The entertainment space has been flooded with haunting images of what a post-apocalypse might look like for years. From visceral big-screen entries like 28 Days Later and World War Z to television shows like The Walking Dead, audiences have become accustomed to the dire and urgent tone that these productions have associated with the end of civilization as we know it. And to be clear, these new techniques have been very effective in re-energizing a somewhat dormant genre at the turn of the century. Still, there is room in the space for other things. There is a limited series streaming on MGM+ that takes a different approach to The End of Days.
Earth Abides is based on George R. Stewart‘s sci-fi book of the same name and stars Alexander Ludwig as Ish and Jessica Frances Dukes as Emma, two survivors of a worldwide plague that has killed off 99% of humanity. What show creator and director Todd Komarnicki has done completely subverts the typical tropes of the genre as we have come to understand it in the last 25 years and instead inserts some hope and a nurturing environment that spans several decades and generations. If the long-running NBC hit show This Is Us and genre-defining AMC smash The Walking Dead were to have a lovechild, it would look a lot like Earth Abides.
Notably, the series was conceived as a limited series with its story fully contained in its current run, and there are no plans for a second season.
What Is ‘Earth Abides’ About?
When Ish comes to after being in a weeks-long coma from a venomous snake bite, he finds the world’s population has succumbed to a quickly spreading plague, and there are only a handful of people left alive (Yes, it does sound like Rick Grimes’s predicament in The Walking Dead or Jim in 28 Days Later). After a bad experience with survivors in Las Vegas and then several days on his own, he miraculously comes across Emma, and together, they fall in love and begin rebuilding with the little resources they have left.
They have children together at their San Lupo commune and, over many years, take in newcomers and form a commune with the intent of surviving and thriving in a new world they build together. The population of their new community begins to swell after they selectively allow new survivors to be a part of a new beginning. As much as Earth Abides works to keep the show’s mood different from the sadness and melancholy of other post-apocalyptic entries, it doesn’t pretend that challenges don’t exist.
‘Earth Abides’ Accentuates the Positives, but Also Addresses the Negatives of Starting Over
Earth Abides is unique in focusing primarily on the rewarding aspects of rebuilding civilization, including raising a family free from social distortion and forming lifelong friendships with like-minded survivors. It is an example of what can happen if the humans remaining after a cataclysmic event unite for the mutual good of a new society instead of trying to conquer other groups, as seen in The Walking Dead and others, and hordes of flesh-eating zombies that have also become the post-apocalyptic threat du jour. But to be clear, it is far from all rainbows and gumdrops in a depleted and broken world, and not everyone will fall in line with the way Ish and Emma try to maintain peace and order at San Lupo.
There is still malfeasance among some of the survivors, which is consistent with human nature. The edge of Earth Abides comes from the tension created every time Ish and Emma are feeling out newcomers and their true motivations. For instance, in Episode 5, a newcomer named Charlie (Aaron Tveit) initially appears to be a Godsend as he is able to locate and successfully pull water from an underground well when they are running low. But after several weeks, he is revealed to be a rapist. Ish, Emma, and the senior elders of the commune members, including Jorge (Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll), Maurine (Elyse Levesque), Molly (Luisa D’Oliveira), and Ezra (Birkett Turton), decide that the penalty for what he has done is death. Ish savagely beats him with a hammer. Despite an overarching theme of love and kindness, the ugliness of men isn’t ignored or underplayed; the world is still savage, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely hopeless.
Earth Abides is available to stream on MGM+ in the U.S.
