Aahana Swrup
‘Earth Abides’ is a science fiction drama show that follows its protagonist into the end of the world and everything that comes beyond it. Isherwood “Ish” Williams is a geologist who is shut away from society in his cabin when the pandemic that plagues human society worldwide rapidly grows in power and wipes everyone out. That is, everyone except for the few dreadful immune. Consequently, Ish finds himself waking up to an entirely new reality as one of the immunes who must reckon with their fates of isolation. Nonetheless, instead of giving in to his nihilism, Ish ends up leading the charge towards a new tomorrow. Naturally, the geologist’s foray into this daunting new world initially poses big problems, charting a difficult path for him in episode 1. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Ish Wakes to a Whole New World
Geologist Ish Williams is currently living off-the-grid in a cabin in the woods, researching his studies. His days are usually ordinary—featuring journal entries, missed calls from his mother, and ventures out into the forest with his trusty pickaxe. However, while observing some rocks one morning, Ish gets bit by a rattlesnake that injects its venom into his system. As such, Ish is left light-headed and disoriented, with only enough composure to suck some of the venom out of his hands. Nonetheless, by the time he rushes back to his cabin, enough venom has made it into his bloodstream to knock him out cold. As such, due to his solitary lifestyle preferences, the geologist remains knocked out alone in his cabin, sleeping off the venom’s after-effects.
In the in-betweens, Ish only has enough presence of mind to hear some strangers passing by his cabin and wake up interminably to hydrate. Eventually, days later, he finally wakes up and seems fully recovered from his injury. His first course of action remains to drive out into the suburbs to his parents’ house. However, on the drive over, he notices a peculiar scene as the roads seem to be entirely empty of any commotion. Even more concerning, he finds several dead bodies littered around the city, along with warning signs about a pandemic-induced global apocalypse wiping out hoards of populations and governments.
This compels Ish to rush to his parent’s house in a frenzy to check up on them. Unfortunately, only silence greets him at the house. Upstairs, he finds his father passed away in a bed and his mother lifeless in the bathroom. Even though he isn’t in any way prepared for the jarring scene, Ish immediately begins digging shallow graves to lay his parents at rest. With a heavy heart, he says goodbye to his family—and the world as he knows it.
Ish Finds Unexpected Company in Fellow Immunes
In the aftermath of Ish’s acceptance of his new predicament, the man rapidly begins losing a grip on his sanity. His entire world has just been turned upside down, as everyone he knows has died within the span of a few weeks. Worse yet, he has somehow survived and is now left alone to start a life anew. Initially, he decides to drive out of town after supplies run to the local supermarket store, where he stocks up on weapons. However, he soon realizes that the bridge out of the town has been barricaded off. Afterward, he drives away to Las Vagas—perhaps in search of a distraction.
In Vegas, Ish finds a center with fully functioning electricity and decides to indulge in a few luxuries to cool off from the day’s grief. However, while in the bar, he runs into a pair of strangers—other survivors like him. Yet, unlike him, these survivors—Ann and Milton—have a good idea of everything that went down in the build-up to the apocalypse. As it turns out, the pandemic, which was slowly brewing in the background, grew rapidly in strength while no one was prepared to deal with it. As a result, most populations succumbed to it, leaving a handful of survivors behind who sported genetic immunity to the disease.
Thus, people like Ish, Ann, and Milton are all that’s left alone. The latter two—an unmarried but involved couple—have already faced the worst of their loneliness and grief after losing their loved ones. Therefore, they decided to spend the rest of their days in the luxurious hotel until the electric supply ran out. Afterward, they plan on shooting each other dead to spare them the torment of their current survival. Both Ann and Milton want Ish to join them in their hedonist last few days to make their life a little bit more bearable.
Nonetheless, Ish doesn’t want that. Despite his grief, he still has some hope left within him. Therefore, he believes that he can still make a life for himself. He wants to seek out other survivors and build a new life. For the same reason, Ish turns down Ann and Milton’s offer and takes his leave. As he exits the center, he overhears the resounding sound of two gunshots, signaling that the two survivors chose an even earlier death.
Ish Finds a New Start
Even though Ish spoke of finding a new start, the unforeseen deaths of Ann and Milton severely threw off the geologist. In a way, it must have felt like another confirmation of his own doom. Furthermore, Ish must have also blamed himself for the fact that Ann and Milton were fast-paced with their plan and decided to succumb to joint suicide at once instead of weeks later. Therefore, as he’s leaving Vegas, he recklessly speeds down the road as if searching for his own demise. Nonetheless, he’s forced to stop when he finds a dog in the middle of the road. As Ish comes to a steep halt, the dog barely escapes what would have been a brutal death.
For the same reason, Ish names the dog Lucky and decides to include him in his new family of two. Something about Lucky’s presence and the fateful way he enters Ish’s life compels the other to revert to his original plan of starting anew. The fact that he now has another life relying on him probably also helps ignite some hope within him. Thus, Ish returns to his hometown and searches the local library for survival books covering all bases, from fishing and hunting to solar panels.
Consequently, Ish begins living the life of a survivor with Lucky as his companion. This way, a year passes. However, the promise of change hangs on the horizon as the lone geologist spots smoke in a nearby chimney. The smoke likely belongs to another survivor, signaling the end of Ish and Lucky’s lonesome days. Yet, whether this new addition to their neighborhood will bring good or bad into their lives remains yet to be seen.
Read More: Where is MGM+’s Earth Abides Filmed?
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