Zombies, Anyone?
I’m not really a zombie girl. They freak me right the heck out. I can read about them — no problem. But visual media? Television? Movies? Yeah, I’m sure there’s a pressing root canal I need.
A friend of mine was on the Walking Dead’s first couple seasons, so when it started, I thought I’d watch it and support him. I made it to episode three before I noped right out. You know the episode. The one where they have to slather themselves with dead people guts and then walk among the zombies? Yeah, no. The guts were no problem. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool horror girl. But the stress of watching them get into the middle of a zombie hoard… I decided that a TV show where I have to stop it every 90 seconds to keep from freaking out was just more stressful than I was willing to endure.
Photo: Rotten Tomatoes
All that dramatic stuff said, I can handle zombies in a comedy setting. Think Shaun of the Dead.
So when I heard about the British show Zomboat!, I thought I’d give it a try.
When the Game Becomes Real
Kat, our super nerd, is playing a zombie first-person shooter with her friends when the apocalypse occurs right in her neighborhood. And then her house. The guy her societally beautiful sister Jo brought home the night before “wakes up” a zombie and the race begins.
The sisters have to find a way out of Birmingham while simultaneously not getting eaten. Kat decides Jo’s ex-boyfriend’s canal boat is the best way to get out of the city. Jo thinks that’s a stupid idea, but Kat assures her that zombies can’t swim, which makes a boat the best way to go.
The canal boat they’re on goes about 10mph, barely faster than a small parade of zombies that is following them on the shore, led by one very focused zombie that seems to be stalking Jo. (There’s a reason for this, as we discover in the final episode.)
We are faster. Marginally faster.
They’re ultimately joined by two men who’d gone to a bachelor party the night before, Sunny and Amar, and have to flee the train station. The four travel down the canal, navigating locks, stopping for food, and checking on the other men from the party when the boat passes by the hotel from the night before. (This is where the zombie stripper comes in.)
Who’s got a phone? Somebody lost mine trying to Snapchat the apocalypse.
A Different Sort of Zombie Story
The pop culture references and the one-liners are highlights. Kat, being a zombie aficionado, continuously tries to school Jo on zombie canon. If you’re a gamer or a horror fan, you’re going to get a lot of kicks out of the references in this show.
Look, this is gonna be tough for you because you’ve not seen a single George A. Romero film.
Photo: Rotten Tomatoes
The scenarios they end up in are often ridiculous, but that’s fine, because the entire show is ridiculous. They get stuck in a supermarket because the door is only triggered from the outside, but by the time anyone coming in can be told about it, the doors close again. Kat and Amar get to know each other by slowly leading the zombies inside up and down aisles as a diversion while Jo and one of the workers tries to get out.
It’s in every horror film ever made.
Don’t go into the woods, don’t go down to the cellar, don’t split up!
The show makes an interesting use of flashbacks, telling a portion of the backstory during a current story line. We learn more about Amar and Sunny’s conflicts in this way. If you listen, in the early episodes, you’ll hear a question asked or a potential conflict brought up. In a later episode, you’ll see the resolution or explanation of that thing. This concept definitely argues for binge-watching the show.
Throughout the show, there are discussions about whether it’s a virus, airborne, transmitted via bite, etc. Fictional canon vs. reality, as it were. Jo constantly reminds Kat that this is not a game or a movie; it is real life.
Actually, yeah, I’m naming the zombies.
– We have got Indian Jesus, obviously.
Then there’s Luke Skywalker.
– It looks nothing like him.
From the shit sequels.
– Oh, yeah.
Ginger moody one, though.
– Sansa Stark.
And there it is.
Zomboat! is definitely worth the 2.5 or so hours it takes to get through the six episodes. If you like silly, British humor, zombies, nerds quoting movies and games, then this will be right up your alley! You can find it on Hulu.
The Walking Dead was way too scary and depressing for me. Zomboat! sounds quite charming; I love British humor. It’s too bad that I don’t have Hulu.