Earth Abides

The series offers a refreshing perspective on post-apocalyptic life, which I truly appreciate. However, the pacing feels rushed, and the characters lack sufficient development. For example, Evie's trauma is introduced but not explored deeply enough, leaving her arc feeling incomplete. Additionally, new characters are introduced frequently, but the audience isn't given enough time to connect with them or fully appreciate their roles in the story. I also wish they delved more into the children or what happened to Evie's family-their stories feel incomplete, leaving me hanging. Slowing down the narrative or focusing more on character development could significantly enhance the experience.

I'll give kudos to the producers who generally kept to the original characters and storyline from George R Stewart's novel. However, as great as the novel was with building the characters and telling a gripping story, this mini-series felt extremely shallow and bland. The actors seemed either empty or over-done, and a lot of things just seemed be contrived and glossed over. Perhaps it's too much to ask for some basic technical accuracy to be used, but too many things were just used as plot devices and the watcher is expected to just think that's how things work. I understand the desire to set the story in modern times with modern technology, events, etc, but even with hours of TV time to burn, the story just falls flat. In 1950, one year after the book was published, the novel was adapted for a one-hour radio program that did more in sixty minutes to capture the spirit of the novel than the hours and hours of the 2024 adaptation.

EDIT: After now having finished the season, I need to change my rating from 1 star to 5 stars. I would still never recommend the series to anyone, though. But should you choose to watch it, bear in mind that the story was published in 1941, long before any of us were born. It was written in a completely different time, where the world was so much smaller, and we had much less knowledge about anything. Furthermore, the author wasn't a skilled, experienced survivalist. No, as novelist George R. Stewart was probably more of a philosopher, it seems. My advice is to regard the series as a theater play. It would have worked much better as such, I think. But as a TV-series, the narrative is just too slow, with too little drama and too little action for today's world.

The concept is good, the lead character and his story gets you in, then it just drags along, the writers never knew where to take it.

Some episodes go absolutely no where and they use time jumps ranging from 1 month to 10 years ! It just doesn't flow, which is said because many times it nearly gets there, but then just moves on...and on.

Because of the dramatic time jumping few of the characters develop and you spend time working out who is who, as they age dramatically, apart from the lead who mostly looks the same.

My thoughts on why it never develops? I don't think they had the budget for a big set and effects.

Will be interesting to see where they go with this apocalyptic near-end of humankind. The first episode was better than the preview. It is a quiet and solitary show since (almost!) everyone but the main character has died from a pandemic, but uses that quiet to ask worthy existential questions about loneliness, whether you should strive to live if your loved ones are all dead, hope, and how to move forward. There is a famous book with this title/theme and we'll see how much this series complements and parallels that novel. The first episode is good enough to watch more. It has a Walking Dead sense of desolation and despair but without zombies, and instead the personal struggle of living in a vastly changed world.