''Black Summer'' is an American

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series created by Karl Schaefer and

John Hyams John Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, best known for his involvement in the '' Universal Soldier'' series, for which he has directed two installments. Hyams is the son of director Peter Hyams. Career Hyams gra ...

. It is a spinoff of ''

Z Nation ''Z Nation'' is an American horror television series that aired on Syfy, created by Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler, and was produced by The Asylum. The first season of 13 episodes premiered on September 12, 2014. ''Z Nation'' was filmed in the ...

''. The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on April 11, 2019. The series is produced by

The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and sc ...

, the same production company behind ''Z Nation'', and is written and directed primarily by Hyams, with Abram Cox writing and directing additional episodes.

Jaime King Jaime King (born April 23, 1979) is an American actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she used the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents, because her agency alread ...

stars in the lead role as Rose, a mother who is separated from her daughter during the earliest and deadliest days of a zombie apocalypse. The series garnered moderate approval from critics. Many of the filming locations are around and within

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. In November 2019, Netflix renewed the series for an eight-episode second season, which was released on June 17, 2021.

Plot

Six weeks after the start of the

zombie apocalypse Zombie apocalypse is a genre of fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack hum ...

, Rose (

) is separated from her daughter, Anna, and she embarks on a harrowing journey to find her. Thrust alongside a small group of refugees in North America, she must brave a hostile new world and make brutal decisions during the most deadly summer of the apocalypse.

Cast and characters

Main

as Rose, a mother who is separated from her daughter during the earliest and deadliest days of a zombie apocalypse *

Justin Chu Cary Justin Chu Cary is an American actor who stars on Netflix's ''Black Summer''. The series is a prequel to ''Z Nation''. Early life and career Justin Chu Cary grew up in Oakland, California, the son of an African-American father and a Chinese-Ame ...

as Juliusz Jonski (season 1–2), a criminal who took the identity of "Spears", the name of the soldier he killed * Christine Lee as Ooh "Sun" Kyungsun, a Korean woman who is looking for her missing mother * Kelsey Flower as Lance (season 1; guest season 2), a young survivor with no family * Sal Velez Jr as William Velez (season 1), a pole lineman who has a sister and children in Texas * Erika Hau as Carmen (season 1), Manny's girlfriend *

Gwynyth Walsh Gwynyth Walsh (born 1956) is a Canadian actress best known for her role of the ''Star Trek'' character B'Etor, one of the Duras sisters. She also played constable Nimira in the '' Star Trek: Voyager'' episode " Random Thoughts", and provided the ...

as Barbara Watson (season 1), a woman who has survived without her husband and is not sure he is alive * Mustafa Alabssi as Ryan (season 1), a deaf survivor * Edsson Morales as Manny (season 1), Carmen's boyfriend * Zoe Marlett as Anna (season 2; recurring season 1), Rose and Patrick's daughter

Recurring

* Nyren B Evelyn as Earl (season 1), a mysterious survivor who saves Rose and Spears * Stafford Perry as Phil (season 1), a social Darwinist travelling with Carmen and Manny * Christian Fraser as Marvin (season 1), a man traveling with Carmen, Manny and Phil *

Nathaniel Arcand Nathaniel Arcand (born November 13, 1971) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his first major role in the Canadian drama series ''North of 60'', in which for three seasons he played William MacNeil, smart-mouthed and cocky, a troubled, misunders ...

as Governale (season 1), a soldier * Tom Carey as Bronk (season 1), a soldier * Bobby Naderi as Ray Nazeri (season 2), a former police officer leading his own group * Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz as Boone (season 2), a talkative man who knows the mountain area * G. Michael Gray as Freddy (season 2), a man whose family encounters Rose and Anna *

Dakota Daulby Dakota Daulby (born October 10, 1994) is a Canadian film and television actor, producer, director and screenwriter. Early life Daulby was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He spends his time between his home town of Maple Ridge and Vancouver ...

as Sonny (season 2), Freddy's aggressive younger brother * Brenda Robins as Freddy and Sonny's mother (season 2) * Travis Friesen as Mark (season 2), a man in contact with a plane which drops supplies * Kumiko Konishi as Rhonda (season 2), Mark’s wife * Linda Kee as Sophie (season 2), a member of a group in conflict with Nazeri's group who later joins Nazeri *

Jesse Lipscombe Jesse Lipscombe (born 1980) is a Canadian actor. He won a Rosie Awards, Rosie Award for Best Performance by an Alberta Actor for his performance in the 2017 film, ''It's Not My Fault and I Don't Care Anyway''. and was one of the executive produ ...

as Mance (season 2), a member of Sophie's group * Chantelle Han as Jase (season 2), a member of Sophie's group * Elaine Yang as Natalie (season 2) a member of Sophie's group * Duff Zayonce as Sam (season 2), a member of Nazeri's group who encounters Sophie's group * Joe Perry as a member of Nazeri's group (season 2) * Owen Crow Shoe as a member of Sophie's group (season 2) * Andrew Misle, Cliff Liknes and John Dylan Louie (season 2) as members of another group which comes into conflict with Nazeri

Guest

Ty Olsson Ty Olsson (born January 28, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Benny Lafitte in ''Supernatural'', real-life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television film '' Flight 93'', and Ord in the PBS Kids animated children's series '' ...

as Patrick ("Human Flow" season 1), Rose's husband and Anna's father * Lonni Olson as Ben ("Human Flow" season 1), a man who meets Barbara on the road * David Haysom as Spears ("Human Flow" season 1), a soldier * Bechir Sylvain as Braithwaite ("White Horse" season 2), a man who knew Spears before the apocalypse *

Daniel Diemer Daniel Diemer (born 21 June 1996) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Paul Munsky in Netflix's film ''The Half of It'', directed by Alice Wu. Prior to starring in the movie, he played smaller roles in ''The Man in the High Castle'' and ...

as Luke ("Cold War" season 2), an acquaintance of Sophie who encounters Lance * James Yi as The Pilot ("The Plane" season 2), the pilot of the plane which drops supplies

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2021)

Connection to ''Z Nation''

The connection between ''Black Summer'' and its parent series takes a similar approach as the original relationship between '' Fear the Walking Dead'' and '' The Walking Dead'', as there are no plans for any of the characters from ''

'' to appear in the companion prequel series. ''Z Nation'' actor

DJ Qualls Donald Joseph Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in films including ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''The New Guy'' (2002) and ''The Core'' (2003), and for several appearances on television series such as '' B ...

revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that the

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

series takes place "quite a long time" after the events of ''Black Summer'', making him feel that the cast is "too old" for a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

to work. The series do share "most to all of heirwriting, directing, and producing staff" as well as a production company,

. The show's starring actress,

, has said that the two series have "nothing to do with" each other.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Netflix original current series 2010s American drama television series 2010s American horror television series 2020s American drama television series 2020s American horror television series 2019 American television series debuts American action television series American prequel television series English-language Netflix original programming Post-apocalyptic television series Serial drama television series Television shows filmed in Calgary Zombies in television