Over the last three years Z Nation has slowly become the most popular show on Syfy - finally taking the title as the channel's Most Watched Show during season three. It's a well earned title, as the show has continued to get better and more interesting with every episode. It's natural to compare Z Nation to The Walking Dead, as both are set during a post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled era. However, both are drastically different shows, both in terms of tone and writing.
Where the two shows do find commonality is with their cliffhanger-ending season finales, which leave fates of many group members hanging in the balance. As the season three finale of Z Nation - "Everybody Dies in the End" (read our review) - comes to its conclusion, The Man (Joseph Gatt) grabs Lucy (Kelly Washington) as Addy (Anastasia Baranova) tackles them, sending the group over the edge of a mountain with 5K (Holden Goyette) in hot pursuit, while Warren (Kellita Smith) and Murphy (Keith Allan) lay shot and bleeding on the ground - leaving viewers wondering what might become of their favorite characters.
For now, fans speculate there's no way Z Nation creators/writers Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler would kill off characters - such as Warren and Murphy - who, up to this point, have been so vital to the show's main story. But, as the show has demonstrated in the past, it isn't afraid to push the envelope when it comes to shocking imagery and/or killing people off - literally no character is safe from Schaefer and Engler's chopping block.
Recently, Screen Rant got a chance to speak with Joseph Gatt (Game of Thrones) - who portrays the show's popular, new antagonist, The Man - about his thoughts on the fate of his character and the future of the others:
Who knows just yet? Maybe the chase continues. If The Man survives, perhaps he joins the core group the way that Hector did. Maybe he doesn’t take Lucy to Zona and they start a journey together. Perhaps they get to Zona… and the group try to get there as well… or some of the group are captured and taken there?
The Man has been a constant presence throughout much of season three, and there's no valid reason to think he's unlikely to return, but with Z Nation nothing is ever set in stone:
Let’s see who lives and who dies and how Karl and Craig want to knit them all back together again. There are so many options they could take. I’m left really excited as to where Karl and the gang are going to take season 4. Live or die, it’ll be fun to see what adventures await the survivors.
From his imposing presence on screen to his relentless pursuit of Murphy and Lucy, The Man has been one the best additions to the show's ever-growing cast. His interactions with Addy and Lucy during the last third of the season provided much of the show's great drama. Bringing him into the group's fold, like was done with Hector (Emilio Rivera), would certainly change the group dynamic - for better or for worse. Chances are probably good that each of the injured characters or cliff divers will be back in some fashion for season four, but in the Z Nation universe, nothing is a guarantee.
Would you like to see The Man join the main group as ally next season or do you think he works better as cold-hearted man hunter for Zona?
Z Nation returns to Syfy in the Fall of 2017.