Well, Warren, 10K, Doc, a sickly (and dying) Cassandra are told by Citizen Z to change their destination from California to a lab in Colorado where Dr. Merch should be awaiting. Murphy has a bone to pick with her considering she's the one that poisoned his body with the "Z-Vaccine" (which contributed to his survival and odd transformation). However, what they aren't prepared for is a deranged, psychopathic bio-weapons scientist / terrorist (Donald Corren) who has been taking the name of a Nobel-Prize winning vaccine doctor named Kurtz. This monster could very well be responsible for developing the virus for his own demented schemes, or he has a diabolical plan to use it as a weapon. We see him throughout the episode sticking a hypodermic needles in the noses of those either on the way to changing into a zombie or just after, securing blood from them for his "experiments". Meanwhile Murphy's skin is peeling as the group enter the laboratory believing their journey is about to end with Kurtz planning to develop a vaccine to "save mankind" unaware he has no such interest in doing so. Two soldiers behind him, Kurtz is uncovered by Citizen Z who realizes, to his horror, that he has sent Warren and company into a trap. Nuclear warheads trigger when Murphy presses a button, as a decontamination process cannot be interrupted, leaving the lab against orders from Citizen Z not to do so. That Murphy purposely leaves behind Warren, Doc (who is shot when things go haywire as Kurtz (actually this imposter's name is Kurrian) attempts to keep them from leaving), and 10K after his body has shed its epidermis really says that he's no longer concerned with anyone but his own safety. Meanwhile the rest try to get away from the lab before one of the released nuclear warheads blasts the lab into smithereens. And if you think Citizen Z is out of danger, think again
a warhead is headed for his military outpost as well! We last see Kurrian trying to flee, while the others (besides Cassandra, who has turned into a different kind of zombie (one that can think and still has attained her knowledge of who here friends are) and fought off the scientists two zombie-turned soldiers) are driving off in a second van, the first white van they arrived in hi-jacked by Murphy. The warheads have yet to land as the show concludes its first season. Lucky for Z-Nation fans, the show has been picked up for a second season so we won't be left in the dark regarding the fates of all after the cliffhanger. Doc being shot left me aghast but this is a zombie series so any hero could go at any time. He is such a fun character, though, that I can't imagine the show without him! And Warren's strength and leadership abilities are such an asset to the show. Strong characters who survive and aren't always dour and sourpusses helps me to get behind them. They have faced hell and thus far (well some of them anyway) made it through quite a series of trials to get Murphy to Colorado only for their mission to be a complete failure (to no fault of their own). I can't wait to see them facing an uncertain future where their mission is no more and survival becomes what is most important to them. The discovery of a lab tech experimented on by Merch is horrifyingly shown to us (his upper torso in a rotted, skeletal state is all that's left and it is a special effect that is all too grotesquely realistic), and this alone is enough incentive for Murphy to avoid such a similar fate (we see him quarantined by Merch, later to be injected as the first guinea pig for the Z-Vaccine).
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