The Return – The episode begins with the community celebrating the high of hitting water. Isherwood ‘Ish’ Williams (Alexander Ludwig) watches Charlie (Aaron Tvit) council Alex (Lennox Laecock) from afar how to flirt with Evie (Jenna Berman). It is clear this does not sit well with Ish. At the same time, Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes) questions Perry (Victoria Morgan) about their group’s next destination. The discussion doesn’t get too far thanks to Charlie interrupting with a triumphant speed that ends with everyone chanting his name.
Ish is in the same place on his balcony that he was earlier when he hears a woman scream. At about the time he looks down at Evie’s cottage, he sees Silas (Andres Joseph) standing guard and Charlie emerges seconds later. Ish yells at him but he practically ignores him while walking back to his RV. Perry is waiting for him and is clearly just as upset as Ish. Charlie lays this off by making a snide comment about him sleeping alone.
By the time Ish arrives, Maurine (Elyse Levesque) and Molly (Luisa d’Oliveira) have already deduced that Charlie raped Evie, although she never came out and admitted it. None of Ish’s people are particularly happy about this discovery, especially Maurine. Despite this, they are even less happy when Emma says they don’t have any option but to kill him. After some debating, the group decides to put it to a vote. Jean (Hilary McCormack) is the first to cast her vote as a yes. Ezra (Brikett Tuurton) and Molly vote yes as well. Jorge initially votes no but Maurine persuades him otherwise.
After the vote, Ish confronts Charlie and asks him to leave nicely. Charlie only makes matters worse by insulting Evie and saying the only way he is leaving is with Ish’s wife, Emma. Charlie continues to joke about taking care of Alex and Joey (Elias Leacock) and setting an example for them. By the time the conversation is done, Ish is surrounded by all of the members of his community except for Maurine and Evie. Charlie only continues to joke but it is Ish who gets the last laugh after he bludgeons Charlie to death with the hammer Jorge gave him.
Ish’s conversation with Emma later that night clearly suggests that he has a problem with what he did. Emma doesn’t appear to care so much and practically tells him he did a good thing. It doesn’t help matters that Joey nearly catches him cleaning the blood off his hammer.
The following morning, Ish’s people subtly tell Perry that Charlie left and won’t be returning. It takes her a few minutes but she finally grasps the meaning of what they are telling her. She also asks if that means that she needs to leave, and Jean makes it clear that she has a place for as long as she wants it. Things don’t go nearly as smoothly when Silas and Kori (Howie Lai) show up looking for Charlie. It doesn’t them or the others nearly as long as it did Perry to realize what happened to Charlie. Everyone stays except for Silas and leaving is not of his own choice because he practically comes back minutes later, begging to stay. Ish doesn’t let him. He also has to tell Alex that Charlie had to leave because he hurt Evie. This doesn’t go so well either and ends with Alex storming off.
20 years after the pandemic, Ish helps Joey unveil his new project to the community. Although there are still a few tweaks before completion, it appears that Joey has created a modified version of Da Vinci airplane. When fully charged, Joey claims the craft can do a round trip of 200 miles. Although he remains in the background, Alex clearly doesn’t share the other’s excitement. Later that night when Ish reads a bedtime story to Joey, he claims to have a fever. Ish administers him soon kind of root concoction from the kitchen.
Later that night, Joey comes into Ish and Emma’s room, covered in sweat. Minutes later, Ish is with Molly, who appears to be administering to Kori and several others. Although Ish attributes the illness to a common cold, it’s clear that Molly thinks it has something to do with the original virus. At one point, she even encourages Ish to stay away and says that the new strain appears to be infecting people that it skipped over last time. Upon learning about Joey, Molly encourages Ish to bring him to the makeshift hospital, but Ish wants no part of it.
With the illness spreading so far and so fast, Emma seeks out Maurine’s help. Evie also volunteers her help after hearing about Joey. Despite all this, Ish has still refused to take Joey to the makeshift hospital and continues trying to treat him at home. While trying to bring down Joey’s fever, Ish asks him where he would go if he could take his plane anywhere. Joey says that he wants to see giant redwood and humpback whales. Ish also has a vision of Charlie while trying to care for Joey.
As time passes, Ish spends every waking minute in Joey’s room. At one point when he finds the opportunity, Alex practically asks Ish if he would be as concerned if he was the sick party. Alex rushes off before Ish can respond. Sometime later, Heather (Aleksandra Cross) returns without Raif.
As time passes and Joey’s condition worsens, Ish begins to think that the universe is demanding Joey’s life because he took Charlie’s. At one point, Ish becomes so desperate that he bikes into the city’s hospital to search for meds. Even though he finds all kinds of meds, he stops at the chapel area and asks God/Jesus to take his life instead of Joey’s. This is practically how the episode ends.
Earth Abides Review
Episode 5 was certainly a nice way to wrap up episode 4. In fact, it nearly finishes up episode 4 before the opening credits. I was surprised by how quickly a decision was made and action was taken. The ability to skip ahead is one of the things I’ve begun to admire about the show. It’s not like a new baby is born and you spend an entire season with that baby at a specific age. Instead, this show jumps ahead several years multiple times in most episodes.
This not only speeds up the storylines but it creates the opportunity for all kinds of different stories and controversies. The only thing I fear is that the showrunners are going to run out of ideas because of all these time jumps. I am not familiar with the book, so that side of the story is completely shut off to me. All that said, I’d give this episode a 5.6 out of 10.
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