Forever is Tomorrow Is Today – Episode 6 begins with Heather (Aleksandra Cross) trying to explain to Jean (Hillary McCormack) and Ezra (Brikett Turton) how Raif (River Codack) died.
Joey (Elias Leacock) wakes next to Heather, and they briefly discuss everything from nicknames to his illness before a frantic Isherwood ‘Ish’ Williams (Alexander Ludwig) arrives with a variety of medicines from his hospital trip. When Ish prepares to give Joey a blood transfusion, in hopes of passing along his immunity, he and Heather get into a slight argument about proper treatment.
While Jean struggles with the loss of Raif, Ish decides to take Joey to Molly (Luisa d’Oliveira) and let her try her yew tree cure. Molly tells him that it will take at least a day or two to know if the cure works but being that Joey is on fire, he doesn’t think he has that kind of time. Molly suggests getting him into an ice bath, which Ish does with the help of Jorge (Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll).
Although Ish didn’t need Jorge’s help with Joey, he asked him to come along because is a so-called man of faith and he is a non-believer. As they try to break Joey’s fever, Ish tells Jorge that God is punishing him but he doesn’t go as far as to say why. At one point, Joey wakes up and asks if he is flying, which Ish tells him that he is.
Molly’s yew tree cure is working wonders for Kori (Howi Lai) and his people. It probably doesn’t hurt that this strain of this virus is much weaker than the original, according to Molly. When Heather exits the bus, she runs into Kori, who wants to know how his people are doing. This conversation quickly goes from that to the man who attacked her and Raif in the woods. When Heather describes the man and his gold tattoos, there is no mistaking that Kori recognizes the description as Silas (Andres Joseph). Kori is clearly struggling with what he just discovered when Molly exits the bus to join him. He asks her if she’s ever had a secret she knew she couldn’t tell. She initially laughs at him but tells him that if the secret makes the world a better place, keep it. If the secret doesn’t, shout it from the rooftops.
Despite the success of the yew cure, it doesn’t appear to be having an effect on Joey, and Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes) isn’t handling the news well. Joey wakes away but this time he calls for Ish and tells him that he is scared. It is only seconds after this that Joey passes. Ish does not handle the news well.
As the funeral proceeds, Ish spirals out by returning to the survivor sign and covering it up. He also returns to the library and destroys some books. As he is in the process of burning them, he is joined by Emma, who practically tells him that he needs to keep over Joey’s death and rejoin the living. He says that he can’t because everything is an illusion. Before leaving she tells him that it was all gone before Joey’s death and reminds him that they have other children and friends.
Sometime later Ish returns home to Emma, who tells him that living has more dying in it than the heart can bear. He tries to convince her that it is all right but she now claims that she’s lost too much. They go on like this for several minutes before comforting each other.
Ish is out hiking one day when he comes across a photo-perfect sky that can’t be described by science. It’s almost as if he is beginning to believe in something far greater and rushes home to share his discovery with his class. Ish tells his class that he got the world so wrong. The entire time he was trying to take lessons from the past and incorporate them into today’s world when today’s world is already far better off. There is no war, chemicals, or greed as there was in the past. He finishes his speech by telling his class that they don’t need him as a teacher because they have the greatest teacher there is, the world.
A year later, Ish finally brings himself to step foot into Joey’s room. While doing so, he discovers an old journal that Joey had stolen to record his own thoughts and inventions. Ish appears blown away by the sophistication of the concepts, but it is the last page about finding others that nearly leaves him speechless After reading the journal, Ish shares it with the others and they begin bringing Joey’s concept to life.
When Joey’s concept is finally brought to life, it is revealed to be a giant radio tower that reaches the far ends of the earth. The only problem is, without the exact frequency of the other transmitter, it’s like searching for a light in the dark. Ish spends his days and nights dedicated to the project until Emma draws him away for a game of baseball. This turns out to be a real rite and everyone has a great time. However, the game turns out to be more impactful when Heather asks why the game has so many numbers. Ish and Emma’s best explanation is that in the old world, everyone was hung up on statistics and measuring and ranking everything thing. Hearing this causes Heather to remember the arrows and numbers that she and Raif kept encountering on their trip outside. Ish realizes that the numbers 147 225 are a frequency.
It takes a bit but Ish finally gets a response from a lady who claims to be part of a 77-member community, located less than 100 miles away at what used to be a state park, Point Lobo. The group soon realizes that Lobo is Spanish for wolf just as Lupo is also Spanish for wolf, but the biggest concern becomes whether or not it is safe to join or invite these strangers into their lives.
The episode ends 50 years into the collapse in what appears to be a small suburban neighborhood with a much older Ish passing his hammer off to Heather’s oldest son, Jack (Timothy Stubbs). Ish tells him that his last lesson is, men and women come and go but the earth abides.
Earth Abides Review
I wasn’t expecting this to be the finale or for the series to be a miniseries. I am not sure if it is either of those things, but it sure seems that way. I kept wondering why the series kept time jumping. In some of the previous reviews, you’ll see that I was afraid that the series might jump itself out of ideas. If this is the end, I cannot say I am too disappointed. I wasn’t particularly enjoying the episode because it seemed centered on Joey’s death but in the end, the impact he made on the world and the legacy he left behind was incredible. I’d have to give the episode a 6.1 out of 10.
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