10 Horror TV Shows That Wasted Incredible Premises
4. Black Summer
Black Summer is the perfect case study in why zombie flicks are no longer classed as flogging a dead horse within the horror genre - there's almost nothing left of said horse. What remains of the unfortunate metaphorical beast appears to have have been pulverized slowly in a meat grinder by the seemingly endless tidal wave of cinematic zombie offerings.
Z Nation - the show upon which prequel Black Summer is based - is one of those outings that remains an enjoyable, silly romp, despite not garnering much in the way of positive critical reception. Featuring the requisite amount of bloodshed and excitement for a zombie-themed show, Z Nation was more concerned with showing their viewers a good time than trying to invoke some type of introspective debate on the nature of humanity, surviving for five successful seasons on SyFy.
The fact that Z Nation was an example of a series willing to laugh at its own inherent ridiculousness was a key strength that prequel series Black Summer has neglected to imitate. Gone is the tongue-in-cheek silliness of Z Nation, replaced with dour, agonizingly thick characters; their non-existent development is dragged down even further by constant and confusing time jumps, while the plot is clunky and riddled with holes.
It is unfathomable as to why the producers of the so-called prequel chose to depart quite so drastically from the tropes and premise that made Z Nation such an unexpected success story.