The End?
Are Gwi-Nam and Cheong-San dead?
Episode 12 of All of Us Are Dead starts this finale with a grim shot of the construction site. Numerous bodies line the floor, including the infected horde and both Gwi-Nam and Cheong-San. These guys are definitely deceased. Over at the quarantine center, Assemblywoman Kim rips up her resignation letter, unwilling to be a part of this devastation. At the same time, the poor girl Jae-Ik saved sobs while Jae-Ik himself looks on in shock at what’s happened. Meanwhile, On-Jo and the other survivors head back to the construction site to try and find Cheong-San. She’s still holding out hope of finding her childhood friend. Nam-Ra can’t smell anything and encourages On-Jo to leave, and that’s probably for the best.
What happens in town? Who survives the fight?
The early morning sees the soldiers arrive and swarm the area. Despite bombing the high street, everything is surprisingly intact as they move between the stores to try and weed out any survivors and kill the zombies left behind. It doesn’t take long before Nam-Ra and the others make it into town. They marvel at how clean the area is and how little blood lines the streets. Nam-Ra seems to be able to sense zombies, on top of her heightened hearing and unexplained superhuman craziness. She leads the group down the back alleys into town where all the kids decide to gear up and fight back. There are a lot of zombies too and this really does feel like a last stand. It’s absolute chaos and in the ensuing skirmish, Wu-Jin is bitten saving Ha-Ri. After slaying Wu-Jin, Nam-Ra uses her abilities again to convince the others to run away. Nam-Ra continues to wrestle with her own dark desires though, with the voice inside her head urging Nam-Ra to feed.
What happens with Nam-Ra?
Realizing she’s hungry, Nam-Ra tries to compose herself away from the group, bashing her head repeatedly and biting her wrist to stave off her cravings. Su-Hyeok notices that Nam-Ra has gone and hurries back to find her. On-Jo joins him too as they eventually find the girl eating one of the deceased infected. Nam-Ra eventually leaves after pouncing on On-Jo, determined to get away from the others and not succumb to her need to feed on them. Meanwhile, Dae-Su, Ha-Ri and the other survivors make it to the soldiers and surrender. They’re immediately brought to the quarantine zone, and without Seon-Moo around it looks like they’re not going to kill them either. The kids are less than cooperative though. After being abandoned on the rooftop and left to die, they all remain tight-lipped about what’s happened, beyond admitting that Byeong-Chan started this by kidnapping Hyeon-Ju. They just want to be let go.
What happens during the time jump?
We the skip forward 4 months later. The party leaders have decided not to hold a hearing on the Hyosan bombing and end martial law. It’s been a long time coming for the survivors, but they’re still in quarantine so it’s not quite the happy ending they were all expecting. On-Jo immediately heads over the wall in the middle of the night to pay her respects to Cheong-San and the others. Leaving snacks by a tree, she tries to move on. However, in the distance happens to be a faint, flickering light. A campfire from the looks of it.
Who started the fire? Where is Nam-Ra?
Back in the quarantine camp, On-Jo catches up with Su-Hyeok. She relays news about the campfire and believes it could well be Na-Ra. She’s going to go that very night, and Su-Hyeok immediately decides to join her. And of course, all the other kids gear up to go too. Eventually the gang make it down to the remnants of the school. On the roof, they find a fire burning. Gathering around it, Nam-Ra shows up. She admits she’s missed them all but she’s not going to join them.
How does All Of Us Are Dead end?
Nam-Ra breaks the news that there are others like her and she’s joining up with them. Could these others be those who Gwi-Nam infected? On-Jo tries to keep her around but after smiling weakly, Nam-Ra promises to stay friends… and jumps off the roof. She senses others nearby and leaves them all to gawp in shock.
The Episode Review
So All of Us Are Dad bows out with a pretty conclusive final chapter, although there are teasing glimpses of where this could go for a second season. However, based on this showing this is going to be very much a love/haste afar for many people and I can’t see this being renewed any time soon. There are parts of this show that have been really nicely written and the action has certainly been well-shot and exciting…for the first half anyway. The contrived writing late on has given some characters unbelievable amounts of plot armour, like So-Ju running from the guards and Cheong-San evading being killed for ages after being hit with the blunt end of a knife. This one has been a bit of a mixed bag but at least the ending does close things off as best they possibly could. It’s always tricky to close out a zombie show without feeling like there are loose ends and I guess bombing the city is a good enough way of killing off most of the zombies there. It’s not perfect but it has been an enjoyable ride, despite its flaws – and boy have there been flaws. For now, All Of Us Are Dead ends with a closing chapter that’s likely to be as decisively received as the series as a whole.
