(TLDR: it's a 7/10 it' a decent show imo as a zombie and b movie fan, and it has some problems I ignore, but it has potential to get better so I'm gonna keep an eye on it.)
It held my attention for a couple hours while I played video games and did homework. I don't get what all the bashing is about SyFy is a **_TINY_** cable channel so my expectations weren't sky high going in, but as Zombie media goes, it's not half bad. Zombie movies are pretty mixed bag in general so I'm used to just not thinking too deeply or taking them too seriously. This show isn't a masterpiece, but not every show has to be Breaking Bad in quality and it has room to grow into something good. It has some interesting and unique ideas in it, like the zombie virus infecting ALL THE CELLS IN THE BODY to make the Zombies a threat even when they are "killed" or have their limbs and heads blown off which added a lot of tension and drama when they were on screen since even a loose finger can be a threat, The zombies having senses like smell and hearing or memories gives them A LOT MORE depth than a lot of other Zombies in media I felt bad for some of them, I've never felt bad for the zombies or rooted for them before like I did with this show, and also setting it in a small town gave the cast a DEEP history and complex personal problems and pre-established histories making the drama of the survivors play into how they interact with each other and making me worry about the cast and other survivors they encounter and even making me hope some of them die off and think about their personal lives and pay attention to their personal drama between the action and gore. Even the best of shows have a rough first season and with a cable network as small as SyFy backing it, I can look past it's reuse of shots, inconsistent acting performances, wonky pace, and cheap effects and sets in some scenes and appreciate it for what it is. I like B movies and Zombie media and with there being a current drought of BOTH, I might be a bit biased, so forgive me for rooting for the little guy a little too much, but I think the show has potential with it's (sometimes) mature and complex drama and character development, This show doesn't take itself seriously all the time (to it's own detriment), but it has some good ideas and some entertaining drama and action for what it is, I like that it didn't rely on tropes, CGI, or mindless action like a lot of Zombie media does and I like how fleshed out the personal history of the main cast is it felt like what it would be like if an apocalypse happened in my small hometown, some of the character felt like people I've met and know, and the established history really added a lot of realism to the story it felt like a zombie apocalypse happened during a teen drama. I hope it gets a chance to turn into something good, if not well I hope someone steals it's more interesting ideas or the people working on it can go onto something else with it as experience under their belts. It's not a masterpiece, but I hope it can lead to something better down the road for SYFY or just the people involved in the show.