The prospect of any event that wipes out our civilisation—demonstration the precariousness and fragility of our society and the rapidity with which our sophisticated networks of communication and travel can disintegrate, is a profoundly significant psychological fear, too. Given the actual existence of doomsday cults and prepper stashes, it seems a fair claim to suggest that this fear is one which dwells within us at a primal level. Indeed, our ability to use any heavy machinery or vehicles would very quickly dissipate due to the fact that petrol goes off reasonably quickly. Certainly, the portrayals of post apocalyptic worlds popular in various medias relies upon a very specific set of events occurring and many of these premises would not necessarily come to pass. But what we are presented with in post apocalyptic stories nevertheless arguably speaks to our worst fears—if society broke down, if resources became scarce and competition for them inhibited cooperation between humans, if what caused the initial disaster was also sufficiently enduring that it precluded the ability to rebuild society as we knew it, what then?

Moreover, let’s get one thing straight—zombies are creepy in a very primitive way. They strike at the fear that this could happen to us, or one of our loved ones. They all but enter uncanny valley, given the fact that they more or less appear human, and within films and games, they lurk in shadowed areas and suddenly appear, scaring the ever-loving crap out of you.

But I would argue that the hold this genre has on us is the question of how humanity survives the very worst case scenario, what emerges, what behaviours endure and keep us alive, but also, what is lost. There is an undeniable melancholy associated with the time after the apocalypse that has a certain, beautiful, terrible hold over us.

This discussion could spawn books, movies, video games…even board games, really, but I’m going to limit to two video games which arguably cut to the heart of why the post apocalyptic has such a profound pull on us as a culture: The Last of Us which came out in 2013, and Horizon Zero Dawn which came out in 2017.

First, if you haven’t played either game, you absolutely should. They’re both absolutely startling for so many reasons, with compelling central characters, poignant plots, and fabulous worldbuilding. As gameplay goes, they’re very different: one is open world, the other is not. Moreover, one deals with the immediate aftermath, the other is set thousands of years after human civilisation has completely collapsed.

Yet the points of each which speak to the fascination this genre holds over us are startling in their similarity.

First, the effect of civilisation’s breakdown on the physical environment is perhaps the most obvious element. We only need to look at photos taken from inside the Chernobyl and Fukushima exclusion zones to see that when society abandons an area, nature reclaims it with an unsettling swiftness. Indeed, in The Last of Us, travelling through cities with abandoned skyscrapers, or cars which are rusting abandoned in the middle of the road. This shows the projection of what our modern, concrete world would look like if several years without maintenance and upkeep passed. Moreover, these visuals have a pull on the viewer, as the unsettling experience of seeing out familiar world without its inhabitants of usual rush of people throws the audience off-kilter.

Horizon Zero Dawn pushes this even further forward, showing the remains of civilisation through the incorporation of what is left of once-massive structures such as stadiums or occasional office skyscrapers, into the natural landscape. Arguably, this projection into the future is almost mirrored in our collective interest in the ancient world, seen in the continued excavations of ancient sites and the ongoing field of scholarship which seeks to piece together a comprehensive image of what society back them was like from the fragmented objects or buildings we recover. The beauty of visual mediums to tell these kinds of stories offers a fascinating glimpse into the projection of the transience of our imprint upon the world. Perhaps that, too is an explanation for why the apocalypse genre holds such sway over us; it is so powerful to realise that humanity’s dominance over the world can be not only removed, but erased.

But to look more at plot, rather than rhapsodise endlessly over worldbuilding, the post-apocalypse genre fascinates with its presentation of what happens to those fragments of society which do survive. Inevitably, a survival of the fittest hierarchy arises, which often sees the pairing of unlikely bedfellows. Horizon Zero Dawn presents the evolution of culture and societal structures, some of which are completely disparate from one another, other which are at war over territorial and cultural disputes. One could almost argue that this verges into the realm of fantasy with its worldbuilding, but the grounding of cultural practices or settlements in the remains of contemporary society. We are curious to see how communities continue to survive, and what shape they take in response to the pressures of civilisation as we know it crumbling.

I would argue though what is most poignant is the presentation of relics and stories from the past. The fragments of the lives of people who lived in the ‘before’ world, who lived with the creature comforts of a world with security, whose interests and worries are often incredibly insignificant when compared alongside the cataclysmic events which take over the world, in fact make the world that much more poignant, teasing out a complex and profound emotional response.

Perhaps it’s the prospect that our world may be all but forgotten—indeed, the entire storyline of Horizon is devoted to uncovering what transpired, but it does not by any means reconstruct for the characters within the game the world that existed before. As such, the recordings the player uncovers of people often unconnected to the broader plot of the game inspire a sense of sadness—even of muted panic—at the idea that our own lives imbued with intricacies and meaning, may be entirely forgotten but for a few disconnected fragments here and there.

Moreover, the apocalypse genre reflects very real concerns we have in our society and magnifies them, taking them to the worst-case possible scenario of the ‘what if?’ As Samrat Sharma, a developer at Guerilla games, stressed “there are universal concerns at the game’s core”. In The Last of Us are concerns about pandemics and epidemics, which we can see throughout the last 20 or so years in fears over the spread and effect of SARS, bird flu, pig flu, ebola, and even the measles, or whooping cough, as a consequence of the anti vax movement. These are taken to their absolute extreme; if your skin is broken, or you breathe in spores, you will turn within two days. In Horizon, worries about AI and environmentalism and the consequences of either element being unchecked result in the mass extinction of humanity. While worries over AI are more speculative than the very real concern posed by climate change, it is nevertheless obvious the things which trouble the collective psyche of our society are transmorphed into the ‘bogeymen’ as what have shaped the world into something utterly different.

Yet at the core, this genre has such a power because it asks very incisive questions about humanity and human behaviour. By displacing people from the world that we know and putting them in a variety of difficult circumstances. As Joel Druckerman, one of the main writers for The Last of Us said in an extensive interview, “it became this idea of exploring how far a father is willing to go to save his kid. Each step of the way is a greater sacrifice.” By putting pressure on the characters as a result of their environment, the narrative of the story offers similar moral issues to ones that we often discuss (e.g. self sacrifice, questions of how far would we go to survive), but placed into extreme circumstances. A similar phenomenon can be observed in a lot of the sci-fi genre when humanity reaches the bounds of our knowledge and experience, and questions of morality and ethics are raised in seeking a resolution to the problems which invariably arise from these new frontiers. There are a couple of absolutely stellar—no pun intended—episodes of Star Trek: Voyager which ask exactly this question. The cannibal scavenger groups in The Last of Us are entirely plausible in the most confronting manner. As David, the leader of one of the groups says, the behaviour which Ellie and we the player find so repulsive is really just a question of survival. Nevertheless, it is a haunting question of the limitations to human morality and behaviour.

Even if you aren’t a huge fan of the genre, the fascination it holds with us is one well worth understanding, as it raises questions that are quite introspective; how will our society survive and evolve if it is all but eradicated, what happens to morality when it comes up against questions of survival, and what happens to our world when we no longer are the dominant ones in it.

A short list of some films, books, and games which fall within the zombie/apocalypse genre, in no particular order: Horizon Zero Dawn, Fall Out, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, Resident Evil, The Omega Man (remade into I Am Legend), Dawn of the Dead (although let’s prefer it as the hilarious Shaun of the Dead), World War Z, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

What do you think of the zombie apocalypse genre? Any favourites from the genre? Tell us in the comments below!

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What show are you most looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

Doctor Who Christmas Special 2017 (BBC | December)

The Expanse Season 3 (Syfy | 2018)

Stranger Things Season 2 (Netflix | October 27)

The Flash Season 4 (The CW | October 10)

Star Trek: Discovery (Netflix | September 25)

Lucifer Season 3 (Fox | October 2)

Arrow Season 6 (The CW | October 12)

Westworld Season 2 (HBO | 2018)

Supergirl Season 3 (The CW | October 9)

Gotham Season 4 (Fox | September 28)

DC’s Legend of Tomorrow Season 3 (The CW | October 10)

Riverdale Season 2 (The CW | October 12)

The Orville Season 1 (Fox | September 10)

Preacher Season 2 (AMC | On Air)

Once Upon A Time Season 7 (ABC | October 6)

Marvel’s The Defenders (Netflix | August 18)

Black Lightning (The CW | October 9)

Fear The Walking Dead Season 3 (AMC | September 10)

Vikings Season 5 (History Channel | November 29)

The Walking Dead Season 8 (AMC | October 22)

The Gifted (FOX | October 2)

Marvel’s Inhumans (ABC | September 29)

Krypton (Syfy | 2018)

Teen Wolf Season 6B (MTV | July 30)

12 Monkeys Season 4 (Syfy | 2018)

Shadowhunters Season 2B (Freeform | On Air)

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The Season 7 finale of The Walking Dead opens with a chilling introduction of Sasha listening to music in the darkness—is this some kind of twisted torture like we saw Daryl go through earlier in the season? She dreams she is with Abraham again, and already we can guess the devotion he has to Sasha will cause him to be the first to die in the episode.

Negan reaches a comprise with Sasha: only one has to die when he attacks Alexandria to pay for their rebellious plans. Meanwhile, the Hilltop group discuss their plan of action. Again.

We then cut to where we left off last episode, with Rick having Dwight at gunpoint. They aren’t too pleased he killed Denise, but Dwight reveals Negan knows about Rick’s plan to fight against him. Dwight comes up with his own plan to sneak out and attack the outpost while the group goes to Alexandria to get the workers to join them, then attack each outpost and thus ending a season-long fight against Negan.

Out in the streets, Carol and others of the Kingdom find Morgan outside; he too has a death wish and decides to attack Negan alone. Remind you of anyone? Ezekiel asks Morgan to join them on their journey to make an alliance to Alexandria.. About time too!

Cutting back to the main group, the Dumpster Group of women with one-word utterances join Alexandria and take position. The leader even makes a suggestion that she sleeps with Rick when it’s over, to which Michonne quickly says to get back to work.

Sasha’s dream of Abraham continues to manifest, where she begs him to sit this one out. She walks with Eugene and they prepare to leave the Saviours’ camp to attack Alexandria once and for all. With the amount of time dedicated to Sasha, the chances of her character being killed off is increasing by the second!

Negan’s group arrives with Eugene asking Rick’s group to comply or risk being attacked. After some hesitance, the group plans to set off the explosives they’ve planted around the place. But there’s nothing and then the Dumpster Group pull their guns on them, telling Rick they found a better deal with Negan.

Negan’s group arrives with Eugene and his speaker, asking Rick’s group to comply or risk being attacked. After some hesitance, the group plans to set off the explosives they’ve planted around the place. But there’s nothing. And then the Dumpster Group pull their guns on the group, telling Rick they found a better deal with Negan. I wish we could say we’re surprised, but honestly, we’re not.

Negan steps out and draws attention to a coffin they’ve brought with them and unsurprisingly, Sasha is inside. Negans wants their guns, Daryl and the life of one of their group so Rick demands they open up the coffin to confirm Sasha is alive.

But Sasha is now a Sasha-walker, so it looks like she took Eugene’s pill after all, or ran out of air. She lunges for Negan, which takes him by surprise. Although it was obvious she would be the first to die, it was still done rather well with some fantastic visual effects. Cue Rick’s group as they fight against the Dumpster group, but Jadis still has Rick at gunpoint, and she kicks him from the rooftop and shoots him.

Negan and Jadis team up and they take the others hostage, while Michonne intensely fights one of Jadis’ minions. Negan hovers over Rick with Lucille, and suggests as punishment he kills Carl and cuts off Rick’s hands. Again, we wonder why Negan doesn’t simply kill Rick, since we know he’s killed many for far less.

But just before he hits Carl, Ezekiel’s tiger lunges out and the Kingdom attack the Saviours, firing bullets everywhere. I cannot express how satisfying it is to finally see the fight, even though it’s strange that Rick’s bullet wound hasn’t seemed to affect his ability to fight.

Negan manages to escape and disappointingly, this season isn’t going to be the war we’ve been waiting for and the fight only lasts for a few minutes. Rick and Carl find Michonne, heavily injured but alive. It appears all is well, with only the minor civilians killed off.

Back at Negan’s camp, he asks Eugene how it was possible for Sasha to die in there. Eugene suggest she ran out of air, but it’s clear Negan is suspicious. He then turns and addresses his large group: “So, we are going to war!”

The episode ends with a hopeful montage of Alexandria and the Kingdom together, and a promise for a much better season next time.

This season was slow, even slower than last season (which is saying a lot). While there were highlights and some episodes did have great character development, a large portion of it was repetitive. Characters seem to blur together, and may of the show’s badasses have been reduced to cardboard cut-outs with a simple death wish. This season has been all talk and no game, but hopefully next season will bring some better writing to the show with more action and twists.

Season 8 of The Walking Dead has been confirmed for later this year.

What did you think of the Season 7 finale? Let us know in the comments below!

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The episode opens with Tara telling Rick about the matriarchal society she discovered earlier in the season. Throughout the episode, we see some dramatic foreshadowing with a cut to a horde of walkers on the beach; beach-walkers are certainly something new to look forward to with their rotten manacles and bits of clumped seaweed, but the scene cuts quickly back to the Hilltop, leaving us to wonder about the significance of the introduction of the beach-walkers.

Gregory, who has overtaken Eugene as the show’s coward, watches Maggie from a distance, plotting some sinister plan undoubtedly to restore power to his community. We see some short and abrupt scenes from the our other favourites in Rick’s group, and then cut back to where last week’s episode left us at a cliff-hanger…

Sasha wakes up in Daryl’s old cell, where a creepy man named David introduces himself with a disturbing motive. Sasha fights him off with a feisty headbutt and when David tries to go after her again,  Negan shows up. According to Negan, torture and murder is okay, but rape isn’t. Negan doesn’t accept David’s apology and shoves a knife through his neck. While it’s great that we get to see Sasha and Negan together (our two favourite badasses at the moment), it would have been great to see what exactly Sasha did last night that caused such a stir, and how she got caught.

Negan gives Sasha a test. After handing her his knife she is left with David’s dead body, pre-animated. She can kill him as a walker and join Negan, or stay in her cell and die. One thing that annoys me is why Sasha simply doesn’t pretend to be on Negan’s side, and then quickly kill him anyway. It’s an issue that keeps popping up throughout the season, whenever characters get close to killing him, they rather ingeniously lose patience and attempt to take revenge.

Sasha is left in the darkness to make her decision, when Eugene is allowed inside her cell, seemingly all too happy about his new position in power with the Saviours. He begs Sasha to reconsider and simply to kill the pre-animated walker to join them. Forever the rebel, Sasha refuses, and David’s body animates into a walker.

Meanwhile at the Hilltop, Gregory confronts Maggie outside the walls for a “talk”, apparently concerned about her being out alone. Surely his suggestion that they be more unified is a trap and Maggie must know that, especially when he stands behind her with the knife. For a moment it’s as if he’s going to kill her, but he’s too much of a coward to do even that. Luckily a walker appears and Gregory decides to prove himself by going after it, but then changing his mind for Maggie to take down the walker anyway. While she’s busy, she saves his life when a second walker appears and it’s obvious that Gregory has no experience fighting walkers.

Back in the matriarchal group by the beach, Tara pulls a gun on Tanya and Cindy, and then tells them of their plan to take their guns and fight against the Saviours. Unfortunately, it’s a little preachy and tiresome listening to yet another let’s-fight-against-Negan scene. They refuse to talk to Rick, and rightfully so in my opinion, since Rick’s group are essentially injuring innocent women and taking over their camp. Tara gets taken hostage in a tense stand-off, but before they can reach an agreement they are all attacked by a horde of walkers, and both groups work together to take them down.

The fight seems to have broken the ice and Tanya tells them to take the guns and go, though it’s clear that many of them are all keen to join the fight against Negan.

Speak of the devil, Negan finds Sasha has killed the walker and is therefore on his side. His mission for her implies that he is aware of a plot against him, and he will use Sasha against Rick’s group. Sasha weakly refuses, and again we return to the fatal point: why doesn’t she just pretend to be on Negan’s side? When she’s out, she’s out, she can tell Rick that Negan knows and finally we can have the war we’ve waited a season for.

We cut back to Gregory getting drunk in his office again, and then deciding to leave for a long drive. Will he be the one to finally betray them?But then Sasha suddenly, and entirely out of character, begs Eugene to give her some form of weapon so that she can kill herself, rather than injure her friends as Negan’s spy. This is an example of really poor writing and it totally contradicts the badass woman from the previous episode… Unless this is all a ploy to get a weapon to use against Negan and his men, in which case, good thinking. Eugene complies, and gives her a poisonous pill.

The episode closes by revealing the figure from the end of last episode. It wasn’t Daryl with the crossbow after all, it was Dwight, who has come to apparently join the cause, to which Rick says angrily, “Get on your knees.” At least we don’t have to suffer with any more of Dwight’s character arc, he’s finally picked a side and let’s hope he sticks to it for next week’s finale.

The highlight of this episode was Negan, by far, and it is interesting to see that matriarchal group by the beach again, and some long-lost walker action. Unfortunately, this episode was another filler where nothing much actually happened. We didn’t even get to see Sasha’s attempt to take Negan down; we didn’t see what Gregory actually did and if he is the bird Negan said had told him about Rick’s plot; and the plan to take Negan down still seems undecided. Hopefully the grand finale will be a longer episode than usual, and we can have the fight we’ve been waiting for.

And now the question remains: who will die in this season’s finale?

Image Credits: AMC 

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As we near the series finale, this episode delivers an exciting build-up to the battle against our favourite villain since the Governor: Negan. The episode begins with Sasha preparing for battle, and all seems to be well within the Hilltop. Maggie’s unborn child looks healthy despite the stressful situations she’s been through this season; there’s plenty of fresh food available unlike the Kingdom and with the sun shining, for the first time in a while, there’s a chance of hope in the group.

It’s satisfying to see Sasha take up a leadership role and although Jesus’ mapped drawing doesn’t look promising, Sasha devises a plan to sneak into Negan’s compound. We also get another look at Daryl, now clearly an outcast, especially with him sitting outside brooding.

Meanwhile, the Hilltop leader, Gregory, doesn’t seem to be taking his people’s decision to fight very well. By this point, it seems he’ll either betray the others or die trying as he has an express distaste for confrontation. But his scheming away is quickly shoved aside as Rosita appears to Sasha, pleading ominously: “I need your help.”

Are they finally going to do it? Are they going to go after Negan?

After an anagnorisis from Jesus, Sasha is caught stealing bullets. Unfortunately, there’s another drawn out scene when they discuss Sasha getting involved and why she should stay to protect Maggie. It’s tedious that Maggie, one of the most formidable women of the show, has very quickly become nothing more than a future mother and a liability to cause future conflict. For some reason, Enid emotionally blackmails Sasha by telling her she has ten minutes before she tells Maggie about their plans. Enid seems to be intent on ruining every scene she’s in, where did she come from again? However, it looks like Sasha and Rosita are finally going to set off after Negan.

Or so we thought. At the worst possible time, the Saviours are spotted driving towards the Hilltop and the team quickly hide away underground as the Saviours enter through the main gates.

Negan’s right-hand man, Simon, strolls over to talk with Gregory. From the way that Gregory previously dropped to his knees last time and revealed their hiding place, we know that Gregory cannot be trusted not to betray Daryl and Maggie, which may cost him his life.

Luckily, Sasha and Rosita manage to slip away and head off to finish what they started all along: heading off towards Negan to get revenge. In a series of long shots and an overly dramatic sheet of music, the setup of this episode was really strong and encased every action with suspense. The two women even share a bonding moment as they expertly take down some walkers, but the awkwardness of their shared ex still shines through.

Back at the Hilltop, Simon makes the intention of his visit plain: he wants to take Dr Carson, Maggie’s doctor. Remember when Negan threw the last one into a furnace? Alive? Even Gregory stands up for his people for the first time; he hints that he might soon be overthrown by somebody less cooperative than himself.

Concurrently, while Maggie and Daryl hide underground, they narrowly escape being found by one of the Saviours. There’s a brilliant emotional scene between the two afterwards, one of the best of this half of the season, as Daryl breaks down and apologizes. He blames himself for Glenn’s tragic end, and the two share a moment. Hopefully it means we’re one step closer to getting the good old Daryl back.

Sasha and Rosita working together is incredible. While there’s still shared tension, it’s refreshing to see some girl-power! They break into a car park, take down some walkers and steal a car.

They have an adorable bonding scene when Rosita teaches Sasha how to tie knots, and they spy on Eugene, who appears to be ordering the Saviours about. Is he building up some kind of walker army? At last, they confront each other about Abraham, and come to terms with his death. That’s when Negan steps out from the compound, but Sasha can’t get a clean shot through the rifle. So they need to change their plans.

Later that night, they go to rescue Eugene but it appears like he doesn’t want to be saved. Maybe he’s finally found his purpose as one of Negan’s henchman, but I’m not convinced and neither is Sasha, who leaps over the fence leaving Rosita behind and locked outside the compound. Sasha has gone full rogue and storms into the base herself, leaving Rosita with a chance to live, and denying her from achieving her death wish.

Or so we think. Until Rosita looks up and sees a figure with a crossbow emerge from the darkness. Looks like Daryl caught up to them quickly, and it looks like they’ll be going for Negan after all.

What a way to end the episode!

While this wasn’t the dramatic attempt to kill Negan that we’ve been hoping for, it’s certainly an improvement, and now some of the team are right on the edge of the compound and ready to infiltrate. If the next episode begins directly after this one, it’s going to be set up brilliantly! Although this episode was undoubtedly another filler, it was gripping and finally caused me to care about Rosita, a character who up until now only had a death wish and seemed the personification of an angry, jealous girlfriend. With only two episodes left, the finale for this season is looking just as promising as the previous one but hopefully we won’t be left with as much of a brutal cliff-hanger.

The Walking Dead returns tomorrow with ‘Something They Need’.

Image Credit: AMC

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