"Z Nation" Review: "The Collector" S2 Ep8
- Liz Robinson
- Oct 31, 2015
- 2 min read
George R.R. Martin as a Zombie oh my...
***Spoilers***
Finally Z Nation is getting back to the weirdness that I loved so much in season one. Last night a new crazy villain stumbled upon the Murphy (Keith Allan). The Collector’s (Tom Beyer) is just as insane as Tobias (Rick Rivera) from season one, but in his own twisted way. He defiantly has his inferiority complex fully fueled. With his massive almost obsessive hate for the CDC he is determined to keep Murphy all for himself.
The ‘Dead Live’ interview aspect gave my quite a few giggles. It was kind of like watching a game show about Murphy and anytime that Murphy didn’t answer The Collector “the right way” Murphy would get zapped by an electric collar. I greatly enjoyed how they referenced back to Murphy and his creepy baby girl. If it weren’t for the fact that I dislike Murphy so much it would have almost given me the feels.
Also can I get a big round of applause for George R.R. Martin for going full on zombie (with great muscle memory)? One of my favorite sequences in this episode is when Murphy tries to escape by smacking The Collector with an autographed George R.R. Martin book. The Collector of course goes after Murphy and tries to talk him down by offering him percentages of profit from his Zombie themed museum.
Meanwhile the rest of the group yet again spends the whole time trying to hunt Murphy down and save him. Abby (Anastasia Baranova) may have only had one or two lines this episode, but finally they are bringing her back into the light. Thanks to 10k (Nat Zang) and his always-appreciated wit the rest of the group is able to find him after The Collector captures him too. At this point Murphy has been shocked for much of the episode and had a good portion of his blood drained, yet he still seems to stand just long enough to trick the Collector to his demise. It’s this last moment when Murphy uses his mind control on the collection of zombies that we first fully realize the pain and anger Murphy carries with him. Once the zombies are sinking their filthy teeth into The Collector the way Murphy was bitten (in the beginning of season one) there was no going back. The show has generally played off Murphy’s traumatic experiences because of Murphy’s unlikeable tendencies, but last night the writers sort of smacked the audience in the face with it. Well done.
Over all this was an amazing episode, easily the best of the season. If they can keep this up they will have one great show by the end. However where is Citizen Z (DJ Qualls)? I want to know what’s happening at that NSA lab in the middle of the Arctic.
Episode 9/10
Show 8/10
- Liz Robinson
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