Netflix's "Black Summer" (Season 1)

[glennstl]

Black Summer is a zombie apocalypse show that was just released this past week on Netflix.

Season 1 is only 8 episodes and the episodes range from about 20-40 minutes each. It’s easy to binge due to the short run times.

I watched all of Season 1 in two nights. It’s highly addictive and makes Walking Dead look like a kid’s show. It starts in a suburb and follows several characters through various events that eventually all inter-connect.

This is a “ fast zombie” show and the acting and writing is top notch.

Anyone else watching this?

[oilers73]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Black Summer is a zombie apocalypse show that was just released this past week on Netflix.

Season 1 is only 8 episodes and the episodes range from about 20-40 minutes each. It’s easy to binge due to the short run times.

I watched all of Season 1 in two nights. It’s highly addictive and makes Walking Dead look like a kid’s show. It starts in a suburb and follows several characters through various events that eventually all inter-connect.

This is a “ fast zombie” show and the acting and writing is top notch.

Anyone else watching this?

Nah. I'm sure it's good, but I'm suffering from "zombie overkill". I stopped watching The Walking Dead 5 years ago.

[kevin87]

Wasn't mentioned before, but this is meant to be a loose prequel to Z Nation.

I heard about it, but not sure if I am interested enough to sit through 8 hours. I'm already on severe backlog as it is lol

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by kevin87

Wasn't mentioned before, but this is meant to be a loose prequel to Z Nation.

I heard about it, but not sure if I am interested enough to sit through 8 hours. I'm already on severe backlog as it is lol

Yeah I heard that too and I know what you mean. I want to watch it to see if it’s any good butI’ve currently got 5 seasons on the go including GoT! Lol aswell.

[endgamer]

I was excited to watch this series and finished it to see how it ended up but even while watching it i thought it was very generic with very cheap production values especially towards the grand finale. Also found the constant title cards especially cheap and annoying. Thought that even the "zombie" acting was way bad and inconsistent in motive. Do they "eat" or just look to infect. Most disappointed.

[Fiffy]

I liked it. It is obviously a very low-budget production, but there were quite a few intense sequences, and for once the zombies are menacing again (because they aren't easy to kill and the protagonists aren't all super-cool badasses who can easily push a pencil through a human skull ). If you aren't fed up with the genre I'd recommend to take a look. Just don't expect character building like in The Walking Dead or any connection to Z-Nation. It's basically one long action sequence without many words.

[djgeneral]

Originally Posted by kevin87

I heard about it, but not sure if I am interested enough to sit through 8 hours. I'm already on severe backlog as it is lol

The entire thing, with all episode credits and titles is only 280 minutes. So it's about 4 hours of actual screen time. Some of the episodes are not even 25 minutes.

39 minutes
32 minutes
37 minutes
36 minutes
40 minutes
31 minutes
23 minutes
17 minutes

[jayman3]

Haven't checked out Black Summer yet, but that Korean zombie Netflix series Kingdom looks sick too.

[Mobe1969]

Got to say it was great. Great sound too. Nothing to do with Z Nation though. But stylistically they did some impressive work, visually, camera work, sound, score. It was truly a unique series IMHO. Some episodes we're nearly no dialog. I think it was only 7 episodes, but they split the last one into two short ones for some reason.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by jayman3

Haven't checked out Black Summer yet, but that Korean zombie Netflix series Kingdom looks sick too.

Not sure about Black Summer as I haven't seen it yet but Kingdom is awesome.

[djgeneral]

I watched the first 4 episodes last night. It was pretty good actually. A lot of fast paced fun.

[reaperx187]

Only heard about it from mentioned before yet to watch any of the episodes but i hope to really soon!.

[Cold_Wolf]

Well at least it looks refreshing given the "boring" competition.

[Mobe1969]

Yes, definitely a refreshing take.

I keep thinking about some of those sequences and how they executed them. There was one in the first episode tracking a zombie, was so well choreographed. So many long one shots. The overall structure of the whole show was so different. Not confusing though.

Plus it covered something in apocalypse fiction I really enjoy, the fall. Something both Walking Dead and Z Nation skipped.

[therealjondoe]

Loved this
I was a walking dead fan pre show ,when it was just a comic and i stuck with the show as long as i could before giving up from boredom .
This is really action packed .
Its similar to 28 days later with fast zombies/infected.
I can't wait for season 2
I hope this gets more mainstream buzz

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by therealjondoe

Loved this
I was a walking dead fan pre show ,when it was just a comic and i stuck with the show as long as i could before giving up from boredom .
This is really action packed .
Its similar to 28 days later with fast zombies/infected.
I can't wait for season 2
I hope this gets more mainstream buzz

Same. I was reading the TWD comics years before. I liked the series initially, then quickly found I was just getting too irritated by it to the point that the only people in the show that I liked and cared about was Daryl and Carol, and everyone else I wish they'd just disappear. I gave up on it that season _before_ Negan showed up at the end. Season 5 I think. I just got sick of the series not really being about zombies anymore, and just people being scummy. Just too depressing.

I actually gave up finally on the comic too after the war, when they decided to

[Show spoiler]jail Negan

. I was just thinking FFS, I can see how this is going to go...

I hope Black Summer gets some more attention though, and another series.

[glennstl]

Yeah, I really loved this series. It reminded me of a season 1 Walking Dead crossed with 28 Days Later.

Considering they only had 8 episodes to work with ( with some episodes being barely 20 minutes), I think they developed many of the characters fairly well. I loved the beginning episodes how the different character storylines eventually all came together.

I think it was well thought out and thought provoking in places. Definitely hope for a Season 2 !

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by reaperx187

Only heard about it from mentioned before yet to watch any of the episodes but i hope to really soon!.

Do it, it’s superb. Best Zombie tv series since TWD, easily. And to think it was made by the same team as Z nation! This easily bests that.

Director John Hyams (son of Peter who’s directed Outland and Timecop amongst other things) has done some cracking work in this. The first episode Human Flow and the second Drive were superb. Plenty of tension and suspense. Makes Z Nation look like a cheap knock off in comparison, although I did like that aswell upto a point but this is miles better.

Hope there’s a second season. It deserves one.

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

I liked it. It is obviously a very low-budget production, but there were quite a few intense sequences, and for once the zombies are menacing again (because they aren't easy to kill and the protagonists aren't all super-cool badasses who can easily push a pencil through a human skull ). If you aren't fed up with the genre I'd recommend to take a look. Just don't expect character building like in The Walking Dead or any connection to Z-Nation. It's basically one long action sequence without many words.

It looks more expensive and better made than Z Nation though. I like the serious approach more. Feels like there was more at stake, plus it felt tense and suspenseful. I got burnt out on Zombie films and tv series. I stopped watching TWD as it was getting drawn out and boring to me but this felt different and fresh. It wasn’t boring at all. Loved it a lot.

[Agent23]

I gave this series a try after reading about it on here. Really liked it, watched the whole thing over 2 days.

Here's to hoping they do a second season.