In Zombieverse, a group of contestants try to survive what they perceive to be a real-life zombie apocalypse. The first episode starts with a bunch of scenes of thee “survivors” running from and hiding from zombies, some of who were fellow survivors not long ago. It seems like they buy that they’re involved in a real zombie apocalypse. The question is: Will the viewers believe them?
Opening Shot: We zoom in on a Ferris wheel at a theme park. In individual cars, people talk to each other on walkie-talkies about the first things they’ll do once the world gets back to normal again.
The Gist: We go back three days, to the trendy Hongdae neighborhood in Seoul. A group of five people who think they’re presenters for a reality dating show called Love Hunter introduce themselves to each other, and sit down to be the proxy for the audience that’s built into most of the region’s reality shows.
But one of the “daters” comes onto the set not feeling well. She leans over to make out with the person she just met (which is where the dating show is supposed to start), but what she’s really doing is tearing the flesh from his neck. Soon the undead start popping up everywhere, laying waste to the contestants and crew.
The group of five — Ro Hong-chul, Lee Si-young, Park Na-re, Dindin and Tsuki — barely escape the room, but when they get outside, they are surrounded by zombies attacking people. It doesn’t help that Nar-re is on crutches due to an ACL injury. But the five somehow manage to find and get in a production van, which drives them out to the outskirts of the city.
One problem: The van is running out of gas. The driver finds a gas station, and insists on taking the keys with him, because he doesn’t want the group to drive away without him. The noise from the voice prompts on the gas pump attract a number of lingering zombies at the station, who attack the driver and kill him.
The group now has two tasks: Gas up the van and retrieve the keys from the driver’s body before he turns. Who’s going to do it? It feels like Hong-chul, the oldest and goofiest of the group, uses any excuse not to, but Dindin bravely goes out to try to gas up the car. The problem is the voice prompts on the pump bring back the wandering flesh-eaters again. So someone else has to go out and distract them so Dindin can fill the tank. This is when Hong-chul reluctantly volunteers, followed by Tsuki and Si-young and even the hobbled Na-ri. What they don’t count on is that there’s another zombie about, one that is much faster than the ambling ones they’ve seen so far.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Zombieverse is a reality show version of The Walking Dead. In fact, the art team from the Netflix’s Korean zombie hit All Of Us Are Dead were involved in this series.
Our Take: What you have to immediately do when you watch Zombieverse is the exact same thing the show’s contestants did: Suspend all disbelief. For the show to make any sense, the contestants have to believe that they’re really in a zombie apocalypse. If they didn’t, they’d spend the entire episode rolling their eyes and trying to debunk what they’re seeing.
That being said, as good a job as the art team, as well as the choreographer that taught all the zombie actors their movements, did to make things look real, it still looks like actors playing zombies. But we’re looking at this from the outside, not while we’re running for our lives.
One of the things we don’t quite understand is how things work when one of the survivors is “bitten.” We guess they’re taken off-set, given zombie makeup and told what to do? Isn’t the idea that they’re supposed to pop up some time after getting bitten and start acting undead? There are some logistical questions that make me wonder if the people on this show really think that these zombies are real or they’re just playing along.
Another thing that leads us to believe that they’re playing along is that there is a fair amount of laughter as the contestants run around trying not to get bitten. There doesn’t seem to be any abject fear in their faces. But it could just be laughing to alleviate the tension; we’re not sure.
At a certain point, this group is going to meet up with another group of survivors. How did that group get drawn into this? Are they acting or do they also really think the zombie apocalypse is real?
We think if those questions persist in your head as you watch, you’ll think Zombieverse is pretty stupid. But if you suspend disbelief in the same way the survivors do, it should be a fun show to watch.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: As the group speeds away, something or someone hits their windshield, and everyone tumbles out of their seats as Dindin hits the brakes.
Sleeper Star: Hong-chul is pretty funny, and it seems like he’s immediately looking out for himself and not interested in teamwork. Also, he wears an old flying helmet with goggles as a fashion accessory.
Most Pilot-y Line: To signal to the audience that the zombies are wandering, the producers put question marks above their heads, which turn to exclamation marks when they hear a noise and amble towards it.
Our Call: STREAM IT. We’re too cynical to really think that everyone participating in Zombieverse is buying that what they’re experiencing is real. But for those of us that are less cynical, it’s a fun show with contestants you can root for.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.