REVIEW: ‘Zombieverse: New Blood’ Doesn’t Quite Land

Zombieverse: New Blood finds itself in a pickle for this second season. Sequels (and prequels can be lumped in here, too) always have the rough spot of trying to capture the magic that made their predecessors so great. Sometimes they work. Other times, they don’t. Unfortunately, despite expanding on the story from its original season, Zombieverse Season 2 doesn’t quite land on what made it so great: the chemistry of its cast of participants. With new faces failing to set themselves apart from the pack, it’s harder to connect emotionally until it’s too late.

Set tentatively a week or two after the events of its first season, Zombieverse Season 2 starts its story off on the seemingly isolated Jeju Island. In an incredibly slow-starting first episode, the new cast is introduced.  Ranging from singers to comedians to a former White House chef (hey, Andre Rush!), there is a decent chunk of people to start. Mostly, there’s not a lot of overt personality or charisma bubbling out of the new cast, making it more difficult for those unfamiliar to get to know them. Thankfully, there is some hope – last season’s remaining survivors.

DinDin and Tsuki, last season’s participants, are eventually introduced into the fold, and the action follows not long after. Making great use of the hotel setting, the group is quickly split up. Dex and Sweet Home‘s Lee Si-young from the previous season join the group left outside, bringing their insight and knowledge into the field. Unfortunately, going back and forth between two large groups with a bunch of stuff going on all at once gives little time for anyone to shine at the beginning.

And that’s this season’s biggest struggle. It loses focus in going bigger with its locations, story, and cast. Part of this is that the first season had many unexpectedly bold personalities, but it all came together in a balanced way.

There were plenty of moments of humor, even in the most serious of situations, but never enough to take away from a scene if it proved devastating. That’s not to say there aren’t moments of humor among the cast this go-round. Rush and his language barrier provide many jokes in Zombieverse Season 2‘s first episodes. But it’s few and far between.

Zombieverse Season 2 offers an even larger scale than the first season.

The first season also had a more isolated, intimate story, with the zombie pandemic starting rather than continuing like in Zombieverse Season 2. The camaraderie and relationships could grow more organically with all the moments the cast was forced to sit and spend time together. The cast and story of Zombieverse Season 2 doesn’t lend itself to that level of intimacy. And it becomes painfully apparent with the re-emergence of Noh Hong-chul, the villain of season one.

To anyone who watched the last season, it is no surprise that Hong-chul steals almost every scene he is in. It’s no wonder he’s back for Round 2. With his arrival, it’s almost like old times. Almost. The relationships built between Hong-chul and the survivors from the previous season pick up where they left off.

The energy bouncing back and forth between the old gang is dynamite, adding some much-needed pizzazz that spills over into our cast of newbies. A grossly silly scene between Hong-chul and the newcomers Yook Sung-jae and Cho Sae-ho shows how infectious Hong-chul’s energy is.

Despite Hong-chul’s inclusion, Zombieverse Season 2 takes a long time to find its stride. The challenges themselves don’t flow as seamlessly, the scripted nature being more apparent with how unnatural some of the tasks are. Whether needing to cart themselves through winding tunnels or battling it out with a secret agent in a gym with foaming blocks, it’s just a little too much. Again, even though it’s scripted, there are moments where you have to ask the producers, “Seriously? Why?”

It isn’t until Episode 6 that the charm and energy finally kick into place. But again, it comes with goodwill brought over from the previous season. This ignites a rather humorous back-and-forth among participants as they attempt to memorialize someone with a built-in presence from earlier on. Had it been a character established during Zombieverse Season 2, it begs whether such a moment would have happened organically or as hilariously as it did.

Too much story and too many characters leave New Blood in the weeds.

Another moment later in Episode 6 fails to capture the full extent of betrayal—again—due to how utterly bland and quiet the character was. Despite efforts in the previous episode by seasoned veteran Si-young to build suspicion toward the person, the payoff is minimal.

Instead, it’s almost annoying how contrived the moment is. It isn’t until the mask is off that there’s some level of personality. But for a successful payoff, you must find ways to make the audience care, which means investing in the characters we see onscreen.

Key character moments from newer cast members come into play in the final episode, bringing them out of their shells. This highlights the importance of heightening the stakes while also proving how isolating the cast away from larger groups helps them stand out and get their spotlighted moments.

We got a glimpse of this in the shady motel challenge halfway through, but a whittled-down cast in the final episode benefits further from the spotlight. It’s a shame there weren’t more moments where the cast was isolated, particularly with how much Sae-ho feels his oats and steps into Hong-chul’s comedic shoes in the final episode.

While Zombieverse Season 2 offered more in story and characters, it’s too busy. Doing too much proved to be a detriment as the series lost sight of what made it so fun in the first place. The final episode serves as a huge reminder of the craziness, intimacy, and teamwork that the first season carried all the way through. It’s just a shame that it took the final episode to get things right. New Blood could have been just as great. If not better.

Zombieverse: New Blood is now streaming on Netflix.