Project S.E.R.A.’s Sixth And Final Episode Wants To Infect You

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

We’ve been keeping an eye on Ben Howdeshell’s Project S.E.R.A. for a while now. A mash-up of sci-fi, horror, and action, the webseries began life as a standalone short film that debuted in 2012. Howdeshell then teamed up with IGN to produce a longer-form project, and now the sixth and final piece of the puzzle has arrived online for your perusal.

Project S.E.R.A. revolves around a biological agent that was originally designed to help wounded soldiers heal faster and return to the front lines sooner. A noble goal, to be sure, but there was one minor, unexpected side effect: the recipients turn into vicious, bloodthirsty monsters.

Something like this is worth big bucks on the black market, and some unscrupulous folks are looking for a big payday unleashing this into the world. It’s up to Gillian Eames (Julia Voth), the daughter of the creator, and Lieutenant Riggins (Derek Theler), a former Navy SEAL, to put a stop to it.

When episode six kicks off, the two are zip-tied to chairs in the dimly lit basement of a secret lab in the desert. That never bodes well. Project S.E.R.A. works best when it focuses on the action and horror sides of things, but most of the first two-thirds of the episode are taken up by talking. There are some lucky—not to mention convenient—happenstances, some overly expository dialogue, and one never-explained twist that will leave you with questions about continuity.

Project S.E.R.A. isn’t perfect, it isn’t even great, but it is still pretty entertaining. Slick production and solid special effects keep up with the action, and broken into nine- or ten-minute segments, it keeps up the pace and flies by.