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The zombie apocalypse hit women first, turning them into rabid killers
going after their men, and only after all of womankind (and the majority
of men) was turned would the survivors start to get things under control
again - a very fragile control, as the zombies (called "the
rotten" here) were all but eliminated, the living have just grown
more capable of defending themselves. One of the "leaders" of
new mankind is Jebediah (Michael Camp), a no-good guy pre-apocalypse who
has now collected a gang of cutthroats as his followers, and through
looting they had a relatively good life so far ... but with most of
humankind gone, there's the point where there's little left to loot, so
Jebediah's men grow restless. But Jebediah has one rich buddy who would
give him anything in exchange for a real, live woman ... and wouldn't you
know it, Jebediah's former best friend Glenn's (Aaron Guerrero) daughter
Emma (Alexandria Lightford in the first two episodes, Erin Miracle from
episode three onwards) has survived the apocalypse unturned. So Jebediah
and his retarded brother Zeke (Kevin C. Beardsley) go to fetch Emma ...
but Glenn, a god-fearing man, and Emma, are prepared for all sorts of
threats, and ultimately not only chase Jebediah away, his brother Zeke is
also attacked and infected by a zombie along the way, forcing Jebediah to
shoot him dead. Even if he knows better, Jebediah blames this on Glenn. After
a twister wrecks their home and fortress, Glenn and Emma flee to "the
Shambles", a safe haven for circus performers mainly, but on the way
there, Glenn is attacked and bitten by a zombie, and his health is
steadily deteriorating, causing Emma, with the help of Skinny (Joe
McQueen), making her way to Doctor Emerson (Darryl Dick), who's said to
have developed a serum to fight the zombie plague ... but before she can
accomplish anything, she is captured by Jebediah and his men and caged up
to soon be sold to Jebediah's friend ... and not only is that quite a bit
inhumane and archaic, it might also threaten the future of humankind, as
Doc Emerson figures the zombie-antiserum must be locked somewhere in
Emma's DNA, her being the only (or maybe one of the few) women not being
affected by the zombie plague. So the wheelchair bound doctor sends out
his caretaker (Kevin C. Beardsley again) along with Skinny to save her,
and they are soon helped by Leo (Anthony Della Catena). But once Emma's
freed, she has to come to terms with the fact that nothing's like before
anymore, especially at "The Shambles", which has been overrun by
zombies with her turned father spearheading the attack, and Jebediah isn't
one to let his prey go all that easily, either ... A nice
little zombie webseries that for a change does not focus on ever more
grotesque effects (in fact the undead and their excesses are kept out of
the picture for most of the series in a rather inventive and likeable way)
but on a story that - weirdly but pleasantly enoght - shows quite a few
parallels to The
Wizard
of Oz and allows for character development as well as gradually developing its
universe rather than just throwing the audience into another "run!
Zombie" scenario. That all said, Dead Kansas is by no means
your perfect little webseries: Basically, its lack of budget, while
buttered over quite beautifully most of the times, sometimes shows a bit
too clearly to totally convince and not all the acting is really up there
- but in all, the thing's really well-written and adequately executed and
really makes you wish for more (and hey, the ending is open enough ...).
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