The post-apocalyptic trend may be the dominant subgenre in the serial fantasy of the next several months, thanks to the already triumphant worldwide “The Last of Us”, as well as the expected series “Fallout” from Amazon. The first of these titles seems closer to contemporary reality, because it uses the motif of a mysterious plague.
The theme of the pandemic has dominated in recent years not only in fantasy films, but also in mainstream films, which have been marked by the post-Covid reality, which is not surprising, considering how strongly it influenced the ratings in cinemas. While the cinema world is slowly coming out of stagnation, mainly due to the huge success of titles such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The creature of water”, the most important series title this year may be another story about people who have to cope on a planet ravaged by a mysterious plague. However, this is not the first, and certainly not the last series that explored similar threads. We chose ten previous series that told about the world after the epidemic.
The Rain
The Danish series debuted on Netflix in 2018, at a time when European productions – thanks to the great success of “Dark” – were becoming extremely popular. Already in the first episode we observe the beginning of the epidemic, which ravages the Scandinavian countries in a few years. It is survived by siblings who, after leaving the bunker, are looking for their father, a famous scientist. They join a group of survivors, obviously made up of different people with different motivations. The series ended in 2020 for three seasons.
Survivors
The 2008 British series was initially credited as a remake of the 1970 BBC series by Terry Nation. However, the creators of the latest production confirmed that the series is loosely based on the novel by the aforementioned Nation and aims to tell a completely different story, coming from the same source. And it is the classic story that the virus kills 90% of the population and a group of survivors have to adapt to the new world order that emerges after the pandemic. Although the series was praised for its interesting script and many twists and turns, in 2010 the BBC announced that it would not be continued for a third season due to poor ratings.
Virus (The Strain)
An interesting series based on a series of novels by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro himself, which combines two motifs that often appear in cinema and series: the epidemic of a dangerous virus spreading around the world, and vampirism, which the Mexican himself explored in the second part of the trilogy “Blade.” The starting point here is the landing of a certain plane at the Kennedy airport, on board of which a virus is detected, turning people into bloodthirsty creatures. The cast here includes associated with “House of Cards” by Corey Stoll, David Bradley or Sean Astin, and the production has four seasons.
Zoo
The series based on the novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge comes out of a rather interesting point. Violent attacks by various animals on humans are taking place around the world, becoming a serious problem in many countries. The main character of the production is a certain doctor who discovers that a mysterious pandemic is behind these incidents, thanks to which these attacks are becoming more and more coordinated and focused on one goal. “Zoo” is not a great series, but only processes many motifs present in B-class cinema, but at the same time it can surprise with some original ideas.
Helix
Produced for Sony Pictures, the two-season series focuses on a group of scientists investigating an outbreak of a mysterious epidemic at an Arctic research station and draws at least some reference to John Carpenter’s classic The Thing. The most famous actor appearing in this series is undoubtedly Hiroyuki Sanada, and the title itself received quite high ratings on film sites, such as metacritic, or at least its first season, because strange things began to happen in the second …
The last ship
The TNT series was based on William Brinkley’s 1988 novel; its first episode premiered in 2014 and was directed by Jonathan Mostow. It tells the story of the 218-person crew of a navy ship, which, after the outbreak of a mysterious pandemic that kills 80% of the planet’s population, becomes humanity’s only chance to defeat this plague. One of the producers of this series is Michael Bay, so you know what to expect; despite a very peculiar starting point, it ran for five seasons and was praised for its fast-paced action and original approach to the subject.
12 Monkeys
It’s rare for a TV series to creatively recycle ideas appearing in a much more famous movie, but that’s undoubtedly the case here. 12 Monkeys is based on the plot of Terry Gilliam’s famous 1995 film, in which a prisoner is sent back in time to discover what caused a pandemic that almost completely destroyed humanity in its time continuum. Or so it seems to him. While Gilliam’s picture plays with the concept itself, as well as the artist’s classic aesthetics, the series develops numerous themes barely suggested by this title and over the course of four seasons it does it quite well.
Eleventh Station
The latest proposal, exploring pandemic themes, was based on the novel by Canadian writer Emily St. John Mandel and focuses on the fate of a group of people who survived the pandemic and are trying to rebuild the world. However, the series is closer to such productions as the famous “The Leftovers” than series that show the heroic attitude of the characters and are focused on pure action. The pace here is slow, closer to psychological films than typical representatives of the science fiction genre, and is intended rather for the patient viewer, who is rewarded at the end.
Gourmand
One of the most famous Netflix productions from 2021, based on Jeff Lemire’s comics, approaches the subject in a completely different way. The Canadian presented the world after the so-called The Great Collapse, when a mysterious virus gives birth to very specific hybrids: half-human, half-animal, which includes one of the main characters, who looks like a deer and played by Christian Convery, Gus. In his journey through the world, he is helped by a mysterious wanderer, Tommy Jepperd. Despite many critical comments, emphasizing above all too large changes in relation to the comic book original, Netflix’s work has managed to offer an extremely attractive world presented in the production, which can satisfy both adults and children.
See
The starting point of the three-season Apple TV+ series is somewhat reminiscent of the plot of Jose Saramago’s novel, on which Fernando Meirelles’ memorable 2008 film “City of the Blind” was based. This time the mysterious pandemic does not wipe out a significant percentage of humanity, but causes people to lose their sight, which means that they have to adapt to completely different conditions of functioning. However, the situation changes when children who are able to see are born. The creator of the series is Steven Knight, who has already made himself known from the good side, thanks to such titles as “Peaky Blinders” or “Taboo”, and the star of the series is Jason Momoa.
