Black Summer doesn’t have a huge following, but fans of the show are exceptionally loyal and have been eagerly awaiting Black Summer Season 2 since the first season finished up in April 2019. The show opened to mixed reviews and only managed an audience score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes but got enough attention throughout its first season that Netflix has already agreed to renew Black Summer Season 2.
What is Black Summer about?
The show follows the end of the world, starting with the summer, where 95% of the world’s population died and were overrun by zombies. It stars Jaime King as the protagonist Rose, separated from her young daughter Anna during the early stages of the zombie apocalypse. As any mother would, she begins an epic journey to find her daughter and won’t let anything stand in her way. With a band of refugees, she traverses North America and must make some difficult decisions along the way.
The show was created by John Hyams and Karl Schaefer, with the first season running for eight episodes. Many fans draw parallels to Z National, another apocalyptic zombie series, and in fact, the same production company, The Asylum, are behind both shows. Much of the series was filmed in Calgary, Alberta, in Canada, providing exciting backdrops for the characters to explore.
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Where did season 1 of Black Summer leave us?
With Black Summer Season 2 not too far away, we need first to look at where the first season left the survivors.
Spoilers Ahead!!!!
The group arrives at a stadium where the military is supposed to be evacuating all remaining survivors. However, they are overrun, and instead, everyone is left to fend for themselves outside. With it being a known evacuation point, many people show up, which attracts the undead and leads to chaos. From there, Carmen gets shot and turns into a zombie, Rose and William become separated, and others flee. Rose has to make the tough decision to kill William after his leg injury becomes so severe he can’t continue.
We then get to finally meet Rose’s daughter after a man brings her over to the group. Despite the revelation, the entire thing is a bit of a bittersweet situation. Half the group we have grown to know and love are either dead or zombies, and the survivors are now trapped in a stadium with hundreds if not thousands of undead banging at the doors trying to get in. So the reveal of Roses’ daughter may not have been as happy as they expected.
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What is the plot of Black Summer Season 2?
Rather than being episodic like the show Z Nation, Black Summer has employed a different approach where the content is set out in an 8-hour chunk. It means that the cliffhanger commercial breaks are out, and instead, you have to keep bingeing. Binstock said:
“It’s much more like a chapter in a book. You don’t necessarily do the cliffhangers on a commercial break – it’s keeping you going so that you’ve got to binge it.”
So we know this format will return for the second season of the show, but what will the plot be? With the crew holding up at the gate and trying to keep the zombies out, fans wonder how Black Summer Season 2 will pan out. There have been a few theories, one being that the zombies will eventually get bored and wander off, which has been known to happen. However, there are multiple entrances to the stadium so that the group can evade the undead and escape.
With the series taking place in the most challenging part of the zombie apocalypse, we are likely to see a few more familiar faces die in Black Summer season 2. The survivors are going to have to keep moving if they stand any chance.
The showrunners and writers are trying to dig deep into the human side of the disaster. They have been attempting to steer fans towards the hidden similarities with parallels in our own society, with one saying:
“It comes back to like authentic human traits. Like, is the person egotistical? Do they have some ulterior motive? What is in each character’s base psychology?”
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Who will star in season 2?
The majority of the cast members will return for Black Summer Season 2. Jaime King is reprising her role as Rose, and the show’s executive producer, Justin Chu Cary & Christine Lee return as Spear and Sun, and John Hyams is replacing as the sole showrunner. There hasn’t been any announcement of a fall out between him and Karl Schaefer, but Hyams will be doing the second season alone. Sal Velez Jr’s return as William was all but guaranteed by the actor in an interview with a British publication, he stated:
“I can say this, just like Jon Snow had his revival and comeback, I think that since they really don’t show the death of William.”
The actor is keen to return to the role but could not give an outright confirmation on whether we will see him again for Black Summer Season.
Black Summer: Is it a Z Nation prequel?
Z Nation is a show made by the same production company and appeared on Syfy and ran for five seasons. Fans have speculated non stop that the show is a prequel to Z Nation. However, insider sources have confirmed that the two are not connected at all. In fact, he had not even watched Z Nation before filming and is keen to downplay any links between the two shows.
However, the co-creator of Black Summer, Schaefer, was the man behind Z Nation, with Hyams also jumping in on a few episodes, and The Asylum was the same production company. We at Entertainment Dose remain skeptical that two don’t at least exist in the same universe.
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Black Summer Season 2 trailer
Despite having renewed the show and giving fans a glimpse of hope at seeing some shots from Black Summer Season 2, a trailer hasn’t been released yet. But to quench your thirst for all things Zombie, I have included some cool clips. The first is a fresh zombie transformation. Check it out below:
I have to put an enormous spoiler alert on this next one as it shows Carmon’s death and the ensuing chaos that occurs at the stadium. Take a look:
Release Date Of Black Summer Season 2
The great news is that Netflix has officially confirmed the show, and we will see a second season sometime soon. The cast was assembled in early 2020, but the pandemic ground this process to a halt. What was expected to be a late 2020 release date has now definitely been pushed back until at least mid-2021. Unfortunately, all production was shut down for a few months this year, and this has moved all of the filming schedules back. So Black Summer Season 2 has become yet another victim of the COVID pandemic.
