Z Nation Series Finale Review: The End Of Everything

It's the end of the line for "Z Nation". SyFy canceled the show last week. While it is sad news, it might be time for the show to exit after five season. We've had some great times following our little band of apocalypse survivors. Before we go, let's take a quick look back at what happened in season 5. Below are the titles of 13 episodes:

Welcome To The Newpocalypse- Warren somehow manages to survive the events of the season 4 finale. She shacks up with a new farmer named Cooper.
A New Life- George wants the Talkers to be equal citizens. Others arent so sure.
Escape To Altura
Pacifica- Everywhere they go, talkers and sympathizers are being targeted.
Killing All The Books
Limbo- You cant blame Murphy for trying to make a little extra money during the zombie apocalypse.

Doc's Stoned History- Doc's rendition of the writing of the Bill or Rights and the Constitution is hilarious.
Heartland- The group goes on a long quest to find out what ingredients in z-biscuits keeps talkers alive. First they visit a bakery. Then look for the flour used. Then they have to get the water running again. And finally, they end up at a mine where the true secret ingredient is discovered-- it's lithium.
Water Keepers
State Of Mind- That Robot/Talker/Dude was super scary.
Hackerville
At All Costs
The End Of Everything

We discover Talkers and z biscuits (which keep them from completely turning), George is trying to form a new country where humans and talkers are equal. She wants everyone to have the right to vote. The main baddies this season are Half Faced Pandora and Estes. The main themes are bigotry and not trusting those that are different than you (like Talkers). Hmmm, sounds vaguely familiar.

Addie is back for part of the season (she was sorely missed last year). Red (who is not really red) is back as well. 10K now has only one hand due to a zombie bite. Sarge bravely gave her life so he could escape. Murphy now is red (instead of his previous blue). Sun Mei gives her life for a cure. She is turned into a zombie by Estes (and then has to be killed so they can use her brain). Despite her death, the vaccine she created will hopefully be the cure for everyone else.

In the series finale Murphy and Addy lead the talkers as they try to evade the Altura army. Citizen K and Kaya help out with tech support. Doc causes a diversion. Murph and company make it to Altura. It's election day and they want to vote. Estes has other plans. He is using the lithium that would have gone into z biscuits to power his big battery (which for some reason is in a pool).

George and Pandora have a battle to the death. Pandora's mask comes off and she is sufficiently hideous. Estes shoots Warren multiple times but she does not bleed. Fade to black. She wakes up. Cooper is there (yes, he made it out of the car trunk that Murphy and Roberta locked him in).

And in the shocker of the series, Roberta has been D-E-A-D since back at the farm. But she's not really a talker. The Black Rain must have affected her. I didnt see that coming. In response to the news, she explains "damn apocalypse'. Indeed. Cooper and Warren share a few kisses before he heads back to the farm.

The results of vote are broadcast (looks like its a "yes" for Talker citizenship) while Murphy chows down on a bit of Sun Mei's brain. He says "Yes that's it". So seems like we may have the end of the zombie apocalypse after all.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5) A great finale with a surprising twist ending. Sadly, the season finale also serves as a series finale. SyFy canceled the show after five seasons. I'm glad we had this quirky little zombie show for that long though. There is nothing quite like it on TV. We have lots of zombies and plenty of laughs to boot. My favorites include: the zombie baby (from episode 1), the zombie cheese week (the best!), zombie Abraham Lincoln lookalikes on a bus, and the super tan zombie in the barbershop (ewww!).

I'll miss our Operation Bitemark gang-- Roberta, Murphy, Doc, 10K, Addy, Citizen Z, Kaya, and Nana (as well as new addition George). RIP Lucy. I wish we could have known you longer.

It was nice to have a kick ass woman of color in charge (for a change). Kelita Smith really brought it in each episode. She was tough but also loving and sympathetic when she needed to be.

Keith Allan as Murphy was also delightful. He was a loveable scoundrel and quite the snappy dresser (regardless of whether he was blue or red or white or anywhere in between).

Luckily, our journey doesnt have not end here. A prequel called "Black Summer" is expected to be released by NetFlix in 2019. That's something to look forward to for sure.