| Day One | |
| Season 2, Episode 14 | |
 | |
| Air date | December 11, 2015 |
| Written by | Michael Cassutt |
| Directed by | Dan Merchant |
| U.S. Viewers | 0.83 million |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous "Adiós, Muchachos" |
next "All Good Things Must Come to an End" |
"Day One" is the fourteenth episode of Season 2 of Z Nation and the twenty-seventh episode of the series overall. It first aired in the United States on December 11, 2015.
Plot Synopsis[]
The episode starts with Citizen Z. Prior to the zombie outbreak, he was arrested on espionage charges for his hacking shenanigans and then offered a job at the NSA, where he was stationed at the Northern Light listening post. Meanwhile, in the present, Citizen Z realizes that he himself has been hacked by unknown forces. Things aren't going terribly well for the team, either, as their fleet of El Caminos is busted. They're on foot the rest of the way through California to get Murphy to the CDC, and they're walking through what remains of Disneyland.
When Roberta wonders, "How did it all get like this?" and so, to Roberta Warren's origin story. She was a Lieutenant with the National Guard and forced to kill some good soldiers who'd been turned at the base where she was stationed.
Doc, it turns out, was an addiction counselor and worked at a center. He tells his patient that he had been sober for 5 years (at the point of the outbreak.) The center is attacked and people turn zombies. Doc, who knows what a zombie is, gets a weapon, takes some oxycontin (left in his office by a former patient) and runs out into the street.
Addy's origin story marks the return of Mack Thompson, sort of. It's a flashback, it turns out that Mack and Addy met at a hockey game where everyone turned Z. They help each other get out of the arena, and decide to stick together for safety. After which Addy tells Mack she need to get home to her brother and mother, that are all alone.
10K was alone in the woods when he was suddenly attacked by some Zs. After a good deal of running, 10K (Then known simply as 'Tommy') was rescued by his father. He is told to take the weapon of a dead man, and it's the rifle that 10K constantly uses in the show.
The next story is Vasquez's. It turns out the funeral for his wife Angie Vasquez and daughter Julia Vasquez was on the first day of the outbreak, and the first zombies Vasquez encountered were the Mortician and zombie versions of his wife and daughter, crawling out of their coffins.
Meanwhile, back in the present, Citizen Z is tracing the hackers and discovers they've been tracking Operation Bitemark all along. When he realizes that he may be leading a potential threat to Murphy, he destroys his servers.
Murphy himself is growing increasingly worried about what's going to happen at the CDC, which prompts his own dark Day One flashback. Murphy was in prison where a jail yard murder went awry after the inmates began turning Z. It was every man for himself as Murphy managed to escape and lock the gate so that others couldn't get out, including those who hadn't been turned. He asks Roberta to help him, just take some of his blood and let him go, saying "If you were my friend you would help me." Roberta then replies "I'm not your friend."
The next day, when the team arrives at what they believe to be the coordinates for the CDC, they find a run-down restaurant called "Restaurant & Lounge". Roberta and Vasquez go in first, and find a sweet lady who offers them tea.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Kellita Smith as Roberta
- DJ Qualls as Citizen Z
- Michael Welch as Mack
- Keith Allan as Murphy
- Anastasia Baranova as Addy
- Russell Hodgkinson as Doc
- Nat Zang as 10K
- Matt Cedeño as Vasquez
Co-Stars[]
- Richard Carmen as Henry Semple
- Angela Dimarco as Lawyer
- Allen Fitzpatrick as Jordan
- J. Woody Lotts as Dineen
- Burl Ross as Larry
- Thomas Brophy as Bernie
- Dedra D. Woods as Dr. Sanders
- Bryan Peterson as Beale
- Tracy Schornick as Dad of 10K
- Carter Rodriquez as Mortician
- Caroline Slater as Angie Vasquez
- Rosalie Miller as Julia Vasquez
- Jerry Bell Jr. as Urwin
- Craig Hudkins as Prison Guard
- Jeremy John Rogers as Nazarian
- Marc Forsyth as Fuentes
- Eric Beltrame as Inmate #1
- Keith Cox as Inmate #2
- Chris Hansen as Inmate #3
- Jayne Taini as Auntie
- Wizard as Pup
Uncredited[]
- Matt Clark as Ambulance Driver Zombie
- Robert C. Meese Jr. as Hockey Fan
- W.L. Wittstruck as Hockey Fan
Deaths[]
- One unnamed man
- Dineen (Alive and Zombified)
- Unnamed Military Men (Alive and Zombified)
- Larry
- Bernie
- Dr. Sanders
- Unnamed People in the Street
- Unnamed People in the audience at the Hockey Match
- West (Alive and Zombified)
- Beale (Alive and Zombified)
- Mortician (Alive and Zombified)
- Angie Vasquez (Flashback only; Zombified;Off-Screen)
- Julia Vasquez (Flashback only; Zombified;Off-Screen)
- Unnamed Inmates
- Urwin
- Nazarian
- Fuentes
- Prison Guard
- Inmate #1
- Inmate #2
- Inmate #3
Memorable Quotes[]
- "This sucks... Even for us!" - Murphy
- "Doc, I love how you are the 'glass half full'-kind of guy" - Addy
- "This is prison. Nothing is private." - Murphy (Flashback)
- "Help! Someone shot this ranger full of arrows!" - 10K (Flashback)
Notes[]
- Return of Citizen Z, he was last seen in the episode "We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon".
- Last appearance of Mack Thompson. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Dineen. (Flashback Only)
- First mention of the Colonel. (Flashback Only)
- First mention of Alvarez. (Flashback Only)
- First mention of Lombardi. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Lawyer. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Henry Semple. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Jordan. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Larry. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Dr. Sanders. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Bernie. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Beale. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of West. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Mortician. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Urwin. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Nazarian. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Fuentes. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Prison Guard. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Inmate #1. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Inmate #2. (Flashback Only)
- First (and last) appearance of Inmate #3. (Flashback Only)
- Addy's Mom and Michael Carver are mentioned in this episode.
- Last appearance of Dad of 10K. (Flashback Only)
- First appearance of Auntie.
Image Gallery[]
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