Predators – The episode begins with Isherwood ‘Ish” Williams (Alexander Ludwig) fighting for his life as everyone lends a hand to keep him alive. Things get pretty bad at one point and Molly (Luisa d’Oliveira) ends up having to give him CPR but he pulls through.

When Ish is stable and Molly is working on sewing up the last of the lacerations, Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes) returns to the park where Ish was attacked. She not only finds but kills the lion. By this time, Ish is not only awake but he’s coherent. He speaks to Molly while she changes his bandages. During this conversation, Molly admits that she flunked out of medical school and it was a miracle that she was able to save his life. Despite all this, Ish appears to have full confidence in her medical capabilities. It isn’t long after this and Ish returns home to his family.

By the 17th year of the pandemic, Joey (Elias Leacock) proves to be a superb gatherer and still has Ish’s eye. Although Alex (Lennox Leacock) doesn’t say anything, it’s clear that he is bothered by Ish and Joey’s relationship. Elsewhere, Raif (River Codack) and Heather (Aleksandra Cross) are old enough to go hunting by themselves. They are also old enough to want to explore their attraction to each other, which they do with a kiss. It also appears that Heather shares her dads for exploration.

Later that night, Emma tells Ish about a discussion she had with Heather about venturing out on her own with Raif. Although Heather attributes her desire to Ish’s Geography lesson, it doesn’t soften the blow any. The following morning the entire clan sees Heather and Raif off.

While giving Olivia (Adelyn Bruce) her gardening lesson, Ezra (Brikett Turton) notices that the plants are abnormally dry for this time of year. Inside, Evie (Jenna Bermen) has a problem with the kitchen faucet that nearly sends her into a panic attack. It’s a good thing that Ish was nearby. A quick trip to the reservoir reveals that the group has much bigger problems than a single sink faucet. Ish figures that with the current drought, the group has about a week of water left, and that is if they begin rationing as soon as they return home.

The bland announcement about the water is soon interrupted by an excited Joey who has just spotted a whole clan of travelers on the overpass. Ish sure does not share Joey’s excitement and rushes him to the car in retreat. Ish only becomes more cautious when they get back home until Jorge (Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll) points out fresh tire tracks are as good as a trail of breadcrumbs. Once the others get involved, it becomes a debate about hiding or returning to greet the visitors. Ish appears to be the only one for hiding but their decision is just as soon made for them when Charlie (Aaron Tveit) and Perry (Victoria Morgan) show up at the gate with a peace offering of water. As it turns out Charlie and his band of travelers just happened to find a well drill outside of Nevada. While there in the desert, they also learned how to drill for wells.

After a meal and against Ish’s better judgment, he trades all his spare fuel to Charlie for a well. Charlie and his group figure that it will take about 72 hours to dig the well. When the drilling starts, Charlie embarrasses Ish by asking him if he wants to change the bit. Ish jumps on the offer without thinking twice but learns that the bit is much heavier than he anticipated. Ish has to get help to complete the task. Charlie tries to play this down by telling Ish that people are better at different things. Charlie then asks Ish how good he is with a gun. Ish’s response is that he is much better with a gun than a bit.

Ish and Charlie’s hunting trip doesn’t go much better when they spot a deer and Charlie takes a reckless shot that nearly puts Ish in the line of the fire. Despite Charlie hitting the deer with a perfectly placed bullet, Ish doesn’t take it too lightly.

Later that evening over dinner, Alex asks Charlie about the scars on his arms. Charlie mysteriously tells him that scars are God’s way of measuring how much more a man can take. In response to this, Alex and Joy tell Charlie about Ish’s run-ins with a lion and rattlesnake. As the evening winds down Perry and Emma are the first to retire, leaving Charlie and Ish alone. That evening they end up discussing everything from why they survived to how best to survive the future. Charlie ends the night by telling Ish that he likes him.

Things do not go so well the following morning when Ish tells Alex that he doesn’t want him working with Charlie. This ends in a big argument and Alex storming off from the kitchen tale. It doesn’t take Emma long to put two and two together and figure out what’s going on. This conversation also ends in an argument when Ish says that he doesn’t trust Charlie.

Later that day, Charlie has a tough time breaking through a layer of rock. Ish is the first to take advantage of this and tease Charlie about the fact that they should already have water. Much to his credit, Charlie maintains his cool and continues the drilling. Although they are down to their last Mason bit, they finally manage to break through the layer of shale.

Emma tries to cheer Ish up when she finds him moping while watching Charlie and the others work on the well. Her advances go unnoticed and cause Ish to get a look at the well job firsthand. The singing and camaraderie only further eat at Ish and cause him to go for a hike in the woods alone. He ends up lost and staying out way past dark, which does not sit well with Emma. While Ish slogs his way through the woods, Charlie makes an advance on Jean (Hilary McCormack) by offering her a cigarette and liquor. She is strong enough to resist his advances and Jorge kills any further when he unexpectedly shows up.

By the time Ish does make it back home, Emma is nearly dressed and ready to go after him. This leads to another slight argument but by the time the scene is finished, they are laughing and having a good time. She also asks him what happens if they don’t find water. His response is that he is more worried about what happens if they do find water.

The very next day Charlie and his group hit water. Ish watches Charlie and the others celebrate the huge for a few minutes before reminding him that they had a deal. He tells Charlie to grab whatever he needs and get ready to do. The episode ends with Charlie saying that he likes the community much more than he thought.

 

Earth Abides Review

With The Walking Dead and Fear The Waking Dead, it was only a matter of time before Ish and his group were faced with a breathing, human enemy. Charlie is going to turn out to be quite the formidable foe being he has already wormed his way inside. An attack from within is always far more grueling and punishing than an attack from an outsider.

I did find it kind of annoying how Charlie just happened to show up with a well drill and a solution as soon as Ish’s group discovered their water problem. In addition to that, it wasn’t too hard to see how things were going to play out. I do appreciate that the creators tried to create some different problems than what you’d expect with the average apocalyptic thriller, but I just wish they would have gone about it a bit differently. Other than that, there isn’t much to complain about. I’d have to give the episode a 5.3 out of 10.

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