The Infection Spreads
Jin-Soo’s death is a shocking and heart-wrenching story that begins with his bullying at school. With rain pouring down and under the neon sign of a cross, Jin-Soo hits back and snaps. With contorting limbs, he launches himself at the other kids… and tumbles down to his death. Or at least, it should be his death.
A father in South Korea beat his son after noticing the son growling and snarling, but the son was still alive. ..
We then move on to Byeong-Chan’s lab, where he is working on a project with a girl called Hyeon-Ju. He seems to be in a hurry and doesn’t seem to care about her safety. When he sees her cut, he shuts the door and holds her captive.
After his son went missing, rumours have begun spreading about Byeong-Chan. Kids whisper that he smells like a rotting corpse and since Jin-Soo’s disappearance, he’s slowly been growing more crazed and erratic. Well, if that includes tying up that bitten student and keeping her captive inside his lab then yes, he’s most definitely crazy.
The students here are from all walks of life and come from all corners of the world. Some have families who support them, some don’t. But they’re all here to learn and make new friends. ..
Gwi-Nam is a mean bully in school. He’s the guy who beat up Jin-Soo at the start of the episode, and he turns his attention to a couple of other kids, including Eun-Ji, whom he forces to strip off, and Cheon-Su, who he forces to film.
Su-Hyeok tries to put a stop to this but the kids are scared and succumb to the bullies’ wishes.
Eun-Ji is at the mercy of her school’s new headmaster, who has written in English on her t-shirt that she’s “jol sexy.”
Hee-Sun and Eun-Ji excuse themselves from the lab, feeling sick and needing to see the nurse. Hyeon-Ju comes stumbling out of the lab, looking sick and smelling like a corpse. The other kids mention that Hyeon-Ju smells like a rotten corpse too.
The paramedics arrive to take Hyeon-Ju away, led by On-Jo’s father. On-Jo says goodbye to her dad, potentially for the last time. Hyeon-Ju is not herself and she’s taken to the heart of the city. Unfortunately, when Byeong-Chan realizes that Hyeon-Ju has gone, he’s shocked and urges them to put her in quarantine. Because of his abduction though, he’s approached by several police officers and arrested.
While this is going on, we learn that the school nurse was actually bitten by Hyeon-Ju. It doesn’t take long for her to turn, with black veins protruding from the bite on her arm. As she lies on the floor, convulsing, Gwi-Nam sees her and begins filming. His friend is immediately bitten and turns too.
Eun-Ji jumps out of the window to avoid being infected, but several students fall out after her and shatter glass. They start growling and snarling, making Eun-Ji feel unsafe.
The students inside the canteen are in a lot of trouble. There are infected coming in and out, and things have gotten really bad.
The Episode Review
All of Us Are Dead starts off strong, managing to slowly show the infection spreading and growing across the school. Now, as the screenwriter is the same guy who gave us the disastrous L.U.C.A.: The Beginning last year, it’s hoped this series doesn’t take a similarly ludicrous turn.
With a 12-episode season to work with, there’s plenty of material to chew through and with the school about to become ground zero for this infection, it remains to be seen who survives.
This episode is well-done in that it introduces the different characters and switches seamlessly between them as they go about their school day. However, I found the love triangle at the beginning to be a bit too clichéd.
The ending of the episode hints that there is still more drama to come, with the cliffhanger setting up a precarious knife edge. ..
