Z Nation: Resurrection Z Recap

Z Nation: Resurrection Z (1×06)

Synopsis: Behold, brothers and sisters! Lo the zompocalypse signals the second coming of the resurrection! Province Town, and our small band of survivors, better make peace with God…

Rating: ★★★★☆

This week’s Z Nation is a heavy hitter. It took me forever to actually get around to recapping it because I’m genuinely so sad about the outcome. You’ve been warned.

We’re immediately introduced to Jacob and his cult followers, complete with zombie parishioners and new baby cultists. Aren’t they cute? They’re welcomed into the church with open arms, given crosses, and sent on their merry way. These insane people even ring the church bell to bring in more of the “resurrected” to their flock. What could possibly go wrong here?

Cut to our merry group and everyone is watching Murphy pee in a field. I really thought we were going to get a penis-falling-off-the-antidote-is-killing-me montage, but theoretically, Murphy still has his goods intact. Since the znado of last week, the gang has hit a bit of a rough patch. Their latest plan, after having not eaten for the past two days, is to head to Missouri and a place called Province Town. It was marked on a map that Hammond was carrying and Garnett thinks someone there, Major Joe Williams from his pre-Z National Guard days, will be able to help them out. Warren and Garnett flirt a little bit (because nothing gives you the go-ahead after three years like definitely-probably dead firefighter boyfriend) and Garnett talks a lot about having hope.

Luckily, they’re welcomed into Province Town on the conditions that they leave their truck outside the gates and give all their weapons up to the armory. They’ve got a pretty good system going on with metal detectors and 10K is, unsurprisingly, the most heavily armed with unconventional weapons galore. The welcome tour and speech provides the information dump on Province Town. After a few incidents, no one is armed inside the walls and there hasn’t been a fatality in over a year. Doors are calibrated to close automatically, making everything zombie-proofed. They grow fruits and vegetables and they have a biomass generator that provides up to four hours of electricity a day. They get their first meal on the Major, but will have to trade for everything after that. All in all, it’s a pretty sweet deal and it gives Garnett a lot of hope.

The three baby cultists we saw from the beginning of the episode are back, begging to be let in, and Major Williams allows it. He explains to Garnett and the others that Jacob thinks the zompocalypse is the second coming and the whole cult was kicked out of Province Town, but they have family inside, so they’re allowed back. Major Williams also tries to convince Garnett and his group to stay because the news out west is that the zombies are swarming, forming mega-herds.

Later, the group lets Warren and Garnett get some “quality” time in the private room. If you’re aware of any kind of horror trope at all, you should know sex is bad news. It’s pretty hilariously awkward, but they manage.

10K splits from the food fest to follow the cult girl around the complex, though he notices a sabotaged door during his quest. He finds the girl’s cross while he’s following her through the yard; she’s stumbling around and eventually falls over near the gate. One of the male cultists heads to the armory and asks for something from his bag, also while fiddling with his cross. The last cultist boy jumps on the table to begin preaching about the word of Jacob and the Resurrection Church. He pulls the end off of his cross to reveal a knife and slits his throat. He turns immediately and all hell breaks loose in the mess hall.

Warren and Garnett are interrupted from their quality time by someone knocking on their door insistently. It takes them a moment to realize something is wrong, but they quickly dispatch of the zombie when they open the door to investigate. In the mess hall, Murphy gets separated from the group again as he runs off. Mack, Addy, and Doc get away in another direction and Addy dispatches of a zombie with an egg-beater to the face. It’s really the best kill of the episode, even with Warren and Garnett literally braining zombies with bibles in the next scene.

When everyone reunites, Major Williams gives them directions on how to get out of the overrun complex before staying behind to direct more people to the exit. Unfortunately, the door was blocked and they only just barely make it out of the crowded hallway before being captured by Jacob’s men. Cassandra and 10K run off, but everyone else is brought before Jacob and his cage of zombies. Garnett is visibly upset because of how this safe place was corrupted and tries to reason with Jacob, who merely shows off a zombie Major Williams.

As he goes to ‘resurrect’ Garnett, Murphy yells at him to stop from the cage. Keith Allen really knocks this whole speech from Murphy out of the park. True to Murphy form, he announces to the group that he is their Messiah because he was bitten eight times and did not turn. He proves this by putting his fingers in a zombie’s mouth and, like he said, he’s not attacked. Jacob claims that he has one last test to pass – a bullet to the heart – before he is believed to be the true prophet.

Before Jacob can shoot Murphy, Warren attacks him and Garnett jumps in front of Murphy to protect him. He’s shot at the same time 10K finally gets a clear shot to hit Jacob in the shoulder. Cassandra brings the truck around to them and everyone starts heading for it as the zombies run out of the cage. But Warren’s not leaving. She’s huddled over Garnett, who is clearly dying and urging her to get Murphy to safety, and crying. They have to physically drag her away from him and show his eyes as he turns – there’s no coming back from this, folks. After they get down the road, Warren borrows 10K’s sniper rifle and grants Garnett mercy before killing Jacob. And that’s the end.

I know. I was shocked too – especially because I sat down with Tom Everett Scott at New York Comic Con just the week before this episode aired and he talked all about how Garnett had hope and the episode just repeated that theme of hope and then that happened. No warnings from him or Craig Engler, though Engler did promise that not everyone would make it to California, so maybe I should’ve suspected something. Another solid episode for Z Nation, if not a sad one.

@kyleewho @znation it was painful not being able to say what was going to happen. Also it makes me sad. Enjoyed talking to you tho

— Tom Everett Scott (@TomEScott) October 18, 2014