Earth Abides

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.

I actually like this show. It has small plotholes, but it holds together and I want more!

Sure, the behavior of some people at the outset of this is strange, but nonetheless they all do stuff that I could imagine some would.

The pain and loneliness of the main character is interesting and believable. Where he is coming from is also plausible.

My mind is full of questions, and the anticipation of what will happen is still strong enough. What will he do? What will anyone do?

It is good that it hasn't too much of over the top CGI backdrops and I like the overall feel of it.

It's also refreshing that this is NOT another zombie outbreak. We don't need every survival drama to be about that. The suspension is alive and kicking here, so keep it up!

I just hope all the childish and negative reviews doesn't kill this series. It has my support!

Looking forward to the next episode!

Going into this as an avid apocalypse fan, I was excited to see a long a fruitful world building into the narrative which upon learning it was only a mini series then left me "insert cliche" of wanting more. The main characters are left with shallow to no back story preventing the watcher to become invested in them emotionally which for the genre is a grip factor.

Failing that the entire story feels rushed and at times outlandish, a specific scene seems utter nonsense in reality .

When it came to wrap up of the series , I was left feeling as though it was quickly scrubbed together . A brilliant performance from the leading cast let down but rushed screen time and shallow writing .

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.

I read the original novel many times when I was a teenager, decades ago. It's a great story with lots of effective imagery, highly recommended, though a bit dated - published 1949, seventy-five years ago.

Though I had often wondered over the years whether it would ever become a film, I was not expecting this limited-series adaptation, so I was very surprised when it popped up. Also very worried, as it remains one of favorite-ever reads. "Men go and come, but earth abides" is a often-used quote for me. With some anxiety, I watched the first episode.

I ended it saying: "Wow! That was really good!" Seeing Ish stare at the smoke from Em's house brought the book's imagery to life.

Of course, by necessity it's been modernized in many ways, but important aspects of the plot remain effectively unchanged. The rattlesnake bite, finding Lucky the dog (Princess in the book), Milt and Ann. Other changes, like limiting Ish's journey to simply Las Vegas rather than Atlantic City, make sense, and are not important to the character interactions. Also, the way the book is structured makes a limited series a great production choice.

I am definitely looking forward to the rest of this series. "World without end!"