Daddy blues.
Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
Well, it didn’t take them long to remove the baby from the equation, at least temporarily. “Zombie Baby Daddy” is a slow burn of an episode that builds to several tense moments that deliver a surprisingly emotionally conclusion. This may not have some of the more standout gags we’ve seen recently but it’s a solid episode that does a good job of developing the lead characters.
Vasquez has been largely an enigma since his introduction a few weeks ago. He’s with the group but never really feels like he’s a part of the team. Then there are those mysterious calls he’s been making on his radio to an unknown group. This week, we finally get to learn a little more about Vasquez and turn him into a bit more of a developed character and a team member instead of someone who is just along for the ride.
Naturally, it’s Warren who manages to figure out what is going on with Vasquez. His secret meeting with the Zeroes was an interesting development that quickly devolved into a shootout and then a zombie attack. Vasquez and Warren find a safe place to tend to each other’s wounds and finally open up about what’s going on. Their conversation and the entire scene is great as they have to sew each other up without the use of any anesthetic, which brings them closer together and allows Vasquez an opportunity to finally open up about what he’s really been up to.
I’m not sure I buy into Vasquez’s story of revenge about a mystery man who murdered his wife in front of him. It seems too neat and tidy considering the chances of him running across this guy in a zombie wasteland seem near impossible. I’m not sure if Warren believes it either but considering their situation she had little choice in the matter and they escape their situation together.
Then there is Murphy who is desperately trying to protect his newborn zombie baby from the rest of the group. Everyone else wants to examine the child to make sure it’s already but also to ensure that it’s not going to be a threat. Warren mentions something about the baby either being the saviour of humanity or the destroyer. That seems like a pretty lofty plot at this point for a relatively light hearted zombie show but this was alluded to a couple of weeks ago by Dr. Kurian. It seems like the concept of Murphy being the first of a new race of human beings is going to develop into something in the relatively near future.
Keith Allen and Kellita Smith on Z Nation
Murphy stumbling upon that home in the middle of nowhere was some dumb luck but it turns into an opportunity to leave the baby with a family that can care for her more than he can. His initial resistance to the child prior to her birth was fun but he’s grown a deep attachment with her since then and it was quite the heart wrenching emotional scene when he tried to give up the baby to the couple. Emotion turned into fear and then into another opportunity as Murphy does what he does and puts the couple under his mind control bite. They seem nowhere near as bad as Cassandra so maybe he’s perfected the ability.
Speaking of Cassandra, her story was the most emotionally wrenching of them all. It always felt like Cassandra would eventually come to her senses given time or some medical treatment for her unusual condition. The shot of her massaging Murphy’s nasty feet cemented that something was going to happen sooner than later. 10k had been eyeing her over the past few weeks, looking for some humanity that might be left and after she tried to break Addy’s arm I guess he simply had enough. It’s a well executed moment and I have to say that Nat Zang did an incredible job handling the scene.
With Vasquez’s mystery out of the way, the baby dumped for now and Cassandra officially dead it will be interesting to see where they go next. A lot of loose ends have been cut but there is still the matter of getting Murphy to California.
