Z Nation: Why The Zombies Series Was Canceled

Warning, spoilers! The following article provides important information about the plot of “Z Nation”.

When it comes to zombies, there are definitely before and after the walking dead. Previously, zombies did not have a prominent place on television, and the mainstream success of a series about the living dead seemed unlikely. The genre wasn’t very active on the big screen until the release of 28 Days Later and Resident Evil in 2002. It wasn’t long after that before hordes of zombies invaded every screen.

Thus, other series of the genre appeared, including a certain Z Nation, which debuted in 2014. But against TWD, the SYFY series was able to differentiate itself. Indeed, if The Walking Dead adopted a gritty and sinister tone, Z Nation opted for a very different atmosphere far removed from that of its sister – a stylistic difference that made its reputation.

Indeed, Z Nation didn’t have the same budget as the AMC series, but it knew how to make up for it with a crazy sense of fun, never taking itself too seriously, even if it had its share of deaths. Shocking as Harold Perrino (Lost) ), who disappeared at the end of the first episode when viewers believed he was the main character.

Fans even got a cameo from George RR Martin as a zombie version of him in season two. The show had its fans, why was it cancelled?

Audience-wise, Z Nation was never a big hit, but it did achieve respectable numbers for a channel like SYFY, so its cancellation was a shock. Its ending may have been due to the fact that the chain has a tendency to limit all shows to a maximum of 5 seasons, probably due to the increased costs that the series may require with each new chapter.

Season 1 of Z Nation was made on a budget of less than $700,000 per episode, a figure that would increase as the series progressed, due to increased actor salaries and the expanded scope of the story requiring more money for special effects.

Thus, Z Nation is not the only one that only had 5 seasons on the channel: other popular shows like Stargate Atlantis or the cult series Eureka were also canceled before the 6th season, despite their success.

But we have to admit that in addition to the increase in costs, the number of viewers between each season also decreases. Season 1 averaged 1.42 million views per episode. A drop in numbers is still expected, however, with viewers falling below 500,000 during season 5 (according to tvseriesfinale.com).

So paying more for less ratings, SYFY’s decision was ultimately obvious. That doesn’t mean the cast, crew, and fans of the show were happy, especially since the series ended on a major cliffhanger. Indeed, Murphy (Kate Allan) had a vision after eating part of Sun Mei’s (Sydney Viengluang) brain. It could have been his antidote, allowing humanity to be immunized against the deadly Z virus. Unfortunately, no one will ever know what they saw.

However, when the cancellation was announced in 2018, fans were able to console themselves with the idea of ​​a prequel in the works, Black Summer, which focused on the origins of the outbreak. However, the two shows’ tones turned out to be very different, a difference Black Summer lead actor Jaime King insisted on in an interview with ScreenRant at the time.

“VS‘It’s interesting because people started connecting with Z Nation and I don’t think it has anything to do with it. This is not a link to Z Nation. I’ve never seen Z Nation or heard of Z Nation, but I have friends who love the series and then people started saying it was a prequel to Z Nation, which it isn’t‘It’s not the case.“

Although both series are produced by The Asylum, Black Summer (2019) offers a darker image that contrasts with the charm and lightness that made many fans fall for Z Nation (for Black Summer of course, but also for The Walking Dead).

However, Black Summer has its merits, but it just isn’t the Z Nation expansion that many were hoping for. Some still have hope: With the sequel produced by Netflix, many want the platform — which also distributes Z Nation — to pick up the series where it left off. If so, just keep your fingers crossed.

In the meantime, you can catch or watch Z Nation streaming on Netflix, as well as the first 2 seasons of Black Summer. Season 3 of the latter has been confirmed but has no release date yet.