Who's crushing the zombie apocalypse? Day of the Dead power rankings, Episode 3, 'The Grey Mile'

Greetings, zombie hunters! To celebrate the new original series Day of the Dead and all of its brain-splattering glory, we here at SYFY will be diving deeper and providing you, our honorary Mawinhawken residents, with a weekly set of Power Rankings!

Now, what are "Power Rankings," you might ask? Well, it's pretty simple. After each episode airs on Friday nights at 10/9c, we will be ranking the characters in terms of "power" ‒ Who is in the best position to survive the zombie apocalypse? Who has the most momentum? Who is most likely to end up as dinner to a hungry horde of the undead?

We know that there are quite a few intertwining plotlines in Day of the Dead, so we'll sort 'em out and tell you who we think could survive this undead apocalypse... and who might end up stumbling home. With three episodes down and seven to go, there are still a lot of unanswered questions and uncertainty surrounding Mawinhawken and its zombie-fighting residents. Let's get ranking!

1. Dr. Logan

This wasn't an easy decision, but at the end of the day, who holds more power than our mysterious Dr. Logan? Yes, the last time we saw her she was at the bottom of a hole watching her partner get devoured by a zombie. But, she also has a secret, hi-tech Cleargenix laboratory where she's running some sort of experiment on McDermott's severed finger. More importantly, Dr. Logan exudes confidence ‒ sure, we're not sure why exactly (she's probably the most mysterious figure in the series), but that's definitely the kind of character trait that could take you far in a zombie apocalypse.

2. Cam, Lauren, and Jai

Coming in at a strong No. 2, we have our two young protagonists, Cam and Lauren, and our unlucky groom/doctor, Jai. This unlikely trio spent the last episode fighting off a horde of bloodthirsty zombies in a retirement home and somehow managing to also stitch up Lauren's zombie bite. It's unclear if Lauren's bite will turn her into a member of the undead (decades of zombie movies tell us 'yes'), but for now, these three have enough brains and brawn to coast into episode four feeling decent about their chances.

3. Sarah Blackwood

Blackwood quite literally dodged more than a few bullets last week. Acting as the whistleblower on Rhodes' mysterious fracking operation, we see her being hunted by Rhodes and his shotgun, where he corners her in a wide-open lumberyard. While desperately averting a barrage of bullets, she devises a pretty inventive Home Alone-style boobytrap that trips Rhodes and allows for her to run to her car, grab her gun and make a dashing escape. While she might only be on foot, Blackwood is clearly savvy and can improvise in pressure situations. Expect her to make it far in this undead invasion.

4. Mayor Paula and Trey Bowman

And you thought national politics were scandalous — try Mawinhawken's! It's been a rough couple of episodes for Mr. and Mrs. Mayor. First: they accidentally killed an old man and then placed him in the local retirement home, Weekend at Bernie's-style, which inadvertently led to him becoming a zombie and killing all of his elder compatriots. Second: Paula's campaign manager, Nicole, was eaten alive by said retirement home zombies after Paula couldn't defend her because Nicole stole her gun clip (why do bad things happen to good people?) And, lastly: we found out some juicy gossip in this episode, as it turns out that Luke is not Trey's son and that Paula's mayoral rival, Pops, is blackmailing her with this information. All in all, things are not looking good for the Bowmans. But bonus points to Paula for impaling a zombie with a flagpole.

5. McDermott

Seemingly the only cop in Mawinhawken, McDermott is currently locked away in Dr. Logan's secret lab, clad in a hospital gown and missing a finger. Not ideal. But similar to Blackwood, McDermott seems like he's got some wits and experience and will somehow find a way to break out of the world's creepiest hospital room that he's currently stowed away in. Even with only nine fingers, I like his chances.

6. Rhodes

While we can all agree that Rhodes is a bad person and an even worse boss, he's still a man in a position of power who has Cleargenix on his side. Plus, he also has a shotgun (even though he has terrible aim). He might be safe for now, but Rhodes is the kind of character who is too confident but doesn't have the smarts to back it up ‒ aka, the perfect recipe for becoming a zombie's lunch.

7. Luke Bowman

Poor, poor Luke. The kid just wanted to have a casual senior skip day kegger in the middle of the woods in broad daylight and ends up getting attacked by a zombie. Now, we don't know for sure that he's going to get eaten ‒ the episode ends with the zombie lunging at him before cutting to black ‒ but it's fair to say that whatever happens to young Mr. Bowman will not be good.

8. The Senior Skip Day Party

Pour one out for these kids because they're probably going to spend their final non-zombie moments drinking lukewarm keg beer in the middle of a forest.

REST IN (ZOMBIFIED) PEACE

Each week, we will also pay homage to our fearless characters who are no longer with us.

Mrs. French

What a way to go out, huh? Given only six months to live by her doctor, she instead decides to sacrifice herself and blow up the retirement home and all of its zombies by flicking a cigarette onto her oxygen tank. If there's a cooler way of dying than that, I'm not aware of it.

Nicole

Although she had a bright political future ahead of her, it was abruptly cut short by a zombie who clearly hadn't had breakfast yet. She never did get her revenge on the corrupt Mayor Bowman, but hey ‒ maybe Zombie Nicole will.