Summary
The eighth episode pumps the brakes to focus on character drama as Na-yeon makes a big decision.
This recap of All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 8 contains spoilers.
“The meek shall inherit the earth,” or so goes the saying, but I don’t suppose anyone figured it would be by cowardly betraying everyone they know. And yet, that’s what Cheol-su does in the eighth episode of All of Us Are Dead. After the long-awaited rescue chopper finally arrived in the previous episode, a locked door and a rampaging Gwi-nam was all it took to prevent the students from breaking out onto the roof. Cheol-su told the rescuers he was the only one left. After once again tussling with Gwi-nam, who was choke-slammed by Nam-ra, everyone finally made it out only to discover their salvation had left them behind.
All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 8 recap
Jae-ik, meanwhile, is getting on my nerves. He seems determined to save everyone, including that influencer, and he also stops in the road to pick up a random student who turns out to be Eun-ji. Not good! They’re immediately opened fire on by military types, but Jae-ik identifies himself as a cop. I’ve been waiting to see if the super zombies will still be detectable with the thermometer that they used to verify Cheol-su wasn’t infected, so I guess we might find out.
Meanwhile, the rest of the kids, still stranded on the roof, build a fire — with help from Nam-ra’s lighter; apparently, the good girl isn’t good all the time — and bond a little, which is a classic device. It’s coming a bit late in the season, frankly, but this is the classic lull period for long shows. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me if All of Us Are Dead bided its time a little too much until it’s ready to kick into higher gear for the finale, but time will tell.
Anyway, there’s still the matter of Na-yeon to consider. She finally sneaks out of the music room’s instrument storage to swipe the video camera and watch all the other students’ farewell messages, and she can’t help but giggle at Dae-su’s song. Cheong-san’s message includes a confession to his mother that Gyeong-su is dead because of him, which really triggers Na-yeon’s guilt. She experiences visions — most of them of Gyeong-su, but one of Ms. Park telling her that she’s to go back to the others, apologize, and do at least one thing to help them, which might well be a memory — and finally decides to pack up supplies and rejoin the others. On her way, though, she runs into Gwi-nam, who brutally feasts on her neck. Aww! Now the others might not ever know she had decided to redeem herself.
Except, you know, they probably will, since she’s going to come back as a super zombie isn’t she?
Is it just me or has this whole super zombie development kind of lowered the stakes a little? Like, how are any of these characters going to actually die? It’s about time a real, concrete means of despatching the super zombies showed up since we need to off a couple of people for good soon, especially after an episode that spends the bulk of its time on the kids sitting around discussing their crushes. At least Cheong-san finally opens up to On-jo about how he feels, but should that really come as much of a surprise for her? His fixation has been obvious since the first episode.
This scene is kind of crushing, though, since On-jo lashes out at Cheong-san for ruining their friendship, and he’s visibly distraught when she intimates that she has never seen him in that way. She’s probably lying, to be fair, but still — it’s bleak. Luckily, Gwi-nam arrives just in time to complicate matters, climbing up the side of the building and trying again to take Su-hyeok’s eye. Will he get it? We’ll see in the next episode.
You can stream All of Us Are Dead season 1, episode 8 exclusively on Netflix.
