Warning: General spoilers ahead

Even if you’re not very political, all you need to do is spend just a small amount of time on social media to know we’re living in some really scary times right now. With the high-stakes midterm elections less than 2 weeks away, tensions were already high, but now, you’ve added to the mix 10 pipe bombs (so far) that have been sent to prominent Democrat politicians and members of the media. Everywhere you go now, you can feel the animosity in the air, with the nation divided “us” vs “them,” Democrat vs. Republican, as if they belonged to 2 separate countries. Obviously, Z Nation had no way of knowing all of these events would happen at this exact time, but this week’s episode does hit quite close to home.

In 5.02 “A New Life,” NuMerica was having an election of its own to decide whether to unite into one country, and it ended tragically when a bomb detonated right before the election results were going to be announced. The fallout continued in last week’s “Escape From Altura,” with the fingers starting to point to the Talkers as the culprits. In tomorrow’s episode, George (Katy O’Brian), Warren (Kellita Smith),  and Doc (Russell Hodgkinson)  travel to Pacifica, with the hope of clearing Dante’s (Zack Ward)  name and repairing the damage caused by the incident at Altura. Unfortunately, news travels fast, and they quickly discover trouble’s brewing at other outposts, including Pacifica.

Like the other episodes this season, this is another top-notch installment, and while I really can’t reveal any further details, I will say Roberta Warren is the MVP of the episode. Related to the politics of the episode and its similarities to current events in our own country, Warren gives a fantastic, inspiring speech warning everyone of the consequences of “hate grounded in fear.” Humans fear the Talkers — especially after the bombing at Altura — and of course, there’s the added problem of Talkers wanting to eat brains if they don’t get their biscuits. However, as Warren points out, Talkers are still technically human — our friend, our spouse, our brother, our sister — who still have very human feelings and emotions. And, they should be treated as such. If you substitute immigrants, gays/lesbians, or members of the media with the Talkers, you basically have the situation currently playing out in the U.S. It’s a powerful speech, but whether it works or not, you’ll have to tune in to find out.

Episode 5.04 of Z Nation  is titled “Pacifica” and airs Friday at 9/8c on Syfy.

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