The Dead (Show)

**The Dead** is a live action, zombie comedy web-series created by Vishal Muralee, taking place in it's own separate Universe from everything else.

There is an alternate Universe similar to the Universe this show takes place in, where the main character, Jayden, is stuck in a time loop, and lives through the first four episodes over and over again.

## Cast

* Vishal Muralee as **Jayden**
* Riley Thorton-Mackay as Chris
* Cooper Dellar as Bryan
* Vatson Muruga as Terrorist 1/Zombie 1/Resistance Member 1
* Neha Muruga as Terrorist 2/Zombie 2/Resistance Member 2

## Plot

The first season begins with Jayden spending a day to work on his “Geek Out” podcast with Bryan. Shortly after they finish recording, an unknown virus quickly begins to spread, and soon after that a zombie kills Bryan. After Jayden escapes, he wakes up in a sofa at his house where he soon meets Chris. Jayden is debriefed on what has happened around the world, before Chris introduces him to Richard. who was infected with the plague and became a female zombie. The group run away from Richard and the incoming zombies.

The duo find themselves in Rockhollow. It is discovered that Richard the zombie was the first time Chris ever encountered a zombie. They agree to find a base of operations, before deciding on a house which might have survivors occupying it. These “survivors” are actually zombies. They brutally kill the zombies and make that house their base of operations. Two weeks pass and they start to make a cure. Once the cure is finished, they find two terrorists hiding out in a nearby house at midnight. They infect them with the plague and try out the cure on them. It works, but not before one of the terrorists presses a button hiding in his clothing.

Jayden and Chris are on the floor, braced for impact when it is revealed that nothing happened. They shake things off but as they do that the terrorist who pulled the pin turned himself into a super-zombie, a zombie that looks identical to a normal zombie but is stronger and has the ability to talk. Jayden tries to draw first blood but is sucker-punched by the zombie and is knocked out. Chris gets excited and the gang barely defeat the super-zombie. Jayden and Chris wake up the next day and continue working more on what they believe is the cure to the plague spreading around the world. Midway through working on the cure, Chris goes to the bathroom, and Jayden is left alone. In that moment, an intruder who has broken into Jayden's hideout points a gun at him, where Jayden quips soon after the threat; Jayden is pistol-whipped by the intruder and knocked out. Soon after the intruder reports in with his boss about what has happened, where it is revealed that none other than Bryan is the one behind all this, being the boss the intruder is reporting to.

Jayden has a dream where he sees Bryan alive, who confesses everything and kills him. When Jayden wakes up, he finds Chris staring him down. It is revealed that Bryan has somehow taken control of Chris. Bryan reveals himself to Jayden and explains that he survived by transferring his mind into the zombie that killed him, who was actually a robot in disguise. He used some resistance members fighting against his cause as a basis to produce the plague, hence why all the zombies in the season look identical to one another. Chris and Jayden fight until Chris somehow regains consciousness. Bryan appears off-camera. Chris is about to go for Bryan until Bryan shoots Chris in the stomach with his own gun. Before he dies, Chris tells Jayden to move on from fighting the terrorists and zombies after the battle and settle down. Chris dies realising that he finally “did something good.” As Jayden laments, Bryan gives a cocky monologue but is shot halfway through it. At the end of the day, Jayden holds a funeral for Chris. He states that in the case that Chris is actually alive, a door leading to the outside world is located in his casket in case he needs it. The season ends as it is revealed that one month has passed since Chris's death. Jayden monologues about how the apocalypse never got better, but he's learning to move on from the traumatic experience in this new normal he now lives in.

## Episode List

### Season 1

* Episode 1 - THE BEGINNING OF THE END (October 31st, 2020)
* Episode 2 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE UNDEAD KIND (November 14th, 2020)
* Episode 3 - THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (November 28th, 2020)
* Episode 4 - THE END OF THE BEGINNING (December 12th, 2020)

## Cancelled Plans for a Season 2 & 3

According to the creator himself, there were plans at some point shortly after the script for the first season was finished in 2019 to make a second season set for 2020. These plans never came to fruition, and only after the first season was release did plans spring back up for another season. These plans eventually grew in scale to a third season. The story for the second season grew so large it was decided to split the overarching story of the season into two halves, with the first half being titled "THE DEAD 2: THE SECOND WAVE". The second half would have been the final season, titled "THE DEAD 3: THE FINAL WAVE". The second season would have released in 2022, ending on a cliffhanger, with the third season set to release in 2023. Vishal has stated numerous times that if he were to do a second and third season, they would have been shot simultaneously. The story for both seasons would have involved a much bigger virus turning humanity into zombified versions of themselves, no longer looking like the same two people over and over again.

The second season would have featured a naturally occurring plague being the culprit, with the terrorist organization from Season 1 taking ownership of the plague. It would have revolved around Jayden's trauma from the first season, and Chris would have been resurrected by what would have later been revealed as Bryan's little sister, Megan (played by Mia Saliba). The story would have taken place three years after the events of the first season, and would have featured Jayden and Chris forming a friendship with Megan, before it is revealed in the season finale that she was Bryan's sister all along, and that she was the co-founder of the organization. Season 2 would have involved the trio figuring out a way to stop the virus, which was caused by an asteroid landing on Earth. The season would have ended on a cliff-hanger, with a nuke being detonated underneath Jayden's home due to the duo failing to disperse a cure for the new virus in time.

The third and final season would have involved adult versions of Jayden and Chris, both dealing with the fallout of their negligence in a post-apocalyptic nuclear world. The two would have regained their friendship after falling out due to the nuke exploding. The plot of the third season would have revolved around the two attempting to travel back in time before the nuke exploded, saving the world in the process. The duo would have teamed up with their past teenage selves in order to fulfil this. Megan would have died in the climax, along with Jayden, who would have sacrificed himself in order to completely reset time back to before the second wave hit. The organization would have completely dissipated, and a public vigil would have been held for Jayden. The world would have gone on, knowing that he saved the entirety of humanity in the process..

Both seasons would have had an extensively large budget to fulfil these plans, which is why Vishal cancelled the project. There would have been multiple CGI action set pieces and zombies, and an extensive cast and crew would have been needed. Vishal has had private talks with a few professional actors that he personally knows about appearing in the show, some of whom have appeared in Netflix, Stan and ABC shows. Prior to the cancellation it was going to be the most ambitious project Kernel Productions has ever undertaken. Riley Thornton-Mackay and Cooper Dellar were set to return as their respective characters, whereas new cast members such as Mia Saliba (appearing in "THE SASS MOVIE and formerly on "THE LITTLE PENCIL: THE MASK OF HOPE") and Rubi Balasingam (appeared on Season 2 of "Jack Irish" on ABC and Netflix) were set to join as major cast members.