and then there is a way through

In the centre of the spiral everything happens at once, and the music is remembered at last.

Written by Naomi Alderman.

Scenes

Scene summaries may contain spoilers
1
The carving zombie was once the leader of the project. She came here hoping to free the entity, but died before she could. She's carving the image of the bee priest, someone who drugged themself to speak to the gods. The entity doesn't know how to sustain itself. It needs minds – more than one. James has the mask and claims that it is over. Shoshanna read James's file too. He had a terrible dad, but could have learned to be the opposite. He made a choice to turn away from people and a family that offered him refuge. He pushed that family's daughter into the backyard fallout shelter and locked the door. Robert pulls out the key and James is shocked. Natalie, Alexander, and Marigold use that moment to force him to see the memory of that girl's face when she was rescued. The hunt is natural, but James had thought he was the hunter. Now he is running from himself.
2
Marigold picks up the mask. Someone needs to try and weaken the psychic blast, even if Alexander is only halfway up the tower. Marigold raises the mask, and tells Robert she is glad they made the journey together. In the tower, Natalie runs up the last stairs.
3
Alexander is crawling up the tower stairs, leg bleeding once more. Marigold thanks the entity, remembering that it was with them when they were born. Natalie reaches the top of the tower and puts her head beneath the antenna. She sees that the entity was what kept them alive – taught their hearts to beat. The rhythm of the heartbeat says keep going.
4
Alexander reaches the top and suddenly all of them are together. They are in the dance that has existed since the first humans. The entity does not think it is an alien. It comes from here, from people. It emerges when people come together like this, to dance to the beat of the music.
5
The music takes them to different places: concerts, the song when the Torah is taken out of the ark, a drum whirring under moonlight. They realise that the tone James introduced to dissipate the entity just made it stronger. If James had not come, if it had just been Styles, they wouldn't have been able to control this. Now the entity can stretch through all these minds... a poison that sets you free. James wanted to hurt the entity, but every birth begins in pain. Without you all, the entity would have been still born. The dance is a chase, a hunt. And the zombie artist takes her place too. Run.
6
The dance subsides, but you can still hear each other. Marigold takes the mask off, and apologises for using it without the permission from those who made it. Robert promises he will make sure it goes to people who will respect it. The entity is returning to being what it was: part of everyone. It still has enough power to allow Marigold to be kind. She opens a door in the world for James. A place where he won't have to be himself and there will be no more voices. He steps through and the door closes. But the spiral is breaking apart. You need to run!
7
The spiral has collapsed. They can all hear the voices more clearly, and some people nearby who were listening to music are now sensitives too. Maybe they will stay together for a while. Shoshanna suggests Alaska, with Robert's people. They walk back to the plane. All over the zombie-ridden world, people are awakening to a sense of trust. They can face these challenges, together.

Credits

Cast listings may contain spoilers
Crew
Writer
Naomi Alderman, Ishmael Hope & Rebecca Levene
Director
Ella Watts
Sound Designer
Matt Part
Series Created By
Naomi Alderman