Earth Abides Episode 2 Review: The Space Between

Following the end of the premiere episode in Earth Abides Ish makes his way to the smokehouse. The first form of existence he’d seen in what felt like years. He comes upon Emma’s safe place carrying his very threatening rock hammer and Emma stands on her roof with a shotgun. Warning Ish to stay where he is, while Lucky lets out a very menacing bark in the background. Ish holds up his hands to let him know he’s not there as a danger, and that they are neighbors, almost. Once she realizes he’s not a threat to society she lets him in her home. Though she has only been there a few days.

Emma makes Ish some tea and he is taken aback by the simplicity of this meeting. You can feel the peace wash over him at the very simple measure of drinking tea with a stranger. Even if the basil tea is a little bitter, he cherishes the moment.

He fills her in on small tidbits of his life. The fact is he is a geologist and not much of a hunter unless it’s for rocks. Emma is from Pensacola. Her father was a military man and her mother was a nurse. She grew up camping and hunting. So if the apocalyptic life was made for anyone it was made for her.

“It’s okay to allow kindness.”

There’s a flirty nature from the start between Ish and Emma. She unknowingly plays with her hair as she speaks to the man and even comments on how his Amish beard suits him. And when Ish tries to leave, not wanting to overstay his welcome, she tells him to stay. They’re both needing a semblance of what reality used to be. Each needing a human connection, but not yet knowing what that may be.

Emma has a soft coolness about her that meshes well with her sarcastic and intelligent personality. Ish is more of a serious man who may get lucky enough to crack a good joke once in a while. Emma was sure she was going to die alone and now here she was getting into a man’s car to take a journey back to his home. Ish is euphorically overwhelmed by the happiness that abides him.

You can sense Ish’s anticipation and anxiety for Emma to like his place. But the euphoria did not last long when they spotted evidence of a mice infestation. The brand-new duo goes out on a mission to gather up supplies. Throughout this scene, there is fun banter back and forth. I don’t think it takes a genius to see where these two are headed but it’s exhilaratingly refreshing to see chemistry between these two shine.

Sense of humor 0 Romance 10

When they get back Ish makes a meal for two. It’s nothing that looks or tastes appealing to Emma but she still appeases the man. He’s put in the effort, but Emma knows this man has got to learn to fish. Canned food can get you by but it’s not built for sustainability. The couple is the perfect combination of book smarts and street smarts. While Emma goes mushroom hunting Ish goes down by the bay to fish, working as a team for survival.

“There’s nothing that could have prepared me for Emma. No book, or song, or poem. No piece of advice. She has landed in my life like a rescuing angel.”

Emma soon cultivates the garden and trims the hair of Ish, the Amish prince. There is already a warm intimacy between them. A loving connection from the moment they met. I think that’s where a lot of zombie shows go wrong. Earth Abides bypasses the mistake of forcing people together. Even though currently there is nobody left around them, it still feels like this couple was forged together by fate, not circumstance.

My favorite part of the episode is Emma teasing Ish about the chicken coup he is attempting to make. It’s very clear he has never done this before but you can tell Emma challenged him. She is so good and well-versed in every aspect of life, this man is just trying to keep up. And just like with any apocalypse you start questioning your worth on earth. Neither Emma nor Ish believe in fate but they do question why they are here, and nobody else is.

With a caressing hand on the cheek, Ish calms down Emma and she is lost for words. Before long they both let go and allow their human connection and unwavering bond with each other to take hold. They find warmth and tenderness in each other as they make love and then are enraptured in each other’s arms.

Earth Abides: It’s not before anymore

If they are going to stay they need more resources coming in like electricity. When Ish goes to attach some solar panels to the roof he slides off of it hard and injures his foot. It reminds Emma that people are the biggest resource of all. She misses people, noise, and community. Not that Ish isn’t enough for her, but some people are built to need communication and togetherness.

In Emma’s quiet moments, she reminisces on the life she used to have. Her daughters, her family, everything precious she has lost. Not long after, Emma winds up pregnant and Ish has no idea how they can bring a baby into this world. There are no doctors or hospitals. Emma assures him her body is built for this but he doesn’t know how to protect a child in this world. Emma needs him to believe in them and their future. And then Ish being Ish goes through every book on birth he can find, but Emma knows no amount can prepare you for parenthood. She finds his preparations cutely ridiculous.

Now we live for three..for now

Further on into the third trimester of Emma’s pregnancy, she knows she needs meat. She has no qualms about going out and hunting herself, but Ish is not about to let the mother of his child be in any harm’s way. Though he’s not a true hunter he sets out to kill for her, and his child. And other than fish, it’s something he has never done before.

It’s excruciatingly heartbreaking for him to have to do but it also shows you the lengths he will go for the one thing that means the most, his family. He apologizes through the shot and ends up having to shoot the cow twice due to his lack of experience.

Books are Ish’s life. There are not many things he knows how to do without them, including cutting the meat of wildlife. But it’s also a crucial reminder that life in an apocalypse is not as easy as some shows make it look. But it’s also not impossible. Ish is a prime example of how these things can be learned. Whereas, Emma is just gifted all around. These two opposites have attracted to make the world whole again.

The Black Plague

If just having a pandemic and the fall of humanity wasn’t enough, in come the rats. They were led in by the smell of the cow that somehow seeped barriers and went airborne. Together, they had to go full Rambo to demolish hundreds of rats. For me, that’s worse than zombies.

Poor Lucky got caught in the crossfire and took some bites from the disgusting creatures. However, the rats were not the only surprise visitors coming for Emma and Ish.

”Guilt is a useless thing. All weight. No wings.”

Ish’s fears about childbirth still run deep. He’s afraid he’s going to lose her. But Emma lets him know this isn’t the first time for her second. She lost both her girls during the virus. She wanted to die with them and tried to walk off her guilt. And then Emma said one of the best lines I’ve ever heard in any post-apocalyptic show. “Guilt is a useless thing. All weight. No wings.” I’ve never heard it described this way before. Emma has such a soothing poetic essence to her. It is impossible to fly with the weight of the world on your shoulders. 

Ish is hopelessly in love with Emma. Where he falls short in his comedy skills he makes up for in his romantic ones.

The real heroes of the episode were the stray cats of California. They nearly single-handedly took care of the rat plague. But just as it does in the apocalypse when one problem comes to a close another dramatic incline appears. The baby is coming and all of Ish’s fears soon come to a head.

Emma was a boss at birth but the baby was coming out of breach. Ish tries to revert to his book knowledge until she yells at him to give it a rest. He goes in to rotate the baby as she pushes and moments later they bring their daughter into the world. A world they thought was over. Ish could not be more in love with both of them. They name her Heather, after Ish’s mother to keep the history of their pasts alive.

I know this is a limited series but you will be high-pressed to find a love story of this nature and of this magnitude in any series surrounding the apocalypse. They are possibly what Michonne and Rick could have been in The Walking Dead without disruption and disappearance.

Even after bringing a person into the world, Emma still needs community. There have to be people left out there. She spray-painted the address of their home for anyone who may come across it. This could be very very good or very very bad. Find out next week what comes their way in the third installment of Earth Abides on MGM+.

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About the author: Shay has been writing as a journalist professionally for years. Her most common topics to cover are drama and horror but she looks forward to getting her feet wet with new and exciting genres and projects. @ShaySleighs