this jumble Warren appeared to select ONE red canister to replace in the drone post-flashback.  Do we - or Warren, for that matter - actually have any real notion as to which canister was finally installed?  And what are the ramifications if, for example, the #2 red canister were used in conjunction with the #3 blue canister?  

Enquiring minds want to know!

 

5 hours ago, AngelKitty said:

I love Doc.

Echo echo; Doc is the survivor with whom I most strongly identify - with a little 10K thrown into the mix.  ;>

 

1 hour ago, 51Muses said:

Per the canisters, @ottoDbusdriver & @AngelKitty, Doc Zona had the cure canisters. Warren had Tellar's necrotizing canisters. She removed the red necrotizing canister then put in the red cure canister. But, it wouldn't stay secure. She had to keep holding it in position with both hands. Because of that she could not remove the bad necrotizing blue canister. And she could not let go of the red canister once the ship launched. If she did, then only the bad blue necrotizing canister could be released. However, with the good red canister, there was a chance of cancelling out the effects of the bad blue canister. 

Now that I think of it though, the so-called cure may have been based on Murphy's blood. With its impurities, the cure isn't a cure, right? But with the mixture released, maybe the effect will be to give the zombies increased awareness and mental instability for some humans.

 

That's part of my primary point: TMwaP's canisters weren't an actual 'cure'.  The mix in the #2 canisters initially destroyed zombies, sure - but its long-term effect on non-infected humans was hardly beneficial.  

Your interpretation - that Warren hoped the two canisters would counteract each other - is the closest I've heard to a rational explanation for Warren's actions to date.  I'd still maintain, however, that pulling ALL the canisters and letting nothing get sprayed would have been the optimal choice.  Above all, do no harm.  :)

 

1 hour ago, 51Muses said:

Warren is necessary to the show. She provides a strong POV and the "good" angel balancing out Murphy's bad side. Without her, the team wouldn't be a team at all. 

We thought that about Garnett as well, at the time.  :>

 

4 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Actually, I thought the original leader was played by Harold Perrineau, who was in only the first (maybe second?) episode before he was killed by zombies.   I just figured that he wanted out to do other things.

I don't count anybody who can't survive past a single episode.  :>

[Ohwell]

See, here's the main issue I've had with this season:  If not for the explanations/speculations from posters like @Nashville,@ottoDbusdriver, and @51Muses, I wouldn't have understood much of anything about what was going on, and that shouldn't have been the case for a viewer to have to figure so much shit out. 

Now, I don't think of myself as that dumb but, in sum, I thought this season was much more convoluted than it needed to be. 

[51Muses]

22 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

See, here's the main issue I've had with this season:  If not for the explanations/speculations from posters like @Nashville,@ottoDbusdriver, and @51Muses, I wouldn't have understood much of anything about what was going on, and that shouldn't have been the case for a viewer to have to figure so much shit out. 

Now, I don't think of myself as that dumb but, in sum, I thought this season was much more convoluted than it needed to be. 

I think the season had to have been this way in order for the Tellar Twist to work at the end. The plotting was contrived to serve the Black Rainbow arc. Instead of telling/showing the audience the details, we got red herrings and diversions. If you take out the filler episodes and pull out the snippets of Black Rainbow arc that were shown, it adds up to very few episodes. I'm hoping they go with a different, more Season 1/2 like approach for Season 5.

 

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

Here's the thing, though; there were THREE sets of canisters:

1. The drone's original canisters: loaded with necrotizing fasciitis and designed to kill any/all survivors of nuclear strike rounds 1-3.
2. TMwaP's canisters: loaded - presumably - with the most current Zona formula designed to destroy the undead. Effects on not-undeads (i.e., survivors outside Zona) doesn't appear to have been a major concern in its development.
3. The original Teller-developed canisters Warren collected on her cross-country road trip: contents unknown(?).

But there were only 2 sets shown. The drone had no canisters prior to Warren getting in there the first time. During her fight with TMwaP, he had two canisters. I'll have to rewatch to spot a 3rd. 

I think TMwaP's canisters had the cure or some variant of it. Why? Because Zona's billionaires would need a labor pool to rebuilt their settlement. I can't see the 1% getting dirt under their fingernails. Why kill off every human if you're going to need a labor pool and gene pool for future genetic diversity?

Tellar mentioned a change in plans. Was Tellar caught out and was trying to save his own skin? Was he with TMwaP until the Founder swayed him to mass genocide? The only thing for sure is that Warren was the ideal WMD delivery person. She's survived the apocalypse and knows how to be a group leader. She had a better chance of succeeding than anyone. 

BTW loving the discussion we're having.

[Ohwell]

I rest my case. ; )

[51Muses]

I agree that they did not know whether they would get a Season 5. To hedge their bets, they deliberately put in some breadcrumbs for a future season. These would be the disappearances, Addy's absence, Newmerica, the maze and the changing of Zs via the green gas. Any of these could be a catalyst for action/intent in Season 5.

They closed some loose threads. Murphy got to be a Daddy to his daughter. Lucy matured before being killed off so we did get to see her full arc. As Nashville has said previously she was going to age fast come what may. Tied up the Zona arc once and for all. Tied up the science is bad theme. I don't think more evil scientists can match Kurian/Tellar/TMwaP/Caligari. Made clear that organized government and authority is truly gone. Sketchy and Skeezy had some kind of ending which didn't kill them off. Got 10K laid and in a relationship. Warren had a flimsy and artificial purpose but still some kind of purpose. If this was the last season, then Warren got a deserved heroine's exit. Murphy got to be decisive and brave instead of a coward. 10K showed off his accuracy and shotmaking skills. Sarge's character got more development. Only Doc didn't really get a chance to shine in the last 2-3 episodes. The last shot left it ambiguous as to whether humanity or the zombies actually survive the Black Rainbow effect. Good way to end Season 4 or to set up Season 5.

I'm looking forward to Season 5. The old stuff is gone. Let's get some new ideas, new Z's and new adventures!

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, 51Muses said:

But there were only 2 sets shown. The drone had no canisters prior to Warren getting in there the first time. During her fight with TMwaP, he had two canisters. I'll have to rewatch to spot a 3rd. 

I went back and re-watched, and you're correct - there were no canisters when Warren did her initial installation - but it's a confusing sort of correct.  Black Rainbow was/is a 4th-strike weapon to be used in the event of American population decimation (which would include ground support crews), and it specifically demonstrated a design and intention to launch and deliver its payroll with a minimum of human intervention - nothing more than two key turns, a button push and a thumbprint, as a matter of fact.  

So under what circumstances does it make sense for an unattended-launch weapon to not be equipped with its payload in case of immediate launch?  

I mean - the Black Rainbow program had supposedly been active since at least the 80s, correct?  Consider an unattended launch of Black Rainbow under any circumstances other than those presented by the machinations of Zona and OBM.  Even if the President in question was NOT a zombie and had made a conscious, calculated decision to launch, the launch would have been fruitless; an unarmed drone would have been sent to spray - nothing.

-------------

One thing I did catch on re-watch which impressed more strongly upon me than upon my initial viewing, though: Warren installed an empty red cylinder.  Recall the series of events:

1. Warren installed HER cylinders and came out of the drone, at which point she was knocked unconscious by TMwaP.  
2. Murphy (who had been observing the goings-on in the hangar from the control room monitors) got there too late to stop the attack on Warren, but immediately went after TMwaP.  
3. In the fight between Murphy and TMwaP, the valve on TMwaP's red cylinder was knocked open; both Murphy and TMwaP were gassed by its contents.
4. While both Murphy and TMwaP were overcome by coughing fits, the red cylinder was dropped and rolled across the hangar floor toward the unconscious Warren.
5. As Warren regained consciousness, she remembered the totality of her Teller flashback - and sought to undo it.
6. To this end Warren grabbed the (now empty) TMwaP red cylinder from the hangar floor (leaving its blue counterpart behind of the floor), got back in the drone, and proceeded to swap out Teller's red cylinder for the empty.

So - if either (a) Teller's use of Black Rainbow was dependent upon an aerosol mixture between the contents of both red and blue cylinders or (b) each red/blue cylinder would react solely with its intended pair counterpart, then the flight of Black Rainbow will result in exactly - nothing.

 

P.S.: Recall the effect of the gassing upon TMwaP and Murphy; TMwaP was apparently killed, while Murphy ended up with no ill effects other than looking like he lost a battle with a can of spray-on tan.

[10kfever]

Just to add more confusion to this convoluted plot line (and we know the show's writers love to mess with our heads) what if Teller was a triple agent? And do we really know that The Man w/ a plan is actually dead? (Small kudos to me...very small...I speculated in 4-1 that the MwaP was a good guy, but I still have no clue if he is, was, or may be!) Ooh, my brain hurts. I'm going to feed it some chocolate and get back to writing missing scenes that have nothing to do with canisters.

[Ohwell]

Are there Z-Nation writers on this forum?  Seriously.

[Nashville]

2 hours ago, 10kfever said:

And do we really know that The Man w/ a plan is actually dead?

Nope!  Hence my use of the word ‘apparently’.  :D

[51Muses]

18 hours ago, Nashville said:

So - if either (a) Teller's use of Black Rainbow was dependent upon an aerosol mixture between the contents of both red and blue cylinders or (b) each red/blue cylinder would react solely with its intended pair counterpart, then the flight of Black Rainbow will result in exactly - nothing.

(c) The unintended and unforeseen mix of the cure-red and not-cure-blue could have some kind of effect. The red canister's contents dissipated when the doors opened. But not before Murphy became a new hue and TMwaP likely died. We do know that the red stuff affects humans and Z's. We can't assume that the canister is completely empty either. Perhaps only a tiny portion is needed to interact with the blue canister's contents. 

Of course the show can ignore all this when Season 5 starts. 

[diebartdie]

4 hours ago, 51Muses said:

 

Of course the show can ignore all this when Season 5 starts. 

I think that is highly likely, maybe a very brief mention of Murphy now looking sort of like a devil. I love this show, it has so much heart, even with a dollar store budget, it just does so much with so little. Warren has always been my favorite, I really hope she survives. I love Doc too, being an aging (second generation) hippy myself, I love how he's always managing to find a little weed to smoke along the way. Im glad (so glad) the show is coming back, I hope Addy comes back with it! This was a weird season and I dont mean Warren's brainwash induced fugue states. That maze episode was just bizarre! The only episode I mostly hated though was the juggalo one (although I got a serious kick out of Warren free styling like she did, she is so freekin hot). Anyway, THIS episode when Warren was making it very clear to everyone that she had to complete her mission ALONE and that most likely meant she figured it was a suicide mission, man that really got to me! I feel like Sarge, I would follow Warren straight into hell if she said we needed to go there. How the eff did this show, this goofy, weirdo show become my favorite of the various zombie / zombie-ish shows I watch? I mean damn, I WAS a hard core TWD fan but last season almost ended that for me and this season I think was the nail in the coffin but Z NATION is there for me. It's weird and crazy but in a lot of ways, it actually makes more sense than TWD and AND Z Nation knows how to have a laugh at itself! Flove this show.

Edited December 19, 2017 by diebartdie
tis the season to do edits, fa la la la la

[jhlipton]

On 12/16/2017 at 2:40 PM, phalange said:

Smart of Sarge to trick them by thinking she went over to their side, only to take them out.

I don't think Sarge was "tricking" them -- I think she truly felt that, as a Marine (which she has stressed over and over, is the largest part of who she is), she was duty-bound to obey her superior officer.  It was only when the President was revealed to be bat-shit crazy that she switched sides.

On 12/17/2017 at 0:05 AM, Nashville said:

Personally, I’m wondering if this was Warren’s (Kellita Smith’s) ticket out of the series;

If Warren goes, so am I.  I've cited this show as being one of the very few where a Black woman is not only the lead, she is the undisputaed one in charge (even more so for sci fi and fantasy).  If she goes, I go.

[10kfever]

On 12/18/2017 at 7:52 AM, Ohwell said:

Are there Z-Nation writers on this forum?  Seriously.

Uh, I've been dipping my feet into the fanfic pool after a looong hiatus. Did a site for The Sentinel and later LotR. I started a Z Nation site before my computer crashed, which may have been a blessing, since I was at a fairly low point. There aren't very many stories there yet, but if you like 10K and Doc, you can find my stuff at 

idol-pursuits.online

It's mostly angsty stuff, heavy on dialogue and light on zombies. But there are some long, more plot-driven stories in my paper notebooks, some comedy, and playtime with some of the other characters. Perhaps a Mary-Sue and some AU as well...just gotta get that new PC so I can keep inflicting my weirdness on others.?

 

Be be sure to use the .online, cause there's some weird websites out there, and even one that's looking to sell my old one... Now I'd better check the link to make sure it's still there!

[Ohwell]

14 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I don't think Sarge was "tricking" them -- I think she truly felt that, as a Marine (which she has stressed over and over, is the largest part of who she is), she was duty-bound to obey her superior officer.  It was only when the President was revealed to be bat-shit crazy that she switched sides.

If Warren goes, so am I.  I've cited this show as being one of the very few where a Black woman is not only the lead, she is the undisputaed one in charge (even more so for sci fi and fantasy).  If she goes, I go.

I don't think Sarge was "tricking" them either.  I think that she felt that as a person in the military, she was bound and obligated to follow the orders of her Commander in Chief until she realized the person was crazy.

Regarding the notion of Warren leaving the show, I wouldn't have a problem if she decided to leave voluntarily and go on to better things.  In that case, I would still watch the show even though it would be weird without her and I'd be interested in who would replace her.