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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
In 2015, JamesPatterson’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…
© 2016
