Z Nation Season 3 Episode 13: The Siege Of Murphytown

This Z Nation review contains spoilers.

Z Nation Season 3 Episode 13

At long last, the growth of mighty factions and bonkers characters throughout three long seasons of Syfy’s Z Nation have come to a head in, what was supposed to be, the climactic “Siege of Murphytown.” Sadly, what ensued was a battle that was surprisingly light on the action and heavy on the ol’ talky-talk.

That’s right, the inevitable climax in which Operation Bite Mark, with backup from The Red Hand, took on Murphy and his army of Blends. For those that need a refresher, Murphy’s episode 1 predicament has allowed him to bite people and make them both immune to the zombie virus, and susceptible to his mind control powers – never forget that mind control is a thing in this series, it helps. Now, Warren and her small army are going to have to stop them or else Murphy will succeed in his plan to wipe out humanity and replace them all with his personal flying monkeys. That, at least, is the attitude that had been set up prior to this episode, but a lot of this installment’s real estate was devoted to making viewers question that particular facet of the plot.

Murphy confronts Warren for the first time this entire season. You’d think it would immediately come to blows, but they exchanged philosophies instead. Murphy believes humanity is over and that he’s succeeded in building a utopia, but Warren believes none of that matters if he can control people’s minds. The two have shared a long and storied history of mutual respect, despite having completely opposite points of view about their role in the future of the human race. This episode did a good job of highlighting that fact, but it’s worth noting that it’s the first time their special bond has been addressed in the better part of a year. That’s a big ask for a show’s audience to be able to remember. Then again, if you’re still with the newly-renewed series, you’re a diehard fan, so let’s forge on.

Z Nation has adopted a pattern this year that’s both predictable and infuriating. Episodes have alternated between slow, plot setting and fun, story-of-the-week outings. “The Siege of Murphytown” falls under the banner of the more boring stage setting. However, fans of the series will appreciate the vast amounts of ground this covered.

Perhaps the biggest boon to the storyline is the fact that 10K seems to finally be cured. Not only that, he got the long-awaited kiss that he’s been desperately searching the zombified America for. Throughout the show’s run, 10K has made googly eyes at a lot of women, but they always end up dead or missing in the end. However, there was something different about Red, who made her triumphant return along with her brother, 5K. They were just in time to rescue the young hero and fix his foggy mind. If we’re all being honest with ourselves, 10K has been getting the short end of the stick this season with the whole Murphy mind control plotline. Not only is he back, but he’s even got a weird shipable family with him.

Love was in the air for Citizen Z as well, who found out that his new Antarctic girlfriend Kaya is officially pregnant with his child. This was welcomed news to the character, but not the audience. At long last, the character made his way back to the United States and what’s left of civilization. He even meets the members of Operation Bite Mark, who have been his only remote friends for years, in person! However, news that he’s going to be the world’s skinniest dad force him to declare, “the planet is going to have to take care of itself, I’m coming home!” So he is either going to only stick around a little while, or be gone by next week. Either way, the cathartic meeting will be cut way short.

So, while “The Siege of Murphytown” was heavy on larger plot points, it was pretty light on an actual siege. The characters spent most of the episode’s real estate talking at one another and exchanging the same points of view – Warren wants no mind control, Murphy wants no more humans. The only real moments of action came when the Red Hand took on Murphy’s men, but it was short and a bit confusing. In the end, the Blends triumphed, and just when it looked like Warren and Operation Bite Mark were finished – a mutual mission unified them.

The Man, on behalf of Zona, still has Murphy’s daughter Lucy. So, with a common enemy in their crosshairs, Murphy agrees to give up some of his blood to make a real cure, and Warren agrees to finally take down The Man, Zona and whoever else are attempting to pull the world’s strings besides her. Although there’s still two more episodes left in Season 3, it’s a safe bet that next week will be another self-contained story, and the finale will have more Season 4 stage setting than genuine resolution.