Earth Abides Review: An Apocalyptic Drama of hope and healing

Earth Abides is a limited series based on a best-selling 1949 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by George R. Stewart. The novel tells the story of the fall of civilization from a deadly disease and the emergence of a new culture with simpler tools.

The MGM+ series follows Isherwood Williams(Alexander Ludwig), a geology graduate student who was isolated in the mountains as the fall began. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Ish is incapacitated from a snake bite during the events that wiped out most of the world. A global pandemic has left the world in utter devastation. What do you do when extinction is prevalent?

If you are looking for another apocalyptic drama full of zombies or monstrous creatures you will be mildly disappointed. This is a series garnered around the rebuilding of civilization. You won’t find many comparisons to shows like The Walking Dead except for found family and continuation of a future. You will see what it’s like to live through a real pandemic, somewhat like we have all been through in the last few years.

Where does Earth Abides take the audience?

What you can expect with Earth Abides is a fast-paced apocalyptic view that covers over 50 years in just six episodes. We follow Ish on his journey from San Francisco to Las Vegas as he hunts for any living kind that is left.

There are wonderful Vegas aspects that will be familiar to you all. The city of lights is still abundant in that way. When Ish spends some time at the MGM Grand he earns himself a much-needed vacation in a time full of despair and hopelessness. But life in the Silver City is anything but America’s playground anymore. The existence Ish does come across is met with gloom. In the end, we are all human. Not everybody is going to have the same will to survive as the next person. Depending on what you have lost. Loss can oftentimes be too much to bear and we see this in this chapter of the story.

Gladly for Ish the adventure in Sin City is not all but lost. He meets a friend along the way that he has for a lifetime. Thanks to Vegas being a bust it was time for him to go back home and try to revitalize what he could in Berkeley, California.

Going through the motions of life

Ish begins going through the motions of living. Existing. Having routines but you can tell he misses human interaction and togetherness. It takes about a year to pass before Ish meets another living soul. As he stands on the balcony he amazingly sees smoke coming from a distance. Fate has a way of catching up to us. Enter Emma(Jessica Frances Dukes.) She takes Ish’s world by storm being the force of nature she is. From that moment on they create their own family and begin to bring more people into their community as they try to recreate their society.

Just like with any post-apocalyptic show, you will see love, loss, perseverance, action, and heartache. You’ll fall in love with characters quickly and relate to them whether through their pain or background. You will hate some characters as there are always villains to play out in this kind of society. You will also root for people that you know may be far too good for this world and their destiny is undefined.

Love will always find a way

My favorite character of the whole series is Emma. She is incredibly prepared, always ready, and seasoned in the outdoors. A woman raised to be able to take care of herself so she didn’t have to depend on anyone. She was already made for the apocalypse and it’s evident why she is one of the few survivors left.

Further into the series, you will hear her story of anguish. It’s not an uncommon story of love and loss and shutting yourself down. There will always be the typical apocalypse tropes but Emma is so unique in herself. She can fix and take care of any problem or situation, almost to an annoyance of Ish at how good she is at everything.

Ish is not a hunter(unless it’s for rocks) and the first time he has to kill your heart will break for the man. Some humans aren’t cut out for it. Even if it is something they must adapt to to survive. He is a strong character who lacks a sense of humor, but he tries so hard Emma.

However, there are differences in opinions. Emma needs people and Ish is by far closed off in an effort to keep his family safe. As his journey progresses he strives to be the best partner he can be for Emma. The father that his children need, and the leader that their community needs. He has a strong belief in books and knowledge and lives his life surrounded by what helped the world thrive before. Towards the latter part of the series, the years pass and he starts to realize his way of leading and living was all wrong.

“If earth can abide so can we, if we can live in harmony with this earth, maybe it will teach us how to live in harmony with each other.”

Earth Abides is a self-reflective drama. There is a message that you have to always be careful how you treat people because there is almost assuredly a chain reaction. But the show also offers you a way to open your mind. Everything we know, everything we believe, and everything that has been ingrained into our minds about right and wrong and civilization may not be what the world needs when it all falls apart.

In conclusion, after a huge loss in Ish’s life, he takes it upon himself to complete a dream another had. When 50 years pass since the initial devastation it all comes full circle. At last, men go and come but the earth abides.

Special mentions: Jenna Berman as Evie. Evie appears to them as a child seemingly autistic. She lives in solitude as a premature lone wolf but finds a connection to Maurine(Elyse Levesque.)

The series genuinely shows you that people are a resource. Not only do you need people to survive you need people to grow. There is also musical inspiration throughout the six-episode miniseries. Instead of a zombie apocalypse what you find is a burning need for lifelines and battles of the elements. What happens to nature and what becomes of the animals? A true show of realism when humanity collapses.

Would I have loved to see more conflict? Sure but we have so many shows out there already like that, mirroring each other. Unlike most of those series, you won’t be fearing the death of your favs at every turn. It’s way less stressful and more heartfelt.

I do think it’s a series that could have dug deeper and gone beyond 6 chapters, it’s a long long way to go in just a handful of episodes. But I think you will be left with a message of hope and healing. Especially for those of us with children. What message do you want to leave to the next generation? And how would you leave the world better than you found it? Follow Ish’s journey to those questions, you will not regret it.

Earth Abides premieres December 1st at 9:00 PM 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