WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH BLACK SUMMER

Black Summer is back! This tv series caught my attention in 2019 after flying under the radar without getting any major attention for some months. It's 2021 and it's back for a second season on Netflix. The new season is cold, like literally cold, dark and violent; we will comeback to this later. The current timeline takes place months after the initial outbreak and the weather has changed to a cold and brutal winter. We see our characters trying to survive their way through the cold weather, zombies and other hostile humans. The story still follows the multiple characters from season 1: Rose, Spears, Sun and the others. New characters are also introduced.

The storytelling is still non-chronological and in segments. It takes the audience through different point of view of multiple characters and eventually put them together or connect them like a jigsaw puzzle. You will occasionally get this exciting moment when you connect pieces of the stories together in your head. Why some people might not be a fan of this style. I found it refreshing. What this style does is test the patience of the audience and keeps picking at their curiosity and I love it. It's also one of the things that makes this series standout for me. No other series uses this style in their storytelling as Black Summer does. When this style is employed in other series, it's usually just for one episode or two. Black Summer takes this style and made it into its backbone for storytelling. Very risky but it has continued to work for it. Just a point to note, Black Summer can be so random when it comes to its storytelling and decisions made by the characters. Some viewers may find it questionable, but they don't give you a chance to think it over before they throw another high tension scene at you.

The cinematography style is commendable. The filming style often makes the audience feel like they're in the dire situation with any character that is on screen. You feel the weight and atmosphere of each scene. Whether it's tension brewing between strangers stuck in a heated scenario or feeling the stress of an infected chasing down another stranger or one of our core characters. Now to another thing that stands out about the cinematography style is the use of tracking shots and lengthy single-take shots. Although some areas are edited to look like a oner. Regardless, this doesn't take away from the immersive effect both techniques have on the audience when watching and it is consistently done throughout the season.

Like I said earlier, this new season is dark, cold and violent. These three attributes can be associated with the characters and the environment in season two. All characters both old and newly introduced in this season emphasized how far moral code and human empathy had decayed in their world. The characters are so cold-hearted and selfish. They don't even give second thought to betraying or killing another human being for their own survival. The environment is not kind either, it's snow season and all the characters are always after finding good shelter or supplies while the infected also pose to be another challenge. Although the environment is not kind to the infected neither(we get to see some of them in frozen state, where they can't even move.)

Finally, Black Summer is a horror tv show that most haven't heard about but should be watching. If you're a fan of zombie horror survival stories, you'll definitely enjoy this series. I recommend you start from season 1.