Tag Archives: Post-Apocalyptic Television

The Last of Us: Day One – TV Review

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TL;DR – It is time to find out what is happening in Seattle … and it is messy, to say the least.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Max service that viewed this show.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Ellie and Dina scoping out a site.

The Last of Us Review –

In cinema, while the word ‘physicality’ gets thrown around a lot, what it means is a tangible sense that you believe what you see. Does an actor have the presence to make their performance believable? Does a place feel real, or is it coming off as a paper veneer? Well, today, we get some good examples of how The Last of Us uses physicality to make its world work.    

So, to set the scene, eleven years ago, FEDRA ruled Seattle with a hard fist, so much so that they have dehumanised the local population. Few believed this was an issue, but Isaac Dixon (Jeffrey Wright). In the world of now, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) have just made it into the city to find no signs of life but a lot of dead FEDRA corpses around. But there is hope. In the distance, there is a large dish brandished with the WLF, and they realise they are in the right place for their revenge. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: The Path – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week is a step back from the relentless pace of the opening episodes to refocus us on the rest of the season.     

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Max service that viewed this show.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

Joel's watch.

The Last of Us Review –

Last week’s Through the Valley was … well … look … even for those of us who knew what was coming, it hurt a lot, even more so with the way that they updated the framing for the television adaptation. But it is also one of the lynchpin moments in the series. From here, everything changes, and that can be very hard to handle at the best of times. But when you are shifting the narrative structure from the game, things can become precarious.  

So, to set the scene, the city of Jackson has probably gone through the most significant test that has been thrown at it in the post-apocalyptic world of the series. The Infected sent feelers down their old sewer pipes and forwarded a large hoard right to their doorsteps. Many lives were lost, and much that had been built was destroyed and needed to be rebuilt. For some, that pain was even more acute as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) had to watch Joel (Pedro Pascal) be brutally murdered in front of her without closure from their confrontation during Future Days. Three months later, the city finally started to heal, but some wounds were deep and couldn’t be fixed with a hammer. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: Through the Valley – TV Review

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TL;DR – It shows the strength of the production team that even when you know how the narrative will go, yet you are still sitting on the edge of your chair.    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Max service that viewed this show.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

Abby looks out over the town of Jackson.

The Last of Us Review –

Look, I have to speak very vaguely here because we are on the wrong side of the spoiler zone, but when I said during our review of Future Days that I came into this season with a bit of apprehension, today’s episode was at the forefront of my mind. Could this adaptation pull off multiple story points that will echo not just throughout the show but out into general pop culture? Well, let’s have a look.  

So, to set the scene, while the New Year Party was meant to be a fount of joy for the community of Jackson, Wyoming, it ended in a confrontation that confirmed the fault lines that have grown between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the five years since Season One. Ellie might not know what Joel lied about, but that lie has slowly soured their relationship. But things are difficult for Jackson at the moment. It is the deep of winter, but the Infected have also been acting in different ways, and now you don’t know if you should be more concerned with things walking above or crawling below the snowline. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Last of Us: Future Days – TV Review

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TL;DR – This first episode lets us catch up with the cast and world and catch our breath before the world turns.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Max service that viewed this show.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and behind-the-scenes making off.

A group standing around some newly dug graves.

The Last of Us Review –

While the First Season of The Last of Us was a triumph, not just for Video Game adaptations but for adaptations in general, it was one of the rare works that fundamentally understood the source material, sometimes down to a shot-for-shot recreation. But also knew when some aspects needed to be refreshed or, in the case of Long Long Time, completely rewritten from the ground up. Yet, still, I came into Season Two with more than a bit of trepidation. The adaptation of the source material is going to require some hard choices, which is not going to be popular. I was there when it was released the first time and lived through that moment of ‘less than stellar’ online discourse. Yet still, I knew I had to sit down and watch, and here we are today.   

So, to set the scene, it has been five years since Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) walked away from the Firefly facility in Salt Lake City to return to Jackson. But the legacies of what Joel did, and very much lied about, live large in those who made it out of the massacre. Jackson is one of the rare places in the old America that has survived the Cordyceps Apocalypse without being under the thumb of FEDRA. But there are more than a few stragglers out there, and there are more people than construction can keep up with. Tensions remain everywhere, and the echoes of the lies we tell have started to reverberate. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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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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