Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

##### BAD NEWS: Good character designs do not equal good characters. FROM THE OUTSET, Zom100 distinguishes itself from the rest by removing all shackles of emotional downtroddenness. Our protagonist finds himself locked into a corporate job where he feels like a zombie, then the apocalypse happens. Ironically, this cures him of his zombie-esque state, and unlocks the workless life he’s always dreamed of! He makes a overdue list titled ‘100 Things To Do Before I Become A Zombie!’ (hence, the titling ‘Bucket List Of The Dead’), then sets out on his journey to accomplish each one. It’s an office worker’s dream come true!...Until those shackles clasp back on.

See, the universally-acclaimed first episode proved to be the early height of the series, as Zom100’s steady decline breaks its initial promise of a good time. That’s right: The same series advertising neon splashes and wacky character designs proves to be nothing more than promotional packaging as trite melodramatics and half-hearted backstory flashbacks make up its contents. It reminds me of Captain Crunch having Super Mario decals on the box. Does it look cool and will it get me to buy it? HELL YEAH! But is it gonna taste any different? HELL NO!…and that’s the worst part! The letdown. It would hurt less if it was all mediocre or all bad, but it’s just that: A damned letdown.

My pal @ZNote said it best in his review (and I’m paraphrasing here): We’ve had zombie media which ruminates and existentialises. Zom100 is not that. No matter how much it tried to be, that’s not what it set out to do. The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us successfully accomplish dystopic dramatics because that’s the tone they go with, and that’s the tone they follow through on! I remember the fantastic Walking Dead comic because it throws you right into the thick of it: you’re completely lost, the world is destroyed, you have no clue where the hell to go, how the hell to survive, desperate for resources, and constantly looking over your shoulder. Within the first few pages, boom! Solid tonality. Alongside the constantly rising stakes, that’s what makes it a page-turner! In Zom100, there is no reason to turn the page. Silliness slips from the audience’s fingers as its waffling tone and lack of hooks ignite into a flaming disaster.

A flaming disaster indeed!!

That’s ridiculous, because it had the set-up! All we had to do was go down our protagonist’s bucket list episodically, ticking off one after the other as wacky hijinks ensue, the list’s stakes getting bigger, the situations getting riskier, but our goofy, gag-built characters still ending up on top! That’s all that had to be done. But for all the knowledge that Zom100 holds on zombie media, it failed to realize what made the schlockier aspects tick. This story, which heralded itself as the ultimate fun, ended up taking itself so seriously to such a fatal fault. There’s an episode with a multi-legged zombie shark, and the episode after kicks off a three-episode stint about indentured servitude. WHAT?! That’s not what I signed up for! Look at the splattered, dynamic, smile-inducing poster! I want to have THAT kind of fun! Where is THAT?! Where WAS that?!

It takes eight episodes for the whole gang to get together, and even that late, they have no time to build rapport as we get thrown into a unfocused three episode narrative about parental expectations, small town life, and what it means to be a human being…What in the world?! They’re arguing about ethics in hot-pink sports pants, and I’m not having fun! What’s happening here?! Couple all this with a few drawn-out, flashbacky backstories and you’ve got a slapdash product which ends up being more tiring than fun.

##### Zom100’s idea of a climax is espousing simplistic notions atop a water wheel, and it is nowhere near as fun as it sounds. I want to be in a zombie apocalypse. But I do not want to be in this zombie apocalypse. At the very least, not with THESE deadbeats! Those last few episodes are a huge kick in the ass to anyone looking to have a decent time with the show. Somewhere beneath it all, beneath the melodramatics, the over-wrought seriousness, and the thoughtless meandering, I still think there’s an eccentric, fun version of Zom100 somewhere, and glimpses of it do slip through from time to time. But, for now, all we have is a disappointing product with slightly better packaging than most. It’s nothing short of a damn shame.