All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 7 recap – going up

This recap of All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 7 contains spoilers.

Is it just me, or is Nam-ra’s explanation of how much she wanted to bite and eat Su-hyeok in this episode a painfully obvious sexual attraction metaphor? I mean, the whole show has been a metaphor for one adolescent anxiety or another, but this scene was just so obvious to me that I laughed out loud. It’s obviously not unusual for the two best-looking characters to have a fondness for one another — whatever will On-jo think? — but I suppose it has plot implications as well given how Nam-ra and her new breed of super-zombies are gradually being shunted into the show’s forefront. Are they the true threat, or the key to everyone’s salvation? Time will tell.

All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 7 recap

If you recall, Eun-ji is also one of the super-zombies, and given the show hasn’t been shy about her suicidal tendencies and general hatred of the entire school and everyone in it, that’s an issue. This becomes quite obvious when she starts eating live goldfish in one of the rooms where she finds a teacher hiding out. He realizes she’s been bitten and smacks her over the head with a metal flask, but she no-sells it like late-’90s Goldberg and keeps scoffing more fish, though admittedly she recalls some of the unsavory things the man has said to her in the past when she tried to report her bullying (echoes of Mr. Lee’s stories here). Eventually, Eun-hi sets about the teacher and eats his intestines; he stabs her a few times while she’s doing so but to no avail.

Back in the music room where the kids are hiding out, Nam-ra hears Eun-ji puke up her dinner. So, the super-zombies have super-hearing? Makes sense. Gwi-nam discovers he has this power too and uses it to locate his bully friend, who’s hiding under a car. Of course, this guy is up to his old tricks and tries to force Gwi-nam to act as bait in order to save himself, but Gwi-nam is empowered now and isn’t prepared to be a gopher anymore. Instead, he makes the kid beg for his life, messily snaps his wrist, and allows the zombies to eat him, laughing all the while.

The kids come up with a plan to help them get to the roof, which is basically to just create a giant barricade of desks and chairs in the middle of the music room, open the front door and run out of the back, and while that’s going on, So-ju stops off to patch himself up and acquire some supplies — including a shotgun, which he uses to pop the heads of a few troublesome zombies. His wound doesn’t seem to be particularly troubling him, so hopefully, he has plenty more ownage in his locker.

Elsewhere, Jae-ik, his buddy, the baby, and that little girl all make their escape by wrapping themselves in tape and racing just above the speed limit on the Cheong-san Chicken moped. On their way to freedom, though, they encounter that damned influencer, who is cruelly still alive. I’m all for helping the needy, but seriously, can’t we just leave this guy to die?

The flaw in the music room plan is that someone needs to stay behind to open one door while the others rush through the other, and that person ends up being noble Su-hyeok, who at least tells Cheong-san about his feelings for Nam-ra, clearing the way for him and On-jo. The whole barrier thing is pretty great. I’d love to know how many extras were used. Dae-su noisily swearing at the zombies to attract them was pretty hilarious, as were all the students playing the instruments to draw more and more into the room and out of the corridor. After a while, the barricade looks like it’s going to come down, but the corridor still isn’t clear — in fact, virtually every zombie in the entire building seems to be drawn to the room.

Quick side note. I didn’t mention it at the start since I was waiting for it to become clearer, but this episode opened with soldiers taking down infected in what looked like a mall, with a particular focus on one of them, whose name we later learn is Staff Sergeant Lee Jae-jun. This guy was eventually bitten and infected, but he’s being held by Martial Law Command, who, since martial law is in effect, can do research on him without his parents’ consent. The commander, though, is adamant about receiving consent, since it’s the right thing to do, which is a promising sign. The same guy is also told that Assemblywoman Park Eun-hee from the National Defense Committee is awaiting testing, but he tells her flat-out she won’t be getting any special favors. She implores him to send a chopper to Hyosan High School and tells him that So-ju is on his way there alone. The commander pretends not to listen, but he does, and immediately requests that a chopper be sent to high schools in the area. The area where his mother is, though, the commander is only willing to check once it’s declared a rescue zone, so this guy has… curious priorities.

Eventually, the students are able to escape the music room and head to the roof, but the barricade promptly falls behind them, meaning that the entire zombie horde, including Gwi-nam, is following them up there — a crucial flaw in the plan made more dangerous by the fact that Cheol-su is still hiding on the roof with his SOS sign and has barricaded the door. While he debates opening it, Eun-li’s words about hating everyone and wishing them dead echo around his head. The door stays closed.

This leaves the students trapped on the stairwell, forced to fight off the zombies as they run towards them. Meanwhile, a helicopter lands on the roof. In a smart move, the kids trap the zombies under a big sheet of tarpaulin, but it isn’t much of an obstacle for Gwi-nam, who makes it up the stairs to confront them as the episode ends.

You can stream All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 7 exclusively on Netflix.