Photo Credit: Syfy
Wow. And, we thought we had seen everything with last week’s kinky sex’n’pie Murphy scene. Well, that just goes to show you that you should never ever set a bar for this show because as soon as you do, the series will immediately come along and raise it another 10 feet.
When I interviewed Keith Allan a few weeks ago, he said that before the season was over, we would see Murphy continue to lose other “body parts” as his transition to a full-blown zybrid worsens. Well, we got some more of that last night, and it was enough to make your skin crawl — no pun intended. It appears that Murphy’s skin is now peeling and coming off, and if this had happened earlier on in the season, it probably would have freaked him out. But, Murphy is now in a place where he has accepted his fate — and in many ways have embraced it — and so, he just casually peels the skin off his hand, and in a very disgusting move, puts the skin in his pocket. Ewwwwww. But, if you thought that was going to be the creepiest scene in the episode, hold on to your knickers, folks, because things are about to get a lot weirder.
After making a pit stop at a golf course, the group runs into 3 other survivors, led by a Brett Zimmerman — a guy who claims he worked security before the apocalypse which I suspect equates to something like a mall cop due to his obvious self-esteem issues. If there’s one thing our group of survivors have learned it’s that you should never, ever trust people you have just met — at least not immediately. Well, Warren (Kellita Smith) and Co. throws all of that in the wind because before you know it, they are sitting down with these people in a big drunken party.
And, of course, they end up being screwed by their new “friends,” with their being drugged and Murphy being kidnapped after Brett learns about his special abilities. But what exactly do they want with Murphy? Something tells me they aren’t going to continue the mission to California because they are such good people and want to save humanity. It turns out these people are nothing more than common thieves, and they need Murphy to help them rob a drug company, Mesa Pharmaceuticals. While most companies have been looted down to practically nothing, Mesa remains relatively untouched primarily because it is surrounded by zombies.
Photo Credit: Syfy
And, Mesa is surrounded not just by regular zombies but by “Super-Z”s — zombies jacked up on drugs like Ritalin which made them almost twice as fast as your average Z. But, that’s not all of it and definitely not the best part. With the show continuing its pattern of hilarious sexual innuendos, we find that the Z’s not only like Ritalin but also Viagra. I’m not quite sure about the idea of zombies getting an erection, but regardless, it’s a mental image I’m probably not going to forget anytime soon.
Of course, this is where Murphy comes in. They needed someone to get to the main office to sound the alarm, thus luring the “Super-Z”s away from the fence so that Brett and his crew can get into the warehouse to steal the drugs. Since Murphy can walk among the Z’s without being touched, he becomes their golden goose.
But, as we all probably expected, things don’t go as planned with Murphy discovering another one of his unique abilities which ends up saving the day. I’m not sure exactly what made Murphy think to try this, but he decides to spit in the thieves’ water (another “ewwww!!” moment!) and just watch to see what would happen. It turns out that whatever is in Murphy’s blood and other bodily fluids, it can control not only zombies but also people. Now all of a sudden Murphy finds that he control people with his movements as well as with his mind. Wow. If you are familiar with the X-Men movies and comics, you’ll know that Professor Xavier is one of the most powerful mutants because he can control and manipulate people’s minds. Well, I think Murphy just became the Professor X of the zombie apocalypse.
Warren and the rest of the group end up storming the warehouse and rescuing Murphy, and while it could have all ended there, Murphy makes a very surprising (and shocking!) move. Instead of just leaving Brett for the Z’s or even just killing him, Murphy decides on a novel approach and forces Brett to do the dirty work himself:
The apocalypse is better off without you — Murphy to Brett
Then, using his new-found mind-controlling ability, Murphy causes Brett to blow off his own head, while Warren and the rest of the team looks on in disbelief.
As disturbing as all of this was, the good news is Murphy seems to be using all of his powers for the greater good — at least for now. Brett was a predator, and if they allowed him to live, he would have just done the same thing to another group of survivors. So, at the end of the day, what Murphy did was probably a good thing. But, will the power go to Murphy’s head? Or, even worse, will Murphy eventually use his power against the members of his own group? As the old saying goes, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.” I’d like to think Murphy has a good heart and not go that route, but only time will tell.
On a more serious note, Citizen Z (DJ Qualls) uncovers some disturbing information about the doctor who created the vaccine for the zombie virus. It seems that she feel off the grid for almost 2 years before the outbreak and then, just magically reappeared to create the vaccine. WTH? What. The. Hell! That doesn’t sound good at all. Could it be she was responsible for creating and weaponizing the virus in the first place, only to show up afterwards as a “savior” with the vaccine and cure? I certainly think it’s a possibility, and I suspect it’s a storyline that will be explored more going into season 2.
Photo Credit: Syfy
I really liked this episode, and I think it sets the stage for what could be an epic season one finale next week. And, quite honestly, I’m a lot more excited about this finale than I am about the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead which is set to air tomorrow night. And, why? Because I don’t think any of us have a clue of what to expect in the finale, and so, whatever happens, it’s going to be a complete surprise. In contrast, I think most viewers already know what will go down on The Walking Dead tomorrow, from the plot all the way down to who is going to die. Now, I love The Walking Dead , and I can’t imagine my ever stop watching the show, but every now and then, I do like to be surprised, which is something that Z Nation is able to pull off almost every freaking week.
The season one finale of Z Nation is titled “Doctor of the Dead” and airs Friday at 10/9c on Syfy.
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