S01.E07: Goodbye My Damaged Home

[txhorns79]

Quote

On a journey to unravel her deepest trauma, Kirsten goes back to the apartment she once shared with Jeevan and Frank.

Streaming as of 12/30/21.

[aghst]

The 80 days in the apartment shows why Kirsten is not just a survivor but a ninja with those knives.

It's interesting, she made Jeevan wait a day so that she could finish her play and the costumes.  The adult Kirsten tells the young Kirsten not to finish the play, to leave earlier.

But it's not necessarily a lesson she absorbs, hence her return to the primal scene of the apocalypse for her.  She still participates in putting on plays 20 years later but is like a knight watching for enemies looking to harm her family.

Frank and Jeevan sheltered her from some of the grim realities of what must have been going on outside the apartment, gave her time for instance to discover the likely fate of her parents.  Unfortunately she learned in a traumatic way how dangerous people are.

In the post-episode monolog, the show runner says he wanted to devote one episode to what happens in that apartment,  maybe as if the book didn't have that exposition?

Or maybe he meant he wanted to spend the entirety of one of the episodes to show what happened there.

The previews for the next episodes are certainly interesting, as it reveals the people in the MoC, which has lured in the TS.

[Melina22]

14 hours ago, aghst said:

But it's not necessarily a lesson she absorbs, hence her return to the primal scene of the apocalypse for her

So is this supposed to be real? I thought the entire episode was a dream she had, lying in the forest after fighting the Red Bandanas. She had the strange black veins coming from her injury... is that actually real? I'm confused. 

 

15 hours ago, aghst said:

The previews for the next episodes are certainly interesting, as it reveals the people in the MoC, which has lured in the TS.

I didn't see any previews, but people keep using the word "lured" about the MoC, so I assume it's not as benign as it appears. 

Probably the creepiest moment of the episode for me was the man quietly stepping into the apartment after they finished the play. It was so quick I had to rewind the scene, thinking "Wait, who was that?" It was well done. 

Frank's death was sad obviously, but hadn't he already decided to stay behind for... reasons? He probably wouldn't have lasted long alone. 

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, Melina22 said:

Frank's death was sad obviously, but hadn't he already decided to stay behind for... reasons? He probably wouldn't have lasted long alone. 

Yes, he had. He knew he would slow down Jeevan and Kirsten due to his injury/disability, which could be lethal for all of them, so he told Jeevan to focus on his own and Kirsten's survival.

I don't understand why the knife-wielding man chose to break into and try to take over a condo that still had living people in it. I understand not wanting to use a condo where there were dead bodies, but I'm sure several of the units must have been empty. It's a large building, so at least some of the occupants must have been out when the pandemic broke out and never made it home, some people were out of town, staying with a significant other, etc. By day 80, any of the people who were still alive in the building wouldn't have had much, if any, food left, so why take that risk?

[PotterOtherP]

Yeah, a high-rise apartment with no power would be a most undesirable place to live, which is exactly why they were planning to leave. And they wouldn't have had any supplies which weren't in abundance everywhere, with 99.9 percent of people dead.

[aghst]

12 minutes ago, PotterOtherP said:

Yeah, a high-rise apartment with no power would be a most undesirable place to live, which is exactly why they were planning to leave. And they wouldn't have had any supplies which weren't in abundance everywhere, with 99.9 percent of people dead.

They would have had some shelter from the wind and cold.  Unless the window was broken like that one place Jeevan checked out -- did someone jump through the window?

At one point Frank or Jeevan set they'd start a fire in a spare room.  Obviously that isn't going to work.  If they had a fireplace it would be a good place but they'd have to go out frequently to get wood and other supplies.

Even if Frank hadn't been killed they weren't coming back once they left.

[chocolatine]

13 minutes ago, aghst said:

They would have had some shelter from the wind and cold.  Unless the window was broken like that one place Jeevan checked out -- did someone jump through the window?

It wasn't broken, it was just open. Presumably because the person who lived there opened it and jumped out.

Never mind, I just checked that scene again and saw shards of glass, so it was indeed broken. Perhaps it was the kind of window that didn't open all the way, so the person who lived there broke it so they could jump.

Edited December 31, 2021 by chocolatine

[PotterOtherP]

I would have been most concerned about the structural integrity of the building. Frozen pipes bursting and flooding everything. Seems unlikely any high rise would still be standing after 20 years.

[Hanahope]

The whole plot contrivance of the man entering their apartment and ordering them to leave was ridiculous. That some random man would find them in the apartment on that particular day (when Javeen untaped the door and didn't relock it) is eye roll worthy itself.  its not like they had lights on or were any louder than any other day.  and not like their apartment was any better than any other apartment that was unoccupied, it was almost 3 months since they isolated, their food and water was almost gone (which is why they had to leave), and might have been worse since other apartments might have still had food/candles/other supplies.  so there was no reason this man would attack them.  

they should have stuck to the book plot.  but i guess they needed some excuse for why Javeen was mad at Kirsten - Oh we stayed one day too long because of her play, which ignores that it was Javeen's decision to untape the door, and then leave it unlocked, and based on Frank's statements, wouldn't have mattered anyway.  he didn't want to leave, and would have eventually died anyway.  

[chocolatine]

16 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

they should have stuck to the book plot.  but i guess they needed some excuse for why Javeen was mad at Kirsten - Oh we stayed one day too long because of her play, which ignores that it was Javeen's decision to untape the door, and then leave it unlocked, and based on Frank's statements, wouldn't have mattered anyway.  he didn't want to leave, and would have eventually died anyway.  

Spoiler

If they had stuck to the book plot, Kirsten would not have been with Jeevan and Frank in the first place. In the book she went home with her older brother.

 

[overtherainbow]

17 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

The whole plot contrivance of the man entering their apartment and ordering them to leave was ridiculous. That some random man would find them in the apartment on that particular day (when Javeen untaped the door and didn't relock it) is eye roll worthy itself.  its not like they had lights on or were any louder than any other day.  and not like their apartment was any better than any other apartment that was unoccupied, it was almost 3 months since they isolated, their food and water was almost gone (which is why they had to leave), and might have been worse since other apartments might have still had food/candles/other supplies.  so there was no reason this man would attack them.  

they should have stuck to the book plot.  but i guess they needed some excuse for why Javeen was mad at Kirsten - Oh we stayed one day too long because of her play, which ignores that it was Javeen's decision to untape the door, and then leave it unlocked, and based on Frank's statements, wouldn't have mattered anyway.  he didn't want to leave, and would have eventually died anyway.  

Haven't read the book but I agree it felt contrived. 

My main takeaway is that Chicago in the winter is a really miserable, cold place to hunker down if there's ever a flu that kills 99% of humanity.

Though it's interesting how this episode really ties together how much of a dangerous person Kirsten herself becomes. 

 

[Melina22]

3 minutes ago, overtherainbow said:

Chicago in the winter is a really miserable, cold place to hunker down if there's ever a flu... 

Seriously. I remember living through 5 days without power, heat or running water in our house during an ice storm a few years ago, and it's soooo much harder than you can imagine. We were only warm huddled in bed under sleeping bags.

I feel like the only survivable plan would be to find enough food in other buildings to last till at least March, then head straight south. Heading out into the dead of winter and the unknown with only winter jackets, scarves and a couple of backpacks seems like suicide. 

Obviously they made it to a cabin and Jeevan was able to hunt for game. I guess next to heading south, a well built cabin with a wood stove and a  well would be a good option, although for a non-hunter, I'm sure catching game is way harder than it looks. 

I'm so glad I didn't live in the olden days, at least not in this northern climate. 

[Hanahope]

27 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Spoiler

If they had stuck to the book plot, Kirsten would not have been with Jeevan and Frank in the first place. In the book she went home with her older brother.

 

they could have kept it as they did in the show,

Spoiler

just use Frank's book condition.

 

[Haleth]

Sheesh, I was thinking all those condos must have had tons of supplies. They could have lasted for months. 

[candle96]

11 hours ago, overtherainbow said:

Haven't read the book but I agree it felt contrived. 

My main takeaway is that Chicago in the winter is a really miserable, cold place to hunker down if there's ever a flu that kills 99% of humanity.

Though it's interesting how this episode really ties together how much of a dangerous person Kirsten herself becomes. 

 

As someone who is currently living through her 20th Chicago winter, I can't disagree with you. :) And that's with heat! Although I would say the advantage to staying in or near Chicago is the proximity to one of the largest supplies of fresh water. As we heard on that radio, the Mississippi was full of dead bodies, so I'm thinking Lake Michigan is looking pretty good.

[gibasi]

I haven’t read the book or spoilers. Why do you think Javeen is mad at Kirsten?

The first episode and this one are the only ones I have truly liked. And that is because I like Javeen and his interactions with Kirsten and Frank. This episode made me cry.

I came into this show without knowing anything about it. The first episode made me think it was going to be Javeen and Kirsten along with Frank (maybe!) navigating their new world. I would have preferred that. I cared about them. Adult angry Kirsten? I don’t care. Traveling Symphony? I don’t care. The mystery of Station Eleven? Okay i want to know the answer but I don’t think I will get an answer. I will be glad when this show is over.

[Hanahope]

On 1/5/2022 at 11:40 AM, gibasi said:

I haven’t read the book or spoilers. Why do you think Javeen is mad at Kirsten?

These scenes aren't in the book.  Javeen and Kirsten split up before he goes to Frank's apartment.  so based on just how the show is going, i seems Javeen is mad that they stayed the extra day to do Kirsten's play and that caused Frank to be killed by the intruder.  he apparently thinks he could have convinced Frank to leave the apartment with them.  

[gibasi]

I see your point that he might be mad at Kirsten but I haven’t seen anything yet that he is actually mad at her.  Maybe in a future episode. 

[Pop Tart]

On 12/31/2021 at 5:36 PM, chocolatine said:

Never mind, I just checked that scene again and saw shards of glass, so it was indeed broken. Perhaps it was the kind of window that didn't open all the way, so the person who lived there broke it so they could jump.

What I noticed about the other apartment was that the sheet music on the piano was La Campenella with a handwritten note on it that said “It’s impossible”. That’s the piece that Sarah had mentioned struggling with in the past and she said something like it was impossible. So I’m thinking the apartment was Sarah’s, so no suicide.

On 1/1/2022 at 2:00 PM, Melina22 said:

I feel like the only survivable plan would be to find enough food in other buildings to last till at least March, then head straight south. Heading out into the dead of winter and the unknown with only winter jackets, scarves and a couple of backpacks seems like suicide. 

Jeevan told Kirsten that when spring came and it got warmer would be when everyone else would emerge and be fighting over resources. That’s why he wanted to head out while it was still winter.

Every episode of this show has me enthralled and then breaks my heart. And this one was no exception. Kirsten trying to get Frank to come out of his room before they left even though a part of her knew he was dead? She couldn’t acknowledge it but clearly adult Kristen dreaming/remembering those days “knew”. Both actresses were phenomenal in those scenes.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Pop Tart