Zoo season 2 premiere episode: Will Jackson's dog bite make him mutate into a predator as well?

Season 2 of Zoo premiered on CBS on 28 June and going by the first look, this might be the kind of show worth a Tuesday night in front of the TV. Last season, the team traversed the globe to find a cure for some seemingly inexplicable — and extremely dangerous — animal behaviour.

After finally finding a promising solution, a group of bats took down the plane and Jamie (Kristen Connolly) and a leopard cub that might be the key to the antidote for the mutation, were lost to the team. Luckily a fisherman managed to save them both.

The season one finale ended with the others getting ready for an 18-hour boat ride to find their teammate. However, they were faced by an army of wild animals and needed to find an alternative route.

In the season 2-episode premiere, we meet Jackson Oz (James Wolk) who, along with Abraham Kenyatta (Nonso Anozie), Chloe Tousignant (Nora Arnezeder) and Dr Mitch Morgan (Billy Burke) set off to find Jamie and the cub in New Brunswick. But before they can reach, the wild animals attack the cabin and she is forced to escape keeping the cub in the basement for the team to find.

Mitch is pretty upset when Abraham forces them to leave the cabin soon after they rescue the leopard without spending much time searching for Jamie. We can understand why he is so angry but the doctor has got to come up with some insults better than saying that the African safari guide takes "bubble baths".

The danger of the "furpocalypse" continues to escalate as the mutation moves to its second phase. The saviour leopard's blood is unable to have the same effect it did in season 1 and Jackson and the rest have to find another cure.

After their last plane was attacked by bats, they are not too keen on flying - not until they see their new set of wings – a swanky double deck aerial monster complete with lab, kitchen and even a vehicle bay. The lot set their sights on Patagonia where a researcher is out looking for an answer to the mutating virus.

Back in the jungles of South America, pathologist Dr Vickers and a team of soldiers make their way through the thick wilderness in search of an animal that is supposed to have the phase two mutation. What they find, just before being slaughtered, is that the animal in question is actually a man, a Hungarian scientist Caraquet who has mutated into what looks like one giant burn scar with a partially severed arm.

Only one solider survives the attack – Dariela Marzan (Alyssa Diaz) who also manages to injure the "manimal" until Jackson's group gets there and captures him.

Doc Mitch and Chloe stay on board the plane as they study the new human mutant while Jackson, Abraham, and Dariela head back into the jungle where they find acid rains and ice in the same space. On meeting a local, Jackson heads out with him to look for a violent elephant while the other two go back to where they buried the rest of Dariela's crew.

The "elephant search team" find him finally and manage to get a blood sample following which the pachyderm takes chase. However, Abraham and the soldier's discovery is much more gruesome. They witness a flock of vultures digging up the dead bodies to create a stock pile of food. That is when they realise that the acid rain is actually made up of vulture bile turned red with blood of the humans they are feasting on.

Upset by the loss of her friends/crew, Dariela ends the episode by shooting Caraquet in the head.

What no one is talking much about is Jackson's dog bite. Early in the episode he manages to survive a tiger attack when the beast sniffs his wound and leaves him unharmed. He also finds out that his blood group has changed. Could it be that the lead protagonist of the show is at risk of mutating as well? And shouldn't he tell his team about what happened?

Catch up on the season premiere online on the network website and watch the next episode of Zoo on Tuesday on CBS at 9/8c.