Black Summer is technically a prequel to the brilliant Z-Nation, but in spirit it's closer to the action and horror of the first season of Walking Dead than to the comedic, over-the-top spirit of Z-Nation.
Season 1 starts with a zombie outbreak in a particular neighborhood, with various characters running pell-mell and occasionally crossing paths. This is a continuous part of the series - people going in the same direction who drift apart and together as circumstances demand.
This multiple POV approach allows the series to try some interesting things, one of the best being a moment where we see the world from the POV of a zombie. It's fascinating to run alongside her and see her intentionality; she's not fully human, but she's not just a killing machine either - she's making decisions. It's wild.
A common complaint of the user reviews here is that there is no character development, but I see this as a feature rather than a bug. This is about people constantly facing horrific death. They're not growing and changing beyond learning to survive and handle weapons. They're not building meaningful relationships - everyone you meet will probably be dead soon.
Instead, the series is almost constant, heart-pounding action. Think of it less as a character-driven drama than a survival-horror video game.
In fact, the series is at its weakest when it takes a breath. Episodes in a diner and involving soldiers are both draggy. And the "Heist" episode is decent but the plot (and the fact that it doesn't make a lot of sense) just get in the way of the adrenaline-fueled action of the best episodes. Simply tossing out episodes 5-7 would have made the season a solid 9/10.
Highly recommended. Looking forward to season 2.
