Black Summer (TV series)

Black Summer is an American web television series created by Karl Schaefer and John Hyams. The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was released on Netflix on April 11, 2019. The series is produced by The Asylum, the same production company behind Z Nation, and is written and directed primarily by Hyams, with Abram Cox writing and directing additional episodes. Jaime King stars in the lead role as Rose, a mother who is separated from her daughter during the earliest and most deadly days of a zombie apocalypse. The series garnered moderate approval from critics. Many of the filming locations are in Calgary, Alberta in Canada. In November 2019, Netflix renewed the series for an eight-episode second season.[1]

Black Summer
Genre
Created by
StarringJaime King
Justin Chu Cary
Christine Lee
Sal Velez Jr.
Kelsey Flower
Erika Hau
Composer(s)Alec Puro
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)Jodi Binstock
Cinematography
  • Yaron Levy
  • Spiro Grant
Running time20–44 minutes
Production company(s)The Asylum
DistributorNetflix
Release
Original networkNetflix
Picture format4K (16:9 UHDTV in high dynamic range)
Audio formatDolby Digital
Original releaseApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11) –
present (present)
External links
Official website

Plot

Six weeks after the start of the zombie apocalypse, when Rose (Jaime King) is separated from her daughter, Anna, she embarks on a harrowing journey, stopping at nothing to find her daughter. Thrust alongside a small group of refugees in North America, she must brave a hostile new world and make brutal decisions during the most deadly summer of a zombie apocalypse.[2]

Cast and characters

Main
  • Jaime King as Rose, a mother who is separated from her daughter during the earliest and most deadly days of a zombie apocalypse. (7 episodes)
  • Justin Chu Cary as Julius James, a criminal who took the identity of "Spears", the name of the guard he killed. (7 episodes)
  • Christine Lee as Ooh "Sun" Kyungsun, a North[3] Korean woman who is looking for her missing mother. (7 episodes)
  • Sal Velez Jr. as William Velez, a pole lineman who has a sister and children in Texas. (7 episodes)
  • Kelsey Flower as Lance, a young survivor with no family. (7 episodes)
  • Erika Hau as Carmen[4][5], Manny's girlfriend. (6 episodes)

Recurring
  • Gwynyth Walsh as Barbara Watson,[6] who has survived without her husband and is not sure he is alive. (4 episodes)
  • Mustafa Alabssi as Ryan,[7] a deaf survivor. (3 episodes)
  • Nyren B. Evelyn as Earl, a mysterious survivor who saves Rose and Spears. (4 episodes)
  • Edsson Morales[8] as Manny, Carmen's boyfriend. (4 episodes)
  • Aidan Fink[9] as Leader at School
  • Kash Hill[9] as The Boy at School
  • Stafford Perry as Phil, a social Darwinist travelling with Carmen and Manny. (3 episodes)
  • Christian Fraser as Marvin, a man traveling with Carmen, Manny and Phil. (3 episodes)
  • Nathaniel Arcand as Governale, a soldier. (3 episodes)
  • Tom Carey as Bronk, a soldier. (3 episodes)
  • Ty Olsson as Patrick, Rose's husband and Anna's father. (1 episode)
  • Zoe Marlett as Anna, Rose and Patrick's daughter. (3 episodes)
  • Lonni Olson as Ben, a man who meets Barbara on the road. (1 episode)

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Human Flow"John HyamsKarl Schaefer & John HyamsApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
At the onset of the zombie apocalypse, soldiers evacuate people from a suburb to a stadium. Rose, her husband Patrick, and their daughter Anna attempt to evacuate, but only Anna gets on the truck before a flesh wound is found on Patrick. He and another survivor, Sun, are turned away. The trucks leave with Anna and Patrick later turns. A uniformed soldier bearing the name Spears shoots a zombified Patrick, saving Rose. Ryan, a deaf individual, attempts to help a dying woman, but is pulled away by Sun. Barbara, a woman driving to the stadium, is forced out of her van by a man named Ben until another man named William intervenes. Meanwhile, the dying woman reanimates and begins attacking people. She attacks and eats a man, causing his partner Lance to flee. Spears is revealed to have killed and stolen the clothes of the real Spears, a soldier assigned to guard him. The characters reach a government checkpoint that becomes overrun by civilians and Sun and Ryan are separated. Sun breaks through the checkpoint and flees ahead of the crowd, which breaches the checkpoint shortly after. Escaping, Sun reaches the van, where she and William get in the van with Barbara and drive away. Other refugees follow the van, leaving behind Rose, Spears, Lance, and Ryan.
2"Drive"John HyamsJohn HyamsApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
Sun, Barbara, and William attempt to travel to the stadium, but encounter resistance from both the living and the dead. They introduce themselves, but end up being chased by a pick-up truck, which they believe wants their fuel. After the truck attempts to run them off the road, both vehicles crash into a stopped semitrailer, killing Barbara and the pick-up truck driver, both of whom reanimate. The surviving occupants escape their vehicles and flee to an abandoned diner while being chased by the now zombified Barbara and pick-up truck driver. Meanwhile, Rose, Spears, Lance and Ryan continue toward the stadium, witnessing the fates of other survivors along the way.
3"Summer School"Abram CoxAbram CoxApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
Rose, Spears, Ryan, and Lance find an abandoned school. Earl, a man wandering outside, does not stop them from entering. The next morning, Spears wants to leave but the others wish to help a child seen running inside the school. Ryan and Rose discover dead bodies in the showers and become separated, with Rose becoming trapped in a bathroom, while Ryan is captured by a gang of boys that have booby-trapped the school and travel through the vents. After finding their supplies stolen, Lance becomes separated from Spears after activating a trip-wire that knocks him unconscious behind a locked door. Spears rescues Rose and they meet the boys holding a hooded Ryan hostage. The eldest boy demands an exchange of Spears' weapon for Ryan, and tells him not to move when released or face death. Unaware of the conversation, Ryan moves toward Rose after his hood is removed but is shot dead before Rose can warn him. The kids scatter as Ryan turns and chases Spears and Rose into a dead end. Just as the children re-appear to cheer their expected demise, Earl opens an exit from the outside to free Rose and Spears while trapping the undead Ryan back in the school. After the trio escapes, the children kill the undead Ryan, reset their traps and leave the school door ajar for the next unsuspecting victims.
4"Alone"Abram CoxAbram CoxApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
Sun and William are shown to be trapped in the diner with the surviving occupants of the pick-up truck. Lance wakes up after being knocked out and makes his way through the school. Unable to find his companions, he gets outside using the fire escape on the roof but injures himself on his last jump onto the ground. Seeing him escape, the teenage boys execute a captive off the rooftop and allow him to reanimate. The reanimated zombie chases Lance through a residential area until he escapes. After seeing a dog and failing to start a nearby car, Lance stumbles upon a fully-stocked grocery store with automated doors. As he finishes shopping the zombie enters the store and chases Lance outside, forcing him to climb on top of a school bus and granting him a temporary reprieve. The zombie manages to later chase Lance off the bus and into a fire station, where he fails to kill it with a fireman's pickaxe. Running into a library, Lance pleads for help from a nearby man as the zombie follows him inside. The man enters the library just in time to shoot the zombie with his rifle and bludgeon it to death. Seeing the man hunched over in pain after being bitten during the struggle, Lance thanks the man before killing him while he still has his back turned to prevent the man's reanimation.
5"Diner"John HyamsJohn HyamsApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
William, Sun, Carmen, Manny, and Phil are trapped inside the diner while undead Barbara and Marvin, the pick-up truck driver, circle the building. Carmen and Manny tell Sun they know of an outpost with access to weapons which can help them get through downtown to the stadium. Phil and William's first plan to escape using a distraction by Sun while the remaining four attack the two zombies fails and leaves them more agitated than before, forcing everyone back inside. Phil grows desperate and convenes a meeting only with Carmen and Manny, emerging with a new ultimatum to William: sacrifice Sun to the zombies so the rest can escape. William defends Sun and convinces the others that Phil has been hiding a bite on his arm. Everyone turns on Phil and mercilessly beats him. Walking with Earl and Spears, Rose hallucinates her daughter. The trio arrives at the diner and sees the two zombies. As Spears prepares to unload his last two bullets, William drags out a heavily beaten Phil who is swarmed by the zombies. Spears shoots Barbara dead but misses Marvin. Earl, Spears, Sun, Carmen, and Manny kill undead Marvin while William finishes off Phil to prevent reanimation. The larger group set off in search of weapons.
6"Heist"Abram CoxAbram CoxApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
Two soldiers observe the group arriving at a trap house. Bribing a delinquent guard with Rose, Manny and Carmen let the rest of the group inside. Spears, Sun, and Manny kill the guard watching the armory of the place, the former then leaves for the main building, the latter two make their way in the air duct system. William and Carmen head for the dance floor, where William disables the electricity, and Carmen stabs another guard in the neck to turn him undead. Chaos ensues and many other residents get turned. Manny gets shot and killed by stray bullets and after turning undead chases Sun. Spears saves Sun. The guard Manny and Carmen bribed attempts to rape Rose, but before he can, a beat-up Lance grabs his attention before the power goes out, making the guard go to investigate, only to be devoured by zombies. Rose takes the opportunity to escape in the chaos with Lance, who she rescues as repayment, and eventually manages to get outside and reunite with Earl.
7"The Tunnel"John HyamsDaniel SchaeferApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
Amidst all the chaos, the group eventually reunite with each other, but just as they are cornered by zombies, the two soldiers from the previous episode kill them and offer to lead them to the stadium. William reveals that he has suffered a leg injury, and is forced to limp. They stop to rest in a hall for the night. During the night, the soldiers lead Spears away through a tunnel, Rose follows and learns of Spears' true identity. After both learning from Spears the soldiers' true motives and knowing the group's need for their weapons, she kills them and decides to spare Spears, who stays. In the morning, they arm themselves and head out. Earl later finds a dog and leaves the group behind.
8"The Stadium"John HyamsJohn HyamsApril 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
The group arrives at outskirts of the stadium with many other survivors. Zombies shortly follow, along with gunfire. Carmen gets clipped in the crossfire and turns undead. In the following mayhem, Rose and William are separated from the group, many others get turned, the gathering is bombed, and survivors try to fight off the attackers. Lance is separated from Sun and Spears and flees from a pack of zombies. The others reunite, but after William is unable to run any further due to his leg injury, he begs Rose to kill him to which she complies with a bullet to the head. Reaching the inside of the empty stadium with Sun and Spears, Rose is reunited with her daughter.

Production

Development

On July 19, 2018, it was reported that Netflix had given an 8-episode, straight-to-series order for a "spin-off" prequel series to Syfy's Z Nation, titled Black Summer. The series was created by Z Nation co-creator and executive producer Karl Schaefer alongside the flagship series' co-executive producer John Hyams. Schaefer and Hyams also serve as showrunners for the prequel series.[2][10] On November 20, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season which will consist of 8 episodes.[1]

Writing

At the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con, Schaefer noted that "Black Summer is before the apocalypse got weird and was just scary." He said that the horror series is not intended to be the funny version of The Walking Dead that Z Nation is, but would instead be more of an "old-school" take on zombie lore.[11] This was echoed by producer Jodi Binstock, who stated that the series is "not tongue-in-cheek, it's very very serious: it's as if the zombie apocalypse really happened in 2018 and explores what that would be for all of us."[12]

As the series does not feature any of the characters from Z Nation, Binstock later distanced the series from the "spin-off" label, explaining that "Black Summer is referred to in Z Nation as the summer where everything went to hell, so that is where Black Summer picks up."[12][13] Elaborating, Schaefer described the events of Black Summer as "the low point of the apocalypse" and established it as taking place "about four months into the apocalypse, [...] when 95% of the population dies over the course of the summer."[13] Within that context, Hyams stated that the "essence" of the story is about a mother being separated from her daughter. "The story is: what would a mother do to find her child? And what we learn is that she would do anything." Hyams, who wrote the majority of the series' episodes, also said that the series would explore the idea of an American refugee crisis.[14][15] Schaefer, Abram Cox, and Daniel Schaefer will also write episodes for the series.[16]

Schaefer stated that the series is not going to be episodic, but will instead be an 8-hour "chunk" to work through.[11][13] This was confirmed by Binstock, who added that Black Summer would employ "a completely different approach" than Z Nation, "in that it's much more like a chapter in a book. You don't necessarily do the cliffhangers on a commercial break – it's keeping you going so that you've got to binge it."[12]

Casting

Alongside the series' order in July 2018, Jaime King was confirmed to star in the lead role.[2] On July 29, King announced via her Instagram account that Justin Chu Cary would portray a character named Spears.[17] On August 7, Kelsey Flower revealed that he had joined the cast as Lance and described his character as "the guy that's terrible at the Apocalypse. You'd think he'd be the first to die."[14] On August 16, Gwynyth Walsh and Christine Lee were reported to have joined the cast in undisclosed roles.[6] On October 13, it was reported that deaf Syrian refugee Mustafa Alabssi had been cast as Ryan, a deaf character.[7] Sal Velez, Jr. will also star in the series as William Velez.[16] Erika Hau will have a recurring role in the series.[4] Upon release of the series' first trailer, it was reported that Aidan Fink and Kash Hill would also star in the series.[4]

Filming

Production for the series had officially commenced by July 23, 2018 in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with filming partially taking place at Queen Elizabeth High School, Stampede Park, McMahon Stadium and under the Calgary Tower.[18][6] The series continued production in the smaller communities of Irricana, Beiseker and Cochrane before returning to Calgary in mid-to-late September.[6][14] On September 26, it was reported that King had been hospitalized for three days due to injuries sustained while on set, with King simultaneously confirming that production for the series had wrapped.[19] John Hyams directed the majority of the series' episodes.[15] Abram Cox will also serve as a director on the series.[16]

Connection to Z Nation

The connection between Black Summer and its parent series take a similar approach as the relationship between Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead, as there are no plans for any of the characters from Z Nation to appear in the companion prequel series.[16] Z Nation actor DJ Qualls revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that the Syfy series takes place "quite a long time" after the event of Black Summer, making him feel that the cast is "too old" for a crossover to work.[13] However, the two series do share "most to all of [their] writing, directing, and producing staff" as well as a production company, The Asylum.[2][16]

The show's starring actress Jaime King has said that the two series have "nothing to do with" each other.[20]

Release

The first season of the series, consisting of 8 episodes, was released for streaming on Netflix on April 11, 2019.[11][14][9] The first trailer for the series was released online on March 19, 2019.[9]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 76% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Black Summer has enough undead carnage and a sinewy pace to please zombie fans, but the series suffers from scant characterization and doesn't add much storytelling meat to the genre's gnawed-on bone."[21] On the positive end of the spectrum, Stephen King praised Black Summer, stating: "Just when you think there's no more scare left in zombies, THIS comes along. Existential hell in the suburbs, stripped to the bone."[22] The New York Times wrote, “If Andrei Tarkovsky and John Carpenter had teamed up to direct a zombie show, it might have looked something like this formally daring Netflix series.”[23]

In April 2019, Black Summer was the most watched show on Netflix in the United Kingdom.[22]

gollark: It can't\* be that\*\* hard.
gollark: Thus, make metaesolang which does timing?
gollark: * difficulty of hardwaring
gollark: For network switching purposes.
gollark: Just get MANY FPGAs, attach them to cheap microcontrollery things with ethernet or something, obtain network switch, [DATA EXPUNGED], parallelism, profit?

References
  1. Andreeva, Nellie (November 20, 2019). "'Black Summer' Starring Jaime King Renewed For Season 2 By Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  2. Goldberg, Lesley (July 19, 2018). "'Z Nation' Spinoff Starring Jaime King a Go at Netflix". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  3. Lynne, Sara (April 24, 2019). "Here's a Translation of What Sun Was Saying on Black Summer". Post Apocalyptic Media. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  4. "NIC Grad; Erika Hau to Star In Netflix Series!!". New Image College. Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  5. Hau, Erika (September 5, 2018). "Erika Hau on Instagram [@erihau]". Instagram. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  6. Moon, Debi (August 16, 2018). "'Black Summer' filming in nearby communities". Three Hills Capital. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  7. Martin, Ashley (October 13, 2018). "Mustafa Alabssi's incredible journey: Netflix debut the latest feat for deaf Syrian refugee". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  8. Morales, Edsson (September 4, 2018). "Edsson Morales on Instagram [@moralesedsson]". Instagram. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  9. Millican, Josh (March 19, 2019). "Hardcore Zombie Horror on Display in Trailer for BLACK SUMMER Coming to Netflix". Dread Central. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  10. Andreeva, Nellie (July 19, 2018). "Jaime King To Star In Netflix Zombie Series 'Black Summer' From 'Z Nation' Duo". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  11. Long, Christian (July 19, 2018). "BLACK SUMMER: Z NATION SPIN-OFF STARRING JAIME KING HEADED TO NETFLIX". Syfy. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  12. Collins, James (November 23, 2018). "INSIDE making Z Nation with producer and director Jodi Binstock". Mandy.com. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  13. Rawden, Jessica (July 21, 2018). "What We Know So Far About Z Nation's Netflix Prequel". CinemaBlend. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  14. Matejicka, Deb (August 7, 2018). "New Netflix zombie series filming in Calgary features local actor". Global News. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  15. Ricard, Gabriel (October 4, 2018). "INTERVIEW: JODI BINSTOCK TALKS Z NATION SEASON 5 & BLACK SUMMER". Cultured Vultures. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  16. Moore, Kasey (January 27, 2019). "Black Summer Season 1 : Everything to know about the Netflix Z Nation Prequel". What’s On Netflix. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  17. King, Jaime (July 29, 2018). "Jaime King on Instagram [@jaime_king]". Instagram. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  18. King, Jaime (July 23, 2018). "Jaime King on Instagram [@jaime_king]". Instagram. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  19. Stone, Natalie (September 26, 2018). "Jaime King Hospitalized for 3 Days After Suffering Injury on Set: 'Lots of Broken and Torn Things'". People. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  20. https://screenrant.com/black-summer-not-z-nation-prequel-series-jaime-king-netflix/
  21. "Black Summer: Season 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  22. "Netflix's Phenomenal 'Black Summer' Finds An Unexpected Champion". UPROXX. May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  23. "'Black Summer' Reanimates the Zombie Genre". New York Times. May 8, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
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