Review

B.J. likes bourbon as he re-watches old CCTV footage of storage Clients trying to escape from the facility. Generally the result is the same; the client gets out of the building and is then overwhelmed by the waiting zombie horde, but with nothing else to do guess it passes the time. B.J. also likes a burger and is the process of rustling up a meal for himself and Chase as the later tries to restart the generators in the bowels of the building.

After getting the final generator firing, and having to kill a zombie in the process who was lurking in the darkened building, Chase learns he has to take the body and dumped it out in a skip behind the loading bay. B.J. promises Chase he will get him to the convoy Chase mentioned earlier if Chase does a few odd jobs for him. A shock twist in the plot is coming at you, and I really don't know where this is all heading with the final episode coming up.

Surprisingly episode three doesn't address the clear mystery laid down in the previous episode but goes in a totally unexpected direction. For sure Chase needed to get the generators running, and it's always going to please the fans when a zombie makes an appearance, but the mysterious knocking from the end of episode two isn't addressed in any fashion what so ever leaving me wondering exactly why it was highlighted, underlined, and otherwise neon sign posted. I wasn't expecting where The Chosen Ones was going to go and am now more than intrigued to see how things are tied off. Without giving too much away, this episode just blew up all my preconceptions of where we might be headed and left me a bit baffled to be honest. Got to love a horror property that brings something like this to the table and to be honest I can't fault the Writer in any fashion for where he has left things at the end of the episode.

Director Greg Nicotero get's things rocking with the episode opening to CCTV footage from within the storage facility, landings, hallways, etc. It was a nice touch and a nice lead into B.J. checking previous footage to see the fate of those fleeing the apparent safety of the building. The relatively light and airy office B.J. hangs out in is then contrasted to good effect when Chase heads into the lower levels to try and restart a generator, we're talking more gloom and dimly seen areas than you would find in the Adams Family manse. While I sort of got what the Director was doing I was less impressed when Chase didn't note the zombie groaning a few feet away from him. At first I thought Chase might actually be deaf, then wondered if B.J's instructions over the two way weren't providing some camouflage for the lumbering flesh eater, but finally decided it was just one of those plot points that get made and you are expected to simply go along with. Still great use of limit locations to provide some contrast to what we have previously seen in this series.

Talk about torpedoing the lifeboats and straffing the survivors of your expectations

While I'm hip with Nicotero's generally craftsmanship behind the camera I'm still not seeing any tension or fright tactics headed my way in any effective fashion. I guess the zombie attack in the basement is meant to get the tension happening but I wasn't buying it, I spent most of the scene wondering if Chase was deaf. Guess when you have pretty much just a short length of time for each episode you are not going to get much happening considering you need to move the plot along and keep things pretty tight and humming.

Speaking of the plot, there's such a 180 degree turn in this episode that I was left sitting on my arse wondering what the hell just happened. I don't shock that often but this one threw a curve ball at me that was completely unexpected and wonderfully sudden. Full marks to Writer John Esposito for underlining two salient points in a zombie movie, no one is safe, and trust no one the zombies are the least of your worries. Excellent twist, I didn't see it coming and it added new depth to the web series.

What I'm particularly happy about in the last two episodes is the contrasts between B.J. and Chase as the situation unfolds. B.J. is in his element and just like Ed from Shaun of the Dead, the zombie apocalypse is something to take advantage of rather than shy away from. In contrast Chase looks increasingly worried and wants a way out of the nightmare. B.J. reminds me of Shane from The Walking Dead first couple of seasons, he has really come into his own after society breaks down and has no one to restrain his excesses, to draw an analogy B.J. is fiddling while the world burns around him.

I got to say I didn't expect to get shocked by this episode, was expecting something a lot more sinister from B.J., so two thumbs up to the team behind Cold Storage, you rocked my world and for a change managed to side swipe me in the process. Where things go to from here I don't know, I wasn't expecting the development in the final minute so am now wondering where the focus is going to be. If you haven't caught up with this web series yet then drop whatever you are doing and tune in right now, full recommendation you would be a mug if you miss this one.