Episode four is a vast improvement and not doubt because it was actually focused on Yorick, 355, Hero, and Sam. Yorick and 355 don't actually travel very far but, on a character level, they have begun to understand each other better. If they're traveling at this slow pace, it's no wonder Allison isn't a cast member yet.
As for Hero and Sam, I've been curious to see how that storyline would align with Hero's opening arc and we're already beginning to get a sense of that. I'm still
very wary of how it'll play out depending on how closely it follows considering the inclusion of Sam. But Nora's presence
and her knowledge of who Hero really is possibly a bigger wild card. One could argue that the story arc is already very different. On the other hand, we didn't actually see the beginning of that arc...just the middle and end.
That said, this strong focus on these four characters leaves me worried about how much of a strong focus on the DC politics there will be in the next episode. Not looking forward to that.
I'm a little confused as how much time has passed since the culling. It seems like while yes, having the population of men die off at once would cause panic and unrest, it seems like the destruction of society has happened all too quickly. In the real world (having worked in the utility industry), I know there are plenty of women who could keep the power on and water flowing.
Grid security is a huge issue we're facing right now, and some of the smartest people I know working on it are women. We have microgrid systems, powered by both fossil fuels and renewables, that should be able to withstand an emergency such as this. It's not like a hurricane ravaged the planet and knocked out the infrastructure.
It's been several weeks (the first episode said exactly how far forward but I've already forgotten the exact time) since the Event as of the first episode and probably no more than a week since then.
While you're right that there are a fair number of women who can maintain power, water flowing, food distribution, etc., there are two things you need to keep in mind:
1. When all of the men died, that means a
lot of planes fell from the sky. That's a lot of deaths and that's just from inside the planes themselves. We saw at least one crash in New York City itself and it probably wasn't the only one to crash into a highly populated area. Then you have to account for
all of the major car accidents across the country. Not just in the cities but across all of the Interstates. Likewise for trains, subways, and trams, although I don't know how much that's automated and how much safety brakes could save people in those cases. That's going to be an
additional death toll of hundreds of thousands of people, if not more. And that's before you even get to how that effects hospitals.
2. Lawlessness will become a clear and present danger in that aftermath no matter what. We've already seen that both on a macro and micro level in the first four episodes. Mobs, gangs, and just general looting. And that's before you get to those who are organized enough to take advantage of that lawlessness (like at the market and that's just on the micro level).
So, yeah, I definitely can see this level of disarray and destruction and lack of resources happening in short order.
