‘Z Nation’: ‘Everybody Dies in the End’ sure lives up to its name

“The Walking Dead” may be reigning supreme on TV — but it doesn’t have the zombie market cornered. There’s always room for another take on the popular genre, and that’s where “Z Nation” is thriving. At least, that’s where it was thriving.

The Season 3 finale, titled “Everybody Dies in the End,” lived up to its name, seemingly killing off the show’s entire cast in a pretty massive cliffhanger. Take that, Negan!

It all comes to a head as Murphy (Keith Allan) was finally reunited with his daughter, bringing him and his group into direct conflict with the evil Zona group and The Man (Joseph Gatt) — who abducted in the first place. As a standoff ensues on top of a Zona facility, The Man shoots both Murphy and Roberta (Kellita Smith) before he’s tackled off of the compound by Addy (Anastasia Baranova), both likely falling to their deaths.

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Why end there, though? After all, “Z Nation” comes from the same company that makes the “Sharknado” movies — not exactly known for leaving anything on the table. So naturally, Murphy’s daughter Lucy (Kelly Washington) and one other dive off the cliff after them.

Which leaves the small matter of everyone else on top of the compound — and that’s where things get weird. Okay, this is where they get more weird. During the standoff, a futuristic helicopter appears with United States Air Force marking, labeled Zone A — a little too close to “Zona” for our comfort. It powers up a laser blaster and apparently kills everyone that’s left… As the screen cuts to black.

Of course, while this episode’s called “Everybody Dies in the End” it’s not likely to really be the case. As it stands, “Z Nation” has already been renewed for a fourth season. Killing everyone off now would make no sense.

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That said, at least some of these deaths have to stick for the story to retain any validity going forward. Stark realism isn’t exactly what they’re shooting for with this one, but when you reach a certain point of ridiculous, there’s no turning back.

And this is a show that followed a zombie apocalypse with a nuclear apocalypse — because who doesn’t love a double apocalypse? It’s already made ridiculous part of the norm but even this might be a bit too far.

So who’s going to die? We can’t say for sure, but there are certainly characters we really want to see come back. Murphy, Roberta, Addy and Doc (Russell Hodgkinson) are arguably the four biggest characters on the show and they’ve been there from the beginning. They deserve the chance to play this one out until the very end.

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