Tag Archives: Post-Apocalyptic Television

Earth Abides: Forever is Tomorrow is Today & Full Season – TV Review

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TL;DR – A beautifully contemplative end to a fascinating series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Year 20.

Earth Abides Review –

One of the interesting little gems that I found towards the end of the year was an exploration of life and death in the aftermath of absolute tragedy. What do you do when you are alone in a world that was once teaming with life? Do you survive? Do you pack it in? Do you reach out? Or do you close yourselves off from everything? These are the questions we ask in the ruins of the old world.   

So, to set the scene, twin tragedies have struck the small community of San Lupo. First, Heather (Aleksandra Cross) has returned home alone after a long sojourn north without Raif (River Codack). Even worse, after twenty years, the virus returned, and soon, many members of the town became ill. Sadder for Ish (Alexander Ludwig) and Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes), one of those affected is their son Joey (Elias Leacock), whose shoulders much of the future was resting on. We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Earth Abides: World Without End – TV Review

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TL;DR – How do you build community when you fear the world outside?

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this series.

The group has to start salvaging a wider area.

Earth Abides Review –

Earth Abides has been a very interesting show so far, in many respects, in how it can blow through time yet still make it feel like a coherent whole. Alone was about Ish’s journey to find himself in a world alone, and then The Space Between discovered a world where there are now two. But you need more than two for a community, but with community comes benefits and potential dangers.

So, to set the scene, it is now Year 6 of a world without humans or most humans, and nature has started to reclaim much of the world that once was. However, as the human world shrinks to nothingness, those few connections that remain become even more critical. This is what forces Ish (Alexander Ludwig) to race after a young child he sees in the woods. However, as time passes, their small community will face their biggest challenge, which is a throuple. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Earth Abides: The Space Between Review – Exploring Cast Chemistry

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TL;DR – Today shows why the chemistry between the cast is so important because it helps make this episode everything it is.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Alone in an empty supermarket.

Earth Abides Review –

Last week, we got to dive into a fascinating look at a post-apocalyptic world where someone woke up to a world gone. While the first episode was very much a primer for the world and the stories that we will be telling in it. I am looking forward to seeing what the show can do when it expands on its premise.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Alone, Ish (Alexander Ludwig) was contemplating his life as possibly the last human on Earth, or at least the last one in his part of the country, which was emotionally devastating but still a cathartic ending. That was until he saw smoke coming out of the chimney of a house on the other side of town. But what starts as a confrontation at the barrel of a gun begins something a bit more. Because with Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes), he has met someone who understands what he has gone through. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Silo The Harmonium Review: Class Struggles and Power Dynamics

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TL;DR – Today, we hit the point of no return.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

Judge Mary Meadows analyses.

Silo Review –

Fundamentally, what works so well about Silo is that even though it is a post-apocalyptic sort of sci-fi story about people living in a heavily class-stratified society under a quasi-fascist government with a veneer of democracy to make it palatable. That is not the focus; the people are the focus, and that is why I check in each week to see what happens next.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Solo, Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) discovered that her no cleaning might be the catalyst for her entire Silo getting killed because that is what happened in Silo 17. But her suit is destroyed, and any replacement is now deep underwater. Well, until Solo (Steve Zahn) reminds here that a fire suit might be able to be adapted for the job. The only problem is that the only fire station left is still underwater, but only by one floor. So, there is hope, only if they can find a way to pump air down to her. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Silo: Solo Review – The Battle of Flexibility vs. Rigidness

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TL;DR – Today’s episode is all about the tension between flexibility and rigidness, and it was a fascinating discussion.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Eyes peer out behind a door.

Silo Review –

In the first two episodes of the season, The Engineer & Order, we got to catch up on what was happening in both of the Silos. Now that we have our grounding, it is time to start propelling the narrative forward. Well, that is what we will explore today.

So, to set the scene, back in The Engineer, Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) managed to survive cleaning and walked through a valley of corpses to the next Silo over. In it, after much exploration, she finds the one person left alive in Silo 17 called Solo (Steve Zahn). The only problem is that Juliette discovers that the fracture point for Silo 17 was when someone didn’t clean, and that caused the rebellion and deaths. And then it dawns on her, this is what she just did to Silo 18. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Earth Abides: Alone Review – Exploring an Unique Take on Post-Apocalyptic Themes

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TL;DR – This is a good start, but it was all set up, and I will need to see how it develops before I really can take a look at it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this series.

A mobile phone with the text message 'I Love You' on the screen.

Earth Abides Review –

Well, if there is one genre that has had an interesting way of times, it is the post-apocalyptic. On the one hand, we all just went through a pandemic, so that is very much on our minds in a way that shows like The Last of Us had to change core parts of their lore to make them work. Yet we have also found joyous explorations of comradery and self-exploration in shows like Station Eleven, which have been almost cathartic to watch. But can you find new space in that genre? That is the question we will ask today.   

So, to set the scene, the world of today is a very interconnected beast, and that brings with it a bunch of benefits and problems. In that world lives Ish (Alexander Ludwig), a geologist who lives out in the sticks, finding mineral deposits that haven’t been harvested yet. But on this day, as he tries to find some new pyrite deposits, a rattlesnake bites him and only just makes it back to his house before he passes out. He manages to ride out the poison in his cabin, barely, but when he wakes from his trauma weeks later, he comes out into a world that has dramatically changed from the one he left. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Silo: Order – TV Review

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TL;DR – We get to see a society on the brink of collapse, where years of lies have come home to roost

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

Juliette Lives Graffiti.

Silo Review –

While the opening episode, The Engineer, was all about what happened to Juliette, I wondered if we were just going to keep following their story. However, the casting list showed me that we were still going to stay linked to the Silo from the first season in some capacity. Well, today, we see just what those links will be.

So, to set the scene, after being set up by Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) and Robert Sims (Common), Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) was forced to go outside and ‘clean’ in the season finale. However, she does not clean and just walks away, breaking centuries of tradition. Also, Nichols was well-liked in many sectors of Silo, and people were upset and asking questions. The whole Silo is on the cusp of rebellion. Everyone just saw Juliette walk over that hill, and everyone, especially those down below, wanted to know what that meant. Is it safe? Can they all leave? What else is management lying about? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Silo: The Engineer – TV Review

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TL;DR – The episode where Rebecca Ferguson gets stuff done.   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

Juliette walks across the surface.

Silo Review –

I was unsure what to expect when the first episode of Silo, Freedom Day, dropped. I had not read the original novels by Hugh Howey, so when we went down the rabbit hole that was the mystery of the Silo, I was captivated by which turns the show would make. Now that we have seen the first season, I am even more fascinated by where the show can go from here. Well, after a long wait, it is time to see just what they will do as we dive back underground and see what waits in store for us.

So, to set the scene, after being set up by Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) and Robert Sims (Common), Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) was forced to go outside and ‘clean’ in the season finale. However, thanks to some work from Martha Walker (Harriet Walter), Juliette’s suit was fitted with tape that actually worked so that the poisonous air would not leak in. It is here where she discovers not only is there still a barren, poisoned world on the surface, but their Silo is not the only one. Not knowing how long the tape will last, she runs to the next Silo over, only to discover thousands of dead bodies spilled across the ground. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Goodbye Earth (Jongmalui Babo/종말의 바보): Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an interesting premise that is well acted, but the glacial pace holds it back when there is such a specific counting clock driving all the motivations.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The destruction of the Earth mural.

Goodbye Earth Review –

In the past couple of years, there have been two huge surprises. The first was how emotional Greenland turned out to be, and the second was how impactful All of Us Are Dead turned out to be. When I heard that there was a series that could be the Venn diagram between these two, well, I had to check it out. In today’s review, we will be looking at the first six episodes to see if it captures us.    

So to set the scene, we opened in an abandoned construction site for apartments, with cranes left standing, swaying in the wind mid-load, as if society shifted in an instant. In this world, a young girl lives alone on the top floor in a society that is starting to collapse around them because on February the 22nd, 2026, an asteroid Dina is going to crash into Earth, striking the Korean Peninsula, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. There are just 201 days before the end of most life on Earth. While anyone who can get out of Asia is in the city of Woongcheon, Korea, at Cheondong Middle School, people are trying to go on. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Fallout: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a series that shows you how important it is to get the vibe of the work you are adapting correctly.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this series.

End Credit – There is a mid-credit sequence.

Cooper Howard sells vaults.

Fallout Review –

Like many people, I had a bit of trepidation when they announced that there would be an adaptation of the video game Fallout. Sure, the original video game built a world that is ripe for adaptation. However, at the time of the announcement, video game adaptations were not known for their quality or respect of the source material. But that first trailer showed that there was potential here, and I am glad to say, after watching it all, I think that mostly held up.  

So to set the scene, we open in 2077; that feels like it is a world of the past that is close but not quite like the one we have today, yet actually the future. After a series of resource wars, the USA and China are on the brink of apocalypse, and it is on everyone’s mind as Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) appears as a cowboy at a local child’s birthday party. Which sadly, it comes to pass as multiple nuclear explosions destroy Los Angeles as Cooper rides off with his daughter on a horse. Two hundred nineteen years later, Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) lives in Vault 33, one of the few places that survived the carnage. Her dad, Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan), is the overseer of the Vault, and the day of her wedding is a big event for everyone. However, the tri-annual visit from Vault 32 does not quite go according to plan. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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