Earth Abides (2024) s01e06 Episode Script

1
I'm kind of in denial of
the whole leaving thing.
- Well, we're gonna be back.
- Okay.
Wait! You can't go yet.
We gotta do our secret handshake.
We don't have a secret handshake.
That's how secret it is.
- Bye!
- Love you!
Let me stay too. Ish.
Please?
Where am I supposed to go, man?
[CLATTERING]
You'll need this out there.
[ISH] I love that my favorite place
is your favorite place.
[JOEY] The library is the only place
that I can see how people used to live.
[SCRUBBING INTENSELY]
[EMMA] There's always a debt.
There's not always forgiveness.
Who's sick?
Joey. He has a slight fever.
Just a little bug.
M-mom?
Dad?
[COLLAPSING]
- Joey? Joey?
- Joey? Joe!
[MOLLY] Whatever it
is, it is moving fast,
a-and it is infecting
even those who survived the first time.
[EMMA CHUCKLES]
Heather!
Oh, I knew you'd come back to us.
Where's Raif?
He's gone.
Could you start from the beginning?
I loved him.
From the moment I saw him, at six.
That's where it starts.
[LIGHT MUSIC PLAYING]
He loved you.
[SNIFFLING]
Like Dad said, we drove north.
[♪]
[HEATHER] We didn't see
another living person.
We found a beautiful beach,
and for a long time, it
seemed we'd never leave.
We knew we'd already broken our promise
to return home before it got cold,
but it felt like we
both kept making promises
to each other every day.
We also knew we didn't
come out into the world
to be just as alone as in San Lupo,
- so we went looking.
- Yeah.
Every town along the coast was the same.
Empty.
Unpeopled.
Well, what did you expect?
[HEATHER] Every town had something
that had been left behind,
it seemed, for us.
Whaa!
[RAIF] This place is so cool.
[HEATHER] I wonder what they made here.
I think it was like a lumber mill.
[LAUGHING]
[RAIF] Echo!
[HEATHER] Hey!
[RAIF] Woo!
Oh!
[HEATHER] We didn't know
what the numbers meant.
- Interesting.
- Why?
But we knew the arrows were
directions we couldn't ignore.
We saw it painted on
rocks and sidewalks.
You're pretty cool.
Hey! I'm driving.
No, you're not.
But no matter where we drove,
the arrows kept pointing us nowhere.
Our search for people had taken us
much further than we'd planned,
so we decided to settle in one spot.
This is so much better
than I dreamed it would be.
[GULLS CRYING]
[HEATHER] But we knew
this was our last stop
before coming home.
We were planning
on coming home.
Are you hungry?
Raif!
What?
Taxus brevifolia.
One of the few things I learned
in school before Joey did.
Uh, taxes. Uh, sorry, what?
The Pacific yew tree,
one of the most healing
trees known to humans.
Mm.
Every part of this
magical tree can heal.
From open wounds to nasty coughs.
Oh, really? We should get some
of that for Molly, then.
I'm gonna go see if there's more.
Cut it through here.
- From here?
- Yeah.
[TWIG SNAPS]
[SNAPPING]
Raif?
[GASPING]
Wait!
[RAIF] Are you okay?
I saw someone.
[RAIF] What? You saw someone?
Somebody's here?
We need to keep an eye out.
We should sleep in shifts tonight.
[SUDDEN GRUNT]
[GASPING]
Food. Now.
Or I will.
Tell us everything.
There's enough food to share!
You don't have to hold
him like that. Please.
Share? It's take or die!
[RAIF] No, we were looking for others.
Ah! No!
Others? There are no others.
Stop! No! Gaah!
- [KNIFE PLUNGES INTO FLESH]
- [HEATHER GASPS]
Ah!
I didn't want to.
He shouldn't have tried to fight.
[ROARING]
[GASPING]
[BODY FALLS]
- [RAIF GROANS]
- Raif?
Let's just get you safe, okay?
Yeah. Yeah. I need you to be okay.
Okay? Just tell me you'll be okay.
I won't be.
I don't know what to do!
Say my name.
Please?
[WEAKLY] Heather.
Heather.
Heather.
No.
No! Please, stay with me. Please.
Please, stay with me.
[SLOW STRING MUSIC PLAYING]
Please!
[SOBBING]
[KISSING]
[LONELY THEME PLAYS]
[♪]
[HEATHER] The Jeep broke down.
It took me endless weeks to walk home.
Raif walked back with me.
I swear.
[SOBS] He.
He walked me home.
[CRYING]
It's okay. It's okay.
[SOBBING CONTINUES]
[PENSIVE SERIES THEME PLAYING]
[THEME GROWS BOLDER]
[PIANO PLAYING ALONE]
[GASPING]
You okay?
Yeah.
[JOEY GROANING WEAKLY]
Heather bo-beather.
That's right.
Although Dad hasn't
called me that in ages.
How come
I never got a nickname?
You have one. "Jo Jo."
Oh. Right.
I forgot.
My brain is kind of fuzzy.
[HEATHER] That's okay.
It deserves a break after
all these years of hard work.
Dad thinks I'm gonna die.
Don't say that.
He's out getting you medicine right now.
No.
I see it in his eyes.
He doesn't look at me the same way.
It's almost like,
like I'm already gone.
He wants you back,
jumping off cliffs and
scampering up trees.
That's what his face is
saying, "Hurry up. Get well."
"Get well."
That's it.
Keep saying that.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
Hey, kiddo. I'm all over this.
Dad, you're back.
Yup, a little shopping
spree in the city,
and you're gonna be all good.
It's okay, Jo Jo.
[LATEX SNAPPING]
Dad, you're going to scare him.
What's that supposed to mean?
You're scaring me.
I'm giving him my immunity.
I gave Molly everything
from the yew tree.
She's making medicine right now.
And what if that doesn't work?
I don't know, but it's
too late for immunity.
You know that.
[ISH] I have to save him.
I have to save all of you.
That's not your job.
Of course it is!
[STOPPER POPPING]
[SETTING STOPPER DOWN]
That one's for you, Raif,
and this is for your sister
who's still with me.
[MAURINE] Just rest, Evie.
I'm here.
[PATIENTS COUGHING]
[DOOR CREAKS OPEN]
[DOOR BANGS CLOSED]
Molly!
- Ish?
- Heather said you were trying
Yes, from a yew tree. I
won't know for a day or two.
He doesn't have that time. He's on fire.
Okay.
- Molly!
- Okay! Okay!
Let me think.
He needs an ice bath right now.
[THUMPING DOOR WITH FOOT]
Come on.
- [THUMPING]
- [ISH PANTING]
Sorry to bother. I know Evie's sick too.
Maurine and I have been
taking shifts over there.
[ISH] Joey's fever won't break.
I'm taking the cowboy pool.
- Do you need help carrying it?
- No.
[JORGE] So why did you come for me?
[ISH] Because you're a man of faith,
and I'm not.
I may need to borrow some.
If God exists,
this feels like punishment.
[JORGE] God is not in the
pain, he's in the mercy.
Only problem is, Jorge,
there's no mercy to be found.
[SOFTLY] There you go.
[JOEY SHIVERING]
Am I?
Am I flying?
[ISH CHUCKLES]
Yeah, Jo Jo.
You're flying.
Do you know why it's working?
It's a strain of the virus
that m that made us start
over all those years ago,
but it's it's weaker,
by its own nature.
So it's given us a chance.
[HEATHER] Not everyone.
[MOLLY] No. Not everything
works for everyone, Heather.
I wish it did.
I just wanted to check on my people.
They're doing really well.
Molly is amazing.
I really thought I'd reached the end.
So did I, in the woods.
You really have to do
something about that feeling.
- Surviving.
- [HEATHER] Yes.
Hey, uh, this may sound crazy,
but do you mind me asking
what he looked like?
Desperate.
Hard to see the person
underneath all that dirt,
and I don't know.
It was kinda like there was
no person left inside of him.
This world can do that.
Only thing I keep seeing
is the gold of his tattoos.
You all right?
Sure. I'll be fine.
Hey, Kori.
You look like you've seen a ghost.
I'm just, uh, still recovering.
Well, rest is your best friend.
- Best friend?
- Yeah.
Okay.
- Molly?
- Yeah?
Ever have a secret that
you knew you couldn't tell?
[LAUGHING]
It's a ridiculous question.
No. No, it's a great question.
I'd say
if the secret
somehow makes the world a better place,
keep it.
Otherwise, shout it from the rooftops.
[CHUCKLING SOFTLY]
You're a good doctor, Molly.
[CHUCKLING]
Don't tell anyone.
[OMINOUS CHORDS STRIKE]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
These have been working wonders, Mama.
[EMMA] It's not working here.
Try one more time.
Kori, Evie.
- It's really making
- I'm trying!
[BREATHING UNEVENLY]
Dad?
Hey!
Hey, buddy.
I'm scared.
[ISH] Ohh, don't be scared.
I'm here.
Your mom is here.
We're always here.
What if I'm not?
Where will I go
if I'm not here?
How will I find you?
[EMMA GASPS]
[♪]
Joey, Joey. Joey? Joey.
[EMMA SOBBING SOFTLY]
Oh!
[BLEAK MUSIC SWELLS]
[♪]
[♪]
[♪]
[SOBBING]
[CLATTERING]
[ISH SOBS]
[EMMA] He's gone, Ish.
You need to come to terms with it.
Do you still love me?
It's not enough.
[EMMA] It is!
This is a house of fuckin' lies.
An illusion.
Useless.
I can't do this anymore.
Do what?
Rebuild the contents of this,
this tomb?
It's gone forever!
It was gone
way before Joey.
You wanted him to
reignite the old world,
but no one can do that!
We have other living children.
Our friends have children!
So go ahead, burn it down!
[DOOR OPENING]
[DOOR CLOSING]
[CROW CAWING]
[JORGE] How are you, my friend?
What do I do, Jorge?
[JORGE] I'm so sorry he's gone,
but you are still here.
[PEACEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Living has more dying in
it than a heart can bear.
[ISH] It's okay.
[EXHALING]
I've lost too much,
but you gave me earth, Ish.
A safe place to
plant my feet.
I wonder if it's the same for you.
Em.
It has only and ever, been you.
[ISH EXHALES SOFTLY]
[HE CHUCKLES INCREDULOUSLY]
[SEABIRDS CRYING]
[GULLS CRYING]
[HE CHUCKLES]
[ISH] The scientist in
me would have mentioned
the heft of the cirrus clouds.
The barometric pressure
required to move the sun so deftly
through the mist.
But somehow, I knew science
didn't have a word for this.
This is awe.
The Earth healed.
[LAUGHING INCREDULOUSLY]
[GASPING]
[CHUCKLES TO HIMSELF]
I got it so wrong.
The world that I grew up in
is very different than the
world you all see today.
There were wars.
Greed.
There would be cities
you would visit, and
and you couldn't even see the stars.
It was gray from chemicals
just flying up into the sky.
Everyone was just out to get theirs.
Does that sound like a
world you want to live in?
It's certainly not a world I do.
All this time, I've,
I've been trying to take
the lessons from the past
to recreate a world that
that wasn't much of a world at all.
I like going to sleep, and
looking up, and seeing the stars.
I like seeing the-the green trees,
and-and the farms that we have,
and the food that we
have, the abundance,
and if the Earth can abide, so can we!
I'm sorry.
You don't need me as a teacher.
Out there.
That's your greatest teacher.
If we can live in
harmony with this Earth
then maybe it will teach us
how to live in harmony with each other.
We have a blank canvas,
and this time, we're
not gonna mess it up.
What's a six-letter
word for "interrupting"?
Um.
Yeah.
[ALEX] Here's some apples.
- Oh. "Apples."
- That works.
Alex, thank you, Chef.
[CHUCKLING SOFTLY]
[TENDER MUSIC PLAYING]
[JOEY] This was one of
my dad's old journals
that he never used.
I had to steal it because it's so cool.
Sorry, Dad!
[ISH LAUGHS]
[MUSIC BECOMES UPLIFTING]
[JOEY] I know Dad doesn't want
any more people at San Lupo,
but maybe there are more out there.
We need there to be.
Maybe they can help us
hear from Heather and Raif.
We can't just hold out
as only us, forever.
I know we weren't made to live alone.
When I get this built,
I hope he's proud of me,
and I hope he lets us
try to find the others.
Aw, Joey.
"Proud" doesn't even get halfway there.
I'm not smart enough to
know if this is gonna work,
but we gotta try.
This is for all of
you who wanted to know
if there were others in the world.
And you're ready to find
them, if they're out there?
[ISH] Unbelievable. I know.
Let's do it, man.
[CHUCKLES]
Let's do it.
All right, where do we start?
[JORGE] First things first,
go upstairs and leave me alone.
[LAUGHTER]
Gladly!
[LAUGHTER]
- What?
- I don't know! I don't know.
Who's got a duster?
[EZRA] Isn't it random that
Joey figured out how to build this,
and now we're doing it?
[ISH] Something tells me
[SCREWDRIVING]
this isn't random at all.
Well, thanks for letting me do this.
Usually, it'd be a Jorge thing.
Yeah, well, Jorge's
afraid of heights, so.
Touché.
Plus, uh.
Ezra, I wanted to take
a minute alone with you.
I just
didn't understand you at the beginning.
And you hated the merch.
Okay, yes, and don't say "merch".
[CHUCKLING]
Uh.
You're not as bad as you used to be.
[EZRA] Neither are you.
[LAUGHING]
Aw, fuck it.
Don't tell anybody that happened.
No worries.
[CHUCKLING]
Back to work! Let's go.
[SIGHS] Joey really
understood this stuff, huh?
Of course.
But it's your hands now.
Your father adores you, Alex.
We all do.
You really think we'll
find anyone out there?
I hope so.
I hope so too.
[RADIO BUZZING]
[CLICKING]
[STATIC CRACKLING]
[TUNING]
C-Q. C-Q. C-Q.
This is San Lupo. Do you read me?
[SIGHING]
C-Q. C-Q. C-Q.
This is San Lupo. Is anyone out there?
[STATIC WARBLING]
C-Q. C-Q. C-Q.
This is San Lupo. Can anyone hear me?
Is anyone out there?
Any luck?
It's working.
But without a frequency to connect to,
it's like singing in the shower.
No one ever hears it.
Well, thank God no one can
hear you sing in the shower.
[CHUCKLING]
[STATIC CRACKLING]
I don't even know what I'd say
if anyone answered my call.
I do.
New Ish would be as excited as me,
as all of us.
Come on. Let's get you
out of this dark room
and have some fun!
The boys have challenged
us to a game of baseball.
I didn't even know we
had a baseball anymore.
Not exactly.
- [EZRA] Let's play ball!
- Now, now. Now, now!
Come on, Emma, let's see. Let's see!
All right, heavy hitter, heavy hitter!
Come on. Come on with it. Come on.
Heavy hitter, heavy hitter!
[LAUGHTER]
Okay, come on!
You got this, honey!
Strike her out!
[LAUGHTER]
- Let's go.
- Let's go.
Delay of game!
[GRUNTS]
- Uh-uh!
- Hey! I've seen better swings on a porch!
[GIGGLING]
Did Ish give you that line?
No, I came up with that all by myself.
Maybe he helped with the "porch" part.
- [LAUGHING]
- The "porch" part is the joke.
[LAUGHTER]
All right, remember, three
limes, and you're out!
That's a lemon in your hand, Jorge!
Watch out for his zester!
Three of any citrus
fruit, and you're out!
Why are we using lemons?
I don't really know.
Cantaloupes aren't in season?
Back in the day, in Venezuela
[GROANING] Oh, my God!
They called me the
the really, really good pitcher.
Nobody calls you that.
Pitch the lemon!
[JORGE] Okay.
[HEATHER] You got it, Mom.
Let's get it!
Uhh. Oof!
- Go, go, go!
- [CHEERING]
Run! Run! Run!
You need the fruit to get her out!
Get the full fruit to get her out.
Get the whole fruit!
No, no, you need the full fruit!
Get the other one!
Over there! Get the other one!
She's coming home!
Throw it, throw it, throw it, throw it!
[LAUGHTER AND CHEERING]
Get her! Get her!
She's coming!
[ALL CHEERING AND LAUGHING]
Safe!
[LAUGHING]
That was amazing. Okay, come here.
[LAUGHING]
Ahh!
Woo!
All right! Yeah!
[LAUGHING]
Ooh! Mwah!
Caleb, catch for me.
[JORGE] All right, everybody!
It's 5-4, there's two outs,
and get ready for three strikes
coming right down the middle.
Why are there so many
numbers in this game?
In the old days, we were
obsessed with statistics.
Everything was measured.
Everything was ranked.
Numbers were the way
we explained the world.
147 225.
- What's that?
- Uh. Numbers.
Uh, something Raif and I saw out there.
I-I told Ezra and Jean about it.
We saw it everywhere.
We followed it for months, but
didn't know what it meant.
147 225?
We saw it in abandoned towns,
spray-painted on almost
every roof and door.
Okay, wait, wait, wait.
I-I don't understand.
But that was it.
It was just
those numbers and arrows,
but the arrows never led anywhere.
Ish, why do you have
that look in your eye?
[CHUCKLING IN AWE]
[CLICK]
[CLACKING]
[RADIO STATIC]
[TUNING]
[BUTTONS BEEPING]
[CLICK]
C-Q. C-Q. C-Q.
This is San Lupo calling
frequency 147.225.
Is anyone out there?
What's happening?
Making a call.
C-Q. C-Q. C-Q.
This is San Lupo calling frequency
147.225.
Is this frequency in use?
Who are you calling?
Is this enough reason to cancel
a perfect game of lemon ball?
I think it might be.
[CLICK]
C-Q. C-Q. C-Q.
This is San Lupo calling
frequency 147.225, is anyone there?
My name is Ish.
My wife is Emma.
We have two children, Alex and Heather.
I'm here with Ezra [SCOFFING]
What am I doing? Um, we are here.
You are not alone.
[CLICK]
- [WOMAN] This is 147.225.
- [ALL GASPING]
You found us.
[ALL SOBBING AND LAUGHING]
Uh. Uh, w-w-where are you?
Who are you?
Uh. This is Jorge!
Uh, we are in desperate need of cigars.
[LOUD LAUGHTER]
- No
- This is Emma!
It is so impossibly
beautiful to hear your voice.
How many of you are there?
77.
Oh!
Where are you calling from?
[LAUGHS] You called us!
[LAUGHTER]
And thank you for calling us.
We're in Point Lobo.
It used to be a state park, before.
Point Lobo?
That's that's less
than a hundred miles away.
We settled by the ocean
so we could fish and live.
We were nomads for years.
"Lobo"? I-I can't believe it.
What?
It's Spanish for "wolf."
Point Lobo, San Lupo?
Only the wolf survives.
[WOMAN] Will you come to
us, or shall we come to you?
Yes, yes, we're gonna
figure all of that out.
Wait a minute.
This is going too fast.
18 years is fast?
I'm just saying, we don't know.
We can't live on an island forever.
This island,
it's been good to us.
We don't want another Charlie situation.
Are you there? Can you still hear me?
We were afraid too, if that's
what you're thinking about.
When we first painted the frequency up,
many of us didn't want to do it.
Why did you?
Something kept telling us.
We had to.
We have to.
We have to.
- Yes.
- [ALL LAUGHING]
Yes!
- Yes!
- Yes!
- Yes!
- [CHEERING ECSTATICALLY]
[CELEBRATING AND LAUGHING]
[HOPEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
Yes.
It's time.
[JACK] Why me?
[ISH] Because you're Heather's oldest.
One more lesson I learned, Jack,
one more thing to pass on,
and this I need you
to especially remember.
Men go and come,
but the Earth
abides.
[INSPIRING THEME PLAYING]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[LIGHTNING CRASHING]
[INSPIRING THEME PLAYING]