Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Finding supplies and avoiding zombies should be top priorities in a Zombie apocalypse, but taking some time to find love at the end of the world never hurts. ‘The Last Oath’ is a zombie romance/thriller starring Chen Liang as protagonist Lin Zai, who loses his entire family to the zombie apocalypse and survives by joining a small group living near a hidden bungalow by the sea. When Lin Zai rescues a special agent named A Leh (Chen Ming Hao), a special bond forms between them. But little does Lin Zai know that A Leh has a dangerous ulterior motive behind his kindness toward him.
The first episode of ‘The Last Oath’ kicks off with some action, as a small group desperately tries to outrun a bunch of zombies in what clearly looks like a school. Very ‘All of Us Are Dead‘ coded, but low budget. Lin Zai’s survival skills are questionable, and he only makes it out alive because others step up to protect him. In fact, if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll already know this: he does get bitten, but it turns out he’s immune to the zombie virus. Lucky him. And even though he seems like the princess type, he keeps his immunity a secret and credits his miraculous survival to an amulet.
Chen Ming Hao’s A Leh, on the other hand, is introduced as a dashing, cut-throat, no-nonsense fighter, someone capable of cutting through zombie hordes with ease. He’s on a mission to find someone immune and appears to be working for a powerful organization. The two meet as strangers when a badly injured A Leh ends up near Lin Zai’s camp, and of course, our resident softie has to help a human being in need. And because Lin Zai is incredibly good-looking, it’s not hard to believe that even a cold-blooded zombie slayer might just fall for him.
Lin Zai’s little group of survivors is quite the assortment. There’s an old grandma whose only skill so far seems to be cooking soup, even though they could’ve made her a killer granny. Think Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once (she was 59 then, okay?). Then there’s an overweight dude who definitely doesn’t look like he can outrun zombies, and one slightly badass fighter woman who somehow still finds time for a full face of make-up. Basically, if you were picking teams during a zombie apocalypse, this is the group you’d expect to die first.
Unsurprisingly, the group scatters fairly early on, and much of ‘The Last Oath’ unfolds as a strangers-to-lovers romance between the two leads. A Leh forces Lin Zai to accompany him to his bosses for research, leaving Lin Zai understandably suspicious of his intentions and terrified that he might end up as little more than a specimen on an operating table. But the journey to A Leh’s headquarters is long and treacherous, with zombies, dangerous humans and plenty of obstacles standing in their way. Somewhere along this perilous adventure, the two find themselves increasingly drawn to each other, even as mutual distrust and conflicting loyalties keep getting in the way.
Each episode of ‘The Last Oath’ is about 20 minutes long, and despite the garish zombie effects, most of which are just sloppy AI, most of this series is very entertaining, even if hellah trope-y. You know, Lin Zai accidentally falls into A Leh’s arms just so we can get some cheesy romantic moments. There’s a scene where A Leh casually wades into the sea and comes back with a gigantic fish, and once can be Lin Zai was thinking, “That’s all you really need to survive the end of the world, a hot boyfriend who can catch fish.”
Chen Liang’s Lin Zai starts off as the more likeable of the two leads in The Last Oath, but it’s Chen Ming Hao as the killing machine A Leh who stands out with a more compelling character arc. Initially, all A Leh cares about is completing his mission, but spending time with Lin Zai gradually softens his hardened exterior, and he learns the complications of love the hard way. Lin Zai, meanwhile, remains stormy, unpredictable and often harsh towards A Leh, even after the latter confesses his feelings. But can you really blame him? After all, he has every reason to suspect that A Leh’s romantic advances might be nothing more than a predator’s ploy to lure his prey.
Across its 24 episodes, ‘The Last Oath’ keeps the intrigue alive by introducing a suspicious scientist, He Yao (Lu Lu), towards the end of Episode 9. He eventually emerges as the show’s principal antagonist in its final stretch. He Yao claims to have a brother, Sheng Chang (Wang Chao Yang), whom he desperately wants to save, but the truth behind their relationship is far more sinister and twisted. Unfortunately, the two brothers hog an unnecessary amount of screen time in the final episodes, while the zombies are pretty much forgotten. I kept waiting for a massive zombie breach or some undead mayhem, but the walking dead barely get a look-in during the climactic chapters.
That said, Lu Lu delivers one of the strongest performances in The Last Oath as He Yao. Ruthless, calculating and surprisingly cowardly, he’s a master manipulator who would rather deceive others into doing his dirty work. He also becomes the biggest troublemaker in A Leh and Lin Zai’s romantic paradise, cruelly exploiting the kind-hearted Lin Zai for his own benefit. But his scheming does inject some much-needed tension into the central romance, forcing the lovers to make difficult choices and question how much they can really trust each other.
Overall, ‘The Last Oath’ is a fun, low-stakes guilty pleasure for BL fans who fancy a little zombie apocalypse with their romance. The chemistry and melodrama are entertaining enough, even if the show eventually becomes more interested in matters of the heart than the flesh-eating undead. Stay for the boys, because the zombies certainly don’t stick around!
Tip: Wait for a post-credits scene after the last episode of the last oath.
Rating: 6.5 on 10. You can watch ‘The Last Oath’ on YouTube or GagaOolala.
Looking for more BLs to watch? Check out my quick reviews of three BL romcoms below
