In the season finale of Z Nation, the group heads to Colorado, where they hope to find Dr. Merch (Lisa Coronado).

The show flashes back and shows us New York City, before the outbreak. Johnny (Christopher Morson) meets up with Dr. Kurian (Donald Corren) and talks about Hurricane Sandy and the chaos that ensued. The pair head to Bill (George Mount), who is all cut up and sick. He almost appears to have been attacked by a zombie. The doctor gives Bill a shot and insists Bill is going to help him. Bill goes into a seizure, as the doctor uses a syringe to withdraw materials from Bill’s brains. As he leaves, Johnny lays dead outside.

Warren (Kellita Smith) makes contact with Citizen Z (DJ Qualls) and informs him that they’re been rerouted to Colorado, where they’re going to make contact with Dr. Merch (Lisa Coronado). The team is low on ammo and Cassandra (Pisay Pao) is sick and throwing up. Warren tells Murphy (Keith Allan) that the team is headed to Fort Collins. Murphy and Doc (Russell Hodgkinson) discuss their friendship and the procedures that Murphy will go through, after he arrives. 10k (Nat Zang) only has plan on killing more zombies, while Warren discusses heading to California. Doc intends to visit Ireland.

The group arrives and Warren puts Murphy in cuffs, in an attempt to protect him. As Murphy makes his way inside, zombies force everyone to retreat back into the van. Since the group is without ammo, they hug onto Murphy, which gives them safe passage to the lab. It seems something inside the lab is attracting the zombies. Of course, it appears everyone inside is dead. The team find a cake, which is half eaten and reads “Happy Birthday Dr. Kur”, which likely refers to Dr. Kurian.

Next, we see a United Nation’s Ebola quarantine camp. It looks like Dr. Kurian is spreading the virus to those infected with ebola. The team find a cell phone, which contains messages to the owner’s wife. The team gets an update from Citizen Z to check for information regarding “Red Death”. Murphy discovers the scientists were working on a vaccine approximately a year, before anyone was infected. While Doc and 10k agree to leave the lab, Murphy declares this isn’t a democracy and urges the team to venture deeper into the lab.

The show flashes to Kazakhstan and a Bio-Lab, with Dr. Kurian and a Kazakhstan cop (Joe Handelman). They discover another dead man. Kurian kills the cop, before obtaining chemicals from his brain. Afterwards, Citizen Z discusses the lab’s decontamination process, which requires everyone to get naked. Murphy’s scars appear to be spreading throughout his body. Cassandra collapses. 10k agrees to carry her, as the team heads further into the lab.

The team finds holding cells, with infected people and zombies inside. Murphy is attacked by some mutant zombies. After a struggle, Murphy breaks their heads off, before the team proceeds to search for Merch. Meanwhile, Dr. Kurian finds another man with a strange disease. The staff, which is caring for the man, has nicknamed him the zombie. The man responds to commands. Kurian again withdraws blood from his brain.

Meanwhile, Cassandra’s condition worsens. The team find a safe place for her to stay. Before leaving her, Warren gives her a gun and one bullet. 10k and Cassandra embrace and Cassandra calls 10k Tommy, before Warren suggests everyone say their goodbyes. After they continue their search, the team finds a half zombie, who shows them a video on his computer. It shows Dr. Merch injecting him with some type of chemical, which causes him to convulse.

While the man requests mercy, Dr. Merch enters with two soldiers. When the mask is removed, it is Dr. Kurian instead of Merch. Meanwhile, Citizen Z attempts to discover Kurian’s true identity. Murphy gives mercy to Brandon Doyle (Richard Sloniker), who warns him of Dr. Kurian. Citizen Z discovers Kurian is wanted by Interpol for selling weapons to North Korea and Iraq. 10k receives Z’s warning, as Cassandra enters. Cassandra kills one of the soldiers, while Murphy makes his escape. Doc is shot, by Kurian.

When the show returns, Citizen Z contacts Murphy, who believes Z has set him up. Murphy exits the lab, without decontamination, which sets off a nuclear weapon that is possibly headed for the lab. Cassandra begins fighting the soldiers, as Warren and 10k escape with Doc. Citizen Z discovers the true path of the nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, Murphy makes his escape in the van. Soon after, 10k, Warren and Doc make their escape, while watching the missile in the sky. We catch a glimpse of Mack (Michael Welch) and Addy (Anatasia Baranova). Citizen Z watches the missile, as he declares his hate for the apocalypse.

Review


In the series finale of Z Nation, the show finally started to take itself serious, but not too much. We still got a lot of quirky dialogue and corny jokes. However, we were also given an intense situation and an interesting backstory. This was definitely the best episode of the season and leaves a lot of questions for season 2, which has already been confirmed. It appears Mack and Addy aren’t dead after all, but Cassandra perhaps sacrificed herself to save the crew. Will Doc be able to survive the gunshot wound?

On the other hand, where exactly is that missile headed? Will Citizen Z be forced out into the zombie infested world? Where is Murphy headed? We’ll have to wait for season two to find out the answers, but this episode set them up perfectly. For that, the episode deserves a 9 out of 10.