If you’re looking to fill that From-shaped void in your life after the Season 3 finale, look no further – MGM+ has the solution in the shape of new post-apocalyptic TV show Earth Abides.
It’s understandable why you might be missing From. Although the latest chapter had its ups and downs, the Season 3 finale was the horror series’ best closer yet.
We finally learned the truth behind many Fromville mysteries, from the monsters’ origins to the truth about Jade and Tabitha. It also introduced us to terrifying new villains, leaving plenty of unanswered questions for From Season 4.
Even though the fourth chapter isn’t arriving until 2026, that doesn’t mean you have to twiddle your thumbs for the next year. Instead, why not check out the new show on From’s streaming service, MGM+.
What is Earth Abides about?
Earth Abides is a post-pandemic series in which the apocalypse has ravished the world, not because of flesh-eating zombies but rather a mysterious virus, leaving only a few survivors to fend for themselves.
Rather than focusing on a limited timeframe, the new show spans 50 years of a man’s life as he tries to survive and build a new life with what’s left.
The lead character is Ish, a geologist who gets bitten by a snake, causing him to pass out and therefore avoid contracting the deadly virus. He wakes up weeks later to realize he’s all alone.
In Earth Abides Episode 1, he meets a couple of survivors along the way, and makes a friend in an abandoned dog, with a twist at the end creating anticipation for what’s to come.
What’s great about the show so far is how grounded it is, showing the destruction of humanity in a way that feels hauntingly real.
It might not be exactly like From, but the two shows both deal with dark topics and sci-fi elements, and both benefit from great characters and performances.
Episodes & release schedule
Episode 1 of Earth Abides premiered on Sunday, December 1, 2024, with new episodes airing weekly thereafter at 9pm ET/PT.
There will be six episodes in total – you can find the release schedule below:
- Episode 1: ‘Alone’ – December 1, 2025
- Episode 2: ‘The Space Between’ – December 8, 2024
- Episode 3: ‘World Without End’ – December 15, 2024
- Episode 4: ‘Predators’ – December 22, 2024
- Episode 5: ‘The Return’ – December 22, 2024
- Episode 6: ‘Forever is Tomorrow is Today’ – December 29, 2024
How to watch Earth Abides
Right now, the only way to watch Earth Abides is with an MGM Plus subscription, which you can sign up to directly or as an add-on through platforms such as Amazon Prime Video or Sling TV.
If you’re in a territory where the streaming service isn’t available, the answer is simple: subscribe using a VPN.
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Who’s in the cast?
Vikings star Alexander Ludwig takes on the lead male role of Ish in the Earth Abides cast, while Ozark’s Jessica Frances Duke plays the female lead Emma.
You can check out the rest of the cast list and the characters they play below:
- Aaron Tveit as Charlie
- Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll as Jorge
- Elyse Levesque as Maurine
- Luisa D’Oliveira as Molly
- Birkett Turton as Ezra
- Hilary McCormack as Jean
- Jenna Berman as Evie
Although Ludwig is used to physically demanding roles, in an interview with STM, he revealed that Earth Abides was the most challenging due to the emotional toll it took on him.
“It was the hardest thing I had ever done. I knew this was going to be tough, but nothing before – and I don’t think anything I will ever do after this – comes close,” he told the outlet.
“Vikings was physically one of the hardest things I ever did – it was such an uncomfortable show – but this, on an emotional level, I knew it was going to require all of me.
“And the places I had to go emotionally… It was crazy what was demanded of me, especially in that first episode.”
Earth Abides is based on a 1949 book
The new mini-series is based on author George R. Stewart’s 1949 book Earth Abides. Although the original story is set in the ‘40s, the TV adaptation has been updated for modern times.
Often regarded as a cornerstone of the sci-fi genre, Stewart’s novel uses the collapse of civilization as a backdrop to examine how people rebuild their lives, humanity’s lack of immunity to nature, and the importance of generational knowledge.
In an interview with SciFi Vision, Todd Komarnicki, showrunner of the TV series, said, “The main thing we took from the book were the deep and abiding themes, you know, starting over, a community, how do you trust? Who do you trust? How do you find love? How do you raise a family?
“All those things that are just the bedrock of the book. The question that the book asks, ‘Hey, what if this happened to you? If you were the last person alive, what would you do? How fast would you drive? How desperate and sad would you get? How much would you need to find love and start over again?’
“So, we kept that. Then, when you have six episodes to do it, it’s really leaning into the twists and turns, because even though this is a deeply emotional show about human beings interacting, it’s also loaded with unexpected twists.
“So, the storytelling, the life and death aspect of all that, that’s really where we turned it into a series by grabbing people emotionally and then keeping them with the thrills.”
If you’re still reeling from the From Season 3 finale, read about why Jim might return in Season 4, how the Faraway Trees might be their ticket out of there, and The Man in Yellow explained. You can also check out our rundown of the best TV shows of 2024.
