FORCES OF NATURE
The world has changed in the third season of Zoo and so have the people in it
Humans and the animal kingdom should be co-existing in perfect harmony. Zoo’s season two finale culminated with zoologist Jackson Oz (James Wolk) and company dispersing a cure for the animal mutations plaguing the world. When season three premieres, however, a ten-year time jump finds the planet drastically altered – and not for the better.
“Because of the gas that has been dropped, mankind has been sterilised,” says executive producer Josh Appelbaum. “Mankind is not procreating, which is obviously a huge problem that scientists and researchers are working on. In addition, these razorback hybrid creatures have spread up through South America into the US and Canada. The west coast of the United States has fallen. South and North America have erected this barrier to keep the hybrids from moving too far west.”
It should be Jackson and the Animal Avengers to the rescue, except they’ve gone their separate ways. As the son of Robert Oz, the man who sterilised the Earth, Jackson has been forced to go into hiding.
“Jackson is working in the Hybrid Zone, which is everything on the other side of the wall in Portland,” Appelbaum explains. “He’s working to scuttle refugees to safety because people have fallen victims to the hybrids.
“The guilt of what his father did has compelled him into trying to do all he can to save as many lives as possible in the new world order,” continues Appelbaum. “Jackson can’t contact anyone on the team in fear of being spotted. There are people hunting him.”
Eventually Jackson has no choice but to get the old gang back together again. Their priorities shift when the danger of the razorback hybrids begin to escalate.
“These creatures are almost bred to be killing machines,” notes Appelbaum. “They procreate at a rapid rate. Where you believed there was only ten, suddenly there could be 1500 within weeks. It’s hard to contain the spread of them. In the premiere, you will see the spotting of the first new hybrid anyone has seen in a decade. It’s not just a razorback. What is this creature and what is its significance and are there other sub-species out there?”
It’s easy to point to the animals as Zoo’s main threat. However, outside forces manipulate events for their own nefarious agenda.
“There is a very clear villain this season,” Appelbaum says. “It’s somebody who isn’t the government. Her name is Abigail. She has a very close connection to the hybrids. They were created in a lab, which she may or may not have been working in at the time. She has a vested interest in seeing the hybrids take over.
“Season three is an exciting evolution of these characters and this world,” Appelbaum continues. “People are going to get a huge kick out of seeing where everybody is now and what’s happened in the last ten years. And, the stakes have never been higher.”
Zoo returns to CBS in the US on 29 June. The show airs on Sky1 in the UK.