(This blog was originally posted on September 8, 2016)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
In 2015, James Patterson’s best-selling novel,
Zoo, was brought to life as a prime-time television series courtesy of
CBS. I had read and (mostly) enjoyed the novel. I was skeptical about how it
would fare on television; specifically, would the producers and writer stay
true to the original premise of the book whereby animals around the world
started attacking and killing all the humans. In the book (spoiler alert), the
animals’ pheromones
trigger the assaults; the TV series featured a chemical in various pet foods
that was to blame for this aberrant behavior. Both story-lines have an
animals-finally-take-their-revenge theme. Sometimes it even feels good (Schadenfreude)
to see/read how the “bad guys” get their comeuppance in the jaws of an African
lion or a carriage horse runs away with the CEO of said pet-food company on
board with his date. But, of course, a lot of innocent lives are lost in all
this mayhem and the question remains: Can our hero/heroes save the day and the
world by finding a cure for whatever is afflicting Earth’s fauna?
In my opinion,
the television version of Zoo “jumped
the shark” early this season as more and more outrageous (or, are they?)
plot twists and characters that never existed in the book started showing up. To
summarize: CBS’s version has animal/human hybrids (think werewolf-like
creatures) with super-human strength—apparently this creature is the next stage
of evolution of the bizarre virus/chemical that has infected the animals on our
humble planet. Even the animals are afraid of these human-animal hybrids.) Then
we find out that a genetic mutation is what actually has caused the behavior
and monstrous transformations—and another character intentionally infected his
son and wife with something that seems to have triggered this response. Or is
it a cure? Meanwhile, a pride of saber-toothed cats still exists on a remote
island whose blood would (theoretically) yield a cure to suppress this gene.
But, can our intrepid heroes just get hold of that sample in time to save the
world and evade that pack of hyena/wolf/ambiguous-scaly lizard-hybrids that are
also stalking them. There are many more subplots going on and some of them are
too complicated to explain in this blog. I started watching the series out of
skeptical curiosity last year and was thoroughly fed up by the season finale on
Tuesday night.
Eventually,
very little of what went on in the series made sense; yet it made perfect sense
in the context of being an entertaining yet slightly nonsensical,
pseudo-scientific program. And no matter how hard I tried to resist getting
“involved” with all that silliness, somehow, the more outrageous the plot
became, the more interested (and hooked) I got, too. Fortunately, my training
and experience as a hypnotherapist enabled me to see right through all of the hypnotic
modalities the script-writers employed to engage viewers, which I also
allowed myself to fall for. Here is my list of all the gimmicks that made Zoo such an addictive show for me:
·
All of the cast are attractive, which makes
their incredible plight somehow “believable” and even credible in the context
of this program. Also, their backstories and personalities are interesting
enough to engage viewers and inspire a variety of emotions about their plight
so that we can become emotionally invested in what happens to them.
·
The characters are all (conveniently) some kind
of expert in his or her professional field and can talk their way into any
government meeting/conference, laboratory or black-tie fete whenever needed. They
use plenty of scientific terms and language that sounds legitimate enough to
viewers that the theoretical models even make temporary sense. Indeed, all that
technical jargon just rolls out of their mouths like they were placing an order
at McDonald’s.
·
They even dress “appropriately” for their roles.
One of the biologist/animal experts is always wearing a long oilskin coat, the
government agent flashes relevant credentials whenever needed and, the Army
Ranger totes a semi-automatic rifle or pistol everywhere she goes. The intrepid
reporter who uncovered the animal-food conspiracy typically has some kind of
computer or electronic device on her so she can hack into any kind of web-site
or security system. Finally, the group of malevolent military personnel and
scientists intent on taking over the world are all clad in uniforms that boast
an impressive number of stripes and insignia, or white lab coats to intimidate
and suggest authority.
·
There is always plenty of action—conflicts
between the humans—or animal attacks/threats of animal attacks to keep viewers
engaged with the story and wondering what will happen next to provide a
significant sensory overload. Whether lovers are quarreling, the military is
plotting world-wide domination, sons are negotiating with long-lost, absentee
fathers or hostages are fending off attacks by ravenous polar bears, something
is always going on.
Zoo
featured all of the ingredients that make a fun hour or two of escape from
reality. I, for one, actually hope it comes back next season so I can find out
what really happened to poor Dr. Morgan…
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more information
about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2017
