Well, if there was an episode that could fully convince me that this was a series was going to be more of a comedy than an actual zombie story, it would most definitely be this one. I can’t stress enough that this episode was… not that great. It felt a lot more like the silliest of Z-Nation as compared to anything remotely resembling a zombie drama of any sort.
The plot is redundant and all over the place and downright silly. But more than anything that sort of drags this episode in hilarious fashion, is that we now confirm that it’s really just all about the people. It’s about the stupid decisions they make to keep secrets and maintain a facade of their normal living despite the fact we’re in a full-blown zombie outbreak. It’s also very ridiculous, how obsessed with guns the Mayor is yet seemed awfully terrible at using them.
That said, completely abandoning the plot in this episode, I will say everything that goes down at the retirement home is easily the best so far of the series. Mrs. French, the old lady, absolutely kills it in this one, both metaphorically and quite literally, as her small two-episode arc is proving to be the best and most unique thing about the series.
That said, there’s still a lot more season to go, so I do have my hopes up in terms of at least having a good chuckle with my occasional zombie splats and gore. I do think though, that now that this episode set-up a lot more of the kind of comedic tone the series seems to be pivoting towards, and even seeing some of the worst gunplay and combat moments on low-budget cable TV, we can now officially sort of embrace the silly for the remainder of the series. Plots points be damned.
Here’s our recap.
Day Of The Dead Episode 03: The Grey Mile
At the Grey Mile Retirement home, Mayor Bowman discovers that Trey’s murder victim is now a flesh-eating zombie on the loose. Naturally, instead of calling the authorities or warning people out of public safety, Paula decides to go after and kill the zombie herself. Proving to Trey and Nicole: that she’s lost her mind.
While driving the hearse, Lauren convinces Cam not to call the police as she is on parole. When Jai wakes, the three swap stories and acknowledge that zombies are spreading across town. Jai also sees Lauren’s bite and asks to treat it, lest she gets a blood infection. They go to the Grey Mill retirement center/election polling area, where inside, Mayor Bowman still looks for the loose zombie. She reveals to Nicole, that the blackmail Pops has on her is that Trey isn’t Luke’s real father. Soon, Trey goes missing and then is found, and during the confusion, Nicole removes the bullets from Mayor Paula Bowman’s gun, hoping that she dies so that she and Trey can be together.
When Paula can’t find the zombie, Nicole tries to explain the truth of everything to Trey but the zombie they’re searching for appears and bites her in the neck. Paula tries to save Nicole but her bullets are missing. Nicole dies and Trey cries, yet somehow, the zombie escapes yet again in the scuffle. When Mayor Bowman finally tracks it down again, she reassures the crowd, and then shoots the zombie several times attempting to be the hero, yet misses the head. When she finally does kill it, it doesn’t matter, as she and Trey realize there are already zombies outside and that the outbreak is actually everywhere. Concerned for their son (who is not his actual son), Trey decides to go find Luke. Meanwhile, Paula goes to City Hall to maintain order.
On her way home after thinking she’d done the right thing, Sarah Blackwood is attacked by Rhodes who opens fire on her with a rifle. But she gets away and goes to find Doctor Logan. At that same moment, Doctor Logan does experimentation on the severed finger of Detective McDermott, which then, re-animates. Curious, she explores the dig site’s lower levels finding the zombie from before, though it attacks and kills her soldier. They take it away for experimentation. Elsewhere, we see Detective McDermott being held in the same Cleargenix compound.
At the retirement home, Jai treats Laura’s bite wound, then finds Mrs. French in the room eavesdropping and secretly smoking despite her recent cancer diagnosis. Zombies soon get into the building but instead of abandoning the elderly, they come up with a plan. Jai and Lauren warn everyone to stay in their rooms as the zombies enter the halls. Cam wheels Mrs. French to the foyer just inside of the rear exit, where they plan a trap. Together, the group lures the zombies into the hall to escape and then waits until the zombies enter the room, in order to trap them inside. However, the fire alarm doors jam. Dying anyway and wanting to go out in a blaze of glory, Mrs. French forces the others to exit as she stays behind with just her cigarette lighter and her oxygen tank. She blows up the zombies in the foyer killing herself in the process.
Elsewhere, Luke Bowman reveals to Trent that he and Cam used to be best friends. Instead of bonding, Trent abandons him thinking that he hears the party. Soon after, Luke is attacked by a zombie.
