Regan Gomez' zombie series, Surviving, has finally premiered with a little gore but a lot of character.
The month of October brings ghouls, ghosts, and zombies to viewers across the U.S. in massive quantity. The Zombie genre has become extremely popular over the past five years and audiences can’t seem to get enough. With shows like The Walking Dead, Z Nation, Fear the Walking Dead and iZombie all airing close to one another, you would think viewers would have fatigue. Well I know I don’t and I am ecstatic that this is not the case for many people out there. Now, undead fans around the world can get quick 10 minute fixes of zombies in a well written web series by Reagan Gomez.
Summary: Surviving is a web series that follows Doctor Shayla Robinson when a mysterious "flu" takes over the city. Shayla is forced to flee the city with her younger sister Lucy when the situation becomes dire. They quickly discover the lethality of virus; which is worse than anyone has seen in centuries. Not only is their father somehow involved with the virus, Shayla and Lucy are now being hunted by the Government. Now they are in a race against time to not only find their father, but save the fate of mankind, (Reagan Gomez, Indiegogo).
Recap: In the first scene, we see Shayla walking around the hospital when she is stopped by the son of a patient. He is insistent that his father is ill and needs immediate medical attention. Shayla takes a look at the elderly man before quickly dismissing his concerns stating that he has the flu and not to worry.
Shayla goes to the nurse’s station and we are introduced to a female nurse who reveals the city is on a brink of an evacuation and that she is concerned for the safety of her children. A male nurse named Chester informs them that they've been through worse and the media is hyping up the issue. Shayla tells him to get back to work. He does but not before confirming there date for the night.
Lucy, Shayla younger sister, calls stating that their father did not come pick her up from school and she can't get in contact with him. Shayla tells Lucy to go to her place and wait for her to get home. Lucy asks can she go on iTunes but is turned down by Shayla who then tells her she can only watch children's section on Netflix. Lucky reminds her sister that she is 15 years old.
At the end of her shift, Chester asks Shayla if she is ready to go out but Shayla turns him down saying they can go out next week because she is tired and her sister is waiting for her. Chester joked that he guessed he would have to go home with someone else tonight before showing Shayla the gold wrapper in his pocket.
During the drive home, it is obvious that Shayla is sleep deprived. She nods off briefly and when she wakes up she sees a man standing on the street with blood dripping from his eyes and mouth. She promptly crashes her car.
Review: The first episode served its purpose and has gotten me interested in the series. The writing and acting was great and although the story is episode is short, a lot of information was learned about the characters but not much about the overall story.
I have a ton of questions. At this point, besides Lucy and Shayla, I am not sure who the main characters will be or even if Chester and the un-named nurse survive the night or if they evacuate the city. Is Chester a real romantic interest or just a plot device to show that Shayla is single? The relationship dynamic between Shayla and Lucy seems to be a cross between mother/daughter and big sis/ little sis. Which is to be expected since there is a noticeable age gap between the two actresses. I am curious about what happened to their father and mother. While the father is currently missing, it seems the mother has not been around as there was no mention of her in the first episode. Overall it was an enjoyable first episode.
Score: 9/10
