"Death Valley" and Sharing a Few Laughs: A Television Review ("Zombie Fights").

*here be some spoilers.

Director: Drew Daywalt.

Writer: Matthew Lawton.

The new "Death Valley" series from MTV is much like Shakespeare's shortest work, "The Comedy of Errors." Instead of mistaken identities there are mistaken motivations. One character, unknowingly, does not appreciate his partner enough, while Captain Dashell (Bryan Callen) is still struggling to understand his sexuality. This leads to all sorts of awkward dialogue from him: "I regulate my semen count. You want to know how?" or "Do you want me to come in for coffee?" Dashell is completely oblivious to the underlining meta message of homosexuality in his dialogue and John John (Texas Battle) does his best to keep an awkward distance. Other plots points in Epis. 5, "Zombie Fights" include more zombie madness, cage fights, a lost relative found, a cliffhanger ending and a Lloyd Kaufman zombie look-a-like to round out the evining. These subplots and the use of dramatic irony (that poor oblivious Dashell) make "Death Valley" a comedic series of note.

Director Drew Daywalt is no stranger to 28DLA as he took part in an interview here in September of last year (Daywalt Interview). Generally a director of shorts, Daywalt transitions to television in this episode and the previous showing "Two Girls, One Cup," flawlessly. The action in a zombie cage match is enhanced with the proper choice of a night shoot. The lighting makes the zombies' rotten flesh even more grotesque. As well, during a skit involving a blood drive vehicle and vampires, Daywalt keeps both protagonist and antagonist in shot during this strangest mini-episode. Can these cops keep their focus on the situation at hand, for once? Finally, rookie Landry (Catie Lotz) gets her hands dirty in a small department store back room with a bloodthirsty zombie. Daywalt is always capturing that action, even with the shaky camera.

The main premise in "Zombie Fights" is about John John finding his dad on video as a member of the undead. Some of the only sentimentality so far in the series is generated from John John's stories of abuse. Then, John John's dad is fighting the spitting image of Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger) and all seriousness is again forgotten in favour of more laughs. There is more bloodshed as Dashell changes from confused bisexual to macho killing machine, with more blood splattered zombies the result.

Another nice turn in this episode is the use of the sensationalist cliffhanger ending. This is not a device seen in previous episodes. Near the end of "Zombie Fights" Officer Joe (Charlie Sanders) is set upon by several vampires in a dark alley. His prognosis is uncertain and "Death Valley" seems to be broadening its scope with the inclusion of more drama e.g. John John's zombie dad. Fans will have to standby to find out what happens to Joe in the upcoming episode "The Hottest Day of the Year."

This episode aired on MTV September 26th and fans of the show who missed this episode can watch this showing and others at the MTV website (listed below). Check out this series for a chuckle or two. Many of the situations are adult in nature, but the show rarely takes itself too seriously. A great comedy, with excellent directing and some funny misunderstandings, "Death Valley" continues to entertain this household and maybe yours too.

Overall: 7.5 (a really fun show).

Epis. 5 at MTV:

Full Episodes of Death Valley at MTV


 |  |  |  | 

Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA

Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis Email Subscription

Posted in: 2011,2011 release,caged,death valley,mtv,television,television review,zombie,zombies