Earth Abides episode 4 ending explained: Does Charlie's men succeed in getting water?

Earth Abides episode 4 was released on December 21, 2024, and follows right after the end of episode 3, where Ish is attacked by a mountain lion. Episode 4, Predators, starts on a grave note when Ish is immediately admitted to the medical room after Evie screams at them for help.

All the members of his newfound family gather around the table and block all the wounds surrounding his body to prevent more blood from draining. For some moments, Ish's heartbeat stops beating, however, Molly provides CPR and finally succeeds in getting his heartbeat back again.

At the end of Earth Abides episode 4, Predators, a new set of survivors knocks at Ish's community gate, led by a man named Charlie. Ish's community was suffering from a water shortage, and Charlie's men offered them to dig a well in exchange for accommodation for the duration of the project. By the end of Earth Abides episode 4, Charlie's men succeed in retrieving water from the ground, however, Charlie has different plans.

Ish begins to recover from the injuries however faces a new problem in Earth Abides episode 4

Ish slowly starts to recover from the wild attack in Earth Abides episode 4 (Image via Apple TV)

After the mountain lion attack in episode 3, Ish sustains many fatal wounds in his body. However, he miraculously survives and begins to recover slowly. This fatal attack provides him with some grave injuries and lifetime scars, that can be seen on his face after he starts walking back again.

Emma gets deeply traumatized from this attack and goes to the forest with her gun. She succeeds in spotting the mountain lion responsible for the attack and shoots it multiple times to death. This becomes a way for her to take revenge while ensuring the lion does not attack any family members again.

Molly still finds it very difficult to believe that Ish has survived the deadly mountain attack, and is recovering slowly. She tells Ish that he had only made it out alive because of his unshakable will to live. Ish expresses his gratefulness to everyone, especially Molly, for making him see another day in the new world.

Molly finally confesses that she never completed medical school and dropped out in the first year. However, after the disease consumed the majority of Earth's population, she began practicing with whatever learning she had gathered to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor.

Molly is very surprised that she could save Ish, for which he comments it's only because she decided to sit and fight for her patient's survival rather than run away. Earth Abides episode 4 again takes a time jump, to Year 17 after the pandemic. The viewers can see how the kids born in the new world felt before the pandemic, fascinating, almost like fiction.

Heather and Raif embark on a journey to the outside world in Earth Abides episode 4 (Image via Apple TV)

Heather and Raif have grown up together in the survivor's community, and in their late teens, the two share a romantic interest in each other. The two decide to set out on a journey to explore the world and look for more life out there. Since they are old enough to look after themselves, their parents allow them only with a promise that the couple will return before winter.

Right after the couple left, the community members realized they were running out of water. Ish, Ezra, and Joey visit a nearby dam hoping to understand what happened to the water, and realize the riverbed has dried up completely. While looking into the scene, Ish observes a rusted-up pipe from the dam, realizing they have almost a week before they run completely out of water.

Ish instantly panics when he sees a few vehicles pass over the bridge of the dam. He immediately orders the rest two members to get back into the car and flee off the scene, considering them to be a threat to the community. Though they successfully run away before they are caught, the group of survivors follows them to the community.

The group is led by a man named Charlie, who brings a peace offering to their community, intending no harm. However, Ish is very apprehensive about trusting a set of strangers and letting them stay. However, Charlie offers Ish their remaining water and promises him to dig a well in their land since they have a boring machine. This comes in exchange for letting Charlie's community stay there for a couple of days until they can successfully retrieve water deep from the soil.

Ish is suspicious of Charlie's behaviors in Earth Abides episode 4

Ish begins to suspect Charlie's behavior in Earth Abides episode 4 (Image via Apple TV)

Ish finds it difficult to accept Charlie as a friend and shares it with Emma. However, she brushes off his claims by making him remember that he said similar things to the previous survivors, who then became part of his family. Ish agrees that though he had previously been wrong about his assumptions, this time he is sure that Charlie has a different plan in his mind.

Ish refuses to believe that he is mistaken and that Charlie is not a good man. Emma reiterates that Ish only feels threatened by Charlie's arrival because it challenges his position to be the leading man. Charlie quickly tries to gain the trust of everyone with his charm, however, Ish genuinely believes that Charlie is a big threat to their community.

While most members of the community eagerly help and wait for Charlie's men to dig out the well, Ish fears that succeeding would provide Charlie the authority to keep his people in Ish's land. Throughout Earth Abides episode 4, Charlie and his men try their best to bring water out of the barren Earth.

In this process, Ish's elder son Alex is deeply infatuated with a girl from the new survivors and begins to highly admire Charlie. This creates a big rift between Ish and Alex, which starts early on with Alex's jealousy of Ish being completely devoted to his younger son Joey.

Even after days of constant struggle, the group of men fails to retrieve water after digging meters deep into the earth. However, on the day when they were almost about to lose hope, a fountain of water splashed from deep beneath the ground, succeeding their days of hard work.

As much as it makes all the community members happy, Ish is equally terrified, that Charlie has gained his authority to stay in his land. Ish has always been considered the leading man in his survivors's community, which is now severely threatened.

Ish approaches Charlie, recalling him about his earlier promise to leave the land after they succeed. However, this time Charlie modifies his plan, saying he may have liked the community and will stay here for as long as he wants. Earth Abides episode 4 ends with a big cliffhanger, leaving audiences to ponder whether Ish will be the leader of the survivors' clan anymore.

Edited by Bharath S