Earth Abides – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Forever Is Tomorrow Is Today

Episode 6 of Earth Abides starts this finale in year 20, with Heather talking about her journey with Raif. They drove north together, but they didn’t see another living person on their odyssey. They found a beach and didn’t seem like they’re going to leave. The pair were happy, enjoying their time in tranquil bliss, with them both making a vow to be together. With so many desolate places, Raif and Heather saw it as a sign that there are little breadcrumbs of a life meant for them to pick up and continue.

Interestingly, the pair find arrows and numbers painted on rocks and on the side of buildings, so they decided to follow. Only, it led them to nowhere. They eventually settled for a spot right up on the edge of a dangerous cliff-face, which was their last spot before heading home.

However, out in the woods they ended up finding a strange bearded man, who threatens Raif with a knife and fatally stabs him. Heather kills the guy but unfortunately, she’s on her own and after weeks of traveling, she made it back to their commune. That man who threatened them and killed Raif? Well, it turns out it was actually Silas. What are the odds of that, eh?

Does Joey survive?

Meanwhile, Joey is still struggling, with his brain “fuzzy”. Joey  is convinced that Ish has given up on him, although he returns from the hospital more determined than ever. He has plans to try and transfer his immunity across to his son.

Heather pleads with her dad to stop, bringing up that there’s medicine being made now and that may do the trick. Unfortunately, in the wake of this, Jean pours herself a drink but only one has shot thankfully, in honour of Raif.

When Joey’s fever gets worse, Ish sorts out an ice bath to try and break it and cool him down. He brings Jorge into help, given he’s a man of faith, and hopes for the best. Some of the other residents, like Kori, do recover but Joey, unfortunately, passes away.

What does Ish learn from Joey’s death?

Ish falls off the deep end, believing their hope for reigniting the old world has gone. He’s poured everything into his son becoming the saviour of their commune and, of course, it’s not enough. Emma is teary and tries to talk Ish around in the library. She reminds him that they have other children to look after and Ish’s behaviour is not exactly healthy. Sure, he;s grief-stricken but he can’t throw away the life they’ve built together.

Ish does eventually come to terms with Joey’s death and eventually goes back to teaching the new generation. Ish breaks the chalk in his hands in half, explaining to the young minds that the old world had a slew of problems. They can’t take for granted the beautiful abundance they currently have. He no longer wants to try and drag the old world into the new, believing they should live in harmony with what they have – and with each other.

Does Ish find a new frequency?

We then cut to Year 21. Ish packs up Joey’s belongings, but stumbles upon a journal. Inside, Joey has a whole bunch of entries here, including diagrams and various idea for getting inventions working. One in particular involves an antenna and reaching out with a makeshift radio, looking for transmissions from other survivors.

The whole community come together and work through Joey’s radio, punching in different transmissions and various frequencies, trying to communicate with the outside world.

In between this, they head to the abandoned playground as a group and decide to play baseball. Lets hope no cougars show up and maul them, eh? Anyway, on the field, Ish speaks to Heather who brings up the numbers she’s been seeing everywhere. Turns out they’re actually a frequency. 147 225. It’s California and they actually get a reply.

How does Earth Abides end?

There are 77 people in Point Lobo, which used to be a State Park, and that’s who Ish is currently communicating with. This group have settled by the ocean to fish, and although they all have their reservations, they’re all in agreement that this is “destiny”, and decide to reach out.

We then cut to Year 50. Ish is a lot older now and walks with Heather’s oldest son, handing over the hammer he’s been carrying all these years. It’s a symbolic gesture to pass on the knowledge and the lessons learned, ready for a new group to take over when he passes. The area is full of different houses, and it seems everybody is now living in harmony, with a new-found appreciation for the wider world.

The Episode Review

Earth Abides finishes its first season with the death of Joey and the group eventually moving on and finding a brand new commune to live in harmony. Silas is obviously dead, and the secret about Raif’s death is not unveiled it seems either. There are inevitably going to be a number of other dangerous individuals out there, but now we have a large group of people together so they should be able to stop any possible threats arriving.

Joey’s death is not completely in vain though of course, as his journal helps pave the way, along with Heather’s travels, to understand more about the radio signals and communicate through to these survivors.

I do appreciate that the time jumps are a staple of the book, but in this format, the jumps don’t allow for deeper characterisation and as such, everything feels very surface level and devoid of high stakes or drama. There’s so much potential here for deeper characterisation and individual subplots (like Jean’s alcoholism, Evie’s PTSD etc.) but the show is not interested in exploring this on a deeper level.

However, there is undoubtedly a nice conclusion to this one and we do at least get a happy ending, which is something. The overarching message about the beauty of our world and the ugliness of industrialization is definitely felt, and the show captures that nicely with some of the raw natural beauty of the world and the desire to preserve that for future generations.