The first season of Black Summer actually surprised me in a lot of different ways. From the moment the first scene opens up with Rose and her family you know that shit has definitely hit the fan. The world is on the edge of tearing itself apart, people live in fear, and the tension is so thick in the air it might as well be a heavy fog.

From those first moments, you get to see what the rest of the season/series is going to be like. Unlike its proginetor Z Nation, this season shows us the building momentum of the epidemic in its infancy. The zombie infection is as swift as it is brutal and no one is safe.

It’s established that any killed automatically turn into a zombie within minutes and they don’t hesitate. They’re fast, they’re strong, and they’re relentless. They’re a good blend of 28 Days Later meets Dawn of the Dead and they are vicious. Never do these zombies feel like they aren’t a constant threat.

But what’s just as interesting as the zombies are the other survivors. They’re good people and they’re bad people and the bad people will do anything they can to survive. We’ve got the typical tropes with a new addition here and there. One of the best scenarios the survivors come across is a school run by children and teens who lure in and murder other survivors.

The season introduces some pretty sweet characters, my favorite being Julius, Sun, and Rose. Julius is a criminal that the military is dead set on killing. Rose is a mother who’s journeying to the stadium where her daughter was taken to, and Sun is a Korean searching for her mother. There are a bunch of other characters also that provide a lot of depth to the world with their own interesting side stories.

Now watching this, I don’t the feeling that this is an offshoot of Z Nation. Hell, I don’t even get the feeling that the Asylum produced it. The tone is different, the way it looks is different; almost in no way, shape, or form does this even look like its a part of the Z Nation universe. Z Nation is dark but it’s balanced out by the drama and dark humor. Black Summer has managed to be quite serious but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.

The Verdict: In the end, the first season of Black Summer is really entertaining. With the way the first season ended, I can’t wait to season what they’re going to do with season two and see if they’re going to keep it its own thing or bridge it to Z Nation. If you’re a fan of zombies, then this’ll be your cup of tea. Black Summer (Season 1) gets 4 out of 5.