Sunday, November 8, 2015

The Z Nation, Season Two, Episode Nine: Rozwell


Bernadette runs down the road and is being chased by a zombie.  Suddenly, a flash of light appears and when Bernadette turns around she sees that the zombie is caught in a beam.  The zombie is broken into several pieces and then dropped to the ground.  The light then surrounds Bernadette.

The crew is driving down the street and Vazquez suggests that they get off the road.  They come across the remains of the zombie by the side of the road and Warren slows down the jeep. The group is in awe of the way the zombie is sliced into bits.  10K adds to his hit count and kills a wondering zombie.  What the crew does not realise is that they are being followed in the sky.  10K says that there used to be a lot of mutilated cattle in this area.  Murphy is adamant that aliens don't exist and 10K points out that this is what people said about zombies.  Suddenly, the engine of the jeep stops working.  They begin to hear weird sounds coming through the radio. When Warren looks up, there's a bright light in the sky.  The light zooms in quickly and then zooms out. It hovers for a moment and then shoots into the sky. The jeep starts up suddenly again and the group continue on with their journey.Warren relates a story about her father seeing a bright craft buzzing over him and that it made him a believer. Murphy is still adamant that there are no aliens. The crew drive past a sign for Roswell.

It's daytime now and Warren looks through 10k's scope at a crash scene.  Vasquez does not believe that they are dealing with an extra terrestrial. The crew head to the crash site on foot and Warren notes that the remnants have been there for awhile. They notice that the crash site is in a perfect circle. Warren says that it is not the thing they saw last night and so suggests that the group keep moving. Zombies head in their direction and 10K uses a sling shot to take out a couple of zombies.

The team make their way into Roswell pull up to a diner where 10K does his slingshot thing again. The group enters the diner with Warren in the lead and are asked if they are there for the visitors and if they have been touched by Bernadette.  It seems that there's an exodus going on. The people who have been arriving at the diner have been doing so after dreaming about it. Roy Nearberg informs them that they are not too late and that he is going to introduce them to their fellow extronaughts.  It seems that  they believe that humans have been invited to visit an alien world in six days. Bernadette (the same woman who was running from the zombie at the opening of the show)  greats the group and says that among the group will be the one that the visitors are waiting for.  Bernadette hugs Murphy and calls him the emissary. Yep, it's always about Murphy.

Later, the group sit to eat some chicken teriyaki and once alone, Vasquez questions how long they are going to allow people to believe that Murphy is the emissary.  Warren answers that as long as they keep offering food and water but adds that they will be out of there soon. Vasquez tosses the food at Murphy and the group starts snarking about Murphy being the emissary of the human race. Dan Scully approaches their table and introduces himself and questions if they believe the alien exodus crap.  Dan says that he was just passing through and that the people who have been staying in Roswell believe they have been seeing UFOs. Dan tells the group that the aliens aren't coming to save humans because they have been on earth for thousands of years and are the ones who caused the apocalypse.  Dan tells the group that they should leave before the zombie aliens return and infect them all.  Dan warns that they aren't to listen to Bernadette because Bernadette will get them all killed.

Warren grabs a map while Doc talks about wanting to believe in UFOs.  It seems that Warren wants to get a look at the base because it means that there's a ground crew with fuel and transportation. Bernadette appears and offers to show the group where the base is because she goes there all of the time.  Bernadette adds that the visitors contact her all of the time.

Bernadette leads the group to a military base.  Murphy snarks about the lack of  big technology and Warren asks about a radio.  The group agrees to split up for now and search the base. Warren and Addy fight off a group of zombies, as a useless Bernadette watches.  When the group gets back together at the landing spot Bernadette has marked, they all say that they have found nothing. Bernadette informs them that the aliens are only going to take the humans who have been called. Bernadette says that the aliens have seen what we've done to ourselves and don't want humans doing it to them.  10K  asks about top secret areas and Bernadette reveals that she was told only to bring the emissary. Apparently, Bernadette has been hearing voices but they haven't said what they want with Murphy. Warren asks to be take to the place where Bernadette hears the voices.  Bernadette moves so quickly that they don't actually see her move.


Bernadette leads the group into a room where Doc finds a vending machine. Bernadette says that Doc should try the gum because it's free and when he reaches for it, she straps on a seatbelt.  Warren notes that something is wrong and tries to stop Doc but it's too late.  The room turns into an elevator and descends so quickly that the group screams.  When the elevator stops, a perky Bernadette announces that they have arrived.

Vasquez and Warren take the lead as the group leaves the elevator.  The elevator door slams behind them and locks.  Murphy asks if they are sure if they want to do this and Warren asks the group if they want to know what's down here.   Bernadette runs forward screaming that the aliens are here and the group follows.  The group comes across Bernadette staring at a lizard like creature.  The Alien gets to its feet and Murphy says that something is wrong.  The being stumbles towards them and the group starts shooting, killing one of the supposed aliens.  The group moves forward cautiously but when they hear a buzzing sound, Warren calls for everyone to get down.  The supposed alien then explodes. Bernadette questions why the group killed the alien and Murphy explains that this is what they do. Warren tells Bernadette that whatever it was died and turned zombie awhile ago.

Addy finds a control room filled with advanced computers. When she touches it, she realises that it is interactive.  Addy recognizes the system as something she used in art school.  Warren asks Addy to contact Citizen Z and Addy warns Warren that she might also alert who is on the other side.  Addy stays with Doc and Murphy, and the rest of the group decides to check out the base.  Bernadette wonders off and when the group finds here again, she is standing above several dead bodies.  Bernadette tells the group that this is what happens when they don't trust the aliens.

Addy continues to fiddle with the computer and Murphy says that it's weird that the aliens mostly communicate in English. Addy finds a file on Murphy and a map with the word SONA.

When they come across another being, Bernadette stops the group from firing saying that the entity doesn't want to hurt them.  Bernadette moves towards the creature and group starts to fire as Bernadette begs them not to hurt the being. The group manage to kill a few but are forced to duck when they hear the beeping sound again. An explosion goes off and when the group stands up, Bernadette is gone.  The group decide to go after Bernadette after they hear her screaming no repeatedly.  They find themselves back where they started.  Bernadette is outside and is surrounded by a beam of light.  Warren tells the group to approach carefully.  They are joined by Murphy, Doc and Addy.  Murphy walks towards the beam of light and when they try to stop him, laser beams shoot at the group.  Doc begs Murphy not to go, warning that he will be probed.  Warren fires off a shot from the alien gun they picked up and the alien ship starts to weave in the sky, releasing Bernadette and Murphy before crashing.

The group walks towards the wreckage and finds a being struggling.  Warren takes off the helmet and finds Dan Scully inside.  Bernadette asks Dan why he is acting like one of the aliens and he explains that it was always just him.  Dan apologises for lying, claiming that he was going tell Bernadette the truth once she boarded.  Warren questions how it is that Dan is still alive and Dan explains that he has only been there a few months and that everyone was either dead or turned when he arrived. Dan's mission was to salvage whatever technology they were testing at the base.  Murphy asks how they know about him and learns that the drone picked him up in Colorado.  Dan however does not know if he was working with alien technology.  Dan says to Bernadette that he didn't tell her because he was afraid she wouldn't go without the others.  Warren pulls Bernadette away moments before Dan turns and Bernadette gives Dan mercy. The group backs away and Dan explodes.

Warren tells Bernadette that she is sorry it didn't work out.  Bernadette responds that she is worried about the people waiting in Roswell who had their hopes tied up in this.  The two women hug and Warren tells Bernadette that she believes in her.

Bernadette makes her way back to the diner and the people are anxious.  Bernadette tells the group that the visitors said that they need to wait longer because the human race isn't ready yet.

The crew is back on the road, driving away from Roswell.

I suppose it was only a matter of time for alien story line on Z Nation. Personally I kind of liked it. Why wouldn't you want to check out a famous secret government base if you had the chance? I loved 10K's point about anything being possible now that zombies are real.  I must admit however that I was kind of disappointed that there weren't really aliens.

So, now we know that technology has been used to follow Murphy. Who is looking for him?  Is it Citizen Z? And speaking of Citizen Z, where has this character gone? He basically dropped off the show at the beginning of the season and hasn't been seen since.  Is there another secret government agency keeping a watch out for Murphy?  It makes sense.  There's still so much about the world that the survivors don't know.

As for Bernadette, it looks like she is going to continue to be a leader of her own special cult.  Yeah I know that in many ways this episode kind of ripped off Close Encounters of the Third Kind but I thought it was a nice twist to have the person of interest be a woman rather than a man.  It did however make me wonder if these people are really having dreams or if it's all just wishful thinking.

This episode places the group in New Mexico which means that they are moving steadily towards their end goal of California. I wonder if they are going to make it by the end of the season?