Jerna van Vooren 

Hello, puppies and kittens, and welcome to the introductory episode of State of the Nation. My name is Jerna (she/her), and I’m a comic writer, so this is a recap podcast where we dive into the TV series Z Nation and its spin-off Black Summer. But before we start with the first episode, I wanted to explain why I chose this subject matter in particular. A while back, one of the members in the Kittysneezes Discord server recommended a series called Black Summer, and what piqued my interest was the way he described it. First off, it was a zombie series, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just that most zombie stuff is not all that great. You can do so much with the subject matter before it becomes generic. Plus, there’s already an oversaturation of zombie media, so it’s really hard to stand out. I remember this one Korean series called Kingdom, which looked really interesting to me, but I never got a chance to check it out. Secondly, it was also a Netflix series. Now, granted, that’s not really a deal breaker of itself, but it doesn’t help that most Netflix shows are meant to be disposable, made by and for an algorithm, and toolt and tinker to garner the most maximum attention before the public eventually forgets about it. I mean, how many people still remember that Cowboy Bebop remake from a few years back? Although the fact that Black Summer is still relatively unknown is a good thing in its favor. Well, at least if you’re not Netflix. But even then, the series has received a very mixed response, from absolute praise to genuine hate. So you know you might have something interesting there if you have this split reaction. I read some critics compared it to John Carpenter meeting Andrei Tarkovsky, so of course it piqued my attention at me to think, wow, this sounds great. So I went to Wikipedia to read up on it, and what actually shook me was that it was produced by, of all production companies, the Asylum. Now, if you’re familiar with the Asylum, you’re probably thinking the same thing as me, something made by the asylum that’s actually really good. But for those that don’t know, let me give a quick explanation. The asylum is a film company, and I use this in the basic term, no more for its business practices more than its film output. They are known for making quick and cheap films based around an upcoming blockbuster. Give it a similar-sounding name and slap it on DVD in the hope somebody would buy, thinking it was a genuine article. Their films are known to be shoddy-looking and with the cheapest CGI you’ve ever seen. So yeah, I was immediately intrigued. I mean, something getting this reception made by one of the worst and notorious film companies. I gotta see this for myself. But then I noticed it was also a spin-off show from another Asylum production in association with the sci-fi channel called Z Nation, which is more in line with what I would expect coming from the asylum, something that capitalizes on an existing trend. In this case, The Walking Dead. Although funnily enough, Z Nation ran for five seasons and had one spin-off show that lasted two seasons, and The Walking Dead ran for 11 and has multiple spin-off shows. So I’m a little confused. Which one is the company leeching of prior successes again? And unfortunately, I am that kind of person who goes out of their way to get the full story. So I thought, fine. I’ll start with Z Nation first, and if I dislike what I’m seeing, I’m going to watch the other show. So I began watching the first episode and managed to ending up finishing its entire run. I was actually enjoying myself. I didn’t. Think Z Nation is a good show in particular, but it is better than it deserves to be. Again, it’s an asylum show. It’s on the Sci-Fi Channel, and it looks cheap, which again was to be expected. But I was five episodes in, and one moment in the fifth episode made me think. Hang on, is Z Nation actually trying to be an actual TV show? Like there’s some actual care in its production, and that was the moment I started to enjoy Z Nation. Sure, it was still cheap.

 

Jerna van Vooren 

There’s countless plot lines throughout this run that are never resolved, and there’s some questionable stuff. But I was genuinely entertained by most of what I saw. I’m of the opinion that bad artists, no matter their output, can make this one piece of art that go beyond the usual expectations. And in my opinion, Z Nation is that piece of good art you would expect coming out of the asylum, cheap looking but actually enjoyable. On the other hand, Black Summer is the kind of incredible art you would absolutely never expect coming out of the asylum. So that’s why I started this podcast. I wanted to talk about how great Black Summer is and give it more attention, but the show only lasts for 16 episodes, so I thought I might as well start with Z Nation. And since I’m all alone, I decided to invite a different guest each episode. So come back for the very first episode where we will start at the beginning by recapping the very first Sharknado film. Yeah, well, I didn’t mention that there’s actually some overlap with the Sharknado films. Characters from Z Nation appear in a couple of films, and it’s mostly relegated to a quick cameo, but since they’re in it, I thought let’s do the Sharknado films as well. And I’m also someone who likes to start at the very beginning. And the first Sharknado film was released before Z Nation, and I also thought this might be a good introduction for people who are not familiar with the asylum in general. So see you next time, puppies and kittens, for the next State of Z Nation. State of Z Nation was hosted and recorded by Jerna van Vooren in association with KS Media LLC. The theme was composed by DokPetra. Jerna can be contacted on Blue Sky at nextmooregoscinny.bsky.social or on Instagram at Jernaceous. Support State of Z Nation and other fine projects at Patreon.Kittysneezes.com. This has been a Kittysneezes production.